Speech for Young Talkers
a Speech Therapy Corporation
We provide evaluation and treatment for children with various speech and language disorders, specializing in Childhood Apraxia of Speech.
We offer office-based and in-home speech therapy services throughout the San Fernando and Conejo Valleys
Our Practice
We are passionate about helping children learn to communicate in their own unique way. We provide evaluation, differential diagnosis, and evidence-based treatment for children with all speech and language disorders including suspected and confirmed Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), Autism Spectrum Disorder, genetic disorders, social communication disorders, auditory processing difficulties, neurological disorders, cognitive impairments, as well as phonological, articulation and various language disorders.
Our Services
We specialize in providing speech therapy services to toddlers through teenagers. We formulate a unique treatment plan for each child that uses multi-modalities and expertly-selected treatment methods (including, Motor Learning Theory) for each child.
We use a family-oriented and collaborative approach for each child. We offer parent training to facilitate home practice, and advocacy for the rights and services for your child.
Speech therapy services are provided in-person at our office in Porter Ranch, but we also offer teletherapy services as an option.
About the Practice
We combine experience with passion, creativity, and dedication.
Linda LaRue, M.A., CCC-SLP
Owner/Speech-Language Pathologist
Linda has over 30 years experience evaluating and treating children of all ages with various speech, language, pragmatic, social communication and cognitive disorders, specializing in Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). Linda has over 10 years experience working with children with CAS and regularly attends conferences to maintain the most current knowledge and training in the field.
Linda also has extensive experience with adults, as she spent her first 10 years in rehabilitation hospitals. She worked with patients with traumatic brain injury and neurological disorders. Following that, she worked with adults in about 25% of her practice.
She is an Adjunct Professor at California State University Northridge (CSUN) Communication Disorders Department teaching Diagnostics and Early Intervention classes. She was also a Clinical Supervisor at the CSUN Early Intervention Program.
Linda is clinically certified through the American Speech Language Hearing Association and licensed by the State of California. She is PROMPT trained and maintains this extensive professional training through attending conferences with leading experts to learn the most current research and therapy practices.
Robin Kohanteb, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Robin graduated from California State University, Northridge with her M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology. She plans on continuing her education to receive her PhD in Educational Leadership. Robin was the recipient of the Ruth Harris Award for Clinical Excellence upon graduating with her master’s degree.
She is bilingual and provides treatment in both English and Farsi. Although Robin’s clinical experiences include both pediatrics and geriatrics, she has a great passion for working with Early Intervention. Robin loves traveling, exploring nature, and being silly with children. She is an energetic and creative clinician who is excited to provide collaborative treatment with clients and their families.
Chiara Perbil, M.S., CF-SLP
Clinical Fellow, Speech-Language Pathologist
Chiara graduated from California State University Northridge with her M.S. in Communicative Disorders. She has been working at S4YT with Linda for 5 years. She currently works in Early Intervention and in office with school age children. Chiara enjoys running our social skills program, Social Zones, during the summer and would like to specialize in augmentitive and alternative communication (AAC) technology.
She is also a private swim instructor and lifeguard during the summer months. She has been teaching swim for nearly 10 years now and enjoys working with children of all ages.
Natalie Sumian, M.S., CF-SLP
Clinical Fellow, Speech-Language Pathologist
Natalie graduated from California State University Northridge with her M.S. in Communicative Disorders. She is a billingual therapist and provides treatment services in both Enlgish and Armenian. She previously worked as a SLPA for 5 years.
She plans to volunteer over the summer for a nonprofit organization in Armenia that provides services in speech therapy and audiology. Natalie looks forward to providing high quality therapy to her clients. She enjoys working with kids and seeing their progress.
Nelli Munoz, B.A., SLPA
Speech-Language Pathologist Assistant
Nelli graduated from California State University, Northridge with her B.A. in Communicative Disorders and completed her SLPA license at Loma Linda University. She plans on continuing her education and perusing her master's degree in 2023.
She is bilingual and provides treatment services in both English and Spanish. She currently works in Early Intervention. Nelli is active, enthusiastic, and eager to provide quality treatment to children and their families.
Joan Carr
Office Manager
Bio coming soon!
Testimonials
Age: 5.5, Apraxia
"My daughter started seeing Linda when she was three years old. Her regional center speech therapist suspected Apraxia due to the minimal progress she made under a more general treatment plan in place for over a year. Linda explained what she would prioritize and focus on in order to give my child the best outcomes for intelligibility. My daughter's progress was steady at first, but after about a year of consistent work, her progress began to pick up and eventually her speech exploded. She is now five and a half and is intelligible to everyone! At age three, she had only a handful of sounds (NO WORDS) and now there's almost nothing she can't say!"
Age: 7, Autism
"Our son has been seeing Linda since he was four. At the beginning he had a tendency to to spend most of the session having tantrums and we didn't get a lot accomplished. She worked with us trying to find the best way to get him to focus, calm down and participate. Now he does very well. Her participates every time and is extremely focused and rarely has tantrums anymore. He enjoys seeing Linda and goes to sessions willingly. Being parents of an autistic child, we sometimes don't always know the best approach or how to help with his learning. Whenever we have questions, even outside of the session, Linda has always helped us answer any questions we have might have. Even with our medical and getting the sessions paid for, she did everything in her power to help us get what we needed. We are so happy we found Linda and believe all the progress our child has made is greatly due to her hard work and patience with our son.
Age: 3, Apraxia
"When we started with Linda my child could speak about 20 words. Within 2 months my child could attempt over 200 words and less than 6 months after working with Linda he is speaking in full sentences. Everyone that knows him is amazed. Linda's patience with both parents and children is endless, her technical knowledge is sharp and she is a pleasure to work with!"
Age: 9, Autism
"We have been with Linda for approximately a year now. I love that Linda keeps activities fresh and interesting. Her energy is on point and our son took an instant liking to her. She is patient and full of great recommendations and advice."
Age: 3, Apraxia
"We started services with Linda when my daughter was 3 years old. She was officially diagnosed with apraxia. Prior to that point she had been receiving speech services with regional for one year, but we had not seen much progress. Within six months of working with Linda, we saw significant progress. As a parent to witness that after all the struggle and worry is the best feeling! I really appreciate Linda taking the time after every session to really educate me regarding my daughter’s diagnosis, review with me what she has worked on in session with her, and provide helpful suggestions of what to practice at home with her. Linda truly cares about the work she does and I feel like she is really invested in helping my daughter. We appreciate her!!!!!"
Age: 6, Apraxia
"Our daughter was diagnosed with Apraxia at age 3. We have had 3 different speech therapists since the diagnosis. In a time of concern to try and find a new therapist with knowledge and skill to help a child with Apraxia, Linda was our saving grace! Immediately saw the blessing in having to find a new therapist because Linda has been so knowledgeable, helpful, kind, caring, and informative. Our daughter has shown great progress and we look forward to hearing our sweet girl express herself with confidence and ease as she grows. Thank you Linda!"
Age: 4, Apraxia
"We highly recommend Linda because she's an amazing therapist and teacher who is always striving to grow and learn. She has helped our apraxic son blossom from a frustrated child to a more expressive and effervescent child. She has been our son's therapist for the last year and she's worked tirelessly with him to improve his motor development skills, adapting her activities and methods to hold his interest. We're constantly amazed at how she can pivot within a session to help him focus and work on his skills, making speech therapy fun for him. Linda always reviews his progress after each session, pointing out his progress as well as areas that need more development. She provides tools and tips that we can incorporate into our everyday lives to continue building on therapy at home. We're so thankful to have Linda as our son's therapist as she is a caring, dedicated, informed teacher who has touched our lives, and given us guidance and support in our family's CAS journey."
Age: 5, Apraxia
"Linda has been my son's speech therapist for over three years. When my son was approximately two and a half years old he was diagnosed with Apraxia. At that time he could make some noises, maybe one word, but he was basically non-verbal. We were lucky enough to be assigned Linda as our therapist and it was such a blessing. From the start she really helped us understand the diagnosis and what the long haul would entail. She is extremely knowledgeable on the subject of Apraxia and was able to put things in terms we could comprehend. She was not only great at teaching us about Apraxia, she is also a wonderful practitioner. She worked incredibly well with my son, tailoring sessions to his age level. I still find it amazing how well she engaged him and always customized his treatments to fit his ever-changing needs. She would also include us in her planning and is excellent at communicating. She educated us on strategies and techniques we could use to continue practicing at home. Linda continually updated us on his progress and future goals. My son is now five and his speech has become much more intelligible. He now speaks full sentences and people are able to fully understand him. Linda helped make that possible. She had patience with my son through his difficult and angry phases. She is an amazing therapist because she cares for her patients and truly has a passion for her craft. She goes beyond just speech therapy and works with our family as a whole."
Age: 4.5, Apraxia
"I highly recommend Mrs. Linda La Rue! My child was diagnosed with Apraxia at a very young age (21 months) and we started speech therapy right away. We saw almost no progress until we started working with Mrs. Linda 2 months prior to his fourth birthday. When we started working with her she informed us that because the main problem with CAS is speech motor planning and programming we needed to focus on the actual movements of speech structures and muscles during speech attempts. She uses practice and repetition. She uses visual, verbal, and tactile cueing. She provides him feedback so he knows whether his speech attempts have been correct or not. Her approach has helped him produce clearer and more accurate words. He was non-verbal when we started working with her. The skills you taught us will help support my child's speech goals and will be the key to his success. Thank you for supporting our journey and for the motivation for us to dream bigger. We feel blessed and fortunate to have found Mrs. Linda."
See what parents have said:
S4YT Programs
Intensive Reading Program
Lindamood-Bell’s Seeing Stars®
Are you concerned about your child's reading skills? Do you feel like they have fallen behind? Our office is currently offering a research-based reading program called Seeing Stars that has been shown to significantly improve their reading skills. We are offering sessions now and a more intensive version this summer. We will be offering the program as one on one in person sessions or through teletherapy. Please call for more information.
New Clients
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Office: (818) 488-1638
Email: linda@s4yt.com
Portal Information
Next, you will receive your unique username and password.
You will be provided a unique username and password to your portal where you can access all your client paperwork, billing, and contact your speech provider.
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Contact
California Department of Developmental Services
For Regional Center clients
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