Meet Dr. Kelly Robinson: Speech Language Pathologist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Kelly Robinson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Kelly, what makes you most proud of the business you’ve built?
I am most proud of my ability to connect with families on a personal level to help them achieve developmental outcomes for their children.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My name is Dr. Kelly LaRue Robinson and I am the owner of Strong Link Therapy Services. I am an alumnus of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia and Rocky Mountain University of Healthcare Providers in Provo, Utah. I am a member of the Kennesaw Business Association, the Amercian Speech Hearing Association and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated to name a few. Strong Link Therapy Services is a speech language therapy clinic in Kennesaw, Georgia. My business is family oriented and strives to help children and young adults overcome communication, and swallowing disorders. Strong Link Therapy specializes in neurogenic disorders which include apraxia, dysarthria, brain inujury, autism, and hearing loss. Strong Link Therapy provides services across multiple settings including onsite clinical services, home based services, educational centers and virtually via teletherapy. We offer a unique set of training courses for therapists, parents, educators and community providers. The thing that distinguishes Strong Link Therapy Services from other businesses is its utilization of parent coaching techniques across clinic and home settings. Parent coaching can briefly be described as facilitating bidirectional teaching and learning while the parent and coach participate in activities essential to the child’s progress. This family centered approach to providing speech therapy services requires a therapist to integrate speech therapy with adult learning principles. These adult learning principles include feedback, initiation, observation, action and reflection (Rush and Shelden 2011). When incorporating this approach at Strong Link Therapy Services, we start with gathering detailed information about each family. Starting with a survey of each families’ parental hopes and long term dreams for their child, we work backwards from the long term dream to develop a current plan of action. I am so proud that I am able to advocate for each of my clients on a personal level to help them become successful across their natural environments. Being a business owner, therapist, coach, and advoI cate for my clients has not been easy. The combination of skills can create a pretty heavy cap to wear. Serving in each capacity requires understanding, patience, skill, knowledge of patient and family rights as well as an ability to execute positive change. The execution of positive change can often times be uncomfortable, however; the long-term effect of positive change is unmeasurable in the life of someone who requires it to live more abundantly. Because of my passion for helping my families succeed, I have learned to be comfortable with asking difficult questions and to question other’s idea of what is ‘acceptable’. Moreover, I have had to learn to not waiver in the expectation of evidence based practices and decision making from anyone impacting the life of a child who has learning or communication needs. My goal for Strong Link Therapy Services is to serve as a partner to help parents push for positive change, empower their voice, and coach participants through therapeutic techniques and activities to help their child improve,

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My favorite spots are actually quite close to home. I am the proud mother of two boys who love good food and being outdoors. A visit with my family will likely include visits to Caper’s Restaurant and Bar in Kennesaw and Fish Thyme Restaurant & Bar in Acworth. My family and I love the ambiance of both venues and their food is delicious. Activities with my family might include a visit to Acworth Beach for fun or Atlantic Station for shopping. When the weather is appealing, we love venturing to the North Georgia Mountains to visit Amicalola Falls which is well known for its iconic beauty.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am thankful that God has allowed me to be the mother of two wonderful children, Julian and Michael. They are both amazing and have served as a constant motivator for me . Because of them, I understand parenting which helps me be a better therapist and a better family advocate.