Speech at Home Speech & Language Therapy, PC

We are a small group of experienced, passionate therapists with a mission to support neurodivergent children in their homes and everyday environments. Through fun, functional, and strengths-based therapy, we aim to celebrate our clients' individual gifts and differences by helping them develop the skills they need to become better communicators. MEET THE TEAM MADI Madison March Hegarty, MHS CCC-SLP (Madi) is a speech-language pathologist and the owner of Speech at Home. She moved to the Bay Area in 2015 with a passion for supporting families of children with speech & language disorders. With special interests in autism and speech sound disorders, she believes strongly in the need for high-quality, evidence-based services available to children in the comfort of their own homes. She hopes to support families in the community by serving as both a clinical expert and an ally, working collaboratively with parents and other professionals to develop strategies to support young communicators in their everyday lives. Madi is a Hanen-certified parent coach in the programs More Than Words® and It Takes Two to Talk®. She holds advanced training in the motor speech intervention PROMPT (PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) and is listed in the Apraxia Kids SLP Directory. Madi is trained in Natural Language Acquisition/Gestalt Language Processing and holds basic introductory training in the social-developmental intervention DIR®/DIRFloortime®. She has a passion for ensuring all her clients have access to robust and accessible communication systems and has been trained in both low-tech and high-tech AAC modalities. Madi has received two Awards for Continuing Education from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. LEYLA Aleyda Lopez, MS CCC-SLP (Leyla) is a fun and energetic Latin-American speech-language pathologist who is bilingual in Spanish and English. She came to the Bay Area from Chicago to pursue her dreams of providing kiddos in need of speech and language services with quality care in great weather. Leyla is a warm and engaging therapist who connects well with both parents and children, and she believes that a strong team approach is critical to client success. She enjoys working with kids of all ages and specializes in the areas of language delay, articulation/phonological disorders, fluency disorders, and autism. She works hard to provide an integrative family approach with individualized treatment plans unique to each child's communication needs, as well as providing parents with education and coaching. She believes in providing a fun and interactive approach during sessions; and in addition to providing individual sessions, she also enjoys leading social play groups with school-aged kiddos on the spectrum. In her free time, Leyla loves to paint, run, hike, and travel. Leyla is highly skilled in interdisciplinary collaboration and parent coaching. She is trained in Natural Language Acquisition/Gestalt Language Processing and the motor speech intervention PROMPT. She is certified to provide the Hanen More than Words® program and holds introductory training in the social-developmental intervention DIR® and DIRFloortime®. She holds advanced training in the AAC system LAMP Words For Life. DAWN Dawn Greenberg, MS CCC-SLP is a warm and highly experienced speech-language pathologist who joined Speech at Home after more than 20 years serving children with significant communication and learning challenges in the local public schools. She is passionate about treating language, social communication, behavior, and learning challenges associated with autism; and is also highly skilled in the areas of speech sound disorders, expressive and receptive language disorders, literacy, and strategies for increasing school/work success. Dawn has extensive experience helping families set and attain goals for their loved ones that are meaningful and impactful, and she believes that therapy sessions should be individualized to maximize client understanding, access, and success-based learning. Dawn has many years of experience working collaboratively and cooperatively with other professionals to develop intervention plans and strategies that incorporate family and client priorities. She has served on multidisciplinary assessment teams and is highly skilled in guiding families through the IEP process. Dawn has served as a clinical supervisor and lecturer for a local communication disorders and sciences graduate program. She is trained in the use of the Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, and Transactional Support (SCERTS) model for assessment and intervention; and in the administration and interpretation of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). JESSICA Jessica Thompson, MA CCC-SLP, is a warm, energetic and experienced speech-language pathologist who has a passion for providing engaging and client-centered therapy as well as impactful family coaching. Jessica has been supporting children and adults with their communication and community involvement for the past 15 years as a job coach, early interventionist, and speech therapist; and she has a passion for making therapy as meaningful and functional as possible. After having recently relocated to the Sacramento area, Jessica now offers engaging teletherapy sessions for clients of all ages and varying communication needs. Jessica is trained in Natural Language Acquisition/Gestalt Language Processing and holds basic introductory training in the social-developmental intervention DIR® and DIRFloortime® and the motor speech intervention PROMPT (PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets). Jessica has experience treating children and adults with a range of communicative impairments related to various factors such as autism, apraxia, cleft lip/palate, various speech sound disorders, fluency disorders, and speech delays, among otheres. She also has years of experience supporting children with AAC and in early intervention. Jessica believes in supporting clients and their families in a way that empowers them to reach their goals and thrive within their communities. WEIXIN Weixin Ding, MS CF-SLP is a personable and attentive Chinese-American speech-language pathologist who is bilingual in Mandarin and English. Her areas of clinical focus include autism, early language development, speech sound disorders, fluency disorders, and acquired neurological disorders. Weixin aims to help families navigate the complexities of supporting communication development in their neurodivergent loved ones. She is passionate about advocating for Asian American voices within the realms of healthcare and neurodiversity, and is especially interested in the interplay between culture and caregiving for Chinese-American families of autistic individuals. In her clinical work, Weixin enjoys the challenge of integrating current evidence-based practice into sessions while maintaining fun and engagement for her clients. She strives to create personalized treatment plans which promote intrinsic motivation and functional communication by collaborating with clients, families, and interdisciplinary teams. Her clinical approach is grounded in a strong appreciation for exploring new perspectives and building strong connections. Weixin considers herself to be a lifelong learner, and in her free time, she loves exploring tasty cuisines in the local community. Weixin is trained in Natural Language Acquisition/Gestalt Language Processing, and her therapy style draws heavily on aspects of naturalistic and parent coaching-focused language interventions. She is currently completing her clinical fellowship with Speech at Home. OUR PHILOSOPHY WE BELIEVE THAT FUN IS FUNCTIONAL At Speech at Home, we specialize in helping children of all ages build the skills they need for communicating their own unique and wonderful wants, needs, thoughts, and feelings. We believe that all children have the right to access high-quality, individualized supports to help them be more independent in their daily lives. But that's not all. We also believe children have the right to have fun while building these skills--to play, to pretend, to explore their worlds. In fact, our years of experience in the field have shown us that fun is a critical part of learning, and that without it, kids miss out on meaningful connections they need to grow and thrive. RESPECTING ALL VOICES Speech at Home strives to respect and celebrate neurodivergent voices and experiences by using strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming practices. We believe that autistic individuals contribute to our community in valuable and beautiful ways, and pledge to never intentionally devalue or attempt to extinguish any client's uniquely autistic traits. We also believe that respecting all voices means honoring and nurturing communication in all its forms and modalities; and firmly stand by each client's right to access robust AAC wherever it is clinically indicated. THERAPY WHERE IT MATTERS MOST So why have your child's speech sessions at home? Research shows that children learn new skills better when they learn them in context. And since communication happens everywhere, shouldn't speech therapy do the same? Let your therapist come support your child where they need it: at home, on the playground, or even in the classroom (school permitting). If you have concerns about your child's communication skills, don't wait. Contact us to learn more about all of the places that communication can happen for your family.