Virtual Speech and Language Therapy for Autism
Specialized support for autism, pragmatic language, and social communication
Welcome to My Virtual Practice
Hi! My name is Leslie Whitaker and I have been a nationally certified and licensed speech language pathologist since 2001. In this role, I have been helping children, teens, and young adults become more confident and effective communicators. I currently provide personalized virtual speech and language therapy to clients throughout California and Florida.
My practice specializes in working with individuals with people who experience challenges with pragmatic language, expressive language, and social communication. Intervention typically involves working on understanding and effectively using nonverbal language, understanding social cues and how they change in different environments and with different people, conversations, understanding different perspectives, navigating friendships, improving emotional vocabulary, and steps toward building meaningful relationships.
Social communication is often a challenge for people with diagnoses of autism, ADHD, executive functioning disorder, mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, sensory-motor dysfunction. Learning about each client’s learning and behavioral profile is an important part of creating an effective and individualized therapy plan. Collaborating with professionals in different disciplines such as occupational therapists, psychologists, educators, and behavioral health specialists, has influenced me to take a wider and holistic view of each client. This has allowed me to provide a thoughtful and comprehensive approach to communication therapy.
I have been providing virtual speech language pathology since 2020 and to my pleasant surprise, have found it to be very effective. It has been amazing to work on communication with people that I have never actually met “in person”, yet we both feel comfortable and connected. Virtual sessions provide clients with convenient, individualized support from the comfort and familiarity of home. I am also able to work with families to develop practical strategies that can be used in personalized situations.
Who I Work With
I provide virtual services for children, adolescents, and young adults throughout California and Florida. Therapy is individually designed around each client’s age, current communication level, strengths, needs, interests, and personal goals.
For younger clients, sessions may focus on language development, social engagement—including conversational turn-taking and topic maintenance—narrative language (telling a story), emotional vocabulary and self-regulation, flexible thinking, and social problem-solving.
For teens and young adults, therapy may address friendships, social confidence, self-advocacy, classroom participation, college readiness, workplace communication, and navigating increasingly complex social situations.
Family participation and practical carryover strategies are incorporated whenever appropriate.
Areas of Specialty
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My virtual services include support for:
Autism-related communication needs
Pragmatic language and social communication
Understanding and using environmental, contextual, and nonverbal cues
Initiating, maintaining, and ending conversations
Perspective-taking and flexible thinking
Developing and maintaining friendships
Interpreting humor, sarcasm, figurative language, and implied meaning
Self-advocacy and communicating personal needs
Language development and language processing
Verbal expression
Narrative language
Executive functioning as it relates to communication
Communication challenges associated with ADHD and anxiety
Parent consultation and coaching
School and educational consultation
Begin Virtual Speech and Language Therapy
If you are looking for specialized virtual speech and language therapy for autism, pragmatic language, or social communication, I welcome the opportunity to learn more about your family’s needs.
Virtual consultations and therapy sessions are available to clients located throughout California and Florida.
Contact me to schedule an initial consultation and determine whether virtual therapy is the right fit for you or your child.
Virtual Services Offered
Consultation with families about personalized needs and goals
Assessment of social communication skills and current levels
Weekly and biweekly therapy focused on individualized goals, using videos, games, photos, stories, and direct instruction.
Contact Us
Please fill out this form with any questions and Leslie will get back to you.
Palm Beach Gardens Practice
Leslie works with clients 1:1 and in small groups in her private office in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Work is primarily focused on school-aged children, adolescents, and adults with social communication challenges and language disorders. She conducts assessments and has on-going therapy clients. Leslie works with parents, local schools, and local professionals to coordinate educational plans, intervention, and goals suitable for each client’s learning profile.
What is Social Thinking™?
Social Thinking™ is methodology created in 1990 by speech-language pathologist, Michelle Garcia Winner, in San Jose, California to help people understand the thought processes and components of social interactions. Core concepts include the need to understand nonverbal communication, perspective, flexible thinking, and the understanding of the social outcomes of behavior. Michelle was instrumental in changing the name of Asperger’s Syndrome (high-functioning autism) to Social-Communication Disorder in the 2015 DSM V.
