Testimonials

From Clients

1. Dear Ann,

Thanks for all the assistance you and your students offered me during the Accent Reduction Workshops. I really did enjoy the lessons. The first two weeks were frustrating as I tried to train my tongue to respond to the Palatometric techniques, but overall I really learned a lot. I will definitely recommend future prospects to your clinic.

The workshops proved to be resourceful to me and I hope it improves my public speaking abilities. Please extend my deepest appreciation to all your students (all yourrrr girrrls).

Sincerely,

Victor (adult)

 From Tanner (teen),

I have been through a lot of speech therapy and it always ends in the same result: Disappointment and frustration.

By the time the second week came, I had noticed positive results. I began to believe in myself and this program. One thing that was especially beneficial for me was being able to see where my tongue was positioned and where it supposed to go each time I spoke. For the first time, I was able to understand what my therapist wanted me to do. I will be forever grateful for the chance to participate in this program and for all the assistants who took time to help me. My friends and family have noticed an improvement in my tone, clarity, and pronunciation. After many years of searching, this was the answer to countless prayers. Attending this clinic was the best decision I have ever made.

4. Dear Ann,

Thank you so much for working with me and helping me with my pronunciation.

Wan-Ting (adult)

4. From Speech Assistants:

Dear Ann,

I really enjoyed working with you on the palatometer workshop this summer. It was so interesting to work with such a variety of clients and use the palatometer in so many different ways. Having the sessions so intensive and frequent really allowed me to see rapid improvement for these clients. I think you had a great system in place to help keep things flowing, and stay on track. I can't think of anything that I would want to change. If I am available next year I would love to work with you again.
Jen

Notes from an assistant that worked with a different SLP, not with me, but kindly provided her feedback.

Dear Ann,

I really enjoyed the Summer Intensive Therapy and being able to utilize the Smart Palate.

We had two little boys 6 and 4, and I'm not sure that they were old enough for the biofeedback to make sense to a point that they could improve their speech substantially. The biofeedback was wonderful for our older boys. They had been working on the same sounds for years and made perfect productions within our sessions. It was so exciting first to hear them make perfect productions, and then to watch them gain confidence in their speech ability.

We didn't start taking the palate in and out until the last few weeks and it was then that I saw our clients become more confident in their speech productions we had been working on.

I really liked the set up of having a therapy room and then a practice room for the clients. Our kids never admitted to really liking the extra practice, but I thought it was a great idea to help them generalize and maybe get extra pointers from a different point of view.


Really, Summer Therapy was a great experience for me, and I can say that our kids came out better from it too. Thanks for everything!

Alison

From Speech volunteers

Mrs. Dorais--

I loved volunteering with you this summer. It was good practice to interact with actual clients (especially Gregory :) and it lessened my fears about therapy. I also thought therapy using the palatometer was good because it gave the clients an actual visual to look at to improve. The palatometer technology seemed to work for patients who were a little bit older.

Thanks again for letting me volunteer and let me know if you need any help in the future!

Cambrie

Hi Mrs. Dorais!
I loved working with the Palatometer! I feel like it shows the patient how they are doing and succeeding much faster, which in turn, boosts motivation for not only them but me :) Overall, this summer's intensive program seemed to work wonders and I'm so glad that there is a room and time for the parents to get involved in their child's speech improvement. Also, the Vowel Formant Visualizer is amazing to use. Again, because it is something the patient can see on a computer screen instead of solely relying on hearing or feeling, I think sounds can be targeted and fixed sooner.

You've taught me so much- Thank you!
~Julie

 

From Observers

I was very impressed by the palatometer. I've observed different techniques for speech therapy and in my opinion I observed greater improvement in client's speech in a session with the palatometer than with other techniques. It seems the clients are able to better understand tongue placement and what they have to do to produce the speech needed. I thought it was awesome and was very impressed by it.

Meredith, From U of U

Dear Ann,

As a student observing the palatometer, I found it incredibly helpful for the client and his/her therapy. I work with students in the schools and trying to have them correct the mistakes they are making with their target sounds is very difficult when trying to explain how and where to place an articulator. But with the palatometer, the visual can work wonders as the client can see on the computer what they are doing wrong and how they can correct it by the color of dots that light up. The visual allows the client to pin point how and where they need to place their tongue, how far back they need to place their tongue, ect. I am not completely familiar with the system but just by observing, I can see how the client can make leaps and bounds in their therapy goals with this instrument.

I hope to get one in our school district because I believe it can do a lot of good and clear up a lot of confusion and frustration for clients. Thanks. Bekah From Arizona

“Ann was my clinical supervisor who had a great influence on my life. Because of her care, trust, and love for her students, I was able to gain my confidence developing my strengths and overcoming my weaknesses as a SLP. She has an insight and intuitive ability to know what client's needs are in a second by nature. When I applied her recommendations and ideas to my therapy sessions, I found that they were very effective. She made her students become such a confident, knowledgeable clinician by providing them with customized trainings. She also has a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience in speech and language therapy as well as therapy ideas and materials. I witnessed that other clinical supervisors and students who were not under her supervision consulted her regarding their therapy plans and problematic issues. She has a natural leadership and organizing ability. She taught a graduate class in which students had to go to a school for people with severe disabilities and work with them. Ann organized everything in advance that we did not have a single problem or confusion in finding our client, communicating with people who worked there, and doing paper work. I strongly recommend Ann to your company. She will be an asset to your company providing positive contributions to your organization.” October 14, 2009

Gwi-Ok Jang , Student , Brigham Young University

My sessions of speech therapy have been very helpful. I have made a lot of progress with my swallow and my speech, and I think part of that was aided by the palatometer. With the palatometer I could see on the screen where my tongue was, and where it was supposed to be. That helped me understand what I needed to fix, because I learn better with a visual. I also got lots of help from my clinicians, Ann and Nicole. They were really nice and were always ready to answer any of my questions. They also taught me a lot of good techniques for fixing my tongue thrust problem. Overall, my sessions of speech therapy have been very successful, and I would recommend this clinic to anyone else who needs speech therapy.

Thank you so much for helping me learn to swallow correctly! You've been so much help! Client, E-1, July 2009