“Charlene is absolutely amazing! We worked with her for a year and a half, and my toddler went from no words to developmentally on track! She helped us with behavior issues, learn to understand our daughter’s cues, and was an amazing support to her entire developmental process. She truly became practically a part of our family! Both my girls LOVED when she came over for sessions. As a pediatric nurse practitioner, I know the value of a good speech therapist. She is hands down the best one I’ve met! We love her!”
/Jeanna/
“Charlene has been instrumental in the learning and development of both our children. They way she empowers us as parents to be the one to coach and equip our children between visits has been a game changer, and my kids love her like family.
I cannot recommend Shine enough.”
/kelsea/
“Miss Charlene was so wonderful to our little guy and our family. She saw our little quiet guy from ages 18 months to 3 years. She was in our house weekly and quickly felt like she just became part of our family. She was wonderfully kind to my quiet and shy boy and helped coax him out of his shell. He looked forward to her visits weekly. Not only did she help him to understand language and to speak, but she empowered us as his mom and dad to teach him as well when she wasn’t around. She gave our family the foundation to encourage our son to express himself and gave us all the tools to help him succeed. And succeed he did. He’s currently a never-ending talker. Overall, she just encouraged me in all areas of my “mama-hood” from speech therapy to just spending more quality time with all my babies. I’d highly recommend her to anyone and still, 2 years later, miss those weekly visits! She brought more to our family than just speech therapy and the foundations she helped us build will never be forgotten!”
/molly/
“Words can not express how much Charleen helped us when we needed it most. We were just starting our adventure in the world of autism and speech therapy, barely surviving, balancing between denial and faith. Charlene was always so kind and encouraging. She coached us on how to connect with our son, get into his world, and help him express himself in our world. We worked very hard. Our son met all his goals. Charleen was always there to guide us. She was also a shoulder to cry on when things were difficult. She helped me learn things about myself that affect my parenting style, and I never once felt judged by her. Our family is so grateful for her. We had the pleasure of having her come to our home for a little over a year, and we all cried when our son graduated from her program. I still use some of the things she taught us. She’s an amazing teacher and you will not be disappointed, you should choose her.”
/sarah/
“Charlene is the BEST. My shy daughter loves her and has become very motivated to work on her speech, when she was initially very closed-minded. Charlene is sincere and competent and we are very appreciative of all she’s doing/has done for our girl.”
/marissa/
“Charlene has been working with my son for well over a year now and he has made SO much progress! Also, he absolutely adores her and looks forward to his therapy sessions every week. She is incredibly knowledgeable and extremely patient (3 year olds are not easy!) I would highly recommend Charlene to anyone looking to help their child overcome speech and language struggles.”
/casey/
“Charlene is amazing! Not only was she extremely helpful with my son, but she also was a stable emotional support for me and my family during our therapy process. She definitely has a gift working with children. My son got to know and trust her well and I always felt more than comfortable trusting her advice. It was wonderful having her expertise in our home and her detailed notes still help me along. She is understanding, caring, kind, and has a fun-loving spirit which is so absolutely needed in this type of work. My son advanced in leaps and strides under her therapeutic care. She helped me understand as well how to respond to different challenges by offering a listening ear, helpful tips, and many resources and tools I still use to this day. I highly recommend her as a therapist (and just as a person in general) with a glowing recommendation.”
/aimee/
“Our family began working with Charlene when my oldest was 2.5 and only had about a dozen words in his vocabulary. Charlene was an instant friend and advocate, helping to connect us to support and resources for our family. She was never judgmental, and helped coach me through various situations that come with parenting a young child with a speech delay. When we noticed my second son also had a speech delay, he was 18 months old and I was relieved to know our family could continue working with Charlene. Of course my two children are as different as oranges and apples, but Charlene was quickly able to find their individual motivations and adapted strategies for each of their interests and needs. It is obvious that Charlene loves what she does, and loves the children she works with. My boys are now 5 and 3.5, have completely caught up in their language skills, and ask about Miss Charlene regularly. :)
Having Charlene come to our house was extremely helpful because it meant we were able to work around our family’s schedule (nap time!), the kids were comfortable in their own environment, and we were able to implement strategies that we could use throughout the week, instead of just in a clinical setting.
Finding out your child has a developmental delay can be very overwhelming, but I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to walk through the process with. I highly recommend her services!”
/lindsay/
“I cannot say enough good things about Charlene. At my son's 18 month check up, we found out he had a speech delay. I was so worried what that meant for his future. We immediately started to work with Charlene and she put my mind at ease. My son is very shy, but Charlene was so patient and caring. We worked with her for a year and my son made so much progress in that time. Not only did Charlene help with speech, but she also taught me VERY valuable parenting techniques and styles. We moved to Idaho right before my son was born, so I didn't have a strong support system. I always felt I could talk to Charlene about any concerns and she was truly there to help our whole family. I am EXTREMELY thankful for our time with Charlene. Now, my son is 3.5 and you would never know he struggled with his speech. He is a happy, sweet preschooler.”
/kristi/
"Dear Charlene, you will never know the amazing impact you have had on Frank and our entire family! I personally, truly admire and respect you as an educator and friend! I hope our paths cross again in the not too distant future, but regardless, know we are better for having known you!"
/frank’s mom/
"Charlene Christianson is an outstanding speech therapist. She spent more than 2 years with our little one, and we learned so much from her. Not only how to help our child with her struggles with speech during her appointments, but more importantly how we could help implement those techniques on a daily basis in a fun, playful way. I believe her expertise in her field guided us in more ways than just speech therapy because we saw it continually overlapping into the ways we met challenges in other areas of her growth as well."
/Lily's mom/
"Charlene came into our lives to work with our 18 month old son, helping him with his slow speech development due to underdeveloped mouth and tongue muscles. He instantly bonded with her, due to her gentle nature and patient methods of working with such young and active children. Charlene was an amazing resource and an important part of our family for nearly 3 years. Proper speech development takes a long time, but especially a long time for children like my son. With Charlene, he was able to succeed and his speech is now understandable by most people. My son loved her so much that he even included her on pictures of our family tree and he looked forward to every single one of her visits."
/AJ's Mom/
