Category: Speech Therapy

Meet Our Speech Pathologist, Terri!

4/15/2022

Terri, Speech Pathologist, Shares Her Story

"Little Light House is a mission, and it is an amazing place. It is so true that it makes just as much or more of an impact on our lives as it does on the kids and families lives."

“I am the speech pathologist and the lead therapist at Little Light House. I have been here pretty much since the beginning when LLH opened their doors in Mississippi in 2006. I had a home health patient, and her mom asked if I could start seeing her at this new school they were starting instead of coming to their house. I agreed, and I came with her to the very first class, seeing her once a week there. One day, the director at the time, Maureen Harbison, told me that they had lost their speech therapist. She looked at me and said, “You are a speech pathologist. Do you want to work for us?” So, I took the job and started in 2007. I have been here for 14 years now.

I have been the lead therapist for two years now. It had never been a position before then, but as the therapy team grew, there was a need for that. I guess I wear two hats. One hat is trying to really coordinate our therapists and teachers so that the kids get the most benefit out of all disciplines. I help the therapists understand what is going on on the education side of things, and then I help the teachers understand what is going on on the therapy side of things. It has really made a huge difference in the care and education that we all provide to the kids. My other hat, the one I love the most, is working with kids directly. That is my absolute love when it comes to my job as a speech pathologist.

I am in a classroom every day. I sit in on circle time to help the kids communicate, I help the teachers learn how to help kids communicate with their communication devices, do a language group in the classrooms, and help teach the kids American Sign Language. I also love doing feeding, and I sit in on snack time and lunchtime to work with the kids on developing their oral-motor skills and feeding. I also pull kids for one on one speech therapy during the day. I help teach them language or give them a way to communicate and give them a voice.

The difference between speech and OT or PT is that OT and PT can take a child and physically help them go through motions such as crawling or grasping. With speech, I am not able to physically put them through the motion of speaking. The children have to enjoy what they are doing. You have to engage with them, help them learn to trust you, and you have to make it fun for them. Most of the kids we see are nonverbal, especially when they start at LLH. Helping them feel comfortable and making sure there is absolutely no pressure to communicate is important. My job is really giving them the desire to and encouraging them to communicate in fun ways.

I make the activities fun and they don’t realize they are even getting speech therapy. For example, I have a lot of fun, sensory toys that light up or spin, and the kids love them. I may put a child on a spinner and spin them around then stop, encouraging the child to then communicate that they want more, “go” or “stop”, etc. When a child is excited or having fun, they are more likely to communicate.

Research has shown that your brain neurons fire better or faster and you make better brain connections when you are happy. I have just seen it over time that when a child is happy, those connections are going to be made and they are going to be able to communicate better. It is very very cool and rewarding to see.

One of my favorite memories working at LLH was treating a little boy several years ago who had Cerebral Palsy and no way to communicate. You could tell how smart he was. I mean, he was super bright and always happy. I got him a communication device, and by the time he graduated from LLH, he was reading and spelling with his device. He went to public school the next year, and his mom texted me one day and said, “You are going to love this.”

She told me that his class had had a spelling test that day, but the teacher forgot to turn the volume off on his communication device. Apparently, all the kids in his class could hear him spelling words, and they all had cheated off of him. When the teacher started grading their papers, she noticed it was unusual that everyone had made a 100 on the test, then realized that it was because the volume on his communication device hadn’t been turned off. It made me laugh so hard, and I was just so happy to hear her share that with me! It is hands down my favorite memory.

We have grown exponentially since I started. The number of kids we served increased, going from one classroom to now five. We have moved from building to building over the years because we outgrew every space we were in. My favorite part is that the therapy team now has six people instead of three people who only worked part-time. We have enough therapists now to serve every classroom, which is amazing. It took years to get to where we are with our staff, being more coordinated and all on the same page as a team now.

We put in a lot of effort to get our curriculum all together so that it not only was incorporated by the teachers, but also included speech, OT, and PT. Our therapists are now totally involved in the classrooms and use the curriculum to guide their activities as well. Part of our mission is to be transdisciplinary, meaning we all work together, and we definitely live up to that.

LLH has always been very Christ-centered, and that is the biggest part of this ministry, being able to teach the kids about Jesus. It has stayed Christ-centered since the beginning, and that is really a hard thing to do. We have been intentional to make sure that is the case, and that is huge.

This place means everything to me. It is my life, and it is my passion. LLH is a mission, and it is an amazing place. It is so true that it makes just as much or more of an impact on our lives as it does on the kids and families lives. I really do feel like everybody that comes through our door grows spiritually and gains a family. There is NO place like Little Light House!"

Model, Model, Model: Communication Devices

4/6/2022

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Little Light House
Central Mississippi

6000 Old Canton Road,
Jackson, MS 39211
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 13662,
Jackson, MS 39236-3662

Contact Us:
info@llhms.org
Ph: (601) 956-6131
Fax (601) 956-6143

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Little Light House Central Mississippi is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit Christian Developmental Center for children with special needs, age birth through six years of age. All gifts to Little Light House Central Mississippi are tax-deductible, less goods and services received.
NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY POLICY AS TO STUDENTS: Little Light House-Central Mississippi is a non-profit Christian Developmental Center for children with special needs, birth through six years of age. The Little Light House does not discriminate on the basis of religion, race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, or medical diagnosis (unless it affects the child’s ability to attend on a regular basis) in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, and other school programs. Some behavioral conditions may be evaluated on an individual basis. Little Light House assures that all children’s records will be maintained as confidential.

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Meet Our Speech Pathologist, Terri!

Terri, Speech Pathologist, Shares Her Story

Model, Model, Model: Communication Devices

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Meet Our Speech Pathologist, Terri!

Terri, Speech Pathologist, Shares Her Story

Model, Model, Model: Communication Devices

Categories

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