My daughter started with Susan thirteen (13) months ago, when my daughter was nineteen (19) months of age. We had been referred to her by a friend who's son had tremendous success with Susan. When we started with Susan, my daughter had almost no speech (testing in the first (1st) percentile for children her age in both expressive and receptive speech). Her growth has been amazing, especially in the last six (6) months. At her one (1) year assessment, my daughter is now testing in the eleventh (11th) percentile for her age with over one hundred (100) words and making two (2) word statements. People always seem to be telling you not to worry about your child not talking; they are just late talkers or the quiet type. That one day your child won't ever be quiet and you will wish they will wish they would stop talking. But, if you a child who is significantly speech delayed, you know that this isn't true. Every word your child has is a gift. You feel like throwing a party with every word they learn. And you bend over backwards to help them reach their potential. Susan will help your child get there. She can be brutally honest sometimes and you will probably not always want to hear it; however, Susan's comments and recommendations are always in the best interest of the child. She truly makes a connection with each child and gets to know them as individuals. My daughter loves to attend speech therapy with Susan. For her, it's all playtime.; but, for me, I see nothing but progress. Thank you, Susan! read more

From a very young age, our nine year old son was difficult to understand due to his speech articulation problems (trouble pronouncing certain sounds). He received two years of speech therapy at his public school with no noticeable improvement. Finally, we decided to hire a private speech pathologist. We found Susan in our search for a speech therapist in Santa Clarita. She quickly developed a good rapport with him. She also called us into the room after each session to go over what they were working on, how he was doing, and what his homework would be for the week. My wife and I then knew what sounds to listen for and correct throughout the week to help him build new habits. Susan worked diligently with our son and with his active participation, and practice at home, we saw marked improvement within the first couple months. In all, we worked with Susan for one year and are happy that he was able to graduate having overcome his articulation issues. read more

Susans excellence lies not just in her knowledge and great work but also her straightforwardness. It is truly an admirable quality. She tells it as it is. Also her optimistic perspective is encouraging. Can't say enough about the quality of her work. She gave our 3 year old non verbal son a voice, I only wish We knew about her sooner. We are back in England now and have not gotten a speech pathologist here that can hold a candle to her. read more

Susan had been a godsend to our family. She gave us clear insight on how to help our 6 year old autistic son when we were helpless. She is patient, diligent, hard working and her main focus is to help your child! Through this last year Susan has helped my son progress from using carrier phrases to more meaningful interactions and continually helps him with his speech. He has made great progress so far. She is highly experienced, knowledgable and has an absolutely wonderful personality. You will not meet a more dedicated SLP than Susan. Susan has shown my family so much kindness and empathy and we will be forever indebted to her :) read more

Susan is amazing! Our daughter was 2 years old when we adopted her internationally with a cleft lip and palate that had not been repaired. Not what most speech therapist are used to dealing with. Susan was the third therapist that we tried and the only one to make any progress! She has been a huge blessing. Also important to us, she has an open door policy. She lets us sit in on the sessions whenever we want and is always available to talk about concerns that we may have. She goes over with us what she is working on in each session and gives us "homework" so that we can work with our daughter between sessions. She is always very positive and encouraging with our daughter so she feels confident about working on her speech and is excited when she grasps a new sound or word. I just can't say enough about Susan. If you're looking for a speech therapist for your child, you've found the best! read more

We have been taking our 5 year old son to Susan for approx. 10 months, so I feel that we can offer an accurate and fair assessment of Susan and her skills. Our son had a severe phonological disorder that kept most people from being able to understand him. Other kids couldn't understand him, so they wouldn't play with him, and even his grandparents couldn't understand him. We knew he needed more help than we could provide, so we began looking for a competent speech therapist near us. As I made call after call to therapists, I was informed by most that speech therapy is no longer offered in most therapy offices because most people just go through the school system, because it's easier and cheaper. I talked to a family friend who has worked in the school district for years and she told me that in most schools, the speech therapists are rarely licensed speech therapists or speech pathologists. With options running out, we decided to try looking in the Santa Clarita Valley (we live in the Antelope Valley). We found a place willing to do our son's evaluation and had it completed. However, when it came time to schedule therapy, they said he would be with all different therapists. This was totally unacceptable. Since he had a speech problem, he was very shy and having different therapists would be counter-productive. Totally exasperated, I started looking for an alternative, even if it meant going outside of "in-network" insurance providers, and I found Susan. I called and left a message and Susan promptly returned my call (and, she ALWAYS returns calls promptly!). I was impressed with Susan's no-nonsense, straightforward attitude; it's exactly what I appreciate of anyone in the medical field. From the first session with Susan, it was clear to see her dedication, caring, and compassion for not only our son, but for all the kids she treats. Susan has a heart for kids and always has their best interest in mind. She has worked around our crazy schedule without ever complaining, and, while she knows speech is important, she realizes there's life outside of speech. Susan gives homework, but not right in the beginning when everything is new and challenging for the kids. The homework is simple-nothing hard and nothing that takes more than 15 minutes to compete. We also love that Susan is punctual! It's rare for providers to run on time, but Susan is aware that many of her clients have schedules of their own, other obligations, or other appointments. Susan is very gifted at what she does. She has the perfect mix of pushing our son when something is challenging, and being compassionate so he doesn't get frustrated. We've been so impressed at the progress he's making and we're thankful to have found Susan. Because we've continued to see our son's speech improving, we feel that having Susan as his speech therapist is well worth the time, money, and energy involved in getting our son to her. We drive 2 hours (one hour each way) for each 30 minute session. That's a lot of time and money each week, but we feel it's well worth the results. We would HIGHLY RECOMMEND Susan to anyone looking for speech services. read more

If you're looking for the best Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) - look no further! We have experienced many, and Susan by far comes out on top! Prior to seeing Susan our daughter wasn't really improving, and the speech pathologist we were seeing wasn't willing to provide a full diagnosis. We were desperate to find someone who would help our beautiful daughter! I researched every SLP in the area, and interviewed many. Susan was a clear winner from the beginning. Upon meeting Susan for an evaluation, she was instantly able to diagnose - and also knew what would work best for our daughter (who can be a very shy, reserved and stubborn). Our mother/daughter relationship was also strained prior to seeing Susan due to what our previous Speech Language Pathologist made us do for homework with our daughter. Susan picked up on this and has honestly even helped re-build. For that I am forever grateful. After watching Susan's no-nonsense approach during our evaluation, and I also appreciated her straight forward attitude - I knew Susan was the perfect fit for our daughter and our family. After working with a few SLPs previously - once we had found Susan we finally had hope that our daughter would talk. I have so much faith, respect and trust in Susan that we travel a total of 9 hours a week just for speech (1.5 hours each way, 3 times a week). It's worth every second, and every dollar!! The gains our daughter has made in only 5 months of therapy is enormous! I wish there was the ability to attach a video so you could see/hear the difference. Prior to seeing Susan our daughter had around 100 words that could only be understand by my husband and I, and she could not combine 2 words together. Whilst we still have a long road ahead of us, our daughter now has a large number of words PLUS many 3-5 word sentences. And our daughter can be understood by others. We are absolutely thrilled!! We cannot wait to see where she is after another 5 months of therapy. Susan has a way with children - and it's evident whilst being present with her and seeing each child she works with. Everyone adores her. It's from the lovely relationships Susan has with each child/family that enables her to work so closely with them and get the very maximum out of each child without them realising. I know my daughter loves seeing and "playing" with Susan. If only she realised exactly what she was doing. We are expected to move in 18 months time, and I'd do anything to be able to take Susan with us! read more

We love Susan!! I had a hard time finding a good speech therapist for my daughter and used to drive to Encino twice a week for her speech therapy. My daughter has mild cerebral palsy which affects her ability to say some sounds clearly. This makes it difficult for her to communicate with family, friends, teachers and even sound out words. She also has trouble with past tenses and speaking in full sentences. With Susan's help, she has made obvious improvements in all areas!! Additionally, Susan is a joy to be around and has a heart of gold. If you have a child with speech issues, I highly recommend giving Susan a call. read more

Susan Kasdorf was a light at the end of a very dark tunnel for me 19 years ago. My son's language skills were not developing properly. Doctors thought it was Autism. From the moment I met Susan, I felt hope. She is not afraid to tell you what she thinks and she was always right. She pushed my son to accomplish and she pushed me to keep his goals high. She was always there for both of us. His speech developed rapidly under her guidance. He is now 21, served in the military, is working and attending college. I couldn't be more proud of him or Susan. As a mother, from the bottom of my heart, I know he would not have overcome so much without Susan's help and caring. I give her the strongest recommendation possible. read more

My son is currently 3 1/2 and is severely speech delayed. Speech delays affect everything! When you are unable to communicate basic wants and needs your world is very frustrating...even something that should be tons of fun... like playing w a little friend... can be an unpleasant task and therefore completely avoided. Sadly, we saw our son, who is loving and outgoing and engaging and silly...start to have horrible melt downs and tantrums when it came to his inability to communicate. We spent a year and a half in an early intervention program in addition to attending a speech therapist 4 days a week, 1hr ea session. Although my son made wonderful improvements w his learning and social delays...his speech was still only 4 words, no babble and very little noise. He had a handful of signs to assist him in attempts to communicate but after a 1 1/2 ...still very few words...bubble, ball, dada, mama, nana. The therapist implemented a Pecks picture book as an aid to help our son communicate and informed us that this was going to be a very very long road! That made me mad ....As parents we wanted more! I was embarrassed and disappointed in myself for allowing a yr and a half to go by w so little progress. We had no idea what to do or exactly what we needed but I was determined to figure it out and find the right fit for our little boy. I stumbled upon a post on facebook where a family who was new to the area (my area) was looking for referrals for a speech therapist. One posted response in particular caught my eye...it was a similar story as mine w an amazing review for Susan Kasdorf. I had several amazing, informative and supportive conversations w Susan on the phone prior to even meeting her. Her passion as a speech therapist, helping others and her desire to learn everything she could about my son and his needs immediately had me book a consultation. In that 1st meeting she had my son attempting to say almost 5 different words by utilizing 1 ball game!! That was the most we had Ever heard out of our son. We worked feverishly w insurance for authorization to move our services over to Susan and started seeing her soon after. This was by far the BEST move we could have ever made for our son! The difference is overwhelming! Every week he seems to have a few more words...some are spot on and some are still a work in progress...but there IS progress! He is such a happier more independent grown up little boy now...he can communicate and the pride he has in that ability shows all over his face! The absolute best part was that within less then a month my son had enough words to communicate basic wants and needs ...more importantly, he was able to communicate that he was in pain! he said " mom, nose (pointed to his nose) and then said ouuuu (for ouch). He then pointed to his tummy and said ouuu. Later that day he came down w the flu. My son was able to tell me he was hurting which as a mom is Huge! We are seeing progress Every Single Week! Susan not only works closely w our son...she supports the entire family! Her suggestions, advice and support have given us the tools we need to be the best support for our son on a daily basis and keep consistency... even when we are not in her session. We are beyond pleased with our decision to go with Susan and our sons growth and ongoing improvements are all the proof we need. read more

I noticed from a very early age that my son had difficulty articulating his S's. At first we thought he would grow out of it and then later in school I asked each of his teachers if it was something we should seek help for. In fifth grade he worked with the school speech therapist but this soon came to an end. He is bright, articulate and highly verbal and a great student so his speech impediment was not interfering with his academic performance. I was very concerned that it would bother him later in life. I bid on and won in a charity auction a free initial evaluation by Susan. On my initial conversation with her she was so informative and helpful, but she was also clear that if my son, who was by this time in 7th grade, was not interested in working on this there would be no point in pursuing therapy. My son reluctantly agreed to go to the initial evaluation but he was adamant that he was not going to have "speech therapy". Susan was wonderful and just talked with my son for the first few minutes to put him at ease and hear his speech when he was not paying attention. She then proceeded to tell him what she heard and could see when he was speaking and then showed him in a mirror so that he could also see what she was seeing. By the end of this initial session, my son made the decision himself that he would like to work on his speech. We went twice a week for approximately three months. He always looked forward to going and the opportunity to win Susan at Connect Four! We quickly saw a change in his speech patterns. She gave him easy tools to help him identify when he was saying his S's correctly and when he was not. It has been over six months since he finished therapy with Susan and his speech remains perfect. We couldn't be more satisfied and it was a wonderful and rewarding experience for our son. He is so thankful he did it. read more

Susan Kasdorf has been an answer to my prayers. I have spent several years taking my son to speech pathologists who meant well but were ineffective in helping him improve his articulation issues. One call to Susan, and I knew I found the person who could help my son. After six months of therapy with Susan his speech has improved 100% and he will be finished with therapy within the next month. I am amazed at how wonderful he sounds! Susan is so knowledgable and caring, simply the best. Please call Susan before you call anyone else, I wish I had! read more