Talk To Me

Speech Therapy Services in Ponca City

Story By Everett Brazil, III/Staff Writer

Jennifer Walenciak has a first-floor window office at City Central. Looking through the glass outside of the building, the view opens up to a small plaza of flowers, trees and grass. A wire rack next to the window displays a variety of toys and games for children of all ages, even games adults can appreciate, games she plays with on a rug on the floor.

“I’m all about playing, just toys,” she said. “You can do anything with toys, and that is what it’s about.”

While she does indeed enjoy playing with the toys and games, it’s more of a therapeutic-type of playing, as Walenciak is a pediatric therapist, and uses these activities to help kids come out of their shells and learn to speak when they sorely want to be heard.

Walenciak is a speech and language pathologist assistant at her clinic, Talk to Me Speech Therapy Services, LLC, headquartered at City Central.

“I can treat, but I can’t evaluate,” she said. “I have a supervisor that evaluates my time, and also does all the kids’ evaluations,” she said.

Speech therapy wasn’t on her mind when she first thought of a career. Instead, it was education as a teacher, but a family member with decades of experience encouraged her otherwise.

“I wanted to go into teaching, but my uncle was a 23-year teacher and said ‘no,’” she said.

Instead, he guided her into a different career path, which actually was more suiting to her. “(My uncle) told me I would like it, and I shadowed a few therapists and I liked it,” she said. “I spent time with a speech therapist and decided I wanted to do that.”

The Ponca City native studied speech pathology at Oklahoma State UniversityTulsa, doing her clinicals at an assisted living center in Ponca City, primarily speech therapy. She has worked as a speech pathologist for seven years, opening her own clinic in March, connecting with a satellite facility in Tulsa. She addresses a variety of speech problems in kids up to age 21, mostly in Ponca City and McCord Public Schools and Epic Charter Schools.

“I work with kiddos on fluency, articulation, social skills, expression and receptive communication,” she said. “I contract with the schools, and the kiddos come into my office, as well.”

More specifically, she helps kids learn to communicate when their peers already can.

“It’s being able to say the words they want to say, and others understand their words, understanding what people are telling them,” she said.

Hers is a job that requires empathy and understanding, as she is working with children who are learning how to speak.

“Nobody understands what a lack of communication is, what toll that has on a child,” she said.

Like many health issues, the child must be evaluated to determine what approach to take. Before she can address their conditions, there must be an evaluation to determine whether there’s a problem she can treat.

“The first step is to see if there is an issue, if there is something I can help them with,” she said. “If there is a condition, then we have an evaluation and we write goals with the parents.”

There are a variety of conditions she treats, and the plan of therapy is based on the condition itself. Flashcards have long been a part of the therapy, where kids suffering with speech problems learn to correctly pronounce a

variety of words based on phonetics. Another part of that is a form of playtime, which includes games and activities based on the age of the student. Several added items include a colorful, stackable rainbow and an electronic ball that rolls on its own when turned on, a toy she said her students have fallen in love with.

“My favorite method is play-based therapy. We play on the floor, we have games to play,” she said. “It’s incorporated into what they are learning.”

Younger kids look at toys like doll houses, while her older kids gravitate toward board games and other similar activities, such as Connect4.

“I’ve had really good success with play therapy, and I think it is working,” she said. “Anything can be a toy, anything that can elicit language and speech.”

It isn’t all fun and games, however, as they must also use more instructive measures, such as those flashcards. She seeks a healthy balance between the two activities to keep the kids engaged and motivated.

“I try to have a good balance between guided play and just playing,” she said. “Sometimes, I just have to set a playtime.”

There are other ways to address speech pathology, as well, depending on the speech problem itself, and more ways to communicate with their families. “There are different methods of communication. They have a talking device where you can click a button and see a whole sentence,” she said. “Social skills, these are all ways of communication, and it is getting a child in communication, any way, shape or form.”

The child isn’t alone in the speech learning process, as in addition to the therapist, the parents play a large role in guiding their child, some of which is done at home, knowing that speech problems are nothing to be ashamed of, but rather are treatable.

“I’m letting them know that it is OK that there might be a problem, their child is having an issue or developmental delay. It is not a sign of weakness; they are not bad kids. If you think there is an issue, early intervention is best,” she said. “We develop a goal or plan, and we go over it with them. We’ll go over treatment. I give homework, and I expect parents to be part of it too.”

Speech therapy works to help kids beyond simply speaking, including helping them learn about the condition, coming out of their shells to be more sociable.

“Some kids just need guidance; some kids are going to have problems the rest of their lives; and we’ll work with them expressing their wants and needs,” she said. “I see the kids become more confident, and I see them more accepting of their condition.”

Some kids overcome their respective condition, and for those who do, it’s a rewarding experience for Walenciak, and more so for the kids.

“I had a kiddo, and he couldn’t say his ‘Rs,’ he’s learned so much this summer, and this year, he’s on fire,” she said excitedly. “I love the look on their faces and feeling like they’ve accomplished something.”

She also sees an appreciation of the parents in helping their kids talk.

“I’ve had people crying and hugging me, knowing their child is progressing and learning to communicate,” she said. “When a kid is unintelligible, people can’t understand what they are saying; I like to celebrate those moments, when they learn.”

As for Walenciak, it truly is a career she enjoys, one she never saw in her future, but is thankful to her family to have found it.

“I love what I do. I couldn’t think of a better job in the world,” she said.