Stories

As a former preschool teacher, Laura Clark is very familiar with how children act, behave and communicate, which is partly why she knew her daughter Audrey was "falling behind" with speech at two years old. For those first two years, Audrey made no attempt to form basic words, like 'momma' or 'dadda' and was often visibly agitated and frustrated.

"Tantrums happened all the time because she knew what she wanted to say, she just couldn't say it," says Laura. "As her mom, I would be guessing and guessing but couldn't understand her. So then she would just shut down." This carried over into her relationships with friends too. "She would tell me, 'Momma they don't listen,' and after awhile she just stopped trying to talk to other kids."

So Laura did what any mother would do. She took Audrey to her pediatrician, who encouraged Laura to just wait it out and see if Audrey developed more speech in six months. "I didn't want to wait," Laura says. "I had to push pretty hard to get a referral for speech therapy." And once she did, Laura faced another similar opinion. "The speech therapist told me to wait and come back in three months … but I knew Audrey was missing developmental milestones."

Thanks to Laura's intuition and determination, Audrey ended up coming to CCLLC. After an initial evaluation with Jenn, she's been seeing Hilina, one of our speech-language pathology assistants for the past year.

"When we came to CCLLC Jenn told me, 'We're not waiting six more months.' I finally felt validated and heard. Before I had just been fighting on my own, at that moment it felt like other people were on my team."

With other people finally 'on her team,' Laura saw incredible improvements in Audrey's speech. "She's a chatterbox now. She has sentences and words beyond what I imagined. It's been massive the changes that we've seen. She is no longer scared to try. The huge different in her confidence has been incredible to watch. Her happiness goes beyond the words she can now say."

And for Laura, it goes beyond the individual therapy sessions Audrey has with Hilina. "Hilina has taught Audrey to keep trying even when she doesn't get a sound right away, but we don't just see Hilina and leave," Laura says. "Even our time in the waiting room has been therapeutic in a sense. I'll talk with other moms and feel less alone, or talk with Jenn and the front desk staff. That's what sets CCLLC apart so much, this total feeling of acceptance. They genuinely love and care about my kid and they're happy to see her."

For other moms and dads dealing with similar challenges with their child, Laura has a message: "It feels very isolating when you see all these kids just chatting away and your pediatrician tells you just to wait. But if you feel like something isn't right, keep going until you find someone who will help you. You can find people who will fight for your child with you and be on your team, that's what I got at CCLLC."