Reviews

I can’t begin to say enough great things about how my daughter’s feeding skills improved in such a short amount of time with the dedication and the help of our OT, Caitlyn. Our daughter now has fun with food and her rigidities with food have decreased as she begins now to exploring new foods while also tolerating having at least one bite of something new.

– Tammy G. (parent)

My name is Stephanie and I am the mother of Jackson.  Jackson has been attending Kara Dodds & Associates for just about a year and has been working with Jessica R. the past couple months.  At the beginning of the quarantine, I was hesitant to continue speech therapy, thinking there was no way his therapist would be able to keep his attention long enough to do any work.  I am deeply grateful to say that I was completely wrong.  We are so lucky to have had Jessica during this time and I am especially grateful to watch her interact with him.  Jackson has always had a very hard time focusing, especially when it comes to learning something that doesn’t particularly interest him.  Yet, at every meeting Jessica is engaging, warm, and fun. She peaks his interest and playfully gets him to practice and learn.

This morning, having had a particularly rough start, I almost cancelled our session last minute.  Jackson was not prepared in any way to do any work.  But Jessica showed up with a secret weapon that changed it all.  She had recognized how much he enjoyed PJ Masks from earlier sessions and she either found or made a learning tool that implemented the characters.  As soon as she put it up on the screen, his entire demeanor changed.  He was delighted and instantly engaged.  I am so completely blown away by her efforts and I had to share. She is fantastic and we really appreciate getting to work with her. Thank you all.

– Stephanie

The More Than Words® program proved to be an invaluable experience for our entire family.  Their brilliant approach integrates aspects of “everyday life” that has resulted in huge progress in our child’s ability and willingness to re-connect with us.  Learning this approach allowed us to teach other family members and now, even his sister and grandparents know how to communicate with him.  A tremendous side benefit of course was all the new information on Autism shared between parents in this class.  For us, More Than Words® gave us far more that we expected.

– Rick & Laura Sylvester

We loved the More Than Words® program.  Kara and Breena are great and they teach the strategies in a way that is fun and easy to implement.  We leaned a lot from them and our daughter has improved so much.  It is such a relief and a joy to see her speech developing so well.  I would recommend this class for everybody who has a child with Autism.

– Martin & Cecilia Gonzalez

Before More Than Words®, I was unaware that I really didn’t know how to effectively communicate with my son.  Since the class, my husband and I have completely changed our approach to communicate with our son and he has responded unbelievably well.  More Than Words® is an invaluable class and I got more out of this class that I had ever expected.  I would definitely recommend it for parents of children with Autism/PDD.

– Joe & Katie Hucknall

My husband and I were graduates of More Than Words® three years ago and in that time we have not faded in our enthusiasm for this vitally important program for families faced with children challenged by ASD.  It is by far the most helpful and hopeful experience we have had as a couple and family.  We learned where our son was in the communication spectrum of autism and what we could do at home to help him improve.  Kara Dodds helped guide us through daily planned activities as he goes through preschool and beyond.  Additionally, this program helped us to network with other families dealing with same issues as we were.  We remain friends with many families we met in the More Than Words® program and that truly is a special gift too.

– Todd & Dayna Hoff
Founder of Autism Tree Project Foundation

Great therapists. They were the stepping stone for my daughter’s speech. She is doing great, and they were the start of it.

The therapists at KDA are very knowledgeable, professional, enthusiastic, and great with kids. We have been very pleased with our overall experience at Kara Dodds and Associates, Inc and look forward to continuing to work with them. I have recommended them to my friends that are seeking speech services for their children, and I would recommend them to anyone else.

Great therapy center. I’ve experienced a few different centers. Kara Dodds is by far the best! The therapist actually care. When session is over its not just a therapist talking at the parent, basically giving them information they don’t understand.

They are very helpful and open to answering questions. The receptionist is happy and friendly, and every therapist there looks genuinely happy to be at work. By far, the best is Kara Dodds and Associates.

They get high marks for explaining insurance and billing so well. Grace is wonderful when checking in and making appointments and Cassandra handles all of my questions and billing inquiries as well. There are so many questions involved with insurance and I make it a point to know that it is my responsibility to know my insurance and what is covered or not. If I ever have questions I call and always get them answered. The most important thing is not my checkbook, but my child’s learning and care.

We love Kara Dodds!!! My grandson has Mitzi as his speech therapist! She is AWESOME!!!!! He loves her and has learned soooo much. She adapts to what he needs on a particular day.

Phenomenal therapists that care about your child specifically and their specific needs!

LOVE Kara Dodds and their therapists!!

I’m a parent of a special needs child who needs a lot of therapy and special medication. Money is tight and worries are high. But, I have been at Kara Dodds for 3 years now and would never look elsewhere. My therapist is so dedicated to my daughter and she loves seeing her each week. The office is busy but always friendly! I often visit with Kara directly in the waiting room as she always makes herself available to answer any of my questions immediately. This is a small company does so much for the Autism Community and for ATPF which is how I was originally referred to them.

Words will never be able to express what the therapists at Kara Dodds have done for our family. Six months ago, I brought my son Atticus in for his evaluation, with only a handful of words and a tendency to withdraw from interaction, I was desperately seeking someone…someway to help him.

Today he is like a brand new kid! He is thriving! Talking, playing, and so happy. I am so proud that he is mine, and to have Kara Dodds to thank for helping to give him the words and the will to use them.

My son is thriving at this office. I went to another office for 3 months with limited progress. I switched to this office 6 weeks ago from a recommendation from his preschool teacher. It’s night and day now with his progress.

He is now talking! The office staff is so nice, Kara is fantastic and my son loves going. I drive 45 minutes to this office each week and it is well worth the drive. They bill my insurance directly and its so easy. I’d recommend this office to any other parent.

LOVE THIS NEW PLACE!

My son can finally get all the help he is entitled. Melaine is awesome. The Therapists are great! Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy all finally under one roof, always clean, and in Santee. THANK YOU!

Kara Dodds helped when no one else would. I was told my child would never talk by some other therapists, but Kara would never give up and in the last couple of years my child is starting to speak.

I am so happy and can’t thank Kara and her staff enough for what they have done for my family.

Amazing speech therapists and office staff! The therapists are all professional, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and go above and beyond to help my two sons. The office staff is great at working with our insurance. Also, great at working around our schedule and being flexible. We love KDA!

Since switching to Kara Dodds, my son has made incredible progress. Everyone on staff is personable, knowledgeable, and helpful. They were extremely accommodating when trying to find a regular appointment to meet our scheduling needs, and they worked really well with our insurance. Sessions are about 45 minutes long, which gives the therapist enough time to really get some work done (in my non-professional opinion). The therapist meets with either my husband or I after every session to discuss progress and goals. They also communicate with his school and other therapists to make sure everyone is on the same page. My son loves to go to speech and looks forward to seeing his therapist every week. We plan to stay with Kara Dodds as long as my son needs speech services.