Parent Comments

Anna has worked with our daughter for the past 2 years. At first, Anna used the Cycles Approach and the Minimal Pair Therapy to help her overcome phonological process delays. Then, when my daughter had difficulties learning to read, we started using the Wilson Fundations System to teach her how to read and write using a carefully structured phonics approach. We consider her our life-saver, and allow me to tell you why.

Even if my daughter has worked with speech therapists since she was one year old, we were making little progress before we met Anna. The main reason was that her speech difficulties were not addressed using the right method and therapy. Anna diagnosed her correctly as part of a global assessment at the Erikson Institute, but because we moved out of Chicago, we had difficulties finding an experienced speech therapist to treat her correctly. We eventually reached out to Anna and begged her to take us as clients over Skype. Anna was phenomenal, and in a short period of time, our daughter started making visible progress, and in about a year all her speech issues resolved. It felt like a miracle, considering all the time and effort we spent in prior years with little improvement. Our happiness was, however, short lived because we started seeing some signs that our daughter may be dyslexic or at least could have reading difficulties in the future. I did not wait for the future challenge to be confirmed and we started working right away on her literacy skills. Luckily, Anna and the Wilson Reading System came to the rescue again. Six months ago, my daughter could not blend any CVC words and now she reads fluently. Again, we witnessed a miracle. Of course, hard work and perseverance on my daughter's part was part of the equation, but Anna's talent and commitment has brought the biggest contribution to my daughter's speech ability and reading and writing skills.

Anna is obviously very knowledgeable, experienced, kind, fun and compassionate. But what I always appreciated the most was how prepared she has been for every single session. A lot of thought, care and prep happened before our sessions and I think that made the most difference in our experience and results. Lastly, as a parent who has lost a lot of sleep worrying about her special needs child, I cannot stress enough how important is that the child is diagnosed correctly and then how crucial is to find a therapist who uses the right approach to treat the child's challenges and also connects with him/her on all levels. For us, Anna has been exactly that and more. We cannot be more grateful for her help and I hope everyone who needs a speech therapist or a reading specialist is as lucky as we have been when we met her.

Hera, Lincoln Park and via Skype

Anna helped our 3 1/2 you daughter through a difficult period of stuttering. She taught me how to support and work with her at home, which helped make all the difference. Anna is knowledgeable, great with children, compassionate and gets results! My daughter's stuttering is completely gone. Thank you Anna!

Lisa, Ravenswood

Anna, I just wanted to thank you for the incredibly comprehensive and compassionate evaluation you did for Bobby. We have reviewed it separately, and were struck by how thorough and professional it was we continue to be grateful to you for setting us on this path. I drew Bobby a "schedule" today for his preschool visit and it was a huge help!!! You have literally made me a better mama and I bless you for it.

Jennifer, Andersonville

Thank you for guiding us as a family, through a memorable journey as B. blossomed under your skillful and caring therapy. I have witnessed her transformation from no words to school ready. B. and I will miss seeing you. Words can't express the gratitude I have for your talent. Best wishes to you and your family. We will never forget you!

Mary (Nana), Lakeview

After working with Anna, our daughter is doing well. She is speaking a lot and for that we are incredibly grateful. Anna, we are so thankful for all you have done, words cannot express. Thank you!

Natasha, Andersonville

Anna has worked with my son for over nine months, and he has made significant progress in his speech development. Anna's sessions have been engaging and enjoyable for my 2-year old. My son has grown quite fond of his speech therapist and has looked forward to their meetings. Anna has always been patient, well-organized, and has clearly communicated her therapeutic goals for my child. Overall, I have been very pleased with Anna's work!

D., Lakeview

Anna, we were thinking of you the other day and then we received this today. We can never thank you for all of your hard work with Maeve. She needed a lot of assistance and you got her up to level. We are forever grateful and we do think of you often. Hope you are well!

Mary, Joe, and Maeve, Sauganash

Anna has been working with my son for quite some time now. Our son's progress has been impressive! Anna's work with him has also helped him build up his self-esteem, which had been lost with bad experiences due to his speech. She is a wonderful person to work with, very attentive, informative and has a great connection with my son. We had a very hard time finding a great speech therapist for him and when Anna came along we were so very happy! If you are in need of a great speech therapist, I would recommend Anna 100 times over!

Darlene, Old Irving Park Neighborhood

Anna has been working with our daughter for four months and we couldn't be happier with her progress! Her delayed speech has progressed from very little/no speech to short sentences in a very short time. We have felt very comfortable and supported throughout the process. It's so helpful to understand exactly what issues our daughter has and Anna has been great about explaining them to us. We really appreciate that she gives us tools and exercises to practice in between her visits and we've definitely seen results. Anna is just terrific with our daughter. Weekly therapy is so much fun and she looks forward to seeing Anna every week. We can't say enough good things about Anna!

Katie, Old Irving Park Neighborhood

Anna Rooney is currently helping us work with our son, and training us on "The Hanen Method." This has shown us how to listen to what our son is saying. He has more functional speech than we realized! We are helping him build on this speech. He is also using complete sentences describing actions in a book! We have more social interaction because we have learned to jump in when we see a chance to turn something into a game, which turns into social language! Anna has reached out to our other therapists and is helping us make a schedule. She has really gone out of her way for us. She understands our sons needs very well. She really knows how to keep our son engaged! We are lucky that we found Anna Rooney! This has been our most successful Speech therapy so far!

Robyn, Portage Park Neighborhood

I had a wonderful experience with Ms. Anna working with my children. She worked hard and developed communication plans for my sons. They both have made great progress with their speaking and development. I highly recommend Ms. Anna.

Roel, Portage Park Neighborhood

We're grateful for Anna's talents and time spent with enriching our toddler's speech development and overall happiness. Because Anna has helped her expressive language, our daughter is less frustrated and more communicative. She is happier because she is better understood and able to express her needs, wants, opinions, and feelings. Enlisting Anna's gifts has been one of our best decisions.

Kim, Lakeview Neighborhood

Thanks again for everything you've done. I've been really happy with Ellery's progress, but particularly because she seems so much happier with her new found ways to communicate. She's made big strides given it's only been 2-1/2 months? I just love to hear that sweet little voice after waiting so long.

Jeana, Lincoln Square Neighborhood

Just wanted to send you a big thank you for all of the wonderful help you gave to Olivia over this past year! It is amazing how much improvement she has made! Not only did you help us correct her velar fronting, the work you did with her in terms of listening to directions, focusing on games and language development overall. You were a huge help to her! We really appreciate your patience, kindness, compassion and also appreciate all of those great iPad apps you introduced us to! We are so proud of Olivia and her getting accepted into a top private school in Chicago! We really do feel that you made a huge impact on not only her speech, but her overall development as well! I will absolutely continue to recommend you to friends! Thankyou!

Olivia and Jennifer, Lincoln Park neighborhood, Chicago

We want to thank you so much for your help! We think Gavin has made so much progress. Even staying calm and saying 'use your words' when he is upset is getting so much better! We have tried many of your strategies and are so thankful that you were able to help us out.

Dana, Andersonville neighborhood, Chicago

Anna has worked with our son who has autism for almost four years. He's gone from almost no speech to being able to articulately express his wants and needs at age 7. Our son's ability to speak makes a huge difference in everyone's life-on a practical level, an emotional level, and behaviorally. Anna has shown a great amount of focus and devotion to our son that I'm positive has made their relationship more productive.

Tracy, Portage Park neighborhood

Anna, congratulations on your business. Thank you for being so good to us. When my son started with you, he was 2 years old and not talking at all. He was seen by another therapist and he made no progress. When he started with you, he started to talk and become more friendly. You not only helped him but you also help us with ideas on how to help him at home. He started to make quick progress. We are so thankful for all your hard work.

Lisandra, Chicago

My girls totally adore Anna. They run to the door at the mention of her name. Anna uses creativity, passion, and fun to bring out the best in my children. She has a wonderful, natural way with kids that is effective at creating trust and attentive participation.

Robyn, Old Irving Park neighborhood, Chicago