How To Completely Change A Child’s Life

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 17:58:57 GMT

Highlighting Our Amazing Therapists

As a full-time SLP at Journey School, Amy is a busy lady! She works with more than 25 students to ensure that each of them has their communication potential met. Amy is finishing up her Clinical Fellowship and she gave me answers to some of our favorite SLP/SLPA questions!

Here is Amy:

Why did you become a speech therapist?

My decision to become a speech therapist was ignited by my professional experiences in the classroom. I worked in an inclusion setting, co-teaching with a special education teacher and then as a reading and dyslexia interventionist. I came to realize my preference for focusing on functional language and learning skills. I wanted to build upon a child’s current abilities, using their strengths as a focal point for future growth and development. In addition, as a mother, I was seeking a career that offered autonomy, flexibility and support for a healthy work-life balance.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given in this field?

The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given related to working as an SLP is to be spontaneous.

What’s some advice you’d give to an SLP/SLPA possibly wanting to join our team?

The advice I would give an SLP/SLPA who wants to join our team of superstars is to consider the needs of the child and family when implementing therapy plans and activities & to collaborate with families as well as other professionals. We can learn so much from one another.

What would you be doing if you weren’t an SLP?

If I weren’t a speech therapist, I’d probably be a music therapist or children’s book author. Actually, when considering graduate school options, I looked into a music therapy program then decided on speech instead.

What’s your favorite area of speech to work in?

My favorite area of speech therapy to work in is language.

What’s your favorite speech therapy toy/activity?

My favorite speech therapy toy/activity is any child-led, play-based activity. Language (and therefore speech and communication) is available everywhere. So when a child chooses the toy or activity, I prefer that toy or activity. The structure of the therapy sessions expands from there. I find when they are intrinsically motivated by simply having fun, then I have fun too!

What’s the most inspiring or amazing thing about your job as an SLP?

The most inspiring part of my job is witnessing resilience from both children and their families as they learn and grow.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned as an SLP?

The most important thing I have learned while working as a speech therapist is the value of honoring and respecting neurodiverse experiences.

If you were a superhero, what would you be?

If I were a superhero, my superpower would be teleportation.

Name three things you always have in your speech bag/office!

In my speech bag, I have some playdough, a floor puzzle, a stuffed animal, and a picture book.

We are so appreciative of Amy and her love for this career and her school team! Thank you Amy for all you do!

If you are considering a school in North Houston for your little one with special or unique needs, consider Journey School . They are also linked in our Resource tab.

Learn more about being an SLP or SLPA, this series of Team Interviews will be the one to keep up on! Anyone qualified or that is interested in being an SLP or SLPA, submit your resume to Speak Speech Therapy (info@speakspeechtherapy.com).

How Speak Speech SLPAs Can Inspire Your Future

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 17:52:38 GMT

Highlighting Our Amazing Therapists

On our Instagram, we are highlighting our amazing therapists that work with Speak Speech and make it what it is. As we have been sending out interview questions and getting amazing responses back, I realized that we needed to highlight Lupita Rodriguez in a special way.

Lupita has helped to strengthen our clinic into what it is today! She sees a full caseload of kiddos in the Daisy Kids Care clinic, as well as keeping up on the home health side with notes and other operational tasks. Our therapists provide such thoughtful responses.

Here’s Lupita:

What made you become an SLPA?

I actually became a speech therapist without ever really knowing about the profession. I was going to school for nursing and met a classmate in my sign language class who invited me to go to Texas A&M University – Kingsville because she didn’t want to go alone. Little did I know that, that same day I would be signing my lease and enrolling for their speech therapy program in Kingsville lol! I actually fell in love with the profession when reading more about it and meeting people who had taken speech therapy or knew of people talking speech therapy.

What’s your most trusted advice you’ve gotten from a friend or team member?

I’ve got so much good advice from SLP’s, SLPA’s, OT’s, COTA’s, PT’s, PTA’s since I began my career, that it’s hard to choose just one. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve been given related to working as a SLP-Assistant is to remember that any progress is good progress. We have to remember that every child learns differently and at a different pace. And that is OKAY! Every now and then I look at my kiddos and wonder to myself… Am I doing the best I can for my kiddo? Am I doing enough? I don’t feel like we are advancing. An old supervisor told me, “when you feel like you haven’t helped this child in any way or feel like you are stuck, go back to their first therapy visit and read your notes”. Every time I’ve done this, I can see the progress they have made with me and at the same time, it reminds me of techniques that I may have forgotten about that I can either try to use with them again or that may work with a kiddo who I feel may benefit from that technique.

What’s some advice you’d give to someone who maybe wants to join team Speak Speech?

Some advice I’d give to anyone wanting to join our amazing team is don’t be afraid to ask questions. We sometimes feel like we don’t want to sound like we don’t know what we’re doing or are embarrassed that we ask the same question over and over, but everyone is so amazing and is more than willing to help. Also know that Rachelle will always have your back during rough times. Rachelle is such an incredible blessing to me. My old agency had unfortunately just closed down a few years ago. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, being a single mom. I was blessed that Valerie, an occupational therapist I used to work with, helped me find Rachelle. Rachelle gave me a caseload to work with while all of my kiddos transferred services so that I could continue providing for myself and my son. She has been a wonderful supervisor and friend to me. She is always willing to help in any way that she can. We also have so many resources that can help in your sessions, monthly meetings, and best of all you are able to work the schedule you want without being micromanaged.

If you weren’t an SLPA, what would you be?

If I weren’t such a great speech therapist; I’d probably be trying to continue to pursue a career as a nurse.

What’s your favorite area of speech to work in?

If you would have asked me when I first started it would have been articulation. Two years ago it would have been language, but my favorite area of speech therapy to work in today is social skills and pragmatics. I love to learn the different ways that different children learn, how they socialize with peers, and their different personalities once they open up to you. My favorite thing to hear from my kids is “I have a new friend” after working so hard to crawl into their world and help give them the confidence to talk to other kids and sometimes even their own families. It’s really a great feeling to know you were a part of the reason they are expressing themselves and talking to people.

My favorite speech therapy toy is…

Definitely the barn and animals. You are able to use it for prepositions, identifying, describing objects, articulation, quantitative concepts. My favorite thing to do when playing with the barn is articulation though. My kids and I will name those animals depending on which phoneme we are working on. If we are working on D, S, T, L, we will name the animals “Didi, Sam, Tom, Larry”. You would be impressed at the imagination some of these kiddos have. My favorite activity is definitely anything from teachers pay teachers and boom cards. There are so many activities and ideas you can take from those 2 websites.

The most inspiring thing about my job is…

The amount of support that some of these families provide for their children is unbelievable! Some of these parents will bring their kids to therapy every day if they have to, ride buses/taxis to get to therapy, advocate for their kids to educate people about their diagnoses, and find summer camps to try and keep them on a schedule during the summer also.

The most important thing I’ve learned while working as a speech therapist is…

That you have to learn how to manage your time from day 1. Figure out what works for you. Buy yourself a planner and keep your schedule organized. Try to schedule your kiddos at the same time you see them every week. These kids need consistency and keeping them on a routine will work so much better for you, your kiddo, and their family. If you get into the habit of learning about your families, learning how to manage your time depending on the family you are working with, you will have better control of your time. Every minute counts!

If I were a superhero, my superpower would be…

The ability to hear people from across the room. The fact that I worked at a hospital when I was younger may be the reason for that. When you have someone talking to you in a low voice from across the nurse’s station, your ears get trained to hear far distances.

What’s in my speech bag?

1. Search and find books.
2. My iPad, you never know if you’ll get a last-minute visit in. If I forget my super duper fun decks I have them all downloaded onto my iPad.
3. My trinkets! I have purchased so many! I highly recommend y’all visit Etsy for some if you don’t already have some. You can alphabetize them, put them into categories and sort them by colors. I put mine in a jar with straws so the kids have to dig into the jar. They do come in different sizes. I buy the really small ones and just keep an eye on the littles. I make sure I’m right next to them while using these.

Here at Speak Speech, we love Lupita and her heart for the people she works with! SLPs, SLPAs, and Kids! A big thanks to Lupita for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer these Q’s for me. :)

If you’d like to learn more about being an SLP or SLPA, this series of Team Interviews will be the one to keep up on! Anyone qualified or that is interested in being an SLP or SLPA, submit your resume to Speak Speech Therapy (info@speakspeechtherapy.com).

speakspeechtherapy135548

How To Completely Change A Child’s Life

Highlighting Our Amazing Therapists

Why did you become a speech therapist?

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given in this field?

What’s some advice you’d give to an SLP/SLPA possibly wanting to join our team?

What would you be doing if you weren’t an SLP?

What’s your favorite area of speech to work in?

What’s your favorite speech therapy toy/activity?

What’s the most inspiring or amazing thing about your job as an SLP?

If you were a superhero, what would you be?

Name three things you always have in your speech bag/office!

How Speak Speech SLPAs Can Inspire Your Future

Highlighting Our Amazing Therapists

What made you become an SLPA?

What’s your most trusted advice you’ve gotten from a friend or team member?

What’s some advice you’d give to someone who maybe wants to join team Speak Speech?

If you weren’t an SLPA, what would you be?

What’s your favorite area of speech to work in?

My favorite speech therapy toy is…

The most inspiring thing about my job is…

The most important thing I’ve learned while working as a speech therapist is…

If I were a superhero, my superpower would be…

What’s in my speech bag?