Abby Barnes, M.S., CCC-SLP
When McKenzie took her 4-year-old son, Bryson, to his annual checkup, the pediatrician spent time talking with both of them. But soon the doctor asked McKenzie a question: “Do you always translate for Bryson?”
McKenzie realized she was explaining what Bryson was saying to the doctor, and she often did this in other situations, too. The pediatrician then made a recommendation for speech therapy–something that hadn’t really been on McKenzie’s radar.
Although she felt unsure about trying something new, McKenzie decided to take a leap of faith to help Bryson improve his speech. She found Expressable online and began the process to start speech therapy.
Thanks to his hard work, his connection with his speech therapist, and support from his family, Bryson has seen incredible growth. His speech is now much easier to understand. Here’s how it happened.
Knowledge is power
Take 5 minutes to check your child’s speech milestones with our free online screener.
Start the screenerIs it speech therapy, or “game time”?
Bryson began speech therapy at Expressable with an evaluation. This helped determine the goals he needed to work on. Bryson was identified to have an articulation delay. An articulation delay is when a child is not demonstrating the ability to produce sounds correctly, or as clearly as they should for their age.
Bryson’s speech therapist, Vicki Zilbergleyt, M.S., CCC-SLP, found that helping Bryson slow his rate of speech and improve his pronunciation of the /z/ sound would benefit him the most. So they set out to work! But speech therapy wasn’t “work” in Bryson’s eyes. Vicki knew how to keep a 4-year-old engaged and make the sessions fun. She always had puzzles on hand–which were some of Bryson’s favorites–as well as other games and activities centered on things he liked, like dinosaurs, tractors, and trains.
As Vicki says, “Bryson is very easy to please and has a great, go-with-the-flow attitude.” He was always excited for any game they played. In fact, he called speech therapy “game time with Ms. Vicki.” To him, that’s what it was!
Learning to speak more clearly–and be understood
McKenzie reports that the way Bryson talked was affecting his everyday life. “Socially it was impacting him. As kids got older, they were talking more, but they would still have to ask Bryson, ‘What did you say?’”
To help with this, Vicki taught Bryson about “turtle talk” and “rabbit talk.” Turtle talk means slowing down your speech, similar to the slow way a turtle moves. Rabbit talk is talking too quickly, which can affect how easily speech is understood. Whenever Bryson slipped back into “rabbit talk” mode, Vicki would prompt him to move more toward "turtle talk.”
Other kids would have to ask Bryson, ‘What did you say?’
Learning the /z/ sound took consistent practice. Bryson responded well to frequent repetition of the sound, as well as listening and watching Vicki model the sound for him.
It was a couple months of hard practice, but once it clicked, it really clicked. Bryson took off with incredible progress. He was able to move from practicing the /z/ sound on its own, to then using it in words, phrases, sentences, and conversation.
Witnessing progress in real time
McKenzie appreciated that Bryson’s treatment plan included goals with potential dates for when he might meet them. She says, “Vicki laid out expectations upfront that it may take a couple months to get the /z/ sound. It gave us realistic expectations.”
Throughout therapy, McKenzie sent Vicki frequent updates and video messages showing Bryson’s progress. Vicki remembers the video she received of Bryson making his /z/ sound for the first time. Everyone was ecstatic!
Bryson’s family recently visited with friends they hadn’t seen in a few months. Their friends commented on how clearly Bryson was speaking since they’d seen him last. This was amazing feedback for McKenzie to hear, and it fit with the progress she’s been seeing in Bryson’s therapy sessions.
Bryson is now moving on to other sounds and skills in speech therapy. He’s working on the /sh/ sound, and Vicki reports that he’s doing amazing work!
Find the right speech therapist for your needs
Get startedFamily involvement leads to faster gains in speech therapy
Much of Bryson’s improvement is due to how consistently his mom practices with him at home. Parent and caregiver involvement is one of the biggest keys to success in speech therapy.
McKenzie attends sessions alongside Bryson so she can learn what he’s working on and get tips to help him at home. She practices with word lists that Vicki provides, along with other home assignments. “Vicki plans his home practice around what he’s really into. He loves the zoo and puzzles, and so that helped incorporate his /z/ sounds.”
McKenzie attends sessions with Bryson so she can learn what he’s working on and how to help him at home.
McKenzie uses the Expressable patient portal to access all of Bryson’s home practice activities. The portal includes Learning Paths that explain the strategies used in therapy. It also offers how-to videos and at-home exercises that make it easy for families to practice between sessions, keeping the learning going all week long.
What to do if you think your child needs speech therapy
If you’re considering speech therapy for your child, don’t wait to take the next step. You can take our free speech screener to see if your child might need an evaluation.
The sooner you talk with a professional, the better. It can be tempting to “wait and see” if your child will make progress on their own. McKenzie knows this from experience. Many people she knew said, “Oh, just wait and see if he improves.” But now, McKenzie is glad she took the step to start with Expressable. She sees how much Bryson’s confidence has grown along with his ability to speak more clearly. She also points out all the techniques Vicki uses and how she wouldn’t have known to use them herself.
It's not always easy to tell if your child is on track with their speech. To learn more about the communication milestones expected at different ages, check out these articles:
Get matched with a speech therapist today
If you’re concerned about your child’s communication skills, contact us here at Expressable to schedule an evaluation. We have an incredible team of speech therapists ready to work with your family and help your child share who they are with the world!
How Expressable Can Help
Concerned your child isn't reaching age-expected milestones? Looking for communication support from a professional? Expressable is a national online speech therapy practice serving children and adults. We treat all major areas of communication and feeding, offer flexible hours including evenings and weekends, and accept most major health insurance plans. We’re proud to have earned more than 3,000 5-star reviews from our clients (4.9/5 average).
Our therapy model is centered on parent and caregiver involvement. Research proves that empowering caregivers to participate in their loved one’s therapy leads to better outcomes. That’s why we combine live, 1-on-1 speech therapy with personalized education and home practice activities for faster progress.
Communication is more than words. It’s how we share how we feel and show who we are. We’re here to help you or your child do just that.
