Laurel Speech Therapy Services

01/25/2023

Re-Sharing from my fellow lovely speech therapist Julie Price Roberts. 💕

When you have a neurotypical child, you feel reasonably assured that class participation and decent study habits will result in good grades. These kids have close friends. They get invited to participate in social things like dances and weekend gatherings. They make the teams, auditions organizations and clubs.

But when you have a child with certain differences, this is often not the case. Learning may take longer, both academically and socially. Despite their tremendous efforts, results are often a fraction of their peers and social acceptance is fleeting, setting them up for painful comparisons and bitter frustration. Instead of a fun and fulfilling experience, school can become a breeding ground for depression and anxiety, and assignments a battle ground at home. It is exhausting for parent and child alike.

This is the week of SPED (Special Education), Autism, Dyslexia, and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) awareness.

For all the children who struggle every day to succeed in a world that does not recognize their gifts and talents, and for those who are walking beside them, please let this be a gentle reminder to be kind and accepting of ALL people.

Recognize that the "playing field" is not always a level surface.

Children who learn differently are not weird. They are merely gifted in ways that our society does not value enough. Yet they want what everyone else wants: To be accepted!!

If you choose, please copy and paste this in honor of all children who are deemed "different". Our world would be far less beautiful without them.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤍

11/04/2022

10/31/2022

Friendly reminder:
PSA If you see kids during Halloween without a costume or who are obviously not from your neighborhood…. Please remember that all kids deserve to have fun on Halloween. Kids aren’t the ones who buy their costumes and they don’t get to choose where they live. Let’s be grateful that we get to positively impact their experience on the best holiday of them all.
🍬🎃🕸🕷🦇👻💀🍬

Also a reminder not to shame teenagers out trick or treating; let them be kids.
🎃 👻 🧙‍♀️🧟‍♀️🕷🕸🦇

07/13/2022

Encourage your child to say more words by using simple phrases when interacting with babies and toddlers. This gives them an opportunity to latch on to familiar words and repeat them back!

Stay tuned for more helpful language development tips!

07/13/2022

Encourage your child to say more words by pausing after speaking a word to them. This gives your child space and time to process and respond.

Stay tuned for more helpful language development tips!

07/11/2022

Encourage your child to say more words by pairing simple sign language with common words (e.g., milk, more, all done, eat). Sign language is a visual reinforcer for common words that a child may not yet be able to verbalize.

Stay tuned for more helpful language development tips!

07/10/2022

Stay tuned for more helpful tips!

05/31/2022

“Laurel is more than an experienced, compassionate, and empathetic speech therapist. As a fellow therapist, I have witnessed her highly trained and science-based methods combined with her play-based fun for kids. This structured speech training and authentic play truly speak for themselves as you watch your child make progress while smiling! Nothing compares to that, and no speech therapist compares to Laurel!”

Sincerely, professionally, & as a mother of three,

— Celeste Roberts, MS OTR/L
Occupational Therapist

05/26/2022

“My daughter, Zoey started seeing Laurel when she was around 2 years old. She had a pretty severe speech delay and would only communicate with grunts and some basic sign language. Zoey was very wary of new people, but after only a few sessions with Laurel she completely warmed up to her. Zoey was excited to go to speech to see Laurel every week! She even asks about her now nearly 3 years later. Laurel’s patience with Zoey, especially during her stubborn moods, is my favorite thing about their interactions. The relationship they built together is, even still, so special. I was included in every step of Zoey’s speech process. Laurel gave me pointers, different ways to practice speech at home, and often checked in on how she could support us. Zoey’s speech flourished under Laurel and her frustrations and behavioral problem from not being able to communicate quickly disappeared. To me, it doesn't seem like just a job for her, she is emotionally invested in your child and their progress. I would 100% recommend Laurel for a speech therapist time and time again. I can not even begin to explain how absolutely grateful I am for her and her help with Zoey’s speech.”
— Frankie F.

05/23/2022

“The best day of my life was March 14, 2019. This was the day my son, Knox, said his name for the first time at the age of four. I thank Laurel Thomas for this achievement.

I learned Knox was Autistic when he was two and half years old. I immediately put him in Occupational and Speech Therapy three days a week. Laurel worked with Knox for the next two years. As a result, he continues to make progress in his speech development. Today, Knox is seven years old and a first-grader at a CPS Elementary School. Knox is more confident, loves school, and has friends. Much is owed to Laurel for his progression and achievements.

Last year, Laurel worked with my two-year-old daughter, Knightley. She helped Knightley improve her speech development and interaction with people. Two other speech therapists tried to get Knightley to open up; however, Laurel succeeded in getting Knightley to speak to her during their first session. I was and I am still impressed.

Laurel’s approach to speech pathology makes her the outlier in her work. I saw first-hand what she was able to do for my children. Laurel put a footprint in my life as well as my children’s lives. She is professionally competent, patient, and has a genuine love for young people. I will always have very fond memories of what Laurel has done for my family. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!”

— Trelan J.

05/20/2022

“Laurel conducted a speech evaluation for our 8-year-old son and then began weekly sessions with him working on a variety of sounds that he was struggling with. She incorporates engaging activities into each session and provides practical tools so that we can also reinforce the learnings between sessions. She has a wonderful presence and we are happy to welcome her into our home each week. We have quickly begun hearing improvements with our son’s speech and would recommend Laurel to anyone we know!”
— Heather P.

05/16/2022

Speech-language disorders affect nearly 1 in 12 children.

05/11/2022