Speech Therapy Patient Spotlight: Josue

Josue is a very happy 4-year-old boy who loves Lightning McQueen, playing games with his little sister and friends, and watching movies. Josue was diagnosed with a Specific Developmental Disorder of Motor Function and a Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder. He started receiving speech therapy services with Therapy 2000 in May of 2018. When therapy began, Josue had a vocabulary of approximately 5 words, could not follow simple 1-2 step directions, and only communicated via gestures and single word utterances at times.

Ashley Jarrett met Josue when she was shadowing physical therapist Emily Parks, as a new employee.  Josue had been waiting for ST services for approximately 2 years, although he was out of her treatment are Ashely wanted to work with Josue over the summer.  After only 2 and a half months of services, Josue is now able to speak in three to four-word utterances, identify all his body parts, label common objects, follow 2-step directions, request help, and communicate wants/needs in English and Spanish. Josue has come a long way in such a short amount of time due to his hard work, mom’s willingness and motivation to work with him daily, and a physical therapist who went above and beyond to recommend speech/language services to help this awesome kid and family! Ashley is so proud of all the progress they were able to make and the goals they were able to accomplish in such a short time!

Ashley Jarrett, M.S. CCC-SLP

After Ashley started working with Josue, Emily was able to notice a huge increase in his talking during physical therapy sessions. Josue was able to name all the colors for the toys that we typically play with. Also, instead of pointing at the toy he wanted to play with, he would say words such as “block”, “ball”, or “step”. Prior to working with speech therapy, Josue was very quiet and shy. Emily is amazed at how quickly Josue was able to learn new words and come out of his shell!

Emily Parks, PT, DPT

Employee Spotlight – Lora Kirkland

The December Employee Spotlight of the month is Lora who describes herself as a “West Texas girl from Odessa “and graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Lora husband, and daughters moved to Aledo in January 2012 for a new job and great schools.

Green Apple Therapy

Lora’s background includes both clinic and home therapy with Green Apple Therapy. When Green Apple offered her the opportunity to help open their clinic in Weatherford she was eager to help bring a needed resource to the area. She was the Clinic Director for almost 4 years before transitioning back to a full-time home health therapist. Both settings are fulfilling for different reasons and Lora appeciates the opportunity to building her case load in the more rural towns of Parker County. Lora treats patients in Azle, Springtown, Weatherford and Aledo and she loves getting to know people in all the communities. The kids and families on her caseload definitely keep my days interesting!!!

Family Life

Lora enjoys spending time with her husband over 11 years Chad, their two amazing and crazy girls, Kylie and Libby, and the family rescue dog, Clara. Both Lora and Chad stay active by running, Crossfit, and most recently, biking with their daughters. Their family hobbies include taking adventures, hunting an being outdoors. Lora and Chad have passed their love of the outdoors to their girls, who memorable stories of going out to family land and exploring or going on “adventures”. This fall, Kylie and Libby have learned to shoot “bow” and it has been fun to share an activity that they all can do together and make family memories.

Volunteering in the Community

Lora takes pleasure in volunteering and participating for organizations and events that relate to her hobbies.  Most recently, she was able to participate in the Carson Leslie Foundations annual BECK Bow Shoot for raising money for pediatric brain cancer research. This year was special as Lora had began working with a child in her community that recently began treatment for brain cancer. Through the foundation, he has received numerous gifts and we made a connection to an organization that will be able to take him on a hunt geared specifically to him that will adapt to his needs following surgery and treatment!