We have been celebrating Speech Therapy month at Milemarkers this May!
What does pediatric speech therapy look like?
"Pediatric speech therapy helps treat children with communication challenges, both in how they speak and how they understand communication. Speech therapy also treats oral motor concerns, such as chewing and swallowing, as well as articulation, auditory processing and social skills.
The first step is usually an evaluation with a speech-language pathologist to determine what challenges your child is facing. SLPs will work with you and your child to create a customized plan to help address the issues." (https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/HealthU/2019/10/14/signs-your-child-should-see-a-speech-therapist#.Yo_JC1TMK3A)
Milemarker's is proud to have several wonderful Speech Therapists and Assistants on our team:
My name is Hannah Johnson. I graduated with a BS Communication Sciences and Disorders in May 2022 and will graduate with an MS in Clinical Speech Language Pathology in June 2024. I am from Lake Havasu City, AZ (Born and raised)! I was inspired to become an SLP to have the ability to make a positive impact in the lives I serve. Helping individuals find their voice and interact with the world is my passion. I chose to work at Milemarkers because it is an interdisciplinary clinic, meaning, you can work with other disciplines to deliver comprehensive services to the members. It is rare to have the opportunity to deliver comprehensive therapy that is family and community oriented. My career is in the early stages, and I am still very interested in all the areas of speech-language pathology, but I am finding that treating and learning about neurogenic disorders, craniofacial abnormalities, infant feeding and swallowing, and early language development and disorders spark my interests! In my free time I like to spend time with my boyfriend and family, travel, be artistic, enjoy the outdoors, and ride my dirt bike!
My name is Lauren Cooper and I graduated from California State University, Sacramento in 2019 with my Bachelor’s in Communication Sciences and Disorders. I am from Redlands, CA. I have always loved language and just communicating with people, so this just seemed so natural to me. I have always wanted to make a difference so when I saw that certain people in my life did not have the ability to receive speech therapy that was necessary for them, it called my heart into action to help others discover and strengthen their own voices. I am definitely passionate about humor and just making people laugh. I am also passionate about social communication within the speech therapy world, including conversation, emotional recognition, and social problem-solving skills. I enjoy cooking, trying new recipes, watching football (especially live in the stadium) watching tv/movies, swimming, playing board games and spending time with my family, friends, boyfriend, and dog.
My name is Tiara Tagud. I am a Speech Language Pathologist and graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology. I am from (and currently live in) Utah!! I have a nephew with Autism, and I fell in love with these individuals and wanted to learn more about how to support them. I love getting to know individuals with Autism and understand their perspective. I have recently had experiences with individuals with Down Syndrome as well and am quickly becoming passionate about this area as well. I am married to a firedancer from Yap Island (yes, it's a real place), have two little boys, and 3 Golden Retriever/Labradors. We often spend summers attending Sam's firedancing performances on the weekends and the evenings are spent with Sam and our 2-year-old practice spinning their firesticks to island music in the house or backyard (not lit on fire of course). When I'm not keeping up with this crazy crew, I love to attend Zumba Classes and play Volleyball (especially outdoor doubles). I also serve on the board for a nonprofit organization training service dogs for people with a variety of disabilities. I love learning from our trainer to train our own dog to be a service dog as well and love serving on the board and getting to help the other members in the group.
My name is Cassidy Phoenix and I am a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). I graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2017 with my Bachelors in Speech-Language Sciences and Technology. While going to school, I job shadowed Colleen, the co-owner of Milemarkers, and instantly fell in love with the job! After graduation, I worked as an SLPA at Milemarkers for three years and my love for helping kids grew even more. As I worked, I received a Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders degree from Baylor University to officially become an SLP! I have always had a passion for working with kids and I enjoy spending time with my husband and our doggies. We love to go to Disneyland, go on RZR rides, and are always traveling to new places!
My name is Carissa Farrington, SLPA. I graduated with my SLPA certificate. I am currently finishing my bachelors in Speech and Language pathology and my bachelors is Psychology. I have 5 classes left. Then I hope to apply to the masters program. I have been providing speech therapy for about 7 years and am eager to learn as much as I can. I am from California. I moved to Arizona when I was 17 years old, right after I graduated from high school. Three of my kids received speech therapy. One of their speech therapist inspired me and said “why don’t you try speech therapy?” So I did. I was already in college so I just finished the classes I needed to. I love psychology also. I want to learn more about how the brain works and how to address behaviors during therapy. I love connecting with the kids and the families. I love giving ideas to help make life easier. I like to spend time with my family. I love to sit in my spa and relax. I like to play video games. I enjoy trying new recipes. I have 6 kids and 3 grandkids. My husband and I have been married 23 years in May. We were foster parents for 15 years and adopted 2 of our kids.
My name is Taylor Sloan. I am an SLPA. I graduated from NAU in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Communication sciences and disorders as well as my Speech Certificates. I was born in Flagstaff, AZ, but I have lived in Kingman my whole life. I was inspired to become a therapist because I have always wanted to work with kids, and I wanted to make a positive impact on their lives. I was drawn to Milemarkers because of the close bonds that are developed with clients and their families. My favorite population to work with is preschool through elementary age. My favorite things to do in my free time are hang out with my husband, go shopping, and read. My husband and I are on our greatest adventure yet and are expecting our first baby in September.
My name is Colleen McShea. I am originally from Groveland, Illinois. I received a Master's degree from Texas State University in 2003 and a Bachelors degree in communication disorders from Illinois State University. What inspired me to become a speech pathologist is my father told me to figure out what I love to do and then figure out how to get paid for it! I love to talk so a speech pathologist seemed perfect! I am happily married to a battalion chief/paramedic and a mother to three children. Deegan is 11, Corbin is nine, and Tinlee is six. We love to boat, Camp, and watch our kids play sports!