My son is autistic and although we were able to diagnosis and begin interventions with him quickly, he was non verbal up until about 4 yrs old. He had been in speech therapy early on with minimal progress, and when Lisa was recommended to us, at around the time he turned 4, he was still basically unintelligible to anyone but myself and his mother. His communication consisted mostly of primitive behavioral expressions, or squeaks, and sometimes high pitched noises. Language and words completely evaded him…

Fast forward a year –

Now my son is verbal. He talks and says what he wants, is constantly improving and able to speak in sentences. People understand him, and he’s able to tell us what’s going on, express himself, and even talks at times about how he’s feeling. He enjoys his sessions with Lisa, which had not been the case in the past with other therapists. It’s clear he knows what’s she’s giving him and wants more of it.

Prior to meeting Lisa I would often, when by myself, find myself looking at my son, who would be sitting silently completing some repetitive task, or quietly gazing through the window out of the corner of his eye, or maybe even sleeping. I would look at him in those moments and know beyond the shadow of a doubt that my son was in there. I would wonder to myself what he was thinking, or what he might say, or who he might be. And I wondered if I would ever know…

Well, because of Lisa, I do know. She gave my son a voice. And he tells me all the time what he thinks about the world. I can’t repay her for that. I can’t thank her enough. I can’t tell you what it means to hear him talk about rocket ships, or Superman, or whether he can have some orange juice. I really can’t express what it means that Lisa helped my son to speak, but it’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced in MY life, and I know it means the world to my son…

Cassidy