Daria Gail Speech

Daria Gail Speech Daria Gates, M.A., CCC-SLP, TSSLD, ASDCS is a speech-language pathologist, currently located in New

Daria is NY State licensed and holds her Certificate of Clinical Competence with the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). Within ASHA, she is a member of the special interest groups, Augmentative and Alternative Communication and Telepractice. With over eight years of experience servicing children ages 1-12 with special needs in a school, through Early Intervention services, and within

her own private practice, Daria approaches every child with compassion, empathy, and a whole lot of energy!

03/24/2026

In the world of early language development, play is more than just a precursor to “real” learning. It IS the learning. Play is the engine of communication, the ultimate classroom.

In this example, two MAJOR concepts are being mapped in the child’s brain:
☝️Negation: the ability to reject, deny, or identify the absence of something (“not”)
☝️Body parts

Add in the silliness! 🤪

When we laugh together at “mistakes”, like “not my belly button”, we teach our kids that learning is safe. There is no wrong way to play- this creates a meaningful connection between you and your child, where they feel confident to take risks with sounds and words.

Basically, PLAY ALL DAY.

03/02/2026

We’ve all been there: chasing the “goal,” counting the repetitions, and pushing for that one specific sound or word.

But here’s the truth that changes everything in the therapy room (and at home)..

🚨Compliance is not the same as communication.🚨

If we’re just “getting a child to do something,” we aren’t building a communicator; we’re building a performer. Real, lasting progress only happens when a child feels safe, secure, and respected.

Why connection over compliance?
☝️Safety First: A brain in “survival mode” or “compliance mode” cannot access the higher-level functions needed for language learning.
☝️Compliance is an isolated act, which serves the adult. It does not support a child’s self-advocacy, generalization of language, nor intrinsic motivation.
☝️Beyond Rapport: Rapport is an introduction. Connection is an ongoing, living pulse. It shifts from session to session, and sometimes from minute to minute.
☝️The Foundation: Think of connection as the soil. You can’t grow the flower (the skill) if the soil isn’t nutrient-rich and stable.

What’s our job, then?
Our job is to create and hold connection with a child. Our job is to learn what that child needs and wants to feel safe and regulated. When we prioritize how a child feels over what a child “does,” we create a space where they feel brave enough to take risks with their voice. Communication isn’t about following directions—it’s about sharing a world.

#̭parentingtips

I’m now an NLA trained speech-language therapist. This is my listing on the Meaningful Speech clinician registry. NLA st...
01/04/2025

I’m now an NLA trained speech-language therapist. This is my listing on the Meaningful Speech clinician registry.

NLA stands for natural language acquisition, which is also known as gestalt language processing. It’s a framework for how children naturally learn language and gives us, as speech-language therapists more tools for understanding and supporting our kiddos’ communication.

Gestalt language processing (GLP) is common in autistic and neurodivergent children, but can also be seen in neurotypical children. Some characteristics of GLPers are:
⭐️Learn language in chunks
⭐️Repeat phrases and/or scripts from language they’ve heard
⭐️Have rich intonation
⭐️May often be unintelligible
⭐️Have difficulty understanding context and questions

If your child has any of these communicative characteristics or you’re having a hard time communicating with your child and want to learn more, feel free to reach out!

Constantly listening and learning. Neurodiversity is not just a buzz word, it is a human concept that should be talked a...
12/12/2024

Constantly listening and learning. Neurodiversity is not just a buzz word, it is a human concept that should be talked about ALL the time, until it becomes a word that doesn’t need to be specified after my letters as an SLP.

If I could give parents☝️ONE☝️tip to support their child’s language development and communication.. it would be to ask l...
10/15/2024

If I could give parents☝️ONE☝️tip to support their child’s language development and communication.. it would be to ask less ⬇️ questions❓. Across most contexts, in any situation, no matter your child’s age, no matter your child’s neurotype, no matter your child’s language abilities.. ask less ⬇️ questions❓. Here’s why:

Questions can create communicative pressure → they require and expect a response, which can be challenging for any child, especially one who struggles with communicating. Questions can also be hard to answer, depending on your child’s level of comprehension, or understanding, of language.

Instead of asking a question, try making a comment. Comments invite a response💬without pressure or expectations. Comments provide a model for what the child could say. Comments lend themselves to broader responses and more varied communication. Let’s try some:

❌Instead of: “How many duckies are there?”
☝️Try: “There’s 2 duckies!” or “Duckies, quack quack!”

❌Instead of: “Where’s the car going?”
☝️Try: “Beep beep, my car’s driving to the couch!” or “The car’s driving to daddy!” or “Vroom vroom!”

❌Instead of: “What color do you want?”
☝️Try: “I’m gonna use blue.” or “I wonder which color you’ll choose.”

❌Instead of: “What are you doing?”
☝️Try: “I can jump, too!” or “I love jumping.” or “Jump jump jump!”

❌Instead of: “Do you like the pasta?”
☝️Try: “Mmm, yummy pasta.” or “Yummm, I love pasta.” or “pasta!”

When we talk about honoring ⭐️all⭐️forms of communication, we have to remember to apply that to all forms of communicati...
10/01/2024

When we talk about honoring ⭐️all⭐️forms of communication, we have to remember to apply that to all forms of communication development. Not everyone learns🧠language in the same way, not all development is linear📈, and not all children express themselves🗣️in the same way.
Better understanding Gestalt Language Processing, or Natural Language Acquisition, helps us better understand our kiddos who may not be benefiting from the traditional “building block”🧱approach to language therapy.
If you feel like your child may be a gestalt language processor, feel free to reach out! 😊

Children learn🧠through repetition. There’s a reason their first words typically represent favorite people, objects, or a...
01/11/2023

Children learn🧠through repetition. There’s a reason their first words typically represent favorite people, objects, or actions→ they hear and want to communicate these the most!
Find what brings joy🤩to your child, whether it’s a fun routine (sliding down the slide🛝), game (Peek-A-Boo🫣), book📕, or yummy snack🥨, and use those opportunities to repeat the same actions and the same language for as long as it continues to bring them joy.
The more☝️times you repeat a word, the more opportunities your child has to take it in and experience it in different contexts (we like being picked “𝘂𝗽”, but we also like climbing “𝘂𝗽” the slide and playing “night night, wake 𝘂𝗽”). The more times you read the same book (yes, over and over and over again), the more opportunities you have to model vocabulary or environmental sounds (think “vroom vroom”🚛and “beeeeep”🚚on every page of a truck book).
And remember, after you repeat that word or phrase or sound or song line a few times, wait✋a good 5-10 seconds✋for your child to “step in”, before repeating it again.
And remember this also → repeating nonverbal language is just as important, meaningful, and valid (gesture, sign, action, or word in an AAC device)👈📱

Taking a moment from speechy things to pause and think about how grateful I am for the people and experiences that have ...
11/24/2022

Taking a moment from speechy things to pause and think about how grateful I am for the people and experiences that have brought me here today

🙏for the human growing in me, who will be joining us March 1st 🥰
🙏for my incredibly loving and supportive husband, who has been and is my biggest cheerleader (and financial advisor🤪)as I’ve grown my practice
🙏for my amazing clients and families, who give me purpose and teach me new things every single day and who have been so caring and understanding as I navigate this new territory as a woman-owned business
🙏for my education, training, mentorships, and clinical experiences over the years, which have helped shape me into the neurodiversity-affirming, holistic, and thoughtful SLP I am today

Logo: the wonderful
Daria Gail Speech gear:
Husband: the infamous no-social media presence

Halloween👻can be a fun, magical🧙‍♂️, and exciting time for all of us- it’s important to remember that every child has di...
10/24/2022

Halloween👻can be a fun, magical🧙‍♂️, and exciting time for all of us- it’s important to remember that every child has different expectations, needs, ideas, and challenges when it comes to a holiday with such hype. Take these all into account when planning for your activities🏘👩🏾‍🦼👻or celebration, so you and your child can have a positive, fun, and safe experience!
🎃When answering your door, try to avoid❌saying, “What do you say?” or “Say, trick or treat!”, and don’t withhold candy/toys– this can cause a significant amount of communicative pressure🗯, specifically when it’s coming from a stranger and the expectations are so high. Instead, you can say, “trick or treat!” or “Hmm I wonder which candy you’ll choose” or just a smile and a “hi”👋

🎃If/when bringing your child to someone’s door, avoid❌the same language requirements, like, “What do you say?” or “please/thank you”. Try modeling “trick or treat” or commenting on what candy looks yummy.

🎃Some children may have a hard time with the crowds and noises📣 involved in trick or treating – if staying home or picking one or two familiar doors to knock on is less pressure, try that! Or maybe you can incorporate headphones🎧into a costume and/or take frequent breaks throughout the night.

🎃LISTEN to your child – listen to their words, body language, behavior, and nonverbal communication; you are your child’s best☝️advocate and for our little ones who struggle to advocate for themselves, you can help make this experience feel safe, comfortable, and enjoyable by following their lead.

🚨EYE CONTACT DOES NOT EQUAL ATTENTION🚨Louder for those in the back🙌. It’s been ingrained in us that eye contact👀 means r...
10/03/2022

🚨EYE CONTACT DOES
NOT EQUAL ATTENTION🚨

Louder for those in the back🙌. It’s been ingrained in us that eye contact👀 means respect and attention; however, many neurodivergent people express☝️that direct eye contact is extremely uncomfortable, and the constant expectation and pressure to make eye contact can be traumatic. Children can show attention in many different ways, and it’s important to let them guide us🫴in this knowing.
Try to learn the ways in which your child shows you that they’re attending to you; it could look like a turned body👩🏾‍🦼, playing with a fidget🖇, looking over your shoulder or at your forehead👀, etc. I work with one kiddo who attends best when getting sensory input on the swing or when walking around the room not looking at me at all. Some children will be perfectly comfortable looking at you and making eye contact when they are ready to listen, but let’s❌not assume❌that attention looks the same across children!

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