Laura Shipley, M.S. CCC-SLP

Since 2009, I have worked with hundreds of children and families in private practice, the public school system, and home health. Over the years, I have seen first hand the impact of early intervention. The focus of my work is to provide relationship-based, child-led, and family-centered services within a child's home and community. I live in the beautiful East Bay with my husband and two young children. In my practice, I along with the child's support system (typically parents, but also caregivers, grandparents, and siblings), join the child in play, and refrain from explicitly directing play. As a result, a strong bond based upon trust and respect is formed during sessions. From this respectful position, speech and language development can be targeted in a natural and minimally invasive way. The learning which results from intrinsically motivated, strengths-based communication is robust and lasting. The participation of family members/caregivers in therapy sessions is essential. The vast majority of the growth in a child's speech and communication skills occurs between sessions, rather than within. For this reason, I require the child's support system to be active participants in all sessions in order to feel empowered to support communication development on a daily basis.