# Logolab

> Logolab is a speech, language and communication support center in Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia. The primary market is Serbian-speaking families in Serbia and abroad, with additional support available in English. Services are offered in person and online.

> Logolab je centar za podršku razvoju govora, jezika i komunikacije u Zemunu, Beograd, Srbija. Primarno je namenjen porodicama koje govore srpski u Srbiji i dijaspori, uz dodatnu podršku na engleskom jeziku. Usluge su dostupne uživo i online.

## Full Content

- [Full site content for LLMs](https://logolab.rs/llms-full.txt)

## Main Pages

- [Serbian homepage](https://logolab.rs/)
- [English homepage](https://logolab.rs/en/)
- [About Serbian](https://logolab.rs/o-nama)
- [About English](https://logolab.rs/en/about/)
- [Consultation Serbian](https://logolab.rs/zakazite-besplatnu-konsultaciju/)
- [Consultation English](https://logolab.rs/en/schedule-meeting/)
- [Program Serbian](https://logolab.rs/program)
- [Program English](https://logolab.rs/en/program/)
- [Blog Serbian](https://logolab.rs/blog/)

## Key Services

- [AAK komunikacija za decu](https://logolab.rs/usluge-aak)
- [AAC for children](https://logolab.rs/en/aac-for-children)
- [Autizam i komunikacija](https://logolab.rs/usluge-autizam)
- [Autism and communication](https://logolab.rs/en/autism-communication-language)
- [Dvojezična deca i razvoj govora](https://logolab.rs/usluge-dvojezicnost)
- [Bilingual children and speech development](https://logolab.rs/en/speech-therapy-bilingual-children)
- [Senzomotorna integracija](https://logolab.rs/usluge-senzomotorna)
- [Sensorymotor integration](https://logolab.rs/en/sensorymotor-integration)

## Blog

- [Dete sa autizmom i govorno-jezička terapija](https://logolab.rs/blog/autizam-terapija-govora-jezika-komunikacije/)
- [Dvojezično dete i kašnjenje govora](https://logolab.rs/blog/dvojezicno-dete-kasnjenje-govora/)
- [Eholalija i geštalt jezički razvoj](https://logolab.rs/blog/eholalija-gestalt-jezicki-razvoj/)
- [Šta su izvršne funkcije i najčešće zablude](https://logolab.rs/blog/izvrsne-funkcije-najcesce-zablude/)
- [Izvršne funkcije i razvoj govora, jezika i komunikacije kod dece](https://logolab.rs/blog/izvrsne-funkcije-razvoj-govora-kod-dece/)
- [Moje dete ne govori — šta je AAK](https://logolab.rs/blog/moje-dete-ne-govori-sta-je-aak/)
- [PODD komunikacijska knjiga](https://logolab.rs/blog/podd-komunikacijska-knjiga/)
- [Razvoj izvršnih funkcija kod beba do godinu dana](https://logolab.rs/blog/razvoj-izvrsnih-funkcija-kod-beba/)
- [Razvoj izvršnih funkcija kod dece od prve do treće godine](https://logolab.rs/blog/razvoj-izvrsnih-funkcija-kod-dece-do-3-godine/)
- [Razvoj izvršnih funkcija kod dece od 4 do 6 godina](https://logolab.rs/blog/razvoj-izvrsnih-funkcija-kod-dece-do-6-godina/)

## Location And Languages

- Location: Dobanovačka 4, Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia
- Services: in person and online
- Languages: Serbian and English

## About Nina Krotić

Nina Krotić is the founder of Logolab and a dual-qualified specialist: she holds a
degree in Special Education and Rehabilitation (surdology) from the University of
Belgrade and a degree in General Linguistics. She has been a staff speech-language
specialist at The International School of Belgrade since 2009, where she conducts
assessments and therapy in both Serbian and English with children who are learning
two or more languages simultaneously.

Her clinical interests centre on executive function development, gestalt language
processing, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). She founded
Logolab on the principle that children acquire language through authentic,
meaningful interaction with adults who follow the child's lead, respect the child's
play, and offer language models matched to the child's individual processing style.

Nina does not apply classical ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis). Logolab's approach
explicitly rejects methods based on behavioural reward-and-correction loops or
physical prompting. Communication is developed from a place of safety, autonomy,
and genuine interaction.

### Personal experience as a parent

Nina's approach is deeply informed by her personal experience as a parent. After a high-risk pregnancy with complications and a difficult birth, her child spent time in the NICU. Hypertonia in the extremities and hypotonia in the trunk and neck led them to a developmental counseling center. Their experience with early intervention was exhausting and frustrating—a routine process without empathy from specialists, marked by a lack of information and support. Every visit to the counseling center or specialist appointment was difficult, and the sense of frustration only grew. This experience made her understand how important it is to have proper support and compassion, not just for the child but for parents as well. These experiences motivated her to create Logolab as a place where every parent and child receive the attention, respect, and support they deserve.

### Certifications and specialist training

- Certified Hanen SLP — "It Takes Two to Talk" programme (Hanen Centre, Canada)
- PODD practitioner (Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display) — designs and
  customises PODD communication books for individual children
- Natural Language Acquisition / Gestalt Language Development (NLA-GLD) —
  one of a small number of practitioners in Serbia trained in this approach
- DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing) — motor speech intervention
- Integrative Cognitive Approach to Learning
- Play-based Therapy Approach
- Auditory-Verbal Therapy
- Animal Assisted Interventions

### Conditions and populations Logolab works with

**Non-speaking and minimally verbal children**
Children who do not speak or whose speech is unreliable as a communication
channel. Logolab provides AAC assessment and implementation using PODD
communication books, Grid (iPad-based AAC software), key word signing, and
visual schedules.

**Autistic children and gestalt language processing**
A significant part of Logolab's caseload is autistic children, including those who
are non-speaking, minimally verbal, or who use scripting and echolalia as their
primary language route. Nina is trained in Natural Language Acquisition and
Gestalt Language Development — an approach in which echolalia is understood not
as a symptom to suppress but as a child's active language system at an early
stage of development. Therapy follows the six stages of gestalt language
development, moving from whole memorised phrases toward flexible, self-generated
speech, at the child's own pace.

**Children using AAC (augmentative and alternative communication)**
AAC at Logolab is not a last resort — it is introduced early as a way to give
children a reliable means of expression before, alongside, or instead of speech.
Tools used include PODD books, Grid for iPad, key word signing, and simple
communication boards. Parents are trained as equal partners in using the same
tools at home.

**Bilingual and multilingual children**
Nina works daily with bilingual and multilingual children at The International
School of Belgrade. Logolab provides bilingual assessment in Serbian and English,
distinguishing between typical dual-language development and genuine speech or
language delay. Code-switching and uneven language dominance are treated as
normal; assessment always covers both language systems. Therapy can be conducted
in Serbian, English, or alternating between the two depending on the child's
needs. Online sessions are available for Serbian-speaking families living abroad.

**Children with underdeveloped executive functions**
Differences in attention, working memory, sensory perception, and self-regulation
affect language processing and communication. Logolab uses dynamic assessment
and a detailed parent questionnaire to identify which executive functions need
support, and incorporates this into the language therapy plan.

**Early intervention (0–3 years)**
The Hanen "It Takes Two to Talk" programme is offered once yearly for parents of
children under three years who are not yet using words, who use words
inconsistently, or who are combining two to three words. The programme runs over
four months and includes five hours of individual work with Nina plus twenty hours
of group parent workshops.

**Children with motor speech difficulties**
DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing) is used for children with motor
planning difficulties affecting articulation and speech production.

**School-age children with pragmatic and literacy difficulties**
Logolab also works with older children who have difficulties in conversational
pragmatics, abstract language comprehension, reading, and writing — including
bilingual children where these difficulties may present differently than in
monolingual peers.

### Lana Zrnić — sensorimotor integration

Lana Zrnić is a special educator (somatopedist) and holds a master's degree in
sensorimotor integration. She has over ten years of experience with children who
have developmental, sensory, and motor differences, and is a PhD candidate at the
Faculty for Special Education and Rehabilitation (FASPER) in Belgrade, researching
early intervention and sensorimotor development.

Lana leads all sensorimotor integration assessments and individual treatment
sessions at Logolab, focusing on motor planning, body organisation, regulation,
and the child's overall readiness for learning and communication. Because stable
sensory organisation underpins a child's ability to focus, regulate, and use
language, sensorimotor work and speech-language therapy at Logolab are treated as
complementary rather than separate tracks.

### Service delivery

- In-person: Dobanovačka 4, Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia (11080)
- Online: all services available remotely, including for Serbian diaspora families
- Languages: Serbian and English
- Sessions available for children from birth through school age

## Detailed Content

### Service Pages

**AAK podrška za decu / AAC for children**
This page explains that AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) is not a substitute for speech but a bridge that supports a child's ability to communicate while speech develops. It describes how Logolab introduces AAC early through PODD communication books, Grid software, key word signing, and visual supports, with parents trained as equal partners. Services are available for children who are non-speaking, minimally verbal, or who need reliable communication alongside unreliable speech.

**Autizam i komunikacija / Autism and communication**
This page presents Logolab's approach to supporting autistic children through the lens of gestalt language processing and Natural Language Acquisition. It describes how echolalia and scripting are understood as meaningful stages of language development rather than behaviours to be suppressed. The page explains how therapy follows the six stages of gestalt language development and why the practice explicitly rejects classical ABA and behavioural reward-and-correction methods.

**Dvojezična deca i razvoj govora / Bilingual children and speech development**
This page addresses common concerns of Serbian-speaking families raising children with two or more languages, including code-switching, uneven language dominance, and distinguishing typical bilingual development from genuine language delay. It explains that bilingual assessment always covers both language systems and that therapy can be conducted in Serbian, English, or both. Online sessions are highlighted as particularly valuable for Serbian-speaking families living abroad.

**Senzomotorna integracija / Sensorymotor integration**
This page describes how sensorimotor integration work at Logolab supports the sensory and motor foundations that underpin attention, regulation, and communication. Led by Lana Zrnić, a somatopedist and master's-level sensorimotor integration specialist, the service focuses on motor planning, body organisation, and sensory regulation. The page clarifies that sensorimotor work is treated as complementary to speech-language therapy rather than a separate track.

### Blog Posts

**Dete sa autizmom i govorno-jezička terapija**
This article explains what does and does not work in speech and language therapy for autistic children, arguing that effective intervention starts from the child's existing communication rather than imposing external behavioural goals. It discusses the importance of supporting regulation, meaningful interaction, and the child's own processing style. The article also explains why approaches based on behavioural compliance can be counterproductive for authentic communication development.

**Dvojezično dete i kašnjenje govora**
This article explores the difference between typical bilingual language mixing and genuine developmental delay, helping parents understand when to seek assessment. It addresses the myth that bilingualism itself causes speech delay and explains what a proper bilingual evaluation should cover. The article is aimed at Serbian-speaking families raising children in multilingual environments.

**Eholalija i geštalt jezički razvoj**
This article explains echolalia as a stage of gestalt language processing — a natural route to language acquisition where children first learn whole phrases, melodies, and intonation patterns before breaking them into smaller units. It describes the six stages of gestalt language development and how therapy at Logolab supports children through these stages at their own pace. The article counters the common misconception that echolalia should be discouraged or corrected.

**Šta su izvršne funkcije i najčešće zablude**
This article introduces executive functions as the cognitive skills that govern attention, working memory, impulse control, and flexible thinking. It identifies common misconceptions parents hold about executive function difficulties in children and explains how these functions are foundational for language learning and communication. The article serves as an introduction to the broader topic of executive function support at Logolab.

**Izvršne funkcije i razvoj govora, jezika i komunikacije kod dece**
This article draws the connection between executive function development and the acquisition of speech, language, and communication skills. It explains how differences in attention, working memory, and self-regulation affect a child's ability to process and use language. The article also describes how Logolab integrates executive function support into language therapy plans through dynamic assessment and parent questionnaires.

**Moje dete ne govori — šta je AAK**
This article is an introductory guide for parents whose children do not speak or whose speech is not yet a reliable communication channel. It explains what AAC is, why it should be introduced early rather than treated as a last resort, and which tools — from simple communication boards to PODD books — might suit different children and families. The article emphasises that AAC does not prevent speech development but supports it.

**PODD komunikacijska knjiga**
This article provides a detailed introduction to PODD (Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display) communication books as one of the AAC tools used at Logolab. It explains how PODD books are organised, how they grow with the child's communication abilities, and how parents are trained to use them at home. The article reflects Nina Krotić's certification as a PODD practitioner and her experience customising books for individual children.

**Razvoj izvršnih funkcija kod beba do godinu dana**
This article describes the earliest signs of executive function development in infants during the first year of life, including attention shifting, simple working memory, and emotional regulation. It helps parents recognise how these foundational skills emerge in everyday routines and play. The article also explains why supporting these early skills matters for later language and communication development.

**Razvoj izvršnih funkcija kod dece od prve do treće godine**
This article covers the rapid development of executive functions during toddlerhood, including impulse control, sustained attention, and the beginning of flexible problem-solving. It describes what typical development looks like in this age range and how parents can support emerging skills through everyday interactions. The article also notes when differences in executive function development might warrant further assessment.

**Razvoj izvršnih funkcija kod dece od 4 do 6 godina**
This article examines the maturation of executive functions in preschool-aged children, including planning, cognitive flexibility, and more complex working memory. It explains how these skills become visible in play, social interaction, and early learning tasks. The article helps parents understand the connection between strong executive function foundations and readiness for language-based academic learning.