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“My mission is to help parents and families see the unique set of strengths, characteristics, and interests in their children, and to provide them with the tools to be the best communication partner for their child in order to encourage success with communication.”

- Sarah Cruz, M.A. CCC-SLP

Meet Sarah


Sarah Cruz, M.A. CCC-SLP

Owner/Therapist

Sarah is a licensed, credentialed, and ASHA certified speech-language pathologist in Yuba City, California who specializes in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) supports and language therapy. She is a member of ASHA, CSHA, and ISAAC. She has experience working with parents and children in early intervention and special education preschool programs, as well as working with teenagers and their families in social group settings out in the community, providing support and guidance for AAC implementation. Sarah contracts with We Speak AAC, traveling and presenting to school districts on AAC best practices, throughout the nation.

Sarah works with children, families, and educators to provide early access to communication through use of AAC and research-based language strategies in the home and educational settings. She is passionate about sharing functional, family-centered supports that increase opportunities for communication and meaningful interactions.

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We partner with the following agencies to provide Early Intervention, AAC services, and grant-funded programs to families.

Sarah believes in…

  • Communication Accessibility

    Every child should have access to multiple methods of communicating. The goal is to help the child have more frequent and successful communication interactions in every environment that they frequently access, including their classrooms. Sarah collaborates with parents and teachers to create communication-accessible environments both at home and in the school setting.

  • Creativity & Functionality

    She believes that therapy should be child-led and engaging in order to invite and entice the child to communicate. She believes in strengths-based supports and services, not driven by compliance. Anything taught and implemented should be functional and family-centered.

  • Confidence

    Increasing the confidence of the family as the child’s primary teachers in life. Providing the family with the tools to help the child succeed. Building capacity within the home for increasing meaningful interactions and communication autonomy.

  • Community

    She co-hosts monthly Out & About events in the Sacramento region that allow users of AAC of all ages to meet and practice AAC out in the community and virtually. She is also a co-administrator of the Facebook group We Speak AAC, which is a group that celebrates and supports AAC users, their parents/friends/family members, and professionals in the field of communication and education. Sarah hopes to start Family Chat Nights - stay tuned!

SERVICES
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01.

Early Intervention

Parent coaching modeling for improving communication outcomes and increasing capacity for communication growth and development in the home environment.

02.

AAC Services

Evaluations: Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is for any child who sometimes or always can’t rely on spoken words for communication. This is especially highly recommended for starting in the early ages, as soon as you see that your child is beyond 18 months and using little to no words.

Parent Coaching: For parents of children who are currently using an AAC device and/or are new to AAC

03.

AAC Training & Consulting

Training and consulting for staff teams within school districts, county programs, and organizations.

Contact us at sarahcruzslp@gmail.com for more information.

Testimonials

Testimonials

“Sarah worked with my busy schedule and tried her best to meet my son’s needs. She built a relationship to gain my son’s trust then supported his speech at his level. She then set targets for him to meet. She also introduced us to the AAC device and assisted us all the way to obtain one. The device truly encouraged my son to start communicating with us. Words started to build quickly and with such a short turn around, I was able to understand what he was trying to communicate with me. Sarah used what she knows and research studies to support my son’s speech. She is awesome and would recommend her to support any child.”

- Lao L.

“Sarah was AMAZING with my son, who is on the spectrum and is experiencing speech delay. She was thoughtful, professional, resourceful, and flexible with the both of us. She created a warm environment which made my son feel comfortable and made me feel so at ease. He surpassed his goals with her help and coaching for EI and she introduced us to the AAC device, which continues to be useful and effective. We recommend her to anyone who has a need for speech and language therapy and wish we could have kept her longer!”

- Victoria S.

“Sarah did an absolutely wonderful job with our staff AAC training! The session was perfectly targeted for beginners (as requested), which was ideal for our newer SLPAs and SLPs. She was incredibly knowledgeable and made the training both engaging and practical. Sarah even conducted a mock therapy session, allowing us to trial the devices hands-on. She shared a wealth of easy-to-apply treatment tips and tricks, which our team is excited to implement. We left the training feeling confident and well-prepared. Highly recommend Sarah for any AAC training needs.”

- Fallon W.

“Sarah completely changed the way I view my autistic son’s communication skills. She is so patient with children, gets on their level, and allows them to be who they truly are with her.”

- Melissa D.

 

Let’s Connect!

Fill out the form or email us at sarahcruzslp@gmail.com to get started!