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Meet the Speech-Language Therapist
Greetings, families! My name is Becca Nelson (“Ms. Becca”), and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with you and your child this year!
I work with preschoolers in the Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) and Universal Preschool/Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) classrooms at Averill Elementary.
This is my 16th year working as a school speech-language pathologist and my fourth year in Lansing. I live in Grand Ledge with my husband and two handsome cats, who are the true heads of the household. I love baking, gardening, interior decorating, crafting, music, concerts, nature, traveling, tennis, hiking, kayaking, and spending time with friends and family.
I have experience working with children from 2 ½ years old through early adulthood, though the littlest ones are my favorite. I think there is just something so fun and special about getting to take part in a child’s learning and communication development during the early childhood years. I have worked with students with a wide variety of needs including learning disabilities, deafness/ hearing loss, stuttering, augmentative & alternative communication (AAC), social language differences, articulation of speech sounds, and everything in between. My biggest passions are autism and neurodiversity-affirming practices. (Check out my monthly Neurodiversity Nuggets handouts here!) I firmly believe in embracing and celebrating kids’ unique differences instead of trying to change them, while helping them learn the skills they need to be independent, happy, and confident. I strive to build joyful connections with my students, help them build their communication skills, and ensure that they feel valued in any form of communication they use.
Most of my therapy will be provided using a child-led, play-based model, right inside your child’s classroom. This tends to work well because there are so many speech and language opportunities that occur naturally as kids are engaging in their regular routines and favorite activities alongside their peers! Some weeks, I may come in and lead a whole-class lesson that ties into the monthly classroom theme. I might run some of these whole-class lessons by myself, and other times I may team up with the occupational therapist or the school social worker for a shared lesson.
I believe that an open line of communication between myself and caregivers is SO important to a child's success in therapy because we are a team! So please do not hesitate to contact me at any time. Thank you for visiting!
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