Testimonials
What clients are saying about their time working with Tara…
“My son’s mind has always been a fascinating mystery to me. ‘What is he thinking about? How does he actually perceive the world?’, I have often wondered. Tara is a rare example of a person who can deeply understand a child and their thought processes, and therefore achieve incredible results with her therapy. My son was able to communicate a lot more effectively after she started treating him, and as a result he’s had considerably less tantrums. Her sessions are extremely fun, and her positive energy and expertise transform dealing with a ‘spirited’ child into a rewarding experience.” ~ Isa G.
“I truly can’t say enough wonderful things about Tara’s teaching style. Her patience, wit and understanding made the task of speech therapy, well…fun! She accomplished helping my son through speech issues, while becoming a family friend at the same time. Instead of my son being disappointed to have a speech therapist come, he was thrilled to see her at the door. In fact, all three of my children were. She gave me the tools to continue working with my son once therapy had ended an also made herself available to me for questions. I couldn’t be happier with Tara’s level of professionalism – mixed wit the right amount of love!” ~ Amie G.
“We have had the pleasure of working with Tara on speech and articulation issues for over two years with two of our children and can’t say enough good things about her professionalism and effectiveness with both of them. As any good speech therapist should do, Tara takes the time to build a strong rapport with the children whom she works, understanding both their needs and interests. But what sets her apart from all of the rest is how well she takes that bond and turns it into effective therapy. Tara does not just use the same old techniques with each child. She knows that no two children are the same (even siblings) and tailors her therapy to meet each child’s needs, interests and concerns. In fact, her therapies change from week to week, depending on both the temperament of the child and what did and did not work previously. As a result, her results are amazing. Most importantly, Tara is patient and compassionate. She communicates effectively with both children and their parents. She is truly the best speech therapist we’ve ever had. In fact, despite moving to the suburbs, we now drive over an hour into the city to continue to receive services from Tara. We wholeheartedly recommend her.” ~ Amy & Matt C.
“Tara was a great speech therapist to our daughter, Olivia, who was speech delayed. Tara was very professional and personable. She really engaged our daughter and increased her quantity of speech to more than XX words. We liked her so much that we were sad to discontinue our services with her. We would highly recommend her!!!” ~ Amy K.
“I met Tara when my son was 2 years old. At that time I was frantic to get my child to establish better eye contact, point, speak and interact with communication other than crying. As a new mother I was aware that there was help for children but I remained apprehensive until Tara came to our home. From the first visit on through that year, Tara not only ilegently worked with our little boy diligently but showed me patiently what to do to continue progress but was encouraging to us as parents; always explaining what she was doing and why in “parent friendly language. We were sorry to end our therapy at our son’s 3rd birthday but so pleased to see the amazing growth that he had made thanks to Tara’s competence, respect, and ability to form a connection with children.” ~ Amy S.
“Tara came to us when a hearing loss resulted in speech concerns for our 5 year old son. Tara was warm, friendly and efficient. Working with Tara, my child’s speech was corrected in a few short months. My son absolutely loved Tara’s visits! While we were working together, I shared with Tara some difficultly my son was having with eating and food. Our mealtimes consisted of tantrums and fighting and we were often at the table for 40 minutes or longer, trying to convince my child to eat. Tara switched over from speech therapy to eating therapy with my family. Tara was a life saver. She was understanding and compassionate as well as knowledgeable. She took the emotion out of the experience for all of us. She gave me a number of effective strategies and made eating fun and incentivizing for my son. Tara truly made a difference in our lives.” ~ Dana T.
“Tara worked with my son, Charlie, for about six to eight months when he was around two years old. Charlie had apraxia, and didn’t speak very much before he started working with Tara. Tara bonded with Charlie very quickly. She found the perfect balance of play and structure. She knew exactly when to challenge him and when to let him take a break. Charlie enjoyed their “play” sessions, often asking for her to stay when the session was over. Charlie is extremely verbal now. People are surprised when I tell them that he had trouble learning to talk. We couldn’t be more grateful for her help.” ~ Jeanine M.
“I have known Tara Todd Ferris since 2006. I was first introduced to Tara when I was a social worker at the Day School, a therapeutic school for elementary, middle and high school students, located on the Northside of Chicago and Tara was hired as the speech pathologist for the school. I had the opportunity to work closely with Tara as some of the kids I saw for social work, Tara saw for speech services. Tara and I worked together at The Day School for two years. Then in 2010, I contacted Early Interventions because my 18 month old son was having difficulty communicating. My son had an evaluation and speech therapy services were recommended. I called the referral that was given to me and I was surprised but so relieved that I was calling Tara. When Tara arrived to our home for our first session, she took the time to listen to my concerns and learn about my son. She immediately developed a great rapport with my son. She was patient with him, but knew when to push him because he could do more. I really appreciated that Tara used our whole family in working with our son. She gave us homework to work on with him so he wasn’t just learning from the weekly therapy she provided. Tara was a true life saver for our family. Our son went from constantly screaming because he couldn’t tell us what he needed to using signs and then words and then sentences. It was an incredible transformation and we are grateful to Tara. What I learned about Tara at The Day School continues to be true to this day. Tara is very hard working and dedicated to working with kids and families to accomplish their goals. Tara is professional, reliable and always on-time. I highly recommend Tara and her speech therapy services.” ~ Julie A.
“Tara was wonderful in working with our daughter. She exhibits patience and understanding, makes it fun and gets results. Furthermore, she really helped us as parents to understand the root of our daughter’s speech problem and would give us notes and things to work on at home between treatments. We’ve seen a few speech therapists and I recommend her above all. She just takes the fear and frustration out of the process.” ~ Kristen L.