When Avery was young she struggled deeply with pronunciations of words and speaking in general. I am her mother and was around her always so I was able to understand what she was saying but others struggled. It made Avery embarrassed and shut down which was very sad to see in a small child. We were referred by her PCP to Olmos Speech & Language Learning Center and what a blessing that has been. Avery started attending speech therapy with Blair when she was 3 years old. The progress she has made is incredible and the confidence she has received in return is heart warming. When I watch videos of her younger self talking it is mind blowing to see the progress she has made with speaking and pronunciations! Blair has encouraged her, has been patient with her, and has helped her so much these past 4.5 years. Olmos Speech & Language Learning Center welcomes you and your child(ren) with open and ready arms with commitment to strengthening and teaching your child while maintaining kindness and respect. They are professional and efficient in their work. I would definitely recommend Olmos Speech & Language Learning Center to my family, friends, and anyone interested in helping their child succeed. Avery has come so far with her speech and language skills and it is without a doubt from the help from Blair and the strong staff at Olmos. I am pleased with the results and will continue to take Avery there. -Grace

Mrs. Blair is very nice and I feel like if you are scared or are sad she makes you feel happy -Avery

Finding out that your child has a diagnosed learning difference can be a relief (because finally there’s a name for why your child has such extreme struggles in school!), but it can also feel like a sentence (because you can’t just take an antibiotic or get more sleep to make it go away). We experienced all of those emotions when our son was diagnosed with dyslexia in 1st grade. He was obviously very smart in some ways…a great chess player and created Lego helicopters (with spinning blades!) without a pattern to follow! But school was another story. It was like trying to push a square peg through a round hole. It just didn’t work. Then we met Barbara Sykes! Barbara was like a breath of fresh air for us! She wasn’t afraid of our son’s challenges like we were. She had a plan. Her patient tutoring, words of encouragement, matter of a fact “you can do this” approach were all just what our son and we needed! She had practical strategies to both compensate and accommodate, and she was always full of praise. Our son still didn’t love school, but he really learned hard work and discipline at a young age. When he would sometimes get discouraged, we would point out his strengths in math and he would go back to Barbara’s strategies to navigate through reading, which seemed to be the door keeper to all other subjects.

Our son will never be a fast reader, but he did persevere through elementary, middle school and then high school. He really enjoyed sports and worked hard in school. Although he didn’t love academics growing up, he stayed positive and took pride in his strong work ethic. Ultimately, he discovered a passion for architecture through high school electives, majored in Architecture at Texas Tech, and is now half-way through an Architecture Masters program at Cornell University. Amazing! He still laughs about that with us…that the 1st grade kid that struggled so hard to read would later be excelling at an Ivy League school! We would have never guessed! It is interesting that the farther a student goes with their education, the more that education can be tailored to their strengths. We are still thankful that Barbara was there to encourage him (and us!) through the hours of tutoring back in 1st through 4th grades. Her expertise, professionalism and positivity put our son on the right course to discover and achieve his biggest dreams! -B