CUE Communication Universally Empowers

CUE Communication Universally Empowers We offer in-clinic (or onsite small radius around downtown Cary) language, regulation and feeding intensive services to children 0-18 years of age.

We offer virtual consultation to families around the world

11/07/2025

Dysregulation always has origins. 👏

✏️ My client loves letters. When we sat down to play, she grabbed paper and crayons and decided she wanted to draw bubble letters. But it was new — and hard.

💬 As we navigated learning how to do it, it involved a lot of language, a lot of frustration, and a lot of perseverance. It exhausted her.

🛑 She listened to her body — took breaks to be silly. And when her body really couldn’t take any more, she started throwing the crayons. That was her body saying: enough. That was her taking her power back.

🌙 So when I told her it was time to clean up, she declined. Instead, she gave her body what it needed… a small, dark space to reset her body and mind. (See our previous REEL to watch this in action)

🧠 And as therapists, it’s our job to pause and reflect, too:
Did I validate her frustration enough?
Was I using too much language?
How could I have modified my approach to support what she wanted to do — while lightening the load on her nervous system? 💛

Because dysregulation always has origins — and understanding those origins is how we meet a child’s body where it is. 🌈












11/07/2025

🎨 “You clean up, and I’ll hide.”
When I told my client it was time to clean up the crayons, she said that — and so I said, “OK,” and helped her hide.

🧠 Why did I support her need to hide instead of asking her to help clean up? Because honoring her body’s need to regulate mattered more than finishing the task — it’s how we strengthen interoception and self-regulation.
Each time we lean into our client’s intuition about what they need, we empower them to keep listening to their body’s signals.

🙅‍♀️ On the flip side: if we shame, dismiss, or redirect our clients when they’re trying to self-regulate, we plant seeds of doubt — about their body, their cues, their right to say “I’m done.”

🔍 Did her need to hide come out of nowhere? No — dysregulation always has origins. Sometimes a series of little stressors, sometimes one big one. In this case: she tried something new, it required frustration and perseverance and lots of language. Her body knew when it was done.

👉 Stay tuned for Reel #2 to see how little stressors built up in her body and how her nervous system told us what it needed.

11/05/2025

👄A small moment of sensory input to the lips…
set off a beautiful chain of learning:

✨ a gentle motor twitch
✨ hand-to-mouth exploration
✨ curiosity and imitation
✨ connection — noticing how other people’s muscles move and feel, reaching to explore Mom’s lips

This is how neuroplasticity happens — tiny moments of sensory feedback support new pathways for movement, awareness, and connection. 🧠💗

We also paired the movement with language — saying “lips” helps him connect the feeling of the muscles moving with the word that describes it. Later, during feeding, when we cue “tighten your lips,” his brain can recall that motor plan and link it seamlessly with language. 💬👄

Sensory input to the lips can increase awareness and movement of the muscles that help close and seal lips together and also around feeding equipment — a foundational aspect of safe, efficient feeding.

It all starts here, with curiosity, connection, and the body’s own drive to learn. 🌱

11/04/2025

💥 When we lean into a child’s special interest, everything changes.

It’s not “off topic.”
It’s not a “fixation.”
It’s their spark. ✨

Supporting special interests:
1️⃣ Validates their sense of self
2️⃣ Builds authentic therapeutic trust
3️⃣ Creates natural motivation for language and connection
4️⃣ Turns any therapy activity into a “special interest-friendly” moment — no fancy materials needed

This Marvel-loving client reminds me daily: when we enter their world, they invite us in to grow with them. ❤️

10/15/2025

Many asked: How did we shift from reflexive feeding → cortical movement?
Here are the strategies we used. 👇

We swapped “num num” → “hmmmm”
→ to cue lip activation & keep the mouth more closed when eating purees

Created funny mouth sounds / exaggerations
→ to help him shift out of reflex tone activation

We talked through the motor plan together
→ making the action intentional and predictable

Offered light sensory input under the tongue
→ to help his cortex “find” and connect with those muscles

Introduced “puréed solids”
→ so the tongue can practice lateralizing safely (without choking risk)

⚠️ Integration of primitive reflexes → movement from cortex is not linear. Over time, we aim to see more cortical control, less reflexive dominance.
Our goal: prepare his body to safely consume a variety of textures (liquids, purees, solids).

Every child is unique. For this guy, the under-tongue “wiggle” wasn’t his favorite, but consistently talking the motor plan has been remarkably helpful for neuromuscular planning.

🎯 What worked best for you in therapy with kids? Leave a tip or question below — let’s build this together.

10/13/2025

When feeding is driven mostly by reflexes, the body has to work a lot harder. 💪😮‍💨

Reflexive tone patterns during feeding can pull extra energy — just like how spastic or rigid muscles in movement disorders are shown to increase the body’s energy use.

That same principle applies here: more involuntary muscle activation → more effort, less efficiency, slower progress/feed.

Now watch what happens when small changes help him feed from his cortex instead of reflexes —
🧠 smoother, safer, and so much more efficient. ✨

10/10/2025

F irst day EVER using AAC… and this little guy crushed it! 🙌💬
Did I start with “more” and “all done”?
Nope! ❌
I leaned into an activity he already loves — a simple ball game. ⚽💛
He chose what we did and who did it.
Instantly, he understood the power of communication.
He wanted to do it again and again — because it was fun, he was in control, and he was connecting with people he loves. ❤️
When we build AAC experiences around joy, connection, and autonomy…
language takes off. 🚀

10/09/2025

We laughed so hard we were wiping away tears.
And here’s the thing—this is what it’s all about.
If we only focus on helping clients meet basic needs, we miss so much of who they are. His incredible SLP who supports him with his device made this a priority.

Because humor, wit, and connection live in those higher-level messages—
and when we make space for them, their personality gets to shine. ✨

💛Let’s never forget: communication isn’t just functional — it’s always human. 💛

10/08/2025

When the neck is overextended… feeding becomes hard work and can become unsafe. 😫🍴

When the head tips back too far, food can reach the back of the mouth before the body has prepared the food is to swallow.
That makes swallowing less safe, less efficient, and more exhausting.

Our swallow muscles are amazing — but when they’re stretched too long,
they lose the power + agility they need to do their job. 💪👅

So we add in supports.
Until his body can find and keep its own neck stability. 🧡

Now… his body feels grounded.
He can connect with caregivers.
He compensates less.
He moves with more ease — and often needs fewer (or no!) external supports. 🙌

Because in functional feeding, our focus is always this:
✨ How can the body work better as a whole? ✨
When the body works efficiently, feeding becomes safer, more enjoyable, and more independent. 🌈

We team up — and rely on fellow neuroinformed therapists,
like 💛
to support the body’s foundation and help feeding unfold with safety, ease, and connection. 🤝

Address

Cary, NC

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+19198026122

Website

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Get to Know C.U.E.

About Us:

C.U.E. is a small private practice owned by a speech-language pathologist. We conduct therapy with a strong focus on researched based, and functional treatment approaches. Therapy is conducted in the client’s natural and unsterile environment so skills learned are immediately applied to daily life. We specialize in language disorders, individuals on the Autism Spectrum, and treating in Spanish. However, we are passionate about treating children and families with a variety of needs.

Our Promise:

To provide high-quality therapy that achieves your family's goals through researched based treatment techniques. We recognize caregivers and family as the most valuable tool to help children achieve their highest potential. Caregivers and family members will feel empowered to support their loved one through education, modeling, and cuing, so treatment techniques are easily integrated into daily activities.