Iowa Speech Solutions, PLLC

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Johnston, IA
Iowa Speech Solutions, PLLC

Adult medical/neuro speech, language, swallow and cognitive services. Based in Des Moines, Iowa. Our visits are by appointment only.

Please give us a call and we will be as flexible as possible. We can offer in home options, depending on the case and location. We are currently accepting Medicare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Midlands Choice. Pending enrollment with Medicaid and Humana. We are adult focused, personalized, specialized and flexible. Our clinicians have additional training in adult dysphagia (swallowing), Parkinson's Voice (SPEAK OUT! and LSVT LOUD), short program for ARK J Trismus, McNeill Dysphagia (swallowing) Program and Intensive Dysphagia treatment, AAC, and Dementia Practitioner.

11/21/2025

🌱 What is Habit Stacking?
Habit stacking is a simple, brain-friendly strategy that links a new task to something you already do automatically. By pairing a desired behavior with an existing routine, you create a powerful cue that boosts follow-through and reduces cognitive load.

For example:
👉 Take your pet’s new medication right after you eat breakfast.
👉 Do your home exercise program right after you brush your teeth or sit down with your morning coffee.

Why it works: your established habits become anchors, helping your brain start the new task with less effort—especially helpful for adults navigating memory, attention, or executive functioning challenges.

At Iowa Speech Solutions, we love using habit stacking as a practical support for cognitive-communication success. Small steps. Smart routines. Big impact. 💛🧠

11/14/2025

💬 Rebuilding Real Communication After Stroke or Brain Injury

Language therapy for adults is so much more than answering questions or naming pictures.

At Iowa Speech Solutions, we focus on helping clients get back to real-life communication; the kind that happens at the dinner table, in a doctor’s office, or while catching up with a friend.

That means practicing:
🗣️ Giving and following directions
🤝 Persuading or negotiating a point of view
💭 Telling stories and sharing experiences
📝 Clarifying and repairing misunderstandings
📞 Handling everyday communication tasks like phone calls or appointments

These are the conversations that bring confidence, independence, and connection back into daily life.

Every session is designed to make language therapy functional, person-centered, and meaningful.

Because communication is more than words — it’s connection. 💛

11/06/2025

🌿 What Rest Can Look Like (and Why It Matters)
At Iowa Speech Solutions, we talk often about energy conservation — not just for the body, but for the brain.

Rest isn’t only naps or TV time. True rest is about replenishing mental, emotional, and physical energy — especially important for cognitive-communication health and recovery.

✨ Rest can look like:
• A slow walk or time in nature
• Sitting with your pet
• Listening to music or an audiobook
• Gentle stretching or breath work
• Quiet reflection or meditation
• Balancing a cognitive task with a physical one (like folding laundry after computer work)
• A mindful pause between activities

These are all ways to support your brain’s ability to restore, focus, and connect — whether you’re recovering from brain injury, managing chronic fatigue, or simply maintaining your cognitive health.

🕊️ Make time for rest, and build it into your routine. Try adding it to your calendar or setting an alarm reminder until it becomes a habit.

💛 We’re practicing what we teach — Iowa Speech Solutions will be out of office for a short holiday from November 7–12 to rest and recharge. We’ll return refreshed and ready to support you soon!

10/29/2025

🌿 Rest Radar: Signs You Need to Pause
(Especially important for brain injury, concussion, or cognitive rehab patients)

Why it matters for cognitive-communication therapy:
Rest isn’t “lazy.” It supports neuroplasticity, memory consolidation, and energy for therapy. Ignoring early signals can slow recovery or trigger cognitive/physical crashes. This checklist builds awareness of when your brain needs a break.

⸻

Physical Signs
☐ Unusual or increased fatigue
☐ Muscle aches, heaviness, or tension
☐ Headache, dizziness, vision changes, brain fog
☐ Unrefreshing sleep
☐ Flare-up of chronic symptoms

⸻

Cognitive, Mental & Emotional Signs
☐ Trouble focusing, remembering, or word finding
☐ Irritable, anxious, or emotionally reactive
☐ Low motivation for usual tasks
☐ Racing thoughts or hard to calm mind

Therapy tip: These signs show your brain may need a pause before continuing cognitive work.

⸻

Subtle / Delayed Signals
☐ Post-exertional crash after activity
☐ Appetite or thirst changes
☐ Heightened light/noise sensitivity

Therapy tip: Track patterns and share them with your care team for pacing strategies.

⸻

Practical Cues
☐ “Body/mind telling me to slow down”
☐ Crashes often hit 1–2 days after overdoing it
☐ Feeling low on energy or “bandwidth”

Therapy tip: Use these cues to plan tasks for when your brain is most ready.

⸻

✅ Rest Guidance
• Even 10–15 minutes of rest can prevent bigger crashes
• Pair rest with hydration, nutrition, and mindful breathing
• Rest protects neuroplasticity—your brain recovers faster when supported

Final thought: Rest isn’t just “doing nothing.” It can mean easing into your day, listening to music, or taking a slow walk. Create your own rest menu.

🐈‍⬛ Pepper prefers cat naps.

⸻

10/22/2025

In neurorehabilitation, relevance drives neuroplasticity.

If I hand someone a worksheet asking them to name zoo animals from a yellowing 1980s manual, their brain might not light up with meaning; unless they’re a zookeeper or an animal lover, of course!

But if they love to bake, suddenly we can build a functional and meaningful word set:
🍞 What do you bake?
🥣 What ingredients do you use?
🧁 What are the steps in your favorite recipe?
🍴 What’s in your kitchen, and where do you keep it?

When therapy is personally salient, it strengthens attention, memory, and learning.
That’s neuroplasticity in action, the brain rewires best when it cares about the task.

10/16/2025

Telehealth Speech Therapy: Bringing Care Across Iowa

At Iowa Speech Solutions, we know access to quality speech therapy can be challenging—especially for older adults, caregivers, and those in rural communities. Telehealth has allowed us to bring therapy directly into people’s homes, supporting communication, memory, voice recovery, and more from the comfort of their familiar surroundings.

Update:
As of October 1, 2025, Medicare (CMS) has paused coverage for telehealth speech therapy. We’re hopeful this will change and will share updates as they become available.

In the meantime, private pay telehealth options may remain available for CMS clients who wish to continue virtual care.

Read the full blog on our website to learn more about how telehealth supports connection and independence across Iowa.

10/08/2025

Interoception and Energy After Brain Injury

After a concussion, your brain may struggle to notice internal signals like fatigue, tension, or stress.

In cognitive communication therapy, we help clients:
• Tune in to early signs of low energy
• Plan tasks during their best energy times
• Use pacing and cues to prevent overwhelm

Better interoception means better self regulation, communication, and participation in daily life without crashing.

What does your body’s low energy signal feel like?

10/01/2025

Updates from Iowa Speech Solutions

We’ve said goodbye to our brick and mortar Johnston office and now continue to see clients in North Liberty (inside Breathe PT & Wellness).

Telehealth services are available across all of Iowa using secure platforms like SimplePractice and Doxy.me. Telehealth allows adult clients to:
• Join sessions from home, no travel needed
• Reduce stress & fatigue by being in a familiar environment
• Maintain consistency even during illness or weather changes
• Easily include family/care partners in therapy

⚠️ Coverage update: Starting 10/1/25, CMS (Medicare and Medicaid) will no longer cover speech therapy telehealth services. Private insurance and self-pay options remain available.

🏡 For clients in the Iowa City metro, we also provide in-home visits (availability, needs, insurance, and travel radius apply).

No matter the setting, our mission is the same: to provide compassionate, evidence-based care that meets you where you are.

09/24/2025

A recent conversation with my spouse brought me back to my college and graduate school years. I remembered the late nights balancing work, classes, and health struggles… the pressure of trying to “do it all” for a coveted spot in a speech language pathology program.

One of the hardest choices I ever made was changing universities and moving to a new state in search of growth, versatility, and a career I deeply wanted. It was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. I had supportive friends and family, but truthfully it was one of the loneliest seasons of my life.

💬 To all the college students, future SLPs, and new grads:
It is hard. You are not imagining it. This path asks a lot of you, and it is okay to slow down, to rest, and to not have it all figured out. Give yourself grace, let others help you, and remember you are more than your profession. Learn who you are outside of your work. Lead with love, always.

I do not know of another career I would want, but I do know there is still so much work ahead to support both new and experienced SLPs. 💙

What would you like to hear more about from my journey into the field? Do you have a story to share?

09/18/2025

New Blog for September! ✨

This month, we’re diving into the relationship between speech therapy and mental health counseling; how they’re different, how they overlap, and why they’re often most powerful when working together.

Healing isn’t about “one or the other.” For many people, progress comes from pairing both approaches; addressing communication + cognitive skills and supporting emotional wellness.

When we recognize the value of collaboration between speech therapy and counseling, we open the door to a fuller, more sustainable path to recovery. 🌱

📖 Read the full blog now at
https://lnkd.in/gXuZbKhV

New blog announcement graphic. Photo shows two stones balanced on top of other stones. Text reads: “Discover the relationship between speech therapy and mental health counseling.”

09/16/2025

New Blog for September! ✨

This month, we’re diving into the relationship between speech therapy and mental health counseling; how they’re different, how they overlap, and why they’re often most powerful when working together.

Healing isn’t about “one or the other.” For many people, progress comes from pairing both approaches; addressing communication + cognitive skills and supporting emotional wellness.

When we recognize the value of collaboration between speech therapy and counseling, we open the door to a fuller, more sustainable path to recovery. 🌱

📖 Read the full blog now at
www.iowaspeechsolutions.com

New blog announcement graphic. Photo shows two stones balanced on top of other stones. Text reads: “Discover the relationship between speech therapy and mental health counseling.”

Address

6165 NW 86th Street Suite 238
Johnston, IA
50131

Telephone

+15152197254

Website

http://www.iowaspeechsolutions.com/

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