Alicia Kokemor Rossow: Passionate Speech Pathologist
Alicia Kokemor Rossow says it’s important to know this fact: By the first grade, 5% of American children have noticeable speech disorders. Some of these are caused by hearing disorders or a degree of deafness, as the children are unable to hear sounds as they are supposed to be pronounced and therefore unable to reproduce them properly. Other causes are attributed to fluency (stuttering), physical disabilities (cleft palate), developmental disabilities, or disorders such as autism. Some of these are genetic disabilities, some are physical disabilities caused by a developmental problem, and some are without a known origin. Whatever the reason, these children will speak differently.
Most speech impairments or language disorders can be and are treated by a speech language pathologist. Alicia Kokemor Rossow is one such therapist, and she has been practicing speech pathology since 1992. Upon receiving her Master Degree from the University of Texas at Austin and her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), she became Alicia Kokemor Rossow, M.A., CCC-SLP. She started working as a therapist in the private and public sectors, as a public school therapist and as an employee of a private medical institution.
After several years of treating both children and adults, Alicia Kokemor Rossow realized that her true passion lay in the field of pediatric speech pathology. Alicia Kokemor Rossow started her own practice, Advanced Pediatric Therapy. At her practice Alicia and her fellow therapists treat children with a wide variety of disorders, from autism and Down syndrome to fluency, articulation, and language disorders. Her patients are of all ages, with some children barely speaking at 14 months and others preparing to leave the home at 17 years of age.
The sessions at Alicia Kokemor Rossow’s Advanced Pediatric Therapy are intensive one-on-one sessions with highly qualified therapists. All therapists meet and exceed the expectations and yearly requirements of ASHA for continuing education, and Alicia Kokemor Rossow herself has attained a number of extra certifications over the past decade, keeping her up to date on all of the latest research and methods for pediatric speech pathology.
Alicia Kokemor Rossow’s dedication to her community goes beyond simply providing high quality speech therapy for her clients, however. She has a sliding scale for fees at Advanced Pediatric Therapy, so that children from low-income or uninsured families can still afford to access to speech and language treatment. Alicia Kokemor Rossow is also involved at her daughters’ school, serving on the Parent Teacher Association and volunteering for fundraisers to support her daughter’s sports teams. Alicia Kokemor Rossow has shown how much she cares for the community around her, and how she strives to give back as much as she can.