Meet Brittney Cotton, MS, CCC-SLP | Owner & Lead Speech Language Pathologist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brittney Cotton, MS, CCC-SLP and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brittney, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
I am a speech-language pathologist (SLP) and we assess, diagnose, treat, and help to prevent communication and swallowing disorders in children and adults. Most people have never heard of a SLP before and once you explain to them our role, they tend to always say “oh yeah, like kids with lisps or people that stutter”. The field of speech language pathology is so vast! Not only do we work with school-age children that have developmental communication delays or disorders; we work with patients ages birth through 99 years old. We work with babies born with cleft lips and/or palates that have difficulties feeding and swallowing, children and adults on the Autism spectrum, people recovering from strokes, and geriatric patients with dementia and other cognitive diseases.

What should our readers know about your business?
Speak Wonders, LLC is a private practice specializing in the consultation, evaluation, and treatment of communication delays & disorders in children and adults. We currently provide in home therapy; Telehealth services was launched as a necessity during the COVID-19 quarantine but allowed us to serve families in rural areas of Missouri. Delivering in home services allows us to build excellent rapport with our clients and their family; that’s important to us and sets us apart from other service delivery models. We instantly become part of the family and apart of the family’s weekly routine. Those close connections help to better serve the client when the whole household is on board and active in their treatment. This was not an easy road and still isn’t at times, but I’ve learned that anything worth having is worth fighting for. Speak Wonders has certainly put in our share of work and we still have plenty fight left in us.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love my city! I would definitely recommend catching a St. Louis Cardinals game if it’s baseball season and if not, hanging out in the entertainment district at Ballpark Village (directly across from the baseball stadium)-good food, bars, nightlife, gift shops, live music! Catching a St. Louis Blues hockey game is a must in season; 2019 Stanley Cup Champs by the way! Visiting the world famous St. Louis Zoo, Science Center, and the Delmar Loop are top to-dos. Eating Imo’s thin crust, St. Louis-style pizzas and toasted raviolis are the stuff dreams are made of! To satisfy the sweetest sweet tooth, 1) visit any local bakery for a slice of Gooey Butter Cake and 2) visit Ted Drewes for frozen custard-true STL staples! Taking a trip to tour the Anheuser Busch brewery is cool and you get free samples! Lastly, your have to visit the Gateway Arch-you can go inside of it and see the entire city and the Mississippi River from 630 feet up.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to give a major shoutout to my good friends and fellow SLP colleagues! They have been nothing short of encouraging, supportive, give the best advice, and transparent about things happening in their own practices. My soror Destiny of Kids Speak Therapy (ATL), Rasheedah of A to Z Therapy (STL), and Marianna of Fitly Spoken, LLC (ATL); these ladies are GOALS in every aspect and I appreciate their friendship, mentorship, and genuine interest in the success of Speak Wonders. My partner Marvis deserves a lot of credit too! Building a practice from the ground up, working after hours and sometimes on the weekends is super taxing and stressful. I’m incredibly grateful for her calming spirit and unwavering confidence in me, even on days when I don’t have it.

Website: https://speakwondersspeechtherapy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakwondersspeechtherapy/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeakWondersSpeechTherapy