When I met Z and his mom, things were bad. 

Z had been an easy baby, but was now 26 months old and having epic meltdowns pretty much every day. Mom was at the end of her rope. She knew something was different about Z, but she didn’t know what. 

When Z was 18 months old, someone had recommended that the family “get a speech therapist involved”, so Mom did. And then Mom and Z went to speech therapy twice a week for a year.

And. Made. Almost. No. Progress.

At the end of a year, Z was trying desperately to communicate, but the only syllable he could say was “ma”. The syllable “ma” was his only tool. As in, “ma, mamamama, mamammamama mamama!”

Then Z started preschool at a place where they really get development, and someone at the school referred the family to SpeechKids. They knew that we would take a more holistic look at Z and figure out how to make headway.

I could see how frustrated, exhausted and desperate for success both Z and his mom were when I met them for the first time. 

They were in a failure spiral and couldn’t see their way out. 

I could.

While I met with Z, Mom watched our sessions. I took things slowly and made sure that Z and I had a real relationship established before I asked him to change anything about his speech. 

I was able to show Mom which strategies would help minimize stress and meltdowns; and I was able to show Z how to move his mouth in order to make different sounds.

We had to do both: reduce stress AND make changes to Z’s speech. Neither approach, on its own, would have been enough. 

Over time, Z became comfortable with me, trusting me enough to do what I was asking him to do. Trusting me to teach him how to talk. Progress was slow, but it was steady. 

And mom was able to have some success as well. To not be so stressed out and quite as exhausted all the time.

There are some moments I’ll never forget. Like the look of extreme delight and pride on his face when Z learned how to move his mouth differently, and was able to say “mimi” AND “mama”. 

[Until the day he learned to say “mimi”, Z called both Mom and Grandma different versions of “mama”. One was MA-ma and the other one was maMA.  Z’s was a highly inflected language!]

Being able to say “mimi” was a huge milestone for him, and it marked the beginning of Z beginning to pick up speed in terms of his ability to speak clearly. 

Once he was motivated and felt safe/less stressed, everything else fell into place.

Today Z is a gorgeous teenager with impeccable pronunciation and a rock star academic record. He attends public school. He plays video games with friends. He’s been to summer camp. He’s planning on attending college. He still struggles at times with social situations - particularly when girls develop crushes - but he’s a long way from where he started as a frustrated, beaten-down “can’t do” kid.

The kids who come to us at SpeechKids are often the ones who are beaten down and frustrated. They come to us because they need a person in their life with that blend of technical skill, developmental knowledge AND the ability to create a strong bond that allows them to feel safe, nurtured and successful.

If you and your child need someone to help you break out of the cycle of failure and stress, and bring in some communication success and healing, reach out! That’s why we’re here.

All my best -

Gabriele