Naturally Speaking San Francisco

04/27/2025

Yesterday exceeded all expectations. Last July I came home from the National FRIENDs convention with a mission to bring the One Day to the Bay and today it became reality. Thanks to this experience I have made new friends/colleagues, reconnected to a family I worked with for years, met a student I taught 11 years ago at SF State whom I wrote a recommendation for and is now an SLP, reconnected today with an SLP I first met at the FRIENDs National Conference, met an SLP that saw me present at CSHA and b/c of that heard about the One Day and her principal happily paid not only for her but her SLPA and student to come, got to experience FRIENDs through the eyes of my local SLP friends, Scott and Emmie, and was touched when Heather, my vice principal came for part of the day. There are so many more moments and I feel like I can go on but I’ll just post pictures instead and thank the following people for all the support including those on our FRIENDs committee to friends who attended, helped and invited their clients/students to come: Nic Brow, Layla Safinia, Elizabeth Oliverio, Jessica Chizen, Maya Chupkov, Paula Fraser Crosatto, Lindsey Pollack, Scott Tumolo, Bailey Levis, Britney Hopkins, Julie Oeser, Stephany Orellana,
and my school administration and facilities staff who could not have been more supportive. I am so proud to work for Las Lomitas Elementary School District. Yesterday was nothing but pure joy and b/c of Las Lomitas it happened! ❤️

04/16/2025

I love being part of the Every Waking Moment book club and getting to circle back to find out all the amazing work of my colleagues as well as Christopher Anderson’s!

What a special afternoon reconnecting with Chris Anderson and dedicated SLPs who participated in Spero's SLP book club, Every Waking Moment: Facilitating Change for People Who Stutter!

Chris shared about his ongoing projects and research related to understanding trauma within the stuttering experience.

Participants shared powerful stories about how Chris's book has transformed their clinical practice and personal perspectives. It's incredible to see the ripple effects of one book across our community—igniting propellers of SLP change!

Special thanks to Chris for your vulnerability, wisdom, and continued advocacy.

03/17/2025

It was a fun and busy weekend in Pasadena!!

03/12/2025

We are thrilled to announce registration is now ooen for the first ever FRIENDs One-Day Conference in the Bay Area on April 26th for kids who stutter, their families/allies and SLPs. It will be a wonderful day of community, connection, and learning together.

We have a great line up of key note speakers including San Francisco based podcaster of Proud Stutter- Maya Chupkov.

Hope to see you there!!

02/13/2025

ASHA has reviewed a slew of executive orders signed by the new Administration that are most likely to impact you and your work in health and education. See ASHA’s summaries of 22 executive orders and the potential impact of each: https://at.asha.org/xE

We will continue to update this information. Stay tuned to future issues of the ASHA Advocate (https://at.asha.org/xC) to learn more.

Although it will take time to understand the full impact of current and future executive orders, we remain firmly committed to advancing ASHA’s advocacy priorities, many of which support issues directly impacted by the executive orders.

We recognize the uncertainty and challenges you may be facing in your work. We’ve spoken to many ASHA members regarding guidance on navigating some of the issues they are experiencing. Please continue sharing so we can understand your experiences and support you.

Take action now to help influence the outcome of timely issues like protecting access to care under Medicaid, preserving the primary role of the U.S. Department of Education, and stopping Medicare payment cuts: https://at.asha.org/xF

ASHA’s social media platforms allow our members to engage respectfully and constructively. A previous post on this topic sparked discussions in the comment section that violated our community guidelines. To avoid that happening again, we have disabled comments on this post. We encourage you to visit our advocacy resources (https://at.asha.org/xD) and use the contact information provided to ask questions and provide feedback. Thank you for your understanding!

02/09/2025

As I prepare for my CSHA presentation Stuttered Therapy: Let Stuttered Voices be Your Guide, I am reminded that I have been working with and learning from “stuttered voices” for 22 years beginning in grad school. This is a photo of my first self-reflection working with a pws. (I saved all of my therapy lesson plans and self-reflections from this case)

This 22 year old case study has proven to me that the more things change, the more they stay the same. If I were to work with Rick for the first time today, he would have the same goals we developed together 22 years ago. I look forward to talking about his case and a handful of others during my upcoming session at CSHA.
My clients and students have been my greatest teachers and it’s time I share the priceless lessons they taught me❤️🤗

12/13/2024

ASHA Seattle 2024 couldn’t
have been any better! It was an opportunity to reunite, connect, learn alongside my friends, meet SLPs I admire and “Elevate” my knowledge and expertise to benefit my clients and students. I am grateful for the experience 🤗

10/19/2024

We had lots of fun playing with this giant slinky today!! Between the sounds, the movement and the colors it was a BIG hit🤗

10/13/2024

I am grateful for this opportunity!

09/04/2024

We are so excited to be a Spero Stuttering Ally!!

Giveaway Winners! 🎉

Our winning groups are:

👏 CrossFit TiCo
👏 Kansas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (KSHA)

👏 And our winning SLP is Annick Rivera Tumolo!

Congrats, and thank you SO MUCH for supporting Spero and the stuttering community by being a part of our 5K!

08/29/2024

Proud to be among this list of SLPs!

Does your student need an SLP with experience with stuttering?

When school starts, make sure your student has the support they need to feel confident in the classroom by finding a speech therapist who has more training and experience to help children who stutter become confident communicators and achieve educational and personal success.

But how do you know who has more training and experience?

Easy: Head to MySpeechHub.org and search Ally of Stuttering® SLPs in your area!

07/17/2024

Just another day at “the office”. So much fun was had from playing “don’t fall off the ball” to making our bear snacks. ❤️🤗