In this episode of Speech Therapy Consultants’ Starting Speech Therapy: A Guide for Parents, Marina sits down with Jessica—a longtime autism professional who spent more than a decade supporting children and young adults with autism and is now navigating the autism journey as a mother herself.

This conversation goes far beyond therapy.

• What does it really mean to see the child—not just the diagnosis?
• Why “If you've met one child with autism, you've met one child with autism” matters
• Why connection is crucial
• What parents should know about navigating IEPs and the school system
• How autism can sometimes look very different from what we expect
• The difference between having language and using language to communicate
• Why a diagnosis may not be the end of the evaluation process
• Why acting early can matter—even when you're not sure your child qualifies
• What changes when an autism professional becomes an autism parent
• The anxiety, uncertainty, and pressure parents carry behind the scenes
• And the question so many parents quietly ask themselves: “Am I doing enough?”

Whether you're just beginning to wonder about your child's development, navigating a new diagnosis, starting therapy, or already deep into the special education system, this episode offers an honest, practical, and deeply personal look at the autism journey—and the experiences families navigate that professionals may not always see.

🎧 Listen to the full episode and share it with a parent, teacher, therapist, or professional who needs to hear this conversation.

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Wondering what actually happens during a speech therapy evaluation? 💬 You’re not alone!

In this episode of Speech Therapy Consultants’ “Starting Speech Therapy: A Guide for Parents” series, Marina Gulak, Founder and Director of Speech Therapy Consultants, and Sohany Figueroa, Client Concierge, walk parents through what to expect before, during, and after a speech and language evaluation.

We discuss:

✨ What happens during a speech therapy evaluation
🧸 Play-based evaluations for younger children
📋 How standardized assessments are used
👶 What the REEL-3 looks at for children birth–36 months
🗣️ How speech sound and articulation skills are assessed
💬 How vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, and sentence structure are evaluated
🗨️ What a fluency/stuttering evaluation may look like
❤️ What happens if your child is shy, distracted, or doesn’t cooperate
📑 What parents can expect in the evaluation report
🎯 How individualized therapy goals and a Plan of Care are developed
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Why parent input is an important part of the evaluation and therapy process

Most importantly, we discuss why a speech therapy evaluation is more than a test. An evaluation is an opportunity to understand your child’s unique communication profile, recognize their strengths, identify areas where they may benefit from support, and create an individualized roadmap for helping them become a confident communicator.

You don’t need to prepare your child. You don’t need to have all the answers. And you don’t need to know exactly what type of support your child needs before reaching out.

We’re here to help you understand the process and determine the next best step for your child. 💜

🌐 www.speechtherapyconsultants.com
📞 732-763-5593

Have questions about whether your child could benefit from a speech therapy evaluation? Contact us—we’re happy to help you get started.

👉 Follow the series for more parent-friendly information about speech and language development, pediatric speech therapy, evaluations, and supporting your child’s communication skills.

Educational Purposes Only:
This episode and its content are provided for general educational and informational purposes only. The information presented is intended to help parents and caregivers better understand speech, language, communication, and related topics, as well as provide general information about services, procedures, and experiences at our practice. It is not intended to provide individualized medical, clinical, therapeutic, diagnostic, or treatment advice.

The content of this episode is not a guarantee, promise, or representation of what will occur during any particular client’s evaluation, treatment session, appointment, or course of care. Each client is unique, and the evaluation process, treatment recommendations, services provided, therapeutic approach, session activities, duration of treatment, and outcomes may vary based on the individual client’s needs, circumstances, clinical presentation, goals, and professional judgment. Actual services and experiences may differ from those described in this episode.

Music licensed through Soundstripe:
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In this first episode of Speech Therapy Consultants’ “Starting Speech Therapy: A Guide for Parents” series, Marina Gulak and Sohany Figueroa walk parents through the first steps of seeking speech therapy and answer some of the most common questions families have.

In this episode, we discuss signs your child may benefit from a speech and language evaluation, speech and language concerns, early communication and pre-linguistic skills, what speech therapy can look like from infancy through young adulthood, and what families can expect when they first contact our practice. We also explain the intake process, insurance benefits verification, and what happens once your paperwork is completed.

Our goal is to help families feel informed, supported, and confident as they navigate their child’s communication journey.

Coming up next: We’ll take you inside the initial speech and language evaluation and explain what parents can expect before, during, and after the evaluation.

Educational Purposes Only. This video and its content are provided for general educational and informational purposes only. The information presented is intended to help parents and caregivers better understand speech, language, communication, and related topics, as well as provide general information about services, procedures, and experiences at our practice. It is not intended to provide individualized medical, clinical, therapeutic, diagnostic, or treatment advice. The content of this video is not a guarantee, promise, or representation of what will occur during any particular client's evaluation, treatment session, appointment, or course of care. Each client is unique, and the evaluation process, treatment recommendations, services provided, therapeutic approach, session activities, duration of treatment, and outcomes may vary based on the individual client's needs, circumstances, clinical presentation, goals, and professional judgment. Actual services and experiences may differ from those shown or described in this video.