Southern Speech, LLC

09/22/2025

NEW ADAPTIVE BALLET CLASS! We are proud to announce that Dr. Rachel Saffo will begin teaching a beginner ballet class for children with autism spectrum disorders on Saturday, September 27th from 2:30-3:30! The class will be held every other week for the rate of $25/class.

Dr. Saffo received her doctorate in Communication Disorders from Florida State University in 2010 and works with our students at Bluebirds to help them meet their social-emotional needs. It is such a privilege to have her on our staff!

If you are interested in learning more about the class or registering, please contact the studio for more information! 🩵🩰🦋

09/16/2025

Our Occupational Therapist, Mary, is trained to identify areas of difficulties or delay, in certain areas of your child’s development. An evaluation and possible therapy can be very informative in helping understand how to best support your child’s needs; whether it be at home, in the classroom, or in newer situations.

09/05/2025

Happy Work Anniversary to Mrs. Chelsea🎉 Celebrating 4 years with Southern Speech❤️

09/04/2025

The good times are rolling in feeding therapy! Last month, some of our feeding therapy clients tried their hand at making sushi and it was a success. From just touching the sticky rice to chewing the seaweed wrapper, it was an experience full of big flavors and textures.

Here is the recipe for Rainbow Sushi. If you don’t have a sushi mat, try making a sushi bowl and offering different toppings for your family to choose from.

https://thegingeredwhisk.com/rainbow-sushi-mulan/

09/03/2025

We are so proud of You, Emery❤️ She, along with her family, will be representing and advocating for the Down Syndrome Community this weekend in NYC 🍎 ⭐️

The Tanner Family stopped by Acadiana Live to share the details on sweet Emery being featured in Times Square. Emery Tanner of Lafayette, La will appear in the bright lights of Times Square on Saturday, September 6, as part of the annual National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) Times Square Video Prese...

08/08/2025

We heard that more students may be bringing their lunch to school this year! Check out this post for some helpful and healthy ideas!

07/31/2025

Core strength is so important for the development of the muscles in the trunk, including the abdominals, back, hips, and pelvis, which are essential for postural stability, balance, and coordination. These foundational skills support a wide range of daily activities and functional tasks in children, such as handwriting, self-care, gross motor play, and sitting at a desk.

07/14/2025

We are celebrating 2 years with Mrs. Lindsay this month! 🥳

07/03/2025

Ms. Mary is wrapping up her first week of OT at Southern Speech, and it’s been a great one! We have met some new friends and are excited to see some of our speech and feeding clients benefiting from the addition of OT services.

OT supports many of the foundational skills needed to communicate and participate in different daily tasks and environments. Check out the handout below to see just some of the ways!

If you think your child may benefit from OT, your child’s therapist would be happy to answer any questions😀

07/01/2025

In June, our supervisor of Speech and Feeding department at Southern Speech, Mrs. Chelsea, completed the 2 day GOMAP course! We are already using many of the great techniques and resources she learned from this informative course. Here is a little more information❤️

GOMAP: “The GoMAP (Guided Oral Movements with Active Patterning) Infant and Toddler Feeding Program is a strategic intervention activity guide intended to support providers who work with infant and toddler feeding skills.

“Identification of the problem is crucial to building the appropriate program for progress. This map helps guide your treatment with a focus on challenging the muscular work and structural positioning to build new muscle movement patterns and endurance for these patterns to be sustained throughout the feeding for optimal function.” - Amanda Chastain, MA, CCC-SLP, COM®”