LLA Therapy: Meet Mallory!

I love working with the kids and families to enhance their communication and feeding skills which impacts their entire lives.

- What made you decide to become an SLP?

I have a cousin who received early intervention services and later went on to be diagnosed with a hearing loss. She was my inspiration.

- What is a day in the life of an SLP like?

Busy. Our day is constantly changing based on who is coming for a speech session but that is what makes it so enjoyable- there's nothing routine about it.

- What is an SLP topic you are passionate about and why?

I love working with feeding aversions. I love seeing a kid try a new food and discovering that they actually like it. I know that the whole family is affected when a kid won't eat.

- What are some common signs that might indicate that a child may benefit from a Speech, Language, and/or Hearing evaluation?

Kids who are not using or combining words, have difficulty following simple directions, or have poor localization to sound.

- What kinds of school or educational problems might be treated by an SLP? Difficulty with reading or writing, following classroom directions, or difficulty answering questions.

- What advice do you have for parents who are seeking a Speech, Language, or Hearing evaluation?

Keep a list of words your child is currently saying- it helps a lot since kids can be shy around new people.

- What are some activities you would recommend for a child to practice at home?

PLAY! Play with chalk, balls, cars, dolls, pretend food. Don't forget to allow your child time to process and produce what they want to say. Don't just ask a bunch of questions without pausing.

- What is your favorite smartphone app for clients?

I love the “myplayhome” app

- What are ways you make therapy fun for your clients?

Play-based therapy for the little ones, or playing games while targeting articulation at the same time for older students.

- What is feeding therapy?

Feeding therapy is a time to focus on different features of food, including textures, temperatures, flavors, etc. to help kids expand their food repertoire. The focus is not always on getting food into the mouth either- it may be exploring a new texture with hands, kidding the food or even letting it stay on the table. It is not a time to try to get large volumes of food.

- Will my child grow out of this? Is he/she just being picky?

While all children go through phases of food aversions for some kids it is more severe than being picky. A "problem eater" is one who has a food repertoire of less than 30 total foods, will eat a food almost daily and then not eat it again, and will not eat if a preferred food is not offered.