I cannot say enough good things about our son's speech therapists, Nicole Rosner. She has been providing one-to-one speech therapy twice weekly to our boy for nearly three years. We are sad to have to end our services with her due to a change in our insurance. I feel like I'm losing a speech therapist (for my son) and a great friend too.
When I first brought our young son to Excel Speech, newly diagnosed with autism at 18 months old, I was in desperate need of someone who could help our little guy to communicate with us, to tune in to what we and others were saying to him and to be able to tell us how he feels, what he needs, and what he wants. From the first therapy appointment until now I have been impressed again and again by how hard Nicole works. She is highly energetic and enthusiastic, not to mention very patient. Nicole took on the challenge of working with our son in a play-based setting and quickly won him over. She has been dependable (never missed any of our 250+ appointments!), trustworthy, respectful, and always professional. I appreciate the feedback she provided immediately following my son's sessions. Somehow she always found something positive to say even if he had been difficult that particular day.
Nicole has gone far beyond just helping our son speak and listen better - which in itself is a miracle! But with her constant investment of energy, love, professional know-how, and creativity, Nicole has helped him to enjoy life more. Our son's improved communication has improved our family dynamics and strengthened the bond between him, me, my husband and our other children.
During the time that our son received speech therapy at Excel Speech, he also saw a second speech therapist, Amy O'Loughlin, for about a year. Amy was great at engaging Joseph and keeping him on task. Her approach and style are different than those used by Nicole, but were also effective in getting Joseph to interact, sing, and speak. Amy is smart and friendly. You can tell that she is very invested in the children she sees. I felt like she was and still is excellent at communicating with parents and utilized various techniques to help our son progress in his therapy goals. She welcomed me to observe anytime I wanted and showed interest in any questions I asked and comments I made. I liked the way Amy and Nicole worked collaboratively on our son's progress reports. I got the sense that behind-the-scene they were very on top of reporting deadlines and paperwork required by our insurance company. Their work minimized my stress and kept me from having to worry about pursuing his re-authorizations from our insurer myself.
As for Excel Speech, I found the company to be well-run and efficient. I never had billing problems and got along well with Dana and the other front office staff. I appreciate that their waiting room was available for me and my other children while our son received therapy. read more
