Clear Speech Testimonials

We started working with Heather when my son had just turned 3 years old and the regional center was turning services over to the district, which created a gap in our services. We weren’t sure if he had speech delays or if it was something more global. He continued to babble in jargon and for the most part was non-verbal. Within 3 months of 2x week therapy, Heather had my son speaking two word sentences and focused on articulation and putting together commands to request his wants. Within 6 months, he had expanded his vocabulary and was clear with his wants and needs and the jargon started to turn into real words. After 1 year, there was no jargon and Heather was excellent at continuing to challenge him with word differentiation, music therapy, interactive i-Pad exercises, shape assortments, yes/no answers and responsiveness. She also gave us recommendations of how to continue to take the lessons/therapy into account in our day to day interactions with him. We knew that we needed someone who would remain diligent and patient, yet also be creative during a speech therapy session as my son has a low attention span and is hyperactive. It can be tough working with an active three year old (now he is five!), but Heather remained patient and understanding, week after week. Every time she came, she brought new and different ways for our son to learn. One of the best parts of our time with Heather was seeing how happy she made our son. When she arrives he runs back and forth and smiles and giggles with anticipation. It was important to us and his speech development that we keep the same speech therapist, and Heather remained committed to our goals and his progress. Heather has familiarity and understanding of his strengths and weakness, as well as managing his emotions during the sessions, and because of this continuity of therapy with Heather, he has made significant progress. Looking back after 2.5 years of therapy with Heather, we are so proud of how much progress he has made and grateful of Heather's excellent work with him. There are still challenges, and she continues to break down goals into sizable chunks. Last month, she helped him better understand and verbalize after recognizing a “he” or a “she” and integrated knowledge of shapes and colors. To be an effective speech therapist, it requires a combination of effective verbal exchange, motivation, O/T and ABA. Our family highly recommends making the choice for speech therapy. It has made a world of difference for us. Thank you again for everything!

My son has been receiving speech services since he was about two-years- old. He’s now nine. In the last seven years he’s had several therapists, some good, some who were sufficient, and a couple who were superb. Heather Elam is definitely one of the superb. Heather didn’t just meet the goals defined by our son’s assessments she worked to excel beyond them. She went above and beyond what was required of her and partnered with us to secure the help he needed to feel successful and confident in his work. We are forever grateful for her help!

Heather has always gone above and beyond to help my twin daughters with their speech issues that are because of their medical issues. I can’t say enough great things about her and her willingness to help figure out their unique speech and learning issues. My girls have had several speech therapists but they love Heather the most! My girls love Heathers ability to have fun and laugh with them as they are learning. Heathers approach with my girls was just what they needed, she is kind & funny (but serious when she needs to be) and she really has a genuine love for her kids. Heather integrates fun learning activities in the form of board games, fun educational apps, worksheets, and flash cards. I really appreciated how Heather reached out to my twins differently and assessed which auditory or verbal language of learning was best for them. The time we have spent with Heather, my girls have soared with their goals. Heather even took the time to teach me (mom) the techniques that would help my daughter with her R sounds! We couldn’t have asked for a better speech therapist.