CTS Newsletter: November 2024

With the change of season and upcoming holidays, CTS clinicians have recently been inspired by the beauty of simplicity. We find that wonderful things happen when we bring our sessions back to basics, get on the level of the children we serve, and be truly present with them as they work towards their goals. In this month’s newsletter, we discuss intentionality in speech therapy as well as highlight the newest addition to the CTS family, Carrie Szlyk!

We hope you enjoy the November newsletter! Simply click the images below to view. Happy reading!

CTS Newsletter: October 2024

Happy fall, all!

Cool, crisp days, pumpkin patches, sweaters ... and open enrollment season! In this month’s newsletter we’ll discuss some fall fun, in and out-of-network insurance coverage, and proudly spotlight our partner - Heart-Centered Academy.

Simply click the images below to read the October newsletter. Enjoy!

CTS Newsletter: September 2024

Hello, CTS families!

We hope that you had a wonderful summer and are ready for back to school season! Here at CTS, we are happy to get to partner once again with such wonderful schools and centers. This newsletter is an exciting one! Not only do we share how we welcomed students back for another year of learning and some helpful tips on making the transition back to school smooth, but we also celebrate CTS' four year anniversary! We are overwhelmed with gratitude to our clients, their families, and our partners for allowing us to provide quality speech and language services to our community for the past four years. Thank you! 

We hope you enjoy the September newsletter! Simply click the images below to view. Happy reading!


CTS Newsletter: August 2024

Hello CTS families!

We are excited to share our August, 2024 newsletter with you! Here we discuss the importance of caregiver and educator collaboration and empowerment, the benefits of partnering with your child’s school or center, and spotlight one of our wonderful SLPs, Jess Johnson! Simply click the images below to read.

As always, thank you for being a part of the CTS family! Happy reading!

CTS Newsletter: July 2024

Hello CTS families! We are excited to share our July, 2024 newsletter with you! Here we discuss what we’ve been building in therapy recently. Click the image below to read and access clickable links to some of our favorite construction themed speech therapy materials. Enjoy!

Introducing: The CTS Consultative Model

As cost of living increases, and insurance coverage for allied health services decrease, the clinicians at CTS have been putting our heads together to determine the best way to reach our beloved clients in order to maximize outcomes, and reduce financial stress on families. If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it 100 times: YOU are your child’s expert, and while we will provide you with the latest therapeutic techniques, it really is the relationship with the people they love and see the most that will achieve the greatest gains in speech therapy. 


One to one speech therapy does allow for a more intensive, individualized approach, however it’s the in between that truly allows for growth. This is our model: to give you the tools you need to help your child flourish as the best communicator possible. 


But how do we accomplish this in a wait-list heavy, poor insurance coverage world?


Welcome to the consultative model. Whether you’re on our waitlist, or if weekly or multi-weekly sessions are just not possible due to financial or time constraints, we’d love to meet you where you are and help your child succeed. There are a number of ways to implement this model, because it really is about each family’s needs, but here are ways in which we can incorporate this new model into your family’s life.


  • Weekly parent meetings discussing ongoing expressive, receptive, articulation, voicing, feeding challenges with pre-established goals to determine appropriate suggestions

  • Video review of your child’s speech sound errors

  • Observation of your child’s abilities in their classroom


What the consultative model is not:

  • Individualized treatment sessions

  • Development of a treatment plan

  • Provision of formal assessment results

  • Covered by insurance


If you have any questions about the consultative model, please contact us at hello@chancellortherapysolutions.com or (540) 693-0277 


Winter Weather and Language Expansion

Winter is officially here and with it comes the cold, wet weather. Brr! Fortunately, winter weather can be a wonderful opportunity for language expansion. When stepping out into the cold, all five senses of your young language learner will be engaged. He or she will feel the cold air on their face, hear the crunching snow under their boots, see snowmen being built, smell cookies fresh out of the oven, and taste that post-sledding hot chocolate (yum!). We can capitalize on each of these sensory experiences by taking the opportunity to model new vocabulary and expand on the child’s utterances. As family members or speech pathologists of those learning verbal or alternative methods of communication, modeling is one of the most valuable things we can offer! A few examples of how we can do that this winter are … 

Touch - 

Child: “cold!”

Language model: “Brr! It feels cold out here. Let's go inside.”

Hearing -

Child: *crunches around in the snow*

Language model: “I hear you! Crunch, crunch, crunch. I hear snow crunching under your feet!”

Sight - 

Child: “Look! Snowman!”

Language model: “I see that snowman! He has a black hat on top of his head and a carrot for a nose.”

Smell -

Language model: “Do you smell that? *big sniff* I smell yummy cookies. Let's go eat some!”

Taste -

Child: “yum!”

Language model: “I love hot chocolate. It's so yummy and helps us warm up!”

Our Favorite Toys for Preschool Language Promotion

As the work of young people, play is serious business! Play time helps children learn and grow by promoting peer interactions, problem solving, and language skills (just to name a few!) As speech and language therapists, play is the environment in which we model speech and language skills to preschoolers. To get a glimpse of how we do just that, check out our three favorite toys and how we use them in speech therapy:

Counting Surprise Party

These “presents” are always a hit with the kiddos! Apart from the suspenseful excitement that presents always bring, they also provide endless opportunities for language. These presents are coded by both color and number, allowing children to practice labeling, matching, and sequencing. This set is also ideal when working on prepositions. Children can place the toy in the present, on top of the present, beside the present, in between two presents and so on! Lastly, these little gift boxes lend themselves wonderfully to a guessing game where language is used to provide both hints and guesses as to whose inside! 

Magna-Tiles

Classic Magna-Tiles, similar to Legos, provide hours of building fun! When used in speech therapy, these tiles provide the perfect context for working on verbs in the past, present, and future tense. In the past tense, verbs such as “fell, built, and snapped” can all be used to describe what happened while building their masterpiece. In the present tense, we model phrases such as, “I am building, “the tiles are snapping,” “oh no! They’re crashing!” etc. We can also model the use of future tense verbs and ask questions that require critical thinking such as, “It's getting tall. Do you think it will fall? How could we make it stronger?” etc. Magna-Tiles are just such a fun way to begin incorporating those action words!

Pop the Pig

Who doesn't love Pop the Pig? Children love feeding the pig hamburgers and pushing down on the chef’s hat until his belly pops! This game is one of our favorites for good reason - it allows for so much language! We use Pop the Pig to model functional phrases with lots of repetition. Phrases such as “go in burger, go in [color], push down!, I see [color, burger, number, pig, etc.],” and “your turn.” In describing our actions while feeding this hungry piggy, we allow children the opportunity to practice using phrases in a low stakes, fun environment.

What We're Learning This Month - April 2021

At CTS, we pride ourselves on maintaining the highest level of care by participating in ongoing continuing education courses. Check out what we’re learning this month!

*CDC Review: Developmental Milestones Birth through Age 3

We explored the expected cognitive, language and communication, physical and social-emotional developmental milestones published by the Centers for Disease Control.

*Neurological Complications/Mild Cognitive Impairments among hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Systematic review of scholarly, peer-reviewed articles addressing long term impacts of COVID-19, specifically as it relates to cognitive function.

*Maximizing Functional Outcomes in People with Dementia

Focused on identification and management of individuals with primary progressive aphasia, Alzheimer’s disease, other major types of dementia, and mild cognitive impairment.

We would love to you help you or your loved ones with their communicative, cognitive, swallowing or voice difficulties. Contact us at 540-693-0322, or submit a request here for a free virtual consultation!

Friday Five: Improve Your Memory

Happy Friday, and welcome back to CTS' Friday Five, where we share 5 tips, tricks, or fun info about your favorite community speechie. This week? Improving your memory!

💬 Write it down! Whether it's on a list, on a calendar, or even in your Notes app, making a visual reminder of your task or appointment will reduce the risk of letting it slip.

💬 You've got a phone in your hand, use it! Set reminders with Siri, or use an app like Craft or @EverNote. Remove all the mental clutter by letting your technology work for you!

💬 Repeat it out loud! In speechie talk, this is called verbal rehearsal, but repeating new information out loud is a great way to give added cues to your brain to say, "Hey! Remember me!"

💬 Keep a routine. Every morning, I do the exact same 5 to-dos. Every. Single. Day. Why? Because it's ingrained in my brain, and if I don't do them, I feel lost! Our brains thrive on recognized predictable patterns. Take advantage of it!

💬 Change things up! Yes. I know I just said to keep a routine 😜 But our incredible brains have something called plasticity, which means they LOVE learning new things. Trying a new game, or craft, or learning a new skills keeps those neural pathways chugging, which is a beautiful way to keep those brains moving and grooving.

How do YOU remember new things? Any tips or tricks to share? We'd love to hear from you! Happy Friday, y'all! Happy Friday, y'all! We’d love to hear about any questions you may have about the services we provide at CTS. Please call us at (540) 693-0322, email at kristin@chancellortherapysolutions.com, or click here to contact us.

Friday Five: Finding the Right SLP for YOU

New series alert! For the next few (or more?!) Fridays, we will be sharing 5 tips, tricks, or fun info about your favorite community speechie. This week? Finding the right SLP for YOU:

💬 Is your SLP an effective communicator?

Find someone who makes you feel at ease, and communicates their services effectively. Reducing frustration and increasing understanding is a top priority in making sure you have found the right SLP for you and your family.

💬 Have you spoken about payment?

Does your SLP take insurance or private pay? Check only or online system? It's not always fun to talk about money, but having a straightforward understanding is the best way to start your therapy relationship.

💬 What are your SLP's credentials?

Most states require licensure, but is your SLP ASHA certified? A swallow specialist? Special certifications? These will often give you an idea of your SLP's interests, and will guide you to the perfect therapist to fit your needs.

💬 How is your SLP establishing a relationship with YOU?

The SLP/client relationship is of utmost importance for maximizing function and progress. As a clinician, my goal is to ensure your comfort level is high, so we can stretch you to the best of your ability!

💬 How are goals developed?

This may seem a little out of left field, but this is directly related to your RELATIONSHIP. Client-centered goals (ie, what do YOU want to accomplish?) are imperative to meeting short and long term goals.


Are you noticing a pattern here? It's all about RELATIONSHIP! Sure, you want a high-qualified therapist using evidence-based therapeutic techniques. But first and foremost, this little community practice focuses on relationship with the families they serve. Because relationship means PROGRESS!

Happy Friday, y'all! We’d love to hear about any questions you may have about the services we provide at CTS. Please call us at (540) 693-0322, email at kristin@chancellortherapysolutions.com, or click here to contact us.

Check back for more!

Because communication is the heart of community, we want to be more than just your weekly speech therapist. Our desire is to serve you so that you can live your very best life, regardless of your communication needs. Check back soon for educational and community resources catered to our tiny little spot in Central Virginia!