"Of my 7 children, 4 receive therapy at The Speech Center. David has autism, ADHD, and sensory integration disorder. His twin sister, Sarah, has sensory integration difficulties, fine motor delays, and possible auditory processing disorder. Isaac has PDD-NOS, significant sensory integration problems, and articulation challenges. Joshua has a complex medical history that has contributed to his speech delay and probable apraxia, as well as his sensory integration issues.
As you can surmise, the challenges my children face are similar in some ways, yet strikingly different in others. Isaac has gone from being 75% unintelligible to about 75% understandable in less than 6 months. Before we started working with Jennifer, Isaac was extremely challenging from a behavioral perspective. He would tantrum multiple times each day when his frustration at not being understood would boil over. Now, however, he is a different child. He’s happy, affectionate, and so much more of his personality is able to shine through since his brain doesn’t have to fight so hard with his mouth to get words out. I give Jennifer full credit for this turnaround—she is SO knowledgeable about speech problems and she works exceptionally well with autistic kids. I couldn’t be more pleased with her work.
Pascale is a highly-skilled speech therapist who has been amazing at adjusting Joshua’s treatment according to his ever-changing needs (he has other medical conditions that affect his speech), and the result is that Joshua has made consistent forward progress for the first time in his life (a huge accomplishment). Pascale thinks “outside the box” in devising ways to help my son, which has not been the norm for most professionals I’ve worked with (though it seems to be routine amongst the therapists at The Speech Center). As the mother of a child who does not follow a typical path for anything in life, I find Pascale’s ability to improvise and approach a challenge from a unique perspective to be invaluable.
Jocelynn is a third speech therapist who has worked with my boys a few times too. A definite advantage of The Speech Center over other clinics is that the high level of skill possessed by each therapist allows for seamless transitions from one therapist to another if the need arises. They all work well together and are quite obviously a close-knit team with excellent communication skills, which benefits my kids greatly.
Our occupational therapist is Lynn and I could gush endlessly about her. I honestly don’t believe there is any child that Lynn can’t get exceptional results from. My kids present a myriad of challenges and Lynn works so well with each of them. Her patience is seemingly endless and her skill not incomparable, especially for children with sensory integration difficulties. We’ve lived in three states across the nation, utilizing the services of several occupational therapists through the years, and Lynn is the best occupational therapist we’ve ever had. She has helped David achieve skills that I’d given up hope for him learning, and she truly cares about my kids and their ability to succeed and feel good about themselves.
Rounding out the staff that I interact with are the women who run the front office. Sandy and Nicole are friendly and willing to go the extra mile for clients and their parents, especially with regards to insurance concerns and scheduling accommodations. They make everyone feel welcome from the moment they step through the door and both ladies always express sincere interest in my children and me, which sets them apart from many other offices.
To have my children making steady progress in the areas they are weak has brought relief to our family—as their speech becomes easier to understand and they master new skills in fine motor development and their sensory issues are appropriately addressed, their behavioral challenges also diminish and that makes life more enjoyable at our home for everyone. I am grateful to have been referred to Jennifer because she, Pascale and Lynn are helping my children in so many ways. I find it difficult to express how much of a difference in my kids’ lives these amazing women have made, but it is substantial.
The therapists at The Speech Center are unequaled when it comes to professionalism, skill, encouragement and compassion. They are all tremendous women who obviously love their jobs and care about the clients they work with. I highly recommend The Speech Center to anyone needing speech and/or occupational therapy—you won’t be disappointed!"
Dear Ms. Bills,
I simply wanted to express my thanks to you and your staff, notably Sandy, Heidi, and especially Pascale, for my recent experience with The Speech Center. During my time spent with The Speech Center, Sandy was very proactive about working with my insurance, and Heidi was excellent in helping improve my posture. As for Pascale, well, keep reading on.
I came to The Speech Center in July 2010 for injuries sustained to my vocal chords as a result of incorrect singing technique. I had begun singing lessons a year prior to that, and since I decided that becoming a good singer was very important to me, I had become overzealous in my practicing routine. Prior to coming in, I had experienced six months of pain and hoarseness during normal speech, and was diagnosed with “subtle but mature” vocal chord nodules. I had completely given up singing, and as a result of these injuries significantly impacting my professional, social, and family life, I came in very discouraged. It was humbling to realize how much my moderately dysfunctional voice had influenced my quality of life.
The moment I stepped in the door was the first step upward for me. I was immediately struck by your warm staff and inspiring interior design. Thankfully, I was assigned to work with Pascale. From the beginning, she was wonderful to work with. I was first struck with her friendly and positive demeanor, her incredible knowledge base, and her genuine interest in my recovery. She concluded my initial evaluation by saying, “You’re in the right place.” How right she was!
Over the next six months, Pascale worked with me on turning around all the aspects of my health which caused my injuries. I am sure that to her, these things were quite simple. But for me, they meant overcoming lifelong habits. She was quite understanding of this, and very patiently taught me until I understood. She always knew what needed to be done, and what exercises I needed to do to help fix my bad habits. There was never a question I had that she couldn’t answer, and in most instances, she answered my questions better than my doctor did. For these reasons, my journey was full of optimism, persistence, and confidence. I knew I was in good hands. Now I have a complete understanding of my situation. I know exactly how my injuries happened, and the things I need to do to prevent them in the future. Where I once felt at the mercy of limits set by my body, I now feel empowered and in control of what I can accomplish.
Six months ago, I was overwhelmed with how much my injuries had handicapped my life. I was unable to do simple things like read a book to my kids or talk to my parents on the phone because I had to “save my voice for work.” As for singing, I had convinced myself long before that I would never sing again. Now, thanks to Pascale, I anticipate going back to formally developing my singing voice in the next few months. As a result of being able to say this, words are difficult to describe how happy and grateful I am. Not only am I able to experience the joys of more communication, but I am once again able to dream about what I can accomplish as a singer. I imagine that my situation was simple compared to other patients that you or Pascale may see, but the effect of her work on my life has been anything by simple. In the most straightforward terms, she has empowered me to achieve the quality of life that I had lost.
I can tell you hire the brightest and best! Thank you for the work you do. I am sure I am one of countless lives that you and your staff have changed.
Most sincerely,
Matt Michaelis
Thank you so much Heidi! We so much enjoyed working with you too! You are so talented and gifted with children’s therapy and the psychology of it all. You always made things flow so well and kept Dari’s interest in every activity you engaged him in. I truly hope he can come back and work with you more. You took him through a very important part of his development and we can’t thank you enough! He obviously really likes you and that makes all the difference to him. Please let us know what his insurance has to say about further therapy. Again, thank you so very much for making such a huge difference in Dari Read’s little life! Hope to see you again soon!
Love,
Ellie Read
P.S. And thank you for your offer of continued access for questions. J
Testimonials
"Our son, Bryce, began therapy with Jennifer when he was just a little guy. That's why we were so excited when we found out that The Speech Center was opening up - Bryce could see Jennifer again! Out of our son's many disabilities, his severe stutter is the thing that is the hardest for all of us. Bryce has seen many speech therapists over the years, but Jennifer is the one who has helped him the most. She equips him with his 'speech tools' to gain better fluency. She has also helped him to obtain the SpeechEasy fluency device, which we are very hopeful about. Thanks Jennifer!"
-Rachel Olstad
Jennifer Bills and Bryce Olstad in front of his self portrait painted at The Studio of Living Opprotunities that now hangs in The Speech Center.
What Others say...
"Need help? Hurry down to The Speech Center and meet Jennifer Bills and her friendly, competent staff. I did, and in 2 1/2 months my life took a big change for the better.
In October of 2006, I was rushed to the hospital, put in ICU, and diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis. After a month in the hospital, I returned home thinner and very weak. I couldn't swallow or eat, had trouble breathing, speaking, and had double vision. I was taking several medications around the clock, needed additional care 24/7 and had nurses and therapists on a weekly basis for nearly three months. After three months, the therapists felt they couldn't do anything more for me. The home health care nurse was making out papers to discontinue service and suggested I contact Jennifer at The Speech Center. The nurse made the call and an appointment was made.
My first appointment was an evaluation and suggested plan of treatment which included a swallow test at RVMC. I failed! I couldn't swallow any of the test items. During the next two and a half months, 33 treatments and home exercises, my throat muscles learned to react in sequence. During that time of treatment, I progressed from not being able to drink a sip of water, to having lunch with Jennifer at McGrath's for my graduation.
I feel I have my life back again, thanks to Jennifer. To me she is known as 'My Angel' disguised as a speech therapist."
Sincerely,
-Robert Ford
"Our experience with The Speech Center has been incredible. We chose to use their services as a supplement to the speech program at our daughter's school when her progress had hit a plateau. The improvement in our daughter's speech was noticeable within the first month of us coming to The Speech Center. We love that she was taught that she controls her speech and her speech does not control her. She is so much happier and less stressed about trying to be heard. We are so impressed and thankful to the staff at The Speech Center and look forward to utilizing their services for many years to come."
-Chris Peters
