Here are some answers to questions we often get from customers. We hope they help answer any questions you may have.

If you don’t see your question answered here, if you think our answers could be better or more clear, please don’t hesitate to email us at customerservice@teach2talk.com or to call us toll free at (888) 6-TEACH2TALK (1-888-683-2242).

Index

Products
Returns and Exchanges
Shipping and Handling
Purchase Orders
 

Products

Where can I purchase teach2talk products?

We’re still a young, small company. For right now, all of our products are exclusively available for purchase directly from us, either via our website (click here to go to our online store to a listing of all of our products currently available for purchase) or by calling our toll free number, which is (888) 683-2242, and selecting option 1 for sales.

That means our products are not available in bookstores, from other online merchants or from other retailers. In the future, we may expand to sell our products through other merchants who share our values. If you’re interested in purchasing our products from other merchants, let them know!

Is it safe to order over your website? I hear a lot of bad stories about the dangers of shopping online and am not very comfortable putting my credit card number on the internet.

We think ordering over our website is reasonably safe. We’ve partnered with Yahoo!® Small Business to offer our customers all of the benefits of their e-commerce system, which uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) with 128-bit encryption to protect all of your personally identifiable information. This is the same technology used by major banks to protect their customers. In fact, SSL offers the highest level of encryption supported by commercial web browsers and follows the standards established by credit card leaders such as Visa® and MasterCard®. We accept most major credit cards – VISA®, MasterCard®, American Express®, Discover® and Diners Club®, as well as debit cards with a VISA® or MasterCard® logo.

I prefer to order products through the mail, or I’m not comfortable ordering over the internet or by telephone. How can I get teach2talk products?

We do offer the ability to purchase our products by mail order paying using a certified or bank check, money order or personal check (please do not send cash through the mail – we can’t be responsible if you do). However, we don’t recommend this method, because it takes considerably longer than ordering over the internet or by phone. If you’re interested, you can download an order form by clicking here. Simply follow the instructions. Please note that if you elect to pay using a personal check, your order will be further delayed until your check has cleared our bank.

Help! How do I know which teach2talk videos to purchase for my child (or client)?

You can review the description for each video, which contains an indication of which children are most likely to be helped by that video. If you’re not sure, you can always use the Ask Sarah! portion of our website, which lets you ask questions directly of the speech language pathologist who develops all of our products, or call our toll free number, 1-888-683-2242, and press “1” and ask for a product specialist. If one’s not available immediately, they will return your call as soon as possible.

Many customers ask which video(s) would be most appropriate for their child based on the child’s chronological age (for example, “My grandson is three years old. What video would be best for him?”). At teach2talk, we don’t focus on chronological age as much as we focus on developmental age and ability. After all, not every child develops at the same rate or across all areas equally. Some children are a little behind their peers in a few areas, and some are a lot behind in many areas. The same Teach2Talk video might be equally beneficial for a typically developing 18 month old as a four year old with a developmental disorder including language delays – they may both be working on the same skill which is the focus of the video.

OK, I get it – it’s best to match your products to my child’s (client’s) developmental age. But give me a break – that’s complicated. Can’t you just tell me the age ranges your products are intended for, like most other videos, toys and books?

We won’t repeat the spiel we just ran through about doing your best to match up the product to your child’s developmental age, not their chronological age (even though we really, really believe it). So here are some recommended chronological age ranges for some of our products. Please note that they are rough ranges, and there are certainly both children who are older than the recommended age range for a product that could still benefit from one or more videos, because they haven’t fully mastered the skills featured in those videos, as well as children who are younger than the recommended age range for a product who would still be ready for, and could still benefit from, one or more of the videos.

Product	Age Range
Nouns! – Volume 1	0 – 6 years
Verbs! – Volume 1	0 – 6 years
Prepositions! – Volume 1	2 – 8 years
Pronouns! – Volume 1	2 – 8 years
WH Questions! – Volume 1 – Where?	2 – 8 years
WH Questions! – Volume 2 – Why?	3 – 10 years
WH Questions! – Volume 3 – What?	2 – 8 years
WH Questions! – Volume 4 – Who?	3 – 10 years
Social Skills! – Volume 1 – Sharing and Taking Turns	3 – 10 years
Social Skills! – Volume 2 – Conversations with Friends	3 – 12 years
Social Skills! – Volume 3 – Emotions, Feelings & Empathy	3 – 12 years
teach2play – Volume 1 – Basic Play	0 – 6 years
teach2play – Volume 2 – Core Play	1 – 6 years
teach2play – Volume 3 – Intermediate Play	2 – 8 years
teach2play – Volume 4 – Advanced Play	3 – 10 years

 

I’m a teacher or therapist. How do I know which videos to purchase for my client(s) and student(s)?

The easy answer is to take a look at the above questions and answers about age ranges. If you have a little more time, then we encourage you to think about your client(s)/student(s). Then think about what their current deficits are, and what you are you working on with them – and select the videos that address those deficits or focus on those skills. For example, if the child is primarily non-verbal, then our Nouns! – Volume 1 and Verbs! – Volume 1 videos, which focus primarily on teaching individual vocabulary words, would be appropriate, as would (from a speech and language standpoint) our teach2play – Volume 1 – Basic Play video. If the child was just starting to work on wh– form questions, then our WH Questions! – Volume 1 – Where? and WH Questions! – Volume 3 – What? videos, which focus on the first wh– form questions which children acquire, would be appropriate. If the child was verbal and had good play skills, but had difficulties with pragmatics, then our Social Skills! – Volume 1 – Sharing and Taking Turns and Social Skills! – Volume 2 – Conversations with Friends videos, which primarily focus on teaching social skills and related pragmatics, would be appropriate.

Will your videos work for my child?

We hope so. They’ve been successful for a wide range of children and you can read some testimonials from parents, teachers and therapists by clicking here. We can’t guarantee they will work, of course. Every child learns differently, and on his or her own pace. Research has shown that the best candidates for video modeling intervention are children both have the ability to benefit from the video model (that is, they are old enough to watch the video by themselves) and who like to watch audiovisual materials (such as television and movies).

How long are your videos?

Most of our videos have a playing time of just over than 30 minutes. We’ve found this to be the optimum length for our education videos. Some of our videos are longer than others – the description of each video lists the playing time.

How do your videos work – are they for the parents / therapists / teachers to watch, or for the children to watch?

All of our videos use a video modeling technique. This means we designed them to be watched by the child, not the adult. However, if you have time, you can maximize your child’s learning by making the videos into a more interactive experience. We have several ideas about how to best do this – you can find out more by clicking here.

What is video modeling?

Video modeling is a powerful technique in which the child is shown one or more audiovisual clips which have been carefully selected to show an exemplar of the chosen behavior or skill. The child then is expected to imitate to the modeled behavior or skill.

Why is video modeling an effective tool for teaching children?

Video modeling relies on one of the primary methods by which humans learn – observation and imitation. It sounds simple – and it is. But research has shown that it is an effective way to teach a wide variety of skills to children, including children on the autism spectrum or who have other developmental disabilities.

Why is video modeling especially effective for children on the autism spectrum or who have other developmental disabilities?

Researchers have theorized that video modeling works best for children who have strong visual skills and good memories, and both of those characteristics are typical of children on the autism spectrum. Some researchers have theorized that for children on the spectrum, eliminating the social context associated with a live one–on–one modeling and teaching allows these children (who often have sensory and attention issues and are easily distracted) to filter out extraneous stimuli. In fact, even just having to make eye contact with a teacher or parent may be stressful for a child with autism. Video modeling avoids that entirely, along with the burden of having to follow other appropriate social conventions such as taking turns in conversation. So when combined with video modeling’s ability to leverage strengths typical of children on the spectrum, it can be a very effective technique for those children.

Video modeling has some other inherent advantages that make it an effective tool for all children, regardless of their ability level – once a video model has been created using best practices, it will be exactly the same each time it is played, without variation, and you can depict scenarios using models and settings which would not be available for live video modeling conveniently (or at all).

Are your videos only for children who have autism and related development disorders?

No! Any child who hasn’t yet mastered the skills taught in our educational videos can benefit from them. It’s true that Jenny is very focused on helping children with autism, and that a substantial portion of Sarah’s practice focuses on treating children with autism. However, the videos were designed to be effective for children at a wide variety of chronological ages and developmental levels. They can benefit more typically developing (or even precocious) children who want to get a head start, as well as children who have developmental disabilities other than autism.

Do you use real live children?

Yes! Children tend to relate very well to other children, so they are the primary models used throughout all of our videos. Adults are also featured as authority figures.

How old are the children in the video?

The child actors in our videos range from ages 3 to 15. We like to use a wide range of ages so that many children of different ages who are watching will have some peers to whom they can relate.

Are your videos available in Spanish / French / other languages?

Not at this time. We may in the future offer Spanish-language versions of some of the videos. If we do, we will announce their availability via our email newsletter and feature them prominently on our website.

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Returns and Exchanges

What is your return and exchange policy?

We accept returns of new DVDs in their original, unopened packaging for exchange, credit or refund (less shipping & handling and gift wrap charges) if they are returned to us in their original, unopened packaging within 30 days of the original shipping date and if you comply with the other terms and conditions of our return and exchange policy.

Damaged or defective DVDs may be exchanged for the same title if returned within 30 days of the original shipping date, and the original packing slip is included with the returned damaged or defective DVD. We will not charge you shipping & handling on the replacement products we send to you.

Full details on our return and exchange policy can be found by clicking here.

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Shipping and Handling

How does shipping and handling work (United States)?

We offer several shipping methods to our customers in the United States. Our shipping and handling charges are equal to our actual out–of–pocket costs for your order, and are calculated based on the number of videos you’ve purchased (which affects the size and weight of the package coming to you) and where you live. You can always see the exact amount shipping and handling will be for your order for each of our shipping methods before you check out, so that you can make an informed decision before you purchase anything. You can click here to see our shipping policies for more information.

Please note that all orders will ship on the next business day after the day on which they are placed (barring unforeseen circumstances). This means that if you place your order on the Friday before a three day weekend (that is, Monday is a holiday), your order will not ship until the next Tuesday. Please keep this in mind when selecting an expedited shipping method, especially FedEx 2nd Day Air or FedEx Standard Overnight.

$5 to ship one video! That’s expensive!

We’re sorry. Unfortunately, shipping one video does tend to be expensive because even a single video still has to be picked, packaged and posted. You will see that adding additional videos only adds small, incremental amounts to the total for shipping and handling, so that ordering multiple videos may seem to be a better deal.

How does shipping and handling work (United States PO Boxes and APO / FPO addresses)?

The same as shipping to the rest of the United States, except that you can’t select a FedEx delivery option, since they can’t deliver to those deliveries. Please select a United States Postal Service (USPS) shipping method instead – for APO / FPO addresses, we recommend that you select Priority Mail rather than First Class Mail in order to receive your order within a reasonable time frame (but Express Mail is not worth the additional cost, as it is only faster from our warehouse to the depot, not the final destination).

How does shipping and handling work (Canada)?

Unfortunately, shipping to our customers in Canada is often frustrating both for you and us. It’s both more expensive and slower than shipping to the United States. That’s because we don’t have operations in Canada due to the regulatory burden and expense involved.

We offer two methods of shipping to Canada, United States Postal Service (USPS) and United Parcel Service (UPS). Please note that whichever method you choose, you will be responsible for the full cost of shipping, including additional processing and handling charges imposed by Canada Post or UPS, as well as all duties imposed by Canada Border Services Agency and all applicable goods and services tax (GST), harmonized sales tax (HST), and provincial sales tax (PST) or other taxes. In addition, in accordance with United States federal law, we are required to follow all export laws with respect to declaration and customs documentation.

Duties, taxes and additional processing and handling charges will be collected from you by the carrier at the time of delivery on a C.O.D. basis – they will be extra and above what we charge you for your order, and in many cases can be quite expensive. We do not know at the time of order how much those additional processing and handling charges, taxes and/or duties will cost. teach2talk is not accountable for any of these charges, taxes or duties; they are solely your responsibility and acceptance of this is implied when you place an order with us. If for any reason those charges are not paid by you when you receive the order, we will bill back those charges back to you using the same method of payment with which your original order was paid. Furthermore, if you refuse delivery of the package on the grounds that the C.O.D. charges are too expensive, we will issue a refund for the returned products upon receipt at our warehouse equal to their cost, but will not issue a refund of your shipping and handing charges.

Our first method of shipping to Canada is via United States Postal Service (USPS) USPS Priority Mail International (which means your package will be transferred to Canada Post when it reaches the border for delivery to you). Canada Post will collect from you at the time of delivery on a C.O.D. basis all duties imposed by Canada Border Services Agency and all applicable goods and services tax (GST) or harmonized sales tax (HST), and provincial sales tax (PST). You should note that only very limited package tracking is available for this class of service, and that it can be slower than UPS, typically taking between 7 – 10 working days from the date of shipment to arrive, and sometimes longer (there is no guarantee). We offer this USPS shipping methods because it is less expensive than UPS Standard to Canada (factoring in the additional $10 brokerage charge assessed by UPS), but the trade off is that it requires more time and the tracking is not as good. If you select this method, you do so at your own risk – please do not ask us to reship your package even if it does not arrive within the rough 7 – 10 business day timeframe provided by USPS. Our second method of shipping is via USPS Express Mail International, which is exactly the same as USPS Priority Mail International except that it typically arrives within 4 – 6 business days. Shipping via this method is also at your own risk. If a parcel sent by USPS Priority Mail International or Express Mail International has still has not arrived with one month of the date of posting, we will work with you to make postal service inquiries and indemnity claims of USPS and once we have received the applicable indemnity, we will reship your package to you.

Our third and final method of shipping is via United Parcel Service (UPS). This method is typically faster than either USPS service, and allows you to track your package via phone or the web. However, in addition to the shipping and handling charges we collect from you at the time of order, UPS will collect from you at the time of delivery on a C.O.D. basis all duties imposed by Canada Border Services Agency and all applicable goods and services tax (GST) or harmonized sales tax (HST), and provincial sales tax (PST). Furthermore, please note that if you select UPS Standard to Canada, UPS will collect from you at the time of delivery on a C.O.D. basis an extra $10 charge for additional processing and handling charges for customs brokerage (the rates we quote you for UPS Worldwide Express and UPS Worldwide Expedited already include that charge).

Please note that we no longer offer shipping via USPS First Class Mail International. Although this level of service is much less expensive than USPS Priority Mail International, USPS Express Mail International or any of the FedEx methods, it does not offer any tracking and in many cases packages do not arrive within a reasonable time (within one month) or do not arrive at all. The quality of service is simply not good enough or reliable enough for us to feel comfortable offering it to our customers (based on our prior, painful experience). If you’re nonetheless interested in having your package shipped via USPS First Class Mail International, you must call or email sales@teach2talk.com and obtain prior authorization. We will provide a quotation for the cost of shipping and handling and require you to acknowledge in writing that you have been advised by us, and are aware, that USPS First Class Mail International is an inherently unreliable method of shipping, and that you are ordering at your own risk, waive any right to have your package remailed if it has not arrived, and will not contact us regarding same or initiate a chargeback or complaint regarding your order. If you do so, we will ship using this method. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, and recognize that you might decide not to order from us as a result. Ultimately we would like to establish operations in Canada or engage a Canadian distributor to make things much easier on our customers in Canada, but the high cost and regulatory burden required have prevented us from doing so to date.

How does shipping and handling work (Rest of the World)?

In addition to the United States and Canada, we are currently able to ship orders to our customers in Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

Please note that all of our titles are NTSC formatted DVDs. Although many modern PAL format DVD players and television can properly play NTSC formatted DVDs, we cannot guarantee whether our DVDs will play in your DVD player or on your television. If you are a customer who does not live in North America, please carefully consider this before you purchase one of our DVD products.

Please also note that you will be responsible for the cost of shipping as well as all applicable additional processing and handling charges, duties and taxes charged at the time of importation, which will either be assessed on a C.O.D. basis upon delivery to you, or if not paid when you receive your order, will be billed back to you using the same method of payment with which your original order was paid. In accordance with United States federal law, we are required to follow all export laws with respect to declaration and customs documentation.

We do not know how much additional cost the taxes, duties and/or additional processing and handling charges will be when you have your order shipped to you internationally. teach2talk is not accountable for any of these taxes, duties or charges; they are your sole responsibility and acceptance of this is implied when you place an order with us.

For orders to Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, we offer shipping by United States Postal Service (USPS) Priority Mail International, which does not have a guaranteed time frame and offers either no tracking or very limited tracking depending on the destination, and which typically taking between 7 and 10 working days from the date of shipment to arrive (but sometimes longer), by USPS Express Mail International, which does not have a guaranteed time frame and offers either no tracking or very limited tracking depending on the destination, and which typically taking between 4 and 6 working days from the date of shipment to arrive (but sometimes longer) and by United Parcel Service (UPS) (which is considerable faster and allows tracking, but is much more expensive). We offer the USPS Priority Mail International and USPS Express Mail International shipping methods because they are less expensive, but the trade off is that it requires much more time and can’t be tracked easily (if at all). If you select USPS Priority Mail International or USPS Express Mail International, you do so at your own risk – please do not ask us to reship your package even if it does not arrive within the rough timeframes provided by USPS. If it still has not arrived with one month of the date of posting, we will work with you to make postal service inquiries and indemnity claims of USPS and once we have received the applicable indemnity, we will reship your package to you.

Please note that we no longer offer shipping via USPS First Class Mail International. Although this level of service is much less expensive than either USPS Priority Mail International or USPS Express Mail International or any of the UPS methods, it does not offer any tracking and in many cases packages do not arrive within a reasonable time (within one month) or do not arrive at all. The quality of service is simply not good enough or reliable enough for us to feel comfortable offering it to our customers (based on our prior, painful experience). If you’re nonetheless interested in having your package shipped via USPS First Class Mail International, you must call or email sales@teach2talk.com and obtain prior authorization. We will provide a quotation for the cost of shipping and handling and require you to acknowledge in writing that you have been advised by us, and are aware, that USPS First Class Mail International is an inherently unreliable method of shipping, and that you are ordering at your own risk, waive any right to have your package remailed if it has not arrived, and will not contact us regarding same or initiate a chargeback or complaint regarding your order. If you do so, we will ship using this method. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, and recognize that you might decide not to order from us as a result.

If you reside outside of one of those countries or require additional shipping options or help, please send us an email at orders@teach2talk.com or give us a call toll-free at (888) 6-TEACH2TALK (1-888-683-2242). We may be able to accommodate your order, at our sole election.

Where else in the world are teach2talk videos available?

Just as in the United States and Canada, teach2talk videos are available for purchase over our website or by telephone (++1-888-683-2242) from select other countries.

The current list of countries from which teach2talk accepts orders is as follows: Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States of America.

Help! I’m not from one of the countries from which the teach2talk website currently accepts orders, and I can’t place an order using your website!

Don’t worry, we may be able to accommodate you. If you would like to request that we add your country to the list of countries, please send an email to customerservice@teach2talk.com. Many countries can be added as approved countries; the process usually takes a few days to implement. We apologize in advance if we are unable to accommodate your request; due to the anti-fraud restrictions of our financial partners, we will not be able to accept orders from, or ship orders to, certain countries under any circumstances due to the high level of fraud associated with internet and catalog orders from those countries.

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Purchase Orders

I work for a school / resource center / library, and need to use a purchase order to acquire resources. Do you accept purchase orders?

Yes, we accept purchase orders from qualifying educational and government institutions, including public libraries. You can either email us at sales@teach2talk.com to ask for a formal quote (which will include the appropriate shipping and handling charges, without which purchase orders cannot be accepted) or you can click here to download our order form, which contains additional information on ordering and how to submit your order form. Please send your completed purchase order on your standard form to us by one of the following methods: you can either (1) fax it to us at Institutional Sales at (888) 683-2242, (2) scan it and email it to us at sales@teach2talk.com, or (3) snail mail it to us at the following address:

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