Neurodiversity-Affirming Speech and Language Therapy Services in Washburn, Bayfield and Ashland WI

Hey, I’m Jess!

I am a Speech Language Pathologist with a big heart and a playful spirit. I believe in presuming competence with all my clients. Therapy is about building connection, playing (strong believer that there is no “wrong” way to play), and following a child’s lead in play.

Beyond speech pathology, I have a wonderful partner, 3 awesome kids and 3 adorable dogs. I love to be outside appreciating the fresh air and sunshine and I will never say no to a hot coffee. I dabble in energy & healing work, music, tarot and love all-things-fitness.

Learn more

“Dandelions, Like All Things In Nature, Are Beautiful When You Take Time To Pay Attention To Them.” - June Stoyer

Services

Speech/Language Assessment

At WishFlower Speech Therapy, we want to understand your child as a whole person. Assessment will involve a variety of information gathering, including parent interviews/questionnaires, home-video observation, speech/language sampling, observation in a natural environment, playing, checklists and more. Our assessment will be the start of our journey together. From this point, we will establish functional goals as a team and make a plan for moving forward.

Natural Language Acquisition (NLA)for Gestalt Language Processors

WishFlower Speech Therapy specializes in therapy for Gestalt Language Learners using a child-led, play-based, neurodiversity-affirming, natural language acquisition (NLA) framework. This approach is highly effective in children who are primarily communicating through echolalic speech/scripting. Therapy involves diving deeper into the origin of scripts, affirming current scripts and teaching new combinations of scripts (i.e.“gestalts”) to grow more spontaneous language and move through the NLA stages.

Speech Therapy will be a safe space for your child to build language. Over time, your child will be better understood by others and will be confident in their ability to express their individual thoughts and ideas.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

Is your child non-speaking or minimally speaking? Does your child struggle to get their wants/needs met? Do they show signs of frustration with their current method of communicating? For example, if they are not understood, will they scream or fall to the floor or appear visibly upset in some way? If so, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) may be a good fit for your child!

AAC Therapy involves the use of total communication including signs, gestures, pictures, music, verbal speech and speech generating devices to help facilitate functional communication. Our goal is to bring more meaningful words/phrases to your child’s vocabulary, make sure they have a way to meet their wants/needs and express themselves clearly. We want them to feel heard!! Every child deserves to have a voice.

At WishFlower Speech Therapy, we can also assist in trialing and obtaining the right speech generating device for your child, based on their unique needs and special interests.

Articulation and Phonology

Articulation or Phonological Therapy is offered for children who are struggling to produce their sounds clearly at the word, phrase, sentence or conversation level and it is impacting their ability to communicate their wants/needs/feelings or ideas across settings.

WishFlower Speech Therapy’s approach is to determine which sounds are impacting the child’s speech and to teach how to make the sounds using a variety of visual/verbal/tactile prompting strategies, child-selected materials and high repetition within play.

Generally, by 4 years of age, a child is 90-100% intelligible. If your child is 4+ and you are not understanding them, WishFlower Speech Therapy might be a great next-step for you!

Early Intervention (EI)/Parent Consultation/Programming

Are you concerned with your little one’s speech and language development? Are you wondering how you can help them gain new skills and keep up with their peers? Would you love to see your little one gain self-advocacy skills and clear communication?

WishFlower Speech Therapy offers Early Intervention services for your child (under 4 years of age). Therapy with your child will be play-based and parent consult will teach easy ways for you to connect with your child at home and incorporate speech/language building strategies into your daily routines.