Bend Your Brain Testimonials

“The difference we have seen in our son’s social skills since working with Alana Fichtelberg has been incredible! She explains things to him in a way we never could. I honestly don’t know how we would have gotten through without her. And the best part is he enjoys going and looks forward to it every week!”
Laura V.

“Social Thinking has been the missing piece in our son’s therapy. He had received traditional speech and social skills therapy for years, but he just couldn’t effectively apply what he had learned in a real social situation. The skills came across as “rote.” Social Thinking has explained the questions of “why” and “how”, making his interactions much more typical. His new skills have been easily generalized because the instant reward for him is increased interaction with his peers! We have received many positive comments about his progress from individuals who were not aware of his participation in Social Thinking. He loves to attend the sessions and has formed friendships that extend outside the therapy setting. We can’t thank Alana enough for making Social Thinking so effective and fun!”
Rhonda

Luke has been attending social skills training for almost 2 years. His social skills have improved significantly. In social situations he is much more comfortable,  i.e., he will say appropriate greetings, ask general “get to know you” questions, and is less likely to stand off in a corner by himself. He has learned how to recognize social cues and what is appropriate and, most importantly, what is inappropriate behavior. He has developed a friendship with the boys in his group and looks forward to his weekly social learning group sessions. The boys will play games practicing proper interaction skills at the same time enjoying each other’s company. The group sessions are social learning experiences and, at the same time, having fun doing it.
Janet

We met Alana in early 2007. My son, Jake, had just turned 5 years old and had an autism diagnosis. Jake’s speech was extremely limited. His communication mostly consisted of mimicked words and phrases people said to him or that he heard on television, or he would give one word responses – which were often inappropriate. Jake did not ask questions, did not respond to questions asked of him, did not interact with his peers, and was in his own world most of the time.

Meeting Alana changed everything for Jake and for our family. From the start, Alana believed in Jake and he felt it. They worked hard, but Jake was captivated by the way Alana taught him. With Alana, he felt safe, confident, and smart. Watching Alana teach Jake to speak and to relate to the world has been our miracle. It has truly changed Jake’s life (and our family’s lives). But Alana’s greater gift has been how Jake feels about himself. Jake feels like he is the smartest, funniest, best boy in the entire world. And he knows Alana feels the same way. Jake approaches every speech session believing in what Alana is teaching him and knowing that he can learn it. This self-confidence has transcended their sessions, and has made him a happy confident child who loves learning and feels like he can do anything.

Today, Jake is 11 and attends middle school at a private school for dyslexic children. He is an A student who takes advanced classes. He has friends, he cares about people around him, he asks questions about everything, and loves to answer your questions. We feel incredibly blessed and thankful that we met Alana when we did. We love her and she will always be a part of our family and our lives.
Elizabeth

Alana has truly changed our son’s life. We first started going to Alana when our son was 3 years old. He could not speak at all as a result of severe apraxia. She was the first therapist that could truly break down the barriers to speech for him in just a couple months of intense therapy. Before engaging Alana’s services, we went through the usual programs with early intervention, hospital and school speech therapists. Maybe our son was a special case, but nothing seemed to work until he started working with Alana. We only wish he started working with her earlier! He now talks, sings and relates extremely well, and I know it’s because of her special abilities to connect with children and bring out their best!

We continue to go to her for Social Learning Groups weekly, and we can easily see how he’s benefited from that program as well. Alana is a special person who truly cares about her patients and their families. I highly recommend her services to others who may need them.
Peter and Marcy

We had the good fortune to benefit from Alana’s expertise with our daughter’s speech delays, and are tremendously grateful for the progress that she made in a 6 month time period. Alana’s dedication to our daughter allowed her to gain confidence that she was lacking with the speech difficulties prior. I would highly recommend her! Thank you, Alana!!
Stefanie L.

Alana Fichtelberg… how do you say thank you to a woman and her specific talent for teaching my son how to communicate. My son has autism and came to Alana in September of 2011. He was completely non-verbal at the time and our goals when starting with Alana was just helping him to communicate better via a communication device. The fact that he was 8 and still non-verbal didn’t give us much hope that verbal communication would be in his future. Alana had a different vision, she was going to do her best to get him verbal… and she did. On January 7, 2012 Logan started speaking. He verbally spelled out the letters of his name with his big sister Claudia.

Alana continues to work with Logan using the only form of speech therapy that has worked, PROMPT therapy and his progress is beyond what we had hoped for when we first walked into her office. My favorite part of his therapy is hearing them laughing together during his sessions. She has a connection with children, and I think they bring out the child in her too.
Danielle – mother of Logan 9 1/2–autistic and VERBAL!

“There is not enough my husband and I can say about Alana. She worked with our, at the time, 2 year old son once per week for a year. Our son had only a few words and cried all the time because he couldn’t communicate his wants and needs. His form of communication consisted mostly of pointing and grunting. Alana embraced him and took her time to gain his trust. She made his therapy fun and interesting, each week something new…so much that after several weeks he was running to her door with excitement to see what she had in store for him! Her enthusiasm for seeing progress is infectious. She truly loves what she does and cares deeply for each child she works with.

After a year of therapy, our son was speaking clear, full sentences and his personality blossomed because he gained the confidence he desperately wanted. He is an extremely social child at the age of 4 and I credit a lot of his character on Alana’s hard work with him. She would always follow up a couple days after each visit with new ideas to work with at home in addition to what was sent home at the end of each visit. She continues to follow up even though her work is complete, which speaks volumes to how much she cares for the children she works with. Alana is, without a doubt, the best around!”
Karen

You will not find a smarter, more effective speech therapist than Alana. She is truly dedicated to her students and proves it over and over by going above and beyond! She keeps up with every new idea and brings the great ones back to help our kids. Her social learning group based on “Social Thinking” is the only way that makes sense to work on this vital skill. We tried every social skills group and not until Alana started teaching the “why” in a fun and engaging manner did my sons start to “get it”!
Michele

Our son has truly thrived under Alana. Looking back to how much our son has improved, it is amazing. She truly gives 100% at each session. It’s wonderful that she sets both long and short term goals. We appreciate how she collaborates with the school system to advocate in the best of our son. Alana is well versed on several modes of speech therapy and integrates as needed. Carryover is important and she has taught us things we can practice at home. We are grateful that she is a part of our son’s life!
Amy