Meet Jimena

Jimena is a silly five-year-old, but she had difficulty pronouncing her name and struggled to express herself verbally, which harmed her social connections. Her speech-language pathologist helped her correctly produce early speech sounds and made sure to employ strategies to address speech sounds that occur in English and Spanish so she could transfer the skills she learned between languages spoken at home and at school. Her family also helped her — her brothers learned to model correct speech sounds for her, and her parents learned how to employ strategies between visits.

As Jimena’s communication improved, so did her social connections. She became more confident sharing her ideas, telling jokes, and talking about her day at school, as well as engaging and playing more frequently with her siblings and cousins. These abilities will support her progress all the way through school and opens every opportunity to her in adulthood.