Stories

What do you get when you combine the expertise of speech therapists, the tenacity and commitment of parents for their child's wellbeing, and the utility of an AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) device? Just ask Nancy Ramirez, mom to Brian Ramirez, who began speech therapy at three years old. "Brian was completely nonverbal when he started speech therapy," said Nancy. "Now he is communicating with us, with his siblings, and is part of our conversations. The behavioral issues that he had completely went away."

Brian's speech therapists worked closely with Nancy over the past few years, teaching her exercises and practices to implement at home that would help Brian's speech. "That made a huge difference," said Nancy. "There's only so much that my son can learn in speech therapy sessions that are 30 minutes, three times per week. He needed to practice and have things modeled more consistently throughout the week. So, when his therapists gave me exercises to do at home with Brian, we would work on that and come back and reassess with them. I could tell them what I was having trouble with, and they would give me different strategies to try. This was so instrumental in supporting my son at home."

Teamwork between therapists and parents is essential to seeing progress, and is at the heart of our family-centered approach to speech therapy at CCLLC. One of the focal areas that Nancy was able to support Brian with at home was pushing him to complete his words. Brian often started saying a work but would "drop off" vocally near the end. His speech therapists showed Nancy where Brian's tongue should be placed in order for him to finish pronouncing a word. Learning the specifics of this, Nancy was able to support and push Brian in finishing his words not just during therapy sessions, but at home, where he spent most of his time.

This type of support not only allowed Nancy to access more communication with her son, but also access more of who he was, such as his personality and interests, which in turn deepened their relationship. "Near the beginning of his speech therapy journey, Brian could point to things in his environment to communicate, but that's it. I would think, 'What does he want to talk about?' I didn't know what my son's interests were. He didn't have any way of telling me. We couldn't even ask him what he preferred to eat," Nancy remembered tearfully. "The first time he told me he wanted to eat at McDonald's, I thought 'Oh my word I know what he wants!' When he told me he wanted to go to the store to buy a certain toy, it brought me to tears. I could know my son more now."

While Brian was making significant progress as he continued in speech therapy, the demands on improving his speech increased when he started attending school. This is when Brian started seeing a new therapist at CCLLC, Leah Kohl, who introduced an AAC device to Brian and his family. Using the AAC device unlocked an even deeper level of communication between Brian and his family members. "Now he is part of our conversations," said Nancy. "Before, he was more so coexisting next to us, but now is a part of the family discussions. He is interacting with his siblings, and they include him more now in their play." Leah also continued working with Nancy on how she can best support Brian at home. "I can really lean on Leah with whatever difficulties I am having with Brian's speech and know she will help give him the tools he needs to communicate," said Nancy. And thanks to Nancy's commitment to practice speech exercises and use different strategies at home, Brian's progress has been significant over the years. From a nonverbal toddler to a boy who thrives in both his communication at home and in school, that's the power of speech therapists and parents working together.