Testimonials

From a Professional

Straws Spell Success

I wish to share a success story that can only be attributed to Sara's Oral-Motor techniques and tools.

A third grade student had received private speech therapy last year to correct lateral productions of s, z, ch, zh, and j. Because he had made no progress, Mom requested therapy at his elementary school this year. December twelfth therapy began. The [TalkTools^®/ITI ] straw hierarchy has been in place at home for over two months now. In school we began therapy with three minutes of therapeutic gum chewing and the 'cheerio lift', as we refer to it, working up to five 50-second holds per session.

Five months later his /s/ is crystal clear. He has been able to use that sound in initial words, phrases and sentences. Tomorrow we will probe all positions of all targeted sounds. His tongue strength and position appear solid for that frontal air stream.

Yesterday, to my surprise, Mom stopped by and said "have you heard his ch, o, j sounds?"

"No, I haven't worked on them yet," I said. The student was called to the speech room and to my delight he no longer produces the other targeted sounds with lateral airflow. He repeated many words in all positions and they too were "crystal clear".

What greater reward can one ask for after 34 years in the profession than the smile on that student's face and the joy expressed in the mother's voice?

Pat Bartoletti, M.S. CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

From a Parent

Dear Sara,

I would like to say Thank you for developing your oral-motor approaches! My daughter Ashley, who is now six months old, has benefited greatly from the program set up by Renee [Roy Hill] last fall.

Ashley has Down syndrome. I came across your article [The Oral-Motor Myths of Down Syndrome] when she was two weeks old and I became very excited! I'm a pediatric OT and it made total sense to me. Renee saw Ashley in Chicago when Ashley was two months old.

I've also used the [TalkTools^®/ITI ] Drooling Remediation Program with my son and he made great changes in six weeks.

I'm using your program with some of my patients. The SLP's in our clinic have started as well since they have heard me talk about how well Ashley is doing.

Thanks for your persistence with this approach. I admire your willingness to "step out" and try something different to benefit the kids!

Sandi Fortmann

From a Professional

To whom it may concern,

It has been my pleasure to work with Alana as an infant and toddler for speech and language therapy. I have also had the opportunity to follow the Oral-Motor program design [sic] for her by Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson. I have been using this program with Alana as part of her speech program and have found it to be a remarkable asset in improving her oral-motor skills- I see progress on a weekly basis in both oral-motor areas and speech areas. The carryover techniques completed by her mother have been vital to success in all the aforementioned areas. I, personally, have used oral-motor exercises for my school-aged population and found this program for children with Down syndrome to be equally beneficial.

Sincerely,
Amy Yoder-Yutzy, CCC/SLP

From a Parent

Dear Ms. Rosenfeld-Johnson,

I cannot believe that it has been six months since I attended your workshop at the CHARGE Syndrome Conference. I actually started crying during your talk when I realized that we (my husband and I with the direction of our speech therapist) had it all wrong.

Our feeding therapy was progressing so slowly. You took your time to meet with so many parents and their little CHaRGErs, us included. [.] After meeting with you, we were reenergized. [.] I called both our primary doctor and our GI doctor for a referral to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Feeding Team. We are now being followed by a wonderful therapist out of their Mason office.

It is a 45-minute drive one-way, but we get an hour of our new therapist's time. She has a lot of experience with CHARGE kids and their unique needs. She listens to us and our suggestions. Benjamin is doing well and even had some tastes of lemonade today.

I thought of you on my drive home today and wondered where we might be if I hadn't attended your lecture or pursued what I knew my son needed. Thank you, thank you, thank you and may god bless you for all the wonderful work. Maybe Benjamin can take you out to eat at the next conference, with no tube feeding!

Sincerely,

Jane T. Von Dohre

From a Parent

Dear American Speech and Hearing Association [sic],

We have a two and one half year old daughter, named Alana, who has Down syndrome. We were shocked and devastated at the diagnosis after her birth. I started to do research as soon as I could, to find out what we could do to help her. [.] I spoke with many other parents of children with Down syndrome. Speech was always a major stumbling block and frustration for them.

When Alana was three-months old, I found Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson's website. I was, for the first time, filled with hope for our precious daughter. I called Sara's office in Tucson and was able to schedule an evaluation for Alana with Sara in three months from that time. Meanwhile, I followed suggestions from Sara's website to start helping Alana.

By the time Alana was six months old at her initial evaluation with Sara, her tongue thrust was much less prevalent, and she was eating from a spoon and sucking very well from bottle and breast. The evaluation was very informative and I knew we had found the answer to helping Alana lessen or prevent speech and feeding problems that are so common among the Down syndrome population.

Another wonderful bonus from us using Sara's techniques at Alana's young age was that she didn't develop the high narrow palate that most people think is "normal" for Downs's individuals.

Her article "Oral-Motor Myths of Children with Down Syndrome" is the most incredible information I have read since Alana's birth. I have circulated the article with all of Alana's therapists, the local health department, early intervention specialists, and anyone willing to read it. Usually after reading the article the therapists start to look into and use Sara's special ideas and techniques. [.]

We think of Sara as a God send and one of the most important people in Alana's life. We go to great lengths to try to have Alana evaluated every six months or so by Sara. I am constantly recommending Sara and her website to parents I meet that also have children with Down syndrome. At 32 months of age, Alana has virtually no feeding problems. [.] Her tongue thrust that was so discouraging to us has been nearly if not totally eliminated.

We recently relocated and Alana's new early intervention specialists here have taken notice of Alana's tongue and mouth control. They are now starting to use Sara's techniques as well.

In closing I'd like to say that Sara's research and ideas will and already have made a huge difference in our daughter's life. We will be forever grateful for Sara's dedication to helping those with Oral-Motor difficulties.

Sincerely,
Loretta Kiedrowski

From a Parent

I just want to thank Ms. Johnson for her work. My son visited her clinic in NY. My then two-year-old PDD son had no speech production at all and little oral motor function. All the speech therapists he had seen weren't helping at all. With the program that [Sara R. Johnson & Associates] put together, I did those exercises with him every night and he had speech therapy five days a week. Within about four years, he developed relatively normal, understandable speech. [.] I recommend Ms. Johnson all the time and tell people it's worth every penny I spent (which wasn't much with her insurance assistance) and all the travel I did to get there.

I want you to know that you've touched more lives than you can imagine I'm sure. And that includes mine and my son's. [..]

From a Professional

I am [. . .] an instructor in the speech and language pathology and audiology programs (master) at the University of Ottawa and very recently provided instruction on how to conduct an oral motor assessment and allowed the students to explore the various oral-motor instruments that I employ on a daily basis with my clients. Needless to say they were quite interested and pleased that finally instruments were available to measure baseline and progress in the field of oral motor (beyond costly instruments employed for research). Along with my occupational therapy colleagues it is my objective to pursue instruction in this area.

[. . .] I treated a client a few years ago with craniofacial anomalies, bilateral hearing impairment and very limited verbal communication. I initiated the [TalkTools^®/ITI ] horns and straws therapy programs as well as other OM exercises (jaw, lip...)[. W]ithin a year she demonstrated very good OM functioning, considering structural limitations, as well as an increase in speech and reading. [. . . .]

My practice often includes joint treatment with an occupational therapist and is very sensory based. Your programs complement greatly principles employed by my colleagues and facilitate co-treatment. For these reasons and my own interest I am strongly considering pursuing my studies with your organization (certification).

[. . . .]

Sincerely,

Margaret

Testimonials from Workshops (Responses to Workshop Feedback Questions)

"I especially liked Sara Rosenfeld Johnson's energy and the way that she was able to integrate her own stories and experiences to the topic."

- SLP participant at the Dallas, TX, Feeding Workshop

"I especially liked the hands-on portion and live demonstrations of evaluations and treatment methods."

- SLP participant at the Dallas, TX, Feeding Workshop

"I especially liked demonstrations and how the techniques related to lecture material."

- OT participant at the Dallas, TX, Feeding Workshop

"The instructor's presentation style was very friendly, supportive, and clear in explaining. It was a good pace for us to catch up."

- SLP participant at the Phoenix, AZ, Level One Workshop

"I work alongside a certified SLP and I wanted to gain a better understanding of all she does."

- Reasons for taking Level One Workshop

"I am a speech technician and my brother receives oral-motor speech therapy."

- Reasons for taking Level One Workshop

"I especially liked the video because it allowed us to see what to expect and the techniques we should use."

- Participant at the Phoenix, AZ, Level One Workshop

"I have had good results with prior oral-motor therapy but I am really excited to implement this new information."

- SLP participant at the Phoenix, AZ, Level One Workshop

"I especially liked seeing clients over time from diagnosis to follow-up. Also I liked that Renee Roy Hill is a clinician, not just an educator or researcher who does not see clients. She speaks from experience."

- SLP participant at the Phoenix, AZ, Muscle-Based Speech Disorders: Assessment and Program Plan Development Workshop

"I especially liked watching actual evaluation assessment."

- Participant at the Phoenix, AZ, Muscle-Based Speech Disorders: Assessment and Program Plan Development Workshop

"Excellent addition to traditional therapy"

- SLP participant at the Ithaca, NY, Level One Workshop

"I especially liked [how] the material was organized, well thought out and at the same time the presenter was creative."

- Parent participant at the Ithaca, NY, Level One Workshop

"As an undergraduate student, I found the seminar extremely easy to follow and informational. The carryover of information to my classes, internship and student teaching will be tremendous. The presentation and anecdotes was [sic] great overall. I was very happy that the seminar was geared toward students as well as professionals."

- Undergraduate student participant at the Ithaca, NY, Level One Workshop

"I especially liked the applicability of techniques for children with apraxia, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and more."

- SLP Graduate student participant at the Ithaca, NY, Level One Workshop

"I especially liked understanding and visually seeing what I have been reading in Sara's book [Oral-Motor Exercises for Speech Clarity]."

- SLP participant at the Ithaca, NY, Level One Workshop

"I especially liked the knowledge level and experience of the instructor."

- SLP participant at the Nashville, TN, Level One Workshop

"I have a science undergraduate degree and always felt graduate school was lacking something. Thanks to you I feel like I fit better into this field."

- SLP participant at the Nashville, TN, Level One Workshop

"I especially liked Renee's teaching style, her ability to involve the whole room and the information presented. It is amazing what one class can open your eyes to and enable you as a therapist to accomplish and help a child."

- SLP participant at the New York City Apraxia Workshop

"I especially liked seeing the overall program and how the individual components and technique details fit into the whole and how assessment and therapist go hand-in-hand."