Testimonials

13 Yr Old Boy, Orofacial Myology Disorder

Lisa Klein is an extraordinary speech therapist.  My son has been in speech therapy ever since he was two years old and has seen many therapists that were considered the best in the field.  About three years ago, when he turned 10, we stopped speech therapy.  He had made a lot of progress but still had what seemed like an endless way to go, but we felt it was a good idea for him to take a break.  Then, a few months ago, his pediatrician sent us to see Lisa to work on his articulation issues.  As soon as we met Lisa I knew it was going to be a completely different experience. 

Besides being so lovely and nurturing, she worked with him on his tongue placement in a way no other therapist ever had.  She observed him closely and worked actually inside his mouth with her fingers to show him where his tongue should be.  He was never showed this or taught this way before – it was always the same rote drills that he was bored of and only got him to a certain point in his articulation.  Most importantly, she noticed that his lingual frenulum (tongue tied) appeared to be tight and sent us to see an ENT specialist.  That specialist confirmed Lisa’s diagnosis, and Nate is now scheduled for surgery. 

Over all the past 11 years not one single doctor or speech therapist noticed this problem, so easy to fix, that would have helped our son so long ago.  The ENT specialist said this will make a massive difference in improving our son’s speech!  We are so thankful to Lisa for noticing this – if she hadn’t, he would have never been able to get any further on his articulation then he is today.  We are just sorry we hadn’t found her earlier.

Lisa is truly unlike any speech therapist we have seen in 11 years.  She is smart, kind and so nice to be around, our son actually looks forward to see her! Our family trusts and loves Lisa!

Stacy

26 Yr Old Woman, Post Traumatic Brain Injury

Lisa Klein not only helped me regain my speech, but she helped me get my life back. She is truly an incredible person and the most amazing SLP!

After a severe head injury, I developed a functional movement disorder that completely impaired my speech and ability to communicate with others around me. It was absolutely terrifying. In just a few sessions, I went from not being able to form any words, to almost 90% recovery. It was truly amazing and left my whole family in awe.

She is knowledgeable beyond belief, but even more so, she listens to you and she cares. The time and effort she gives her patients is extraordinary and rare to find. I had an interview for a pre-medical program and before my interview she took the time to help me prepare, gave me the tools I need to speak clearly and eloquently, and set me up for success. She has made the most tremendous impact on my life, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to work with her! I cannot recommend her enough!!

​A.

2.5 Yr Old Girl, Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Lisa is brilliant. It is difficult to express in words how one person has given a young family so much hope. 
We travelled from Australia to bring our 2.5 yr old daughter (who was non-verbal), to visit with Lisa. We had exhausted all our hopes of finding anyone who understood and could connect with our daughter, the way that Lisa did on our very first visit. Lisa is an attentive, dedicated, and extremely caring SLP, who is motivated beyond belief to reach goals for her clients. From our first initial contact Lisa remained attentive, and supportive of our journey, and skyped with us to gain a better understanding of our daughter before we travelled abroad.  

Within the first couple of sessions, Lisa had our daughter using the sounds for ‘more’ and combining that with  sign language to bridge the communication gap. Within our first week in Santa Monica, our daughter was improving in leaps and bounds with new sounds and associated signs. This made our heart sing, to think that she was actually helping our daughter, when so many had failed to do so. Lisa was prepared and organized and each session was specifically targeted at gaining the most appropriate and reasonable responses out of G, like a well oiled machine. 

Once home the support has not stopped. Lisa regularly checks in to see how G is improving and what assistance we are receiving at home. She is always available to us when we have questions and/or need advice. She is truly one of a kind. 
My husband is still referring to Lisa as the ‘only person’ who has helped our daughter get to where she is now with her speech. Our 2  week intensive visit with Lisa put us 6 months ahead with Gracie’s progress, she is truly a magical SLP. We will be making the journey back. I would move there if I could!

Sarah

49 Yr Old Woman, Post Traumatic Brain Injury

Lisa worked with me for a period of 3 months while I was in rehab after a having brain surgery. Her knowledge and attention to detail helped me recover in a surprising and extraordinary way when she saw in me chances of rehabilitation that other professionals did not see. She taught me different strategies that helped me then and I still use. She was very patient and treated me with dignity and respect. Lisa made me feel like her friend, elevating my self-esteem and confidence which I needed at that time.

Lezette

3 Yr Old Girl, Autism Spectrum Disorder

This is where we finally met the person who was able to give our daughter the gift of language.  Isabella said her first word (“up”) about 1 week after her first session with Lisa, and her language has grown exponentially since then.  In fact, my 3 year old daughter is now consistently saying 4 word sentences, and finally is able to communicate with others in a way that we never expected that she would.  Lisa is an exceptional speech pathologist, and she is truly an advocate for all children with special needs everywhere.  It is very clear that the motivation that drives her practice is changing the lives of families and giving children a lifetime of opportunities.

Elizabeth

4 Yr Old Boy, Autism Spectrum Disorder

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

3.5 Yr Old Boy, Autism Spectrum Disorder

Lisa is an extraordinary therapist. When we connected with her, my 3.5 year old son was knee deep into a year’s worth of speech therapy and had made little to no progress. Lisa was new to town and came highly recommended by a mother that had known her in New York. After our first conversation, I had a feeling she would be a game changer for us…and I was right! Lisa is much more than a speech therapist. She completely changed the muscle tone in my son’s face, mouth and jaw and impressed upon us the importance of the “little things” that aid in effective speaking and articulation. In addition to basic speech learnings, she pinpointed his motor planning issues as it related to receptive language. The homework that she provided was specific, easy to follow and very effective if we were diligent on our end. 

I have learned so much from her and we have seen enormous improvements over time.  Lisa is a dream therapist and a key player, if not the coach, when it comes to an effective therapy team. My son adores her and will talk with her more than anyone. She truly “gets” him and he trusts and works hard for her. For a mother, it doesn’t get much better than that. 

Rebecca 

2.5 Yr Old Girl, Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Lisa Klein is a brilliant, generous and thoughtful human being. As an SLP, she is dedicated, innovative and tireless in her efforts to improve her clients’ ability to express themselves. Her devotion to her clients is paramount and her discipline as an apraxia specialist is admirable. She is continually educating herself on the cutting edge developments/methods to treat various speech disorders. 

My 2.5 yr old daughter has Childhood Apraxia of Speech and upon first seeing Lisa, had only 8 words. After five months of therapy with Lisa, my daughter is nothing short of a little chatterbox, with a word count 75+. Her sessions with Lisa are, in my opinion, the secret to her success. Lisa tailors each session to the child, meeting them where they are at and inspiring excellence in their performance. Unlike, other SLPs we have worked with, she integrates unique rewards/opportunities that specifically motivate my daughter, making speech therapy more fun and satisfying as a whole. For instance, my daughter is a huge fan of Minnie Mouse. Noting this, Lisa got assimilated Minnie Mouse pictures and toys into the therapy to further interest my daughter. In other Speech Therapy practices, I’ve found that SLPs stick to a sort of “routine”, utilizing the same tools for every child. Lisa truly customizes her sessions, targeting each child’s specific motivators and engaging them to the fullest. 

Lisa has gone above and beyond to comfort and educate us as a family as well. She is always there when we’ve needed professional advice or guidance. She is knowledgeable in so many areas and can offer insight into many of the obstacles that face kiddos struggling with speech. I’ve seen such an amazing transformation in my daughter’s ability to communicate since we started with Lisa. I credit Lisa for giving my beautiful daughter a voice in this World. To me, Lisa is a guardian angel of sorts, providing my daughter with the tools and knowledge she needs to harness not just her voice, but also her burgeoning sense of self.

Jaclyn

3.5 Yr Old Boy, Childhood Apraxia of Speech

I don’t even know where to begin talking about Lisa and how wonderful she is! My son is 3.5 years old and has Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Up until we found Lisa, we were lost. The first time we took our son to see Lisa, my husband and I were in AWE of how he responded to her. He had been having speech therapy for over 2 years and no-one ever got as much out of him as she did in one session. Right then we decided that we would drive 1.5 hours twice a week so our son could see Lisa. What we didn’t know at the time was that she wasn’t just amazing with our son but also with us. We were lost without really knowing what to do for our son and she guided us through a lot of procedures, therapies and evaluations. I don’t think I have ever met a therapist that is as on the ball as Lisa. She is so amazing!

​One of the awesome things that she does is that you can pretty much contact her at anytime and she will get back to you right away. I mean, you never wait more than an hour for responses and even from crazy parents like us! She is so professional, includes you in all of the decisions, and for us she has been the team leader for our son. He currently attends a school in Orange County and she has been directing and leading the team of 4 different speech therapists that see our son throughout the week. She never complains about sending an email, making a phone call, or including anyone else in the treatment of your children.

If you have a child with a speech disorder, please see Lisa. She is totally completely worth it. We love her, and better yet, our son loves her. 

Michelle

4 Yr Old Girl, Childhood Apraxia of Speech

I didn’t know 3 weeks could make SUCH a big difference in my daughter’s life until we met Lisa. My daughter has severe Apraxia of Speech and at the time we met Lisa, she was non verbal and made very little progress with the countless therapies she had been receiving.

After 3 weeks of intensive therapy with Lisa, my daughter made incredible gains. She had about 10 word approximations in her vocabulary as well as several clear words she could use functionally. Not only is Lisa extremely knowledgeable in her field, but she is also talented in putting that knowledge into practice to bring out the best in each child. 

Besides gaining the tools to use her voice, my daughter has a new-found confidence in her abilities, and as parents that is priceless. Lisa went above and beyond speech and language therapy to help us out with every other element of our daughter’s development during our stay. 

We traveled from the other side of the globe to visit Lisa, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I am so thankful for meeting such a genuine, generous, and incredibly talented woman. 

Talar

4.5 Yr Old Girl, Childhood Apraxia of Speech

It is impossible to overstate how important Lisa Klein has been to my daughter’s speech progress. My daughter is four years old, and has been seeing speech therapists since she was 18 months old. I used to compare our experiences with SLPs to throwing a rubber ball against the wall. The therapists would speak to her as if she were an infant, enunciating words “at” her, over and over. She would smile but not respond. She has severe apraxia of speech and a motor disorder. She would produce two syllables for almost all situations: ah-da. Her receptive language is excellent, but she had almost no verbal output.

A board member of CASANA (Apraxia Kids) recommended Lisa. This would mean paying out of pocket and driving an hour in each direction, every week. My husband and I put it off. We thought it wasn’t doable. Finally, after paying privately to see other SLPs who were nearer to home, and determining that was useless, we decided to try Lisa. We are so thankful that we did.

On our very first visit, my daughter was able to produce some words. Yes, she broke out of “ah-da” during our very first visit! Everything physical that my daughter has learned (walking, self-feeding) has required “hand over hand” prompting in order to teach her the motor pattern. In her case, it turns out that speech is the same. Lisa shaped her mouth and positioned her body. And it worked! Five months after that first visit, she can now blow bubbles and blow out candles (two things that were unimaginable for her), say a long list of syllables, and most excitingly, she can speak in slurred sentences. They are still hard to understand, but it is obvious that she is talking. This is priceless.

If you have an extreme or a very difficult case, I cannot recommend Lisa more highly. She has enormous depth of expertise, and she is a real human being who cares deeply. Equally importantly, she never infantilizes our daughter. She speaks to her at an age-appropriate level, recognizing her intelligence. I believe my daughter feels that, and it’s why she makes a new breakthrough during every single session. Lisa is, quite simply, the very best.

​JA