About Brewster Creek Speech and Language Therapy

Brewster Creek Speech and Language Therapy is a private practice offering speech and language services as an independent contractor primarily to school districts. On-site services are offered in the western and northwestern suburbs of Chicago and teletherapy throughout Illinois.

Throughout my tenure as a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), I worked with many students in rural, urban, and suburban school districts, with one common goal: to assess each student’s skill level and tailor my services to meet their specific needs.

My quest to help middle school students improve their literacy skills began over a decade ago, when I observed that they struggled to complete their classwork due to difficulties reading and comprehending passages.

At that time, most SLPs were not directly addressing literacy. As a result, compensatory strategies were developed to permit students to satisfactorily complete their classroom assignments. This addressed the immediate need but did not close the education gap. Fast forward to today, post-COVID, and this situation has escalated, widening the education gap.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has repeatedly reported that literacy skills are declining in schools. Research has shown that language and literacy are connected. When one skill is weak, it affects the other. Therefore, literacy is incorporated throughout therapy sessions, be it articulation (speech sounds), receptive and expressive language, or fluency (stuttering).

I firmly believe that literacy is crucial to everyday activities, even in our technology-based society. Without adequate language and literacy skills, we are hindering our students’ ability to transform their lives.