My Big Announcement…
I’ve waited a very long time for this…
It’s actually a dream 29 years in the making!
I am thrilled to announce that my daughter, Macy Mize Usher, will be joining me officially at teachmetotalk!
She’s been hanging around unofficially for a while now…
When she was 7, her darling drawing of a little boy and little girl inspired teachmetotalk’s first logo.
There she is on my first B-roll sitting on my lap as we wrapped the video shoot for my premiere DVD back in 2008.
She accompanied me during therapy visits from the time she was 2 until she left for college. Many of my little friends liked her way more than me!
Anytime I could justify pulling her out of school, she traveled with me and could be spotted hanging around the sign-in table at conferences. This was an event in 2013 in Louisiana…
Here we are at KSHA (Kentucky’s annual Speech, Language, and Hearing Association’s convention for speech-language pathologists) in 2017 when she was studying to be a speech-language pathologist at the University of Kentucky, and probably too humble (and – embarrassed!) to tell her friends in her undergrad program that her mother would be speaking…
During those years, she was mortified when she would arrive at a practicum site and see one of my therapy manuals on her supervisor’s desk.
Last week, one of her current client’s mothers sent her a text when she followed her on social media and figured out that I’m her mom. That’s just how I like it… I’m Macy’s mom, one of my favorite titles ever!
As I’ve joked before, even when she was in grad school, she could never listen to my podcast without falling asleep. I sure hope she’s over that now since this summer, she’ll be joining me as my co-host!
Like most proud parents when their child grows up and joins the family business, I’d like to take credit for all she’s become, but the truth is, Macy’s been blazing her own path for quite a while.
I’m so happy I was finally able to lure her away from a position she loves as speech-language pathologist for University of Kentucky with UK Pediatric Therapies and their autism diagnostics team with UK’s Developmental Peds Multi-disciplinary Autism Assessment Clinic.
She’ll be bringing that wealth of experience along with all her new ideas, her own philosophies and opinions (which sometimes don’t quite line up with mine!), and a bonafide breath of fresh air as we begin the next generation of teachmetotalk.com which I’m calling Teach Me To Talk: Take Two!
Now she’ll also be able to devote more time to creating content for her own darling YouTube channel, Hey Macy! which hit 2 million views in her first 2 years!
At her insistence, teachmetotalk will finally be back on social media. She’s taking the reins on all that so I can get back to doing what I like most — writing! We have so many wonderful projects lined up including a website reboot, updated versions of my therapy manuals, and new courses galore.
Her goal is for us to be back on the road with live courses again this fall, even though she’s expecting her second child (my 5th grandbaby!) Thanksgiving week. Realistically, that phase of the dream may have to wait until 2026, but she’s very determined, so we’ll see…
As I first mentioned on the dedication page of one of my therapy manuals when she was about 14, if she keeps this up, she’s going to work me right out of a job.
That’s the plan, anyway!
But not for the next 20 years…
We’re both so grateful to God for this blessing.
Please join me in welcoming her!
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Teach Me To Talk Testimonials
Happy Therapists, Teachers, Parents & Children
"I just want to thank you for the invaluable information you’ve given me in helping my grandson to talk (which I have passed on to his parents). We’ve ve learned patience, appropriate expectations, and fun and effective strategies that we had found no where else. He is exploding with conversation! Sometimes I struggle to interpret his articulation, but all I have to do is say, “Show me”, and he’s excited to do so. He and I both want so badly to communicate with each other, and your strategies have made it so much easier and non-threatening. Once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Stacey
"My little guy is taking off like a rocket!! We’ve been working through your Autism Workbook for a few months and he has had an explosion of skills develop. YOU are AMAZING! THANK YOU!" Laura Q, Mom
"Dear Laura Mize and Team,
Thank you so much for all your hard work and publishing books! Our 17-month-old toddler suddenly exploded into speaking and imitating everybody's gestures and sounds, just a week or two after we 'completed' all activities that are listed under 11 pre-linguistic skills! Your method really works!"
Grateful customer.
"Hi Laura!
I absolutely LOVE all of your workbooks, especially your Autism Workbook. Starting with Social Games has been a game changer for many of my littles with ASD and their families. It's been the best way for them to finally connect and sustain shared attention and engagement, leading to longer social interactions, through play!"
Jodie, Dev, Therapist
"Hi Ms. Laura,
Thank you so much for the videos you have posted on your youtube channel. They are so direct, informative, and helpful. Thank you for being a resource for me to become a better therapist."
Dianne
"Gosh, I love all of your emails/podcast/website, just everything!! I work in early intervention as a behavior analyst and am learning so much from you!"
Thank you!
Hailey
"Laura,
I love your work! I am a professor of early childhood special education and a speech language pathologist! I have worked to help children learn to communicate and I know how valuable the information you share is for both early interventionists and pediatric speech language pathologists!
Thank you for systematically organizing and explaining essential steps for young children to learn and develop. You are having a great impact on our profession, the ECE profession and families!"
Sincerely,
David
"Thank you.
If this is Laura herself reading this email let me take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have put forth for us professionals. I own every manual (except the autism manual) and have watched every course on DVD. I have listened to countless podcasts. All of what I’ve come to be as an Early Intervention speech therapist was absolutely to your credit. With your resources at my side I have never needed to scramble for answers and strategies and above all the clear language I use when communicating with parents. My fun, animated affect and key phrases I use have been learned through watching your example. So….thank you! May you be blessed."
Chaya
"I just wanted to thank you so much for your incredible help! You are so kind and lovely and every time I implement something you've taught in your manuals or videos it is always a success, I cannot thank you enough. I really appreciate how specific you are in giving us examples of wording to use and how to use a toy in therapy with your videos, it is exactly what I need to properly help my little students. I also really appreciate your list of books of list of toys. I have seen my little students make significant progress thanks to you. I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos, taking more of your CEU's, and reading more of your materials. From the bottom of my heart: thank you so much again!!"
Lauren
Laura thank you so much. Btw, you have transformed my therapy- I have become such a competent and strong therapist after watching probably like 350 of your videos and podcasts over the past few years. And I am a seasoned therapist with almost 25 years experience. (Yes prob 350 episodes ha!) But there was still a lot I learned from you. I have such a thorough understanding of birth to 3 development and how to properly incorporate appropriate therapeutic goals, techniques and strategies now, thanks to you. Kelly
