If your child is already in speech therapy but still struggling to be understood — still working on the same sounds, still not making the progress you hoped for — you are not alone, and it is not your child's fault.

Many school-age children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), phonological disorders, or persistent speech sound errors reach elementary school still significantly behind their peers in speech clarity. Often, the missing piece is not effort — it is the right diagnosis and the right treatment approach.

At CloudSpeech, I specialize exclusively in children ages 5 and up who are still struggling with speech intelligibility, including:
● Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) — diagnosed or suspected
● Low speech intelligibility in kindergarten and elementary school
● Persistent phonological patterns — sound system errors that haven't resolved
● Residual R, S, or L errors in older children
● Children who have been in therapy for years without meaningful progress
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It Starts With a Conversation

Before anything else, I listen. Every family I work with gets a free parent consultation — not a quick intake call, but a real conversation. I want to hear your story. I want to understand the journey you've taken to get here, what your child is doing now, what has worked in the past, and what hasn't helped. Sometimes I can help families understand why previous therapy approaches may not have yielded the results they hoped for — not because anyone failed, but because CAS requires a very specific kind of intervention that not every therapist has been trained to provide.

We talk about a path forward. I don't make promises I can't keep — but I do my best to offer a fresh perspective, share new ideas, and help families understand what it might look like to work together for better results.

I use analogies to help parents understand how apraxia works and why talking is so hard for their child. My favorite is the tango analogy. Imagine being brought to an advanced tango class, shown the dance once in real time, and then expected to perform it on stage that night. That might be something like how a child with CAS experiences talking — they know what they want to say, but their brain and body can't coordinate the movements reliably. The job of the therapist is like a patient dance instructor who slows everything down, teaches each movement individually, and then helps the child connect those movements into smooth, fluid transitions — not choppy disconnected steps, but something that eventually flows naturally and beautifully.
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My Evaluation Process

Accurate diagnosis is the foundation of effective treatment. I conduct a thorough evaluation across multiple sessions — typically four — to allow enough time for a dynamic, motor-based assessment. A single snapshot evaluation is rarely sufficient for complex speech sound disorders, especially when CAS is suspected.

I use a combination of standardized testing and extensive informal dynamic assessment. A low score on a standardized speech test tells me a child needs intervention — but it doesn't tell me much about the nature of their difficulties. It's the dynamic assessment that gives me the real picture. I support the child in every way I can to see how they respond, what helps, and what level of support they need. If motor planning is at the root of their difficulties, I will often see some success right away when I provide the right kind of cueing. That response is one of the most important diagnostic signals I look for.

I have had the privilege of hearing many first words during my evaluation and early therapy sessions. It is one of the most exciting moments in this work — for the child, for the family, and for me.
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My Treatment Approach

My therapy is grounded in current motor learning research and evidence-based practice for CAS and speech sound disorders. I use DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing) as my primary approach for CAS — a motor-based method that uses simultaneous production, direct imitation, and gradually fading cues as motor patterns become more automatic. I also use ReST, multisensory cueing, and real-time visual feedback tools designed specifically for teletherapy sessions.

A key principle in my practice: apraxia therapy must always happen at the word or phrase level — never isolated sounds. From the very beginning, I build meaningful words and phrases that give the child real communicative power.

Target selection for apraxia is a careful, individualized process. I choose targets within the child's current syllable structure level and phoneme repertoire, consider any co-occurring phonological patterns, and always prioritize words that are meaningful, useful, and motivating. We might start with simple words like no, me, yeah, mom, dad — or personally meaningful phrases like my cat or it's mine. Sometimes we adapt names to make them accessible — instead of "Ms. Christina" we might use "Miss B" or "Miss Tina" — whatever the child can say clearly and confidently right now.

I love using Show & Tell in sessions. When a child brings something they're excited about, motivation is built in — and I pull therapy targets directly from that natural energy, always staying within their current speech level.

We call these power words — vocabulary that gives the child immediate communicative power in their daily life. Therapy targets are always chosen because they matter to the child right now.

I recommend a minimum of two sessions per week, and strongly encourage three to four sessions per week during intensive periods. I also build in planned breaks from therapy to prevent burnout and allow the child's motor system time to consolidate new patterns.
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Why Teletherapy Works for This Population

Teletherapy is not a compromise — for the right child, it is an excellent fit. School-age children with CAS and speech sound disorders are often ideal candidates for online therapy: they are engaged, motivated, and able to focus within a structured session. Teletherapy eliminates the stress of travel, allows therapy to happen in the child's natural environment, and makes consistent twice-weekly sessions far more manageable for busy families.

I have been delivering teletherapy for almost a decade, and have developed a highly effective online approach using hands-on materials, shared digital tools, real-time visual feedback, and collaborative home practice resources.
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Is CloudSpeech Right for Your Child?

CloudSpeech may be the right fit if your child:
● Is 5 years or older
● Has been diagnosed with or is suspected to have CAS
● Has persistent low intelligibility despite previous therapy
● Has phonological patterns or residual errors that have not resolved
● Is not making expected progress in their current therapy setting
● Is ready and able to engage in focused, structured online sessions