About...
Whether you're looking for answers or looking for a speech language pathologist to work with your child, you need to know about the source of your information.
Learn about Isa’s credentials, her approach, some of the experts she’s trained with and how she began her life’s work at age 15 here.
Learn more about our practice here or find information about your service options here.
Credentials
Sought after by parents, therapists, school districts and other institutions founder/president Isa Marrs, MA CCC-SLP is an expert specializing in articulation and feeding disorders in children. "Isa has an uncanny ability to quickly figure out what seems to work best for addressing my son's speech needs, while at the same time keeping the atmosphere light hearted and fun.
Isa is very adept at identifying my son's strengths and interests and then using those same strengths and interests to help him address the areas where his speech needs work. My son is always excited when he knows it's a day when he will see Isa."
Robert Fermann
Bedford, NY
She has extensive experience diagnosing and treating a wide variety of speech and feeding delays/disorders ranging from mild articulation errors to severe disorders relating to cleft-lip, cleft-palate, velopharyngeal insufficiency, autism, apraxia, cerebral palsy, and various genetic syndromes.
She holds a Master's Degree in Communication Disorders, a Bachelor's Degree as a Teacher of the Speech and Hearing Handicapped and has had intensive training in a broad range of therapy techniques, including but not limited to, PROMPT, Oral-Motor-Feeding, Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) and Links to Language. She is licensed by the states of New York and Connecticut, and board certified by the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). She is a member of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association and ASHA's Special Interest Division 5 which focuses on Speech Science and Orofacial Disorders.
Her Approach
Isa’s unique approach adapts multiple therapy styles and techniques, including her own, to address the individual needs and personalities of each child. Another major component is communicating effectively with and educating parents so they can successfully carry-over therapy activities in the home environment. This approach to speech language therapy yields excellent results as well as happy children.
Her Story
Ms. Marrs began her journey working with special needs children at the age of 15 as a Special Education Teachers Aide at Jawanio in New City, NY. From that time on she knew she wanted to work with children and help them communicate. After graduating high school she moved to Ithaca, New York where she attended Ithaca College, earned her Bachelor’s degree as a Teacher of the Speech and Hearing Handicapped and began working in the field of early intervention treating children.
Upon leaving Ithaca she moved to New York City where she began working at the Herbert G. Birch Early Childhood Center where she provided speech and language therapy to children ages 5-7 with Autism and other related disorders. At this time she was trained in the use and selection of augmentative communication devices, PECS, TEACHH and also began learning about oral-motor and feeding disorders.
Undaunted by the 2000 mile commute to the Southwestern United States and with plans to remain in her position at Birch while pursuing her degree simultaneously, Ms. Marrs began pursuing her Master’s Degree in Communication Disorders at New Mexico State University (NMSU) where she enrolled in a “Summers Only” program. She chose NMSU because of its strong focus on Augmentative Alternative Communication and Professor, Dr. Sheila Stuart who directed an AAC evaluation team in which Graduate Students were trained in and provided evaluations for the community. At the end of her second summer she made the decision to move to New Mexico full time to meet the demands of her graduate program, the AAC evaluation team and to further immerse herself in the uniquely challenging population.
After being awarded her Master’s Degree Ms. Marrs remained in New Mexico where she continued her work in Early Intervention, furthered her training in pediatric oral-motor, feeding disorders and received her Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). She also continued gaining in-depth experience treating children with a variety of medical conditions and genetic syndromes such as, but not limited to Cleft Palate, Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, Downs Syndrome, Trisomy 18, Aperts Syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury, Fragile X, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Autism.
A love for New York brought her home where she settled in Westchester County, continued working with pediatrics through the Westchester County Early Intervention program and received further intensive training in multiple therapy techniques including PROMPT and Links to Language.
"Isa Marrs is a truly talented, unique professional. She is simultaneously gentle and professional. Her gentle and genuine personality won our hearts and confidence. She was able to not only immediately connect with my son but also with her treatment we saw immediate results. Strangely, a Greenwich therapist told us we would have to be in therapy for 7 or 8 years. Isa's thoughts were more towards several months.
Due to illness and a relocation we were unable to complete therapy but my son continued with excercises. He still needs some therapy and when it came time to consider returning to speech therapy we had to have Isa Marrs. We now live over an hour away, but believe it's worth the effort and the trip."
Janit Ortiz-Bischoff
Ridgefield, CT
It was during this time that Ms. Marrs began consulting with Etoile LeBlanc, the world renowned expert in the area of craniofacial speech disorders. Being impressed with her capabilities Ms. LeBlanc invited Ms. Marrs to begin seeing children in her practice. Ms. Marrs accepted the offer and began seeing children at the Speech Science Centre where she specialized in structurally based feeding and articulation disorders.
This experience allowed Ms. Marrs to gain further expertise working with children who have cleft-lip, cleft-palate and velopharyngeal insufficiency. In 2003, after 18 months of working together Ms. LeBlanc decided to take time off to spend with her family. Ms. Marrs, seeing a need in Westchester for individualized services began a private practice that would become Isa Marrs Speech Language Pathology, P.C.
Isa's expertise and her rapport with their children is why several of her clients drive over an hour, each way, several times a week for her to help their children.
It's also why Speech language pathologists often call on her for guidance and training. And it's why institutions in Connecticut and New York continually retain her to train their speech therapists.
However, she's not the right therapist for everyone. For those children with needs outside of her specialty areas she either refers them to one of her other specialized therapists, if appropriate, or refers them to a different practice.
You can find out if her practice is right for your child by calling her directly at:
(914) 488-5282
Top of Page
Contact Us:
|
