Heard Loud and Clear: Weston’s LSVT LOUD Story at School

THINK BIG AND LOUD PODCAST RECAP · DOWN SYNDROME AWARENESS MONTH

How a speech-language pathologist, a determined mom, and a nine-year-old with Down syndrome fit an intensive voice program into the school day, and what changed when people started understanding every word.

Listen to the full episode

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month, a time to recognize the importance of communication, mobility, inclusion, and support for people with Down syndrome. In this episode of the Think BIG and LOUD podcast, host Beth Peterson sat down with Heather Shirey, MS, CCC-SLP, Weston’s school speech-language pathologist, and Mindy Imron, Weston’s mother, to talk about Weston, a social, chatty third grader who received LSVT LOUD® right in his school building. Their story answers one of the questions clinicians ask most often: can an intensive program really work in a school setting?

“He knew what he said, but I didn’t”

Mindy describes Weston as a boy who has never met a stranger. He loves to talk, especially to adults. He has been in speech therapy since he was 11 months old, first in private practice and then at school starting in kindergarten.

Before LSVT LOUD, Mindy noticed something changing. Weston sounded like he was slurring his words, and she found herself asking him to repeat himself again and again. That frustrated him, because he knew exactly what he had said.

When she raised the concern, both Heather and his private speech therapist re-evaluated him. Their answer was the same: he had all of his sounds, so this was not an articulation problem. Still, Mindy worried. If she, one of his most familiar listeners, couldn’t understand him, his teachers and classmates would have an even harder time.

Looking beyond articulation

Heather had worked with Weston since kindergarten, and much of that time had focused on articulation. By third grade, his articulation was in good shape. What remained were concerns about his speech pacing and his volume, especially at the ends of sentences.

The team tried pacing boards, but Weston eventually told Heather he didn’t want to use them anymore. So she started looking for another way to support his intelligibility. That fall, she brought up LSVT LOUD with Mindy. At the time, LSVT Global was expanding training for pediatric use of a program many clinicians knew mainly from work with adults.

The timing lined up. Weston’s private speech-language pathologist was getting certified in LSVT LOUD at the same time, and Weston had grown and matured enough that the team felt it was the right next step.

A skeptical mom does her homework

Mindy’s first reaction was doubt.

Then she researched the program and learned that LSVT LOUD is about how a person uses their voice, not volume alone. That got her excited about the possibilities. Her bigger concern was participation. Weston is stubborn, she says, and after a lifetime of therapy, he knows the tricks adults use to get him to do things. She didn’t want to spend time and resources on a program he wouldn’t engage with, so the family made him a deal: participate, and the reward was nearly anything he wanted.

Adapting an intensive program for a child

The team started at full speed, working through all of the LSVT LOUD exercises, and Heather could see Weston’s vocal strength improving. There were also days when he told her he was tired. Heather met him where he was, with short goals like “let’s do five, then take a break.”

She notes that these adjustments are usually unnecessary with adults, who already bring the background knowledge to understand how and why the techniques work. Children need more engagement to build that understanding. Some sessions ended with Heather walking Weston down to Mindy and admitting the day had been harder than the one before, then encouraging him to get through the homework anyway. It was a back-and-forth effort, and it paid off: he kept making progress.

Making it work in the school day

Heather pulled together Weston’s general education teacher, his special education case manager, and Mindy to find a time slot that would protect his classroom learning and keep him in his least restrictive environment as much as possible. They landed on the end of the day, right after recess.

Small details made the hour efficient. His case manager had his backpack packed and dropped it outside the therapy room door, so when the session ended, Weston was ready to walk downstairs to meet his mom. That hand-off became a natural moment for Heather and Mindy to talk about what was working and how to support practice at home.

The parent’s role: an IEP update and a Google Meet

Mindy says the school has always been great about accommodations and services. Her part was attending a short IEP meeting to make sure the service minutes were documented, then joining a Google Meet where Heather taught her how to run the homework at home.

On the IEP side, Heather explained that the team modified Weston’s goals and service delivery time. They also added weekly indirect service time so Heather and Mindy could stay in touch as the homework progressed through the program’s phases, from functional phrases to reading and into conversation.

Carrying it back into the classroom

Weston finished the intensive phase with about a month left in the school year. The team then shifted to a push-in model. Heather joined his general education classroom a couple of days a week, made sure visual “Think LOUD” reminders were in place, and helped his teacher learn how to support him. Weekly indirect services with Mindy continued through the end of the year to prepare for summer.

The partnership with his private SLP also matters for the long run. Because she is now certified, the family has a point person if Weston ever needs a booster or another round of treatment, a resource the school setting can’t always offer once a student is showing progress.

The results: slower, louder, and understood

Heather says Weston picked up the concept of “Think LOUD” quickly. Sometimes they had to shape it because he got a little too loud, but once he learned what the right voice felt and sounded like, it stuck. The biggest change she saw was in the classroom. During the Pledge of Allegiance, Weston became one of the loudest kids in the room.

His speech clarity improved along with his loudness. End-of-day fatigue can still make things harder, but today when Heather passes him in the hallway, his voice is strong, and he is easy to understand. “Everybody loves Weston,” she says.

At home, Mindy noticed that Weston was talking slower and louder, which made him sound like he was articulating much better. The family hung “Think LOUD” signs in every room. A love of music revealed another change: Weston used to sing in a monotone voice, and now he moves his voice high and low. Heather points out that his private SLP had been working on intonation, and the high and low pitch exercises in LSVT LOUD complemented that work.

The social change may be the most meaningful. Before treatment, people often repeated Weston’s words back to him to check what he had said. Afterward, they simply talked with him.

Beth calls these improvements a “spread of effects.” Clinicians trained in LSVT LOUD keep articulation, intonation, and rate in mind, while the child focuses on one simple idea: be loud.

The moment it clicked

For Mindy, it happened at a restaurant. The family has always had Weston order for himself, and then a parent would repeat his order to the server. After LSVT LOUD, in a noisy restaurant, Weston placed his order and the server understood every word.

For Heather, the sign was Weston’s participation. He now wants to read aloud in his general education classroom and give presentations alongside his peers. As his academic demands grow, being understood is no longer something the team has to worry about. Beth sums it up: with the voice piece taken care of, Weston can truly shine.

Advice for SLPs and families

To clinicians who think an intensive program could never work in their school, Heather’s answer was immediate: it works. It takes a team, she says, with communication among teachers, administrators, and families, and a shared commitment to doing what is best for the student. When the team works together, the modifications are possible.

Mindy adds that families need to commit too. The nightly homework is a real part of the program, and the partnership between school and home is what makes it successful.

What made Weston’s experience a success

Patience. Mindy credits Heather’s patience with getting Weston on board and keeping him engaged.
Collaboration. Heather says collaboration is the one word that keeps coming to mind: bringing the whole team together and helping everyone understand how the program works.
Thinking outside the box. School clinicians often rely on traditional articulation approaches. For Weston, trying something different at the right time made the difference.
Family follow-through. Regular homework at home is not easy, and Heather recognizes the family’s hard work in supporting Weston’s progress.
Openness. Heather researched a new option, and Mindy stayed open to it despite her early skepticism.