Kara Dodds and Associates

San Diego, United States

4

Closed now

4 reviews

By Appointment Only

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 619-692-0622
Website:
www.karadodds.com
Address:
7840 Mission Center Ct Ste 200, San Diego, CA, 92108
Mission Valley
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.3 miHazard Center
0.3 miMission Valley Center
0.8 miRio Vista
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Bussiness info

By Appointment Only
Yes

Today

Today 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (San Diego) 07:04 Tuesday, 3 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Tuesday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Wednesday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Thursday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Friday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Pediatric Speech Therapy

Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS)

PROMPT techniques to improve oral motor planning and verbal output

Kaufman approach to Apraxia

Hanen Center (More Than Words) techniques using visual helpers and schedules to support comprehension

TalkTools: Muscle-​based Oral Motor Programs” to promote speech and improve oral motor

Floortime– Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship Based (www​.cir​clestretch​.com) are utilized within treatment sessions.

Social skills programs with techniques used based on Michelle Garcia Winners «ILAUGH» model (www​.social​think​ing​.com)

The SCERTS® Model –Social Communication, Emotional Regulation and Transactional Support (www​.scerts​.com)

Carol Gray Social Stories (www​.thegray​cen​ter​.org), and Video Play Modeling.

History

Established in 2001.

Kara Dodds & Associates was established in 2001 and has family-​friendly centers located in San Diego and Encinitas, California. We provide the highest level of individualized speech, language and social communication services to children in need, including diagnostic and therapy services. As comprehensive speech-​language therapy center, we offer a broad spectrum of communication related services to meet the needs of children and their families in the San Diego area. Our team of highly qualified Speech-​Language Pathologists design individual treatment programs and carefully evaluate these programs on an ongoing basis in order to make changes depending on the child’s progress.

Meet the Business Owner

Kara D.

Business Owner

Kara received her Masters degree in Clinical Speech Pathology from Northern Arizona University in 1998. As a result of her clinical training Kara has chosen to focus a significant portion of her professional practice on the children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. She established her practice in 2001 with offices in both San Diego and in Encinitas, California.

Kara’s pediatric experience includes the evaluation and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders, Apraxia, feeding/​swallowing, oral motor and language deficits. Kara’s specialized training includes certification in the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). .

She has training in ABA and uses behavioral techniques within her therapy.

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4 reviews of Kara Dodds and Associates

No registration required
Place rating: 5
La Mesa, CA
Great therapy center. I’ve experienced a few different centers and Kara Dodds is by far the best! The therapist actually care. When session is over its not just a therapist talking at the parent, basically giving them information they don’t understand. They are very helpful and open to answering questions. The receptionist is happy and friendly, and every therapist there looks genuinely happy to be at work. By far, the best is Kara Dodds and Associates.
Place rating: 5
Chula Vista, CA
Before Kara Dodds, my son received speech services with Rady’s. I normally have great things to say about Rady’s, but the way speech was set up (short 25 minute appointments once a week) just didn’t work for us. Since switching to Kara Dodds, my son has made incredible progress. Everyone on staff is personable, knowledgeable, and helpful. They were extremely accommodating when trying to find a regular appointment to meet our scheduling needs, and they worked really well with our insurance. Sessions are about 45 minutes long, which gives the therapist enough time to really get some work done (in my non-​professional opinion). The therapist meets with either my husband or I after every session to discuss progress and goals. She also communicates with his school and other therapists to make sure everyone is on the same page. My son loves to go to speech and looks forward to seeing his therapist every week. We plan to stay with Kara Dodds as long as my son needs speech services.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
My son has been going here since 2012 and he’s made remarkable progress with his speech. I like that every session has metrics and goals that they try to meet so that at the end of the month or at the end of the year, you can really see how far advanced my son’s speech has come along.
Before Kara Dodds, we had a different speech therapist at a different clinic and each session seemed more like playtime than speech therapy. It was really hard to tell if my son got any kind of benefit from watching him play with toys for 45 minutes.
Anyways, minus one star for having my son paired with a violent kid during one session which ended with that kid punching my kid. There was supposedly two therapists present and neither saw what happened. Not the kind of situation you want to have happen to a child who has to tell me exactly what happened… when he’s still developing his speech.
Place rating: 2
La Mesa, CA
Please do not use services at Kara Dodds and Associates if you struggle financially.
Even if your insurance tells you that the service *is* covered, AND Kara Dodds also states that they have cleared it with the insurance company, your claims may still all be denied, just as all of ours were.
I saw a review saying this by another parent before taking my son to Kara Dodds, and at the time I just assumed they didn’t understand their insurance coverage well. And then, five months after beginning weekly services with Kara Dodds, they finally told me that all of my claims had been denied. They should have informed me at the time of the first denial so that I could have made an informed choice about continuing services at full price. But they did not. I am a single mother who works full time and I struggle monthly to pay for our basic needs. Now I have another huge bill to contend with from Kara Dodds.
The finance staff at Kara Dodds stated that as long as I could pay something each month, I could pay them back as I was able. I made a couple of payments and then received a statement that said that they are now going to charge me interest on the overdue amount.
Other aspects of their customer service really need work. I asked for my son’s evaluation four or five times before I finally received it. They had emailed it to the wrong email address. So some stranger now has been emailed a copy of my son’s file! I am livid about that.