cloudspeech stars client success stories
Meet our CloudSpeech Stars and see how teletherapy works
At CloudSpeech, every client has a unique voice— and a powerful story. These videos highlight the incredible progress made through personalized, one-on-one teletherapy with our expert team. From first words to confident conversations, our Speech Stars remind us why we do what we do. Watch and be inspired by the joy, breakthroughs, and real results.
Enzo’s Journey with Specialized Speech Therapy Online for Suspected Childhood Apraxia of Speech (sCAS)
When I first met Enzo, he was nearly 3 years old with strong receptive language skills but very few spoken words. He was bilingual in Spanish and English, had a loving and involved parent, and showed a strong desire to communicate — but his expressive speech was significantly delayed. We worked together virtually through California’s Golden Gate Regional Center, a nonprofit that helps families access early intervention services like speech therapy.
Despite being so young and working online, Enzo responded beautifully to a play-based, hands-on approach with strong parent coaching. Our sessions were conducted with mom right beside him, using only her phone as the video device. I used a variety of visuals and story-based supports — like felt hoops and my signature “Brown Bear” literacy routines — to bring the session to life. Enzo lit up with engagement. As therapy progressed, he began to imitate gestures and verbal sounds, organize his syllables, and produce new words. In this video, you’ll see the magic of early apraxia therapy in action: clear, exaggerated speech models, intentional pausing, and visual cueing — all designed to help him build the motor pathways needed for speech.
Working with young children suspected of having apraxia requires a very specific approach. It’s not about drilling sounds — it’s about helping them feel confident in how sounds and movements come together. One way to imagine what a child with apraxia feels is this: imagine showing up to an advanced tango class with no dance experience, and being expected to perform perfectly after watching just one example. That’s why we slow it down, exaggerate the movements, and support each attempt with care and connection.
Enzo made remarkable progress, and his story is a powerful reminder that effective teletherapy for apraxia is possible — even at just two or three years old — when the right techniques, tools, and relationships are in place. To learn more about childhood apraxia of speech, visit Apraxia Kids — one of my favorite resources for families and professionals alike.
Camille’s Path to Confidence with ‘R’
Camille’s Path to Confidence with R
When Camille first joined me for teletherapy, she was six and a half and already no stranger to speech therapy. Her mother, an elementary school teacher, shared that Camille had made progress on nearly all her speech sounds — except for /r/. That stubborn sound had become a source of discouragement and frustration.
Camille dreaded speech sessions. She’d cry during our early meetings, saying things like, “It’s too hard” and “I just can’t do it.” It was clear that more than just speech sound work was needed — we had to rebuild her confidence. Through virtual sessions in the comfort of her own home, Camille began to relax. She could sit cozily in her room, move her iPad around as needed, and enjoy breaks that included showing me her favorite magic tricks. I incorporated her interests into our work — a powerful benefit of individualized, engaging teletherapy.
With time, her outlook started to shift. We used the Bjorem Speech Sound Cues for R for cognitive reframing of sounds (PeachieSpeechie explains cognitive reframing for R here). Camille especially loved the creative names we gave to the different /r/ sounds — like “the barking dog” and “the pirate.” As her confidence grew, so did her accuracy. What had once sounded like a consistent /w/ across all positions of words began to transform. Within six months, Camille graduated from speech therapy with a strong, consistent /r/. This video of one of her final sessions shows her confidently practicing the sound in conversation-level tasks — clear, crisp, and confident.
Camille’s journey is a powerful reminder that when we meet a child where they are — emotionally and developmentally — progress follows. With the right tools, creativity, and trust, speech therapy becomes not just effective but empowering.
Jefferson’s Road to Words with severe Childhood Apraxia of Speech in Spanish
Jefferson’s Road to Words with Severe Childhood Apraxia of Speech in Spanish
I met Jefferson when he was six and a half years old. He could barely say any words and couldn’t even say his own name. At the time, I was living and traveling in Costa Rica when I met his family. His grandparents lived next door and, upon learning I was a speech therapist, kindly asked if I’d meet Jefferson to see if I could help. The moment I interacted with him, it was clear — he knew exactly what he wanted to say. He understood everything. He could imitate animal sounds and give a detailed tour of the jungle. He was a communicator — just without words.
I conducted an informal apraxia assessment and found he could produce individual sounds, and he responded well to play-based prosody practice. With deeper analysis, I strongly suspected Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) — a motor planning disorder that affects the brain’s ability to send the right signals to the muscles needed for clear speech. Unfortunately, access to specialized apraxia support was not available in his local region. So after I moved, I began working with Jefferson remotely — first over WhatsApp, and eventually via Zoom.
We’ve now been meeting virtually once a week for nearly four years. Jefferson recently turned ten, and he continues to work hard in each session. Today, he’s able to produce up to three- and four-word phrases in Spanish with increasing clarity — a huge milestone for someone once considered nonverbal. In the video linked here, you’ll see us working on a three-syllable word (‘calabaza’, from the Habla Apraxia Spanish card deck from HablaCalabraSLP . It’s a good glimpse into what apraxia therapy actually looks like in action. I’m using techniques informed by the DTTC method — a dynamic, evidence-based approach for treating severe apraxia. While Jefferson no longer requires intense gestural cueing like he did early on, I still draw attention to my face, mouth shape, and resonance cues.
DTTC emphasizes clear modeling, careful cueing, fading support, and building motor plans through repeated correct productions. I may tap, point, or exaggerate slightly, but it’s all about helping him feel the correct movement — not just hear it. Once we “anchor” a word and he can hold onto that motor plan, we drill it — often aiming for 10+ correct productions right away, then use it in meaningful phrases: “¡La calabaza!” → “Calabaza naranja” → “¡Sopa de calabaza!” …Then we circle back and drill it again. This mix of blocked and varied practice builds both accuracy and carryover.
Jefferson continues to make meaningful progress. His smile, effort, and creative mind shine through in every session. This is what teletherapy makes possible — bridging the gap between a child in need and a therapist trained in the approach that child requires.
