Testimonials

When I see all the sound theoretical things that are used in your approach, I think of a word that describes what happens when things around you fit comfortably and they proceed positively forward because they are on the right pathway.  A favorite word of mine is:

“Resonance” and that’s what happens when everything comes together so well that progress forward in so clean and natural that it just grows and proceeds in a forward moving comfortable direction with little resistance.

SATPAC has a unique resonance that practically empowers a child to improve everyday with greater ease and speed.  From a clinician’s point of view, the approach is theoretically sound and extremely practical.  That sensibility is truly therapeutic and truly ensures success in an extremely practical manner.

Wayne A. Secord, Ph.D

The SATPAC program…skillfully builds on my program of sensory-motor therapy. The Treatment protocols as outlined in the SATPAC Procedures Checklist provide well-organized steps which will be effective in remediating articulatory defects. I hope SATPAC can soon be made available to practicing SLPs.
Dr. Eugene T. McDonald
Author of McDonald Deep Test of Articulation

Hello,
SATPAC is so great! It really helped me learn my “Rs.”
My name is Emily Jenkins-Moses, and I am 10 years old. I used to pronounce my “Rs” like “Ws,” and people said I had a Boston or Irish accent. It hurt my feelings because I was born and raised in Fresno, CA.
I had been to a number of speech therapists, but nothing worked until SATPAC. In less than 6 months, I can correctly pronounce my “Rs” almost 80% of the time.
I am now finished taking speech, and I am very happy!
Sincerely,
Emily Jenkins-Moses

Mr. Sacks,

I took your workshop in January and have been using the SATPAC worksheets and approach with our articulation students with the blessing of my SLP ever since then.  I just wanted to thank you for this fine tool.  I have had great success with student moving more quickly through their sounds, and they are seemingly flying into all word positions and sentences with ease.

Of special note is a student with autism that I treat for sound errors in speech.  He is very rigid in his speech patterns and would not “move” with his sounds.  I began using the SATPAC sheets for a new phoneme (TH) that the therapist had written as a goal for this quarter.  Since they were nonsense words he gleefully copied my silliness and made beautiful sounds.  Today was the moment of truth.  I showed him some pictures of words with (TH) in the initial position of words in order to write his assessment, and with a sly smile he pronounced each one easily.  He connected the dots all by himself!

Another moment was an RTI student that we just picked up.  He’s an ELL student and he substituted T for TH.  I needed lists of nothing but toothoo and deethae kinds of sounds.  With a couple of clicks, I had beautiful lists of syllables to train him with.  It saved me hours of preparation, I’m sure.

I’m sure I’m not using your system perfectly, but even imperfectly, I am getting a great deal of positive results.

Thank you again,

Nancy Kijewski, SLPA

Peoria Unified School District

Arizona

Thank you so much for the ideas on how to better teach the /r/ sound! WOW! It works so well! Also I have already seen huge improvements with my students. Great intervention!
Jessica Malberg, SLP
Crane Schools
Yuma, AZ

Thank you for creating SATPAC! I consider this organized highly effective therapy tool a magical treasure. I have been using this program since the Spring of 2000 as a therapist in the Fresno Unified School system. The last several years I have noticed more children with severe phonological disorders. Since incorporating the SATPAC for remediation these children are correcting and moving out of therapy more quickly. The most notable improvement so far is of a 7-year old who stopped all sounds with the exception of four phones. Of course, he was unintelligible. After three months of SATPAC for 30 minute sessions once a week, this child is now 70% intelligible and his parents, teacher, and the principal of the school are very excited that they can now have conversation with him. (Note: This child’s parents are illiterate so there has been no support with home practice during this duration.) The improvement in communication with this child, of course, has also improved the once poor and sometimes violent behavior patterns this child exhibited due to his frustration of not being understood. What a difference the SATPAC program has made in my therapy.
Chae Gagnebin, M.A., S.L.P.
Speech-Language Pathologist

So my 6th grader that couldn’t say /r/ to save his life…he’s exiting from speech J Thank you SATPAC!
Sarah Scharnick, M.A., CCC
Central Unified School District
Fresno, CA



As the supervisor of Speech/Language Specialists in Fresno Unified School District, I observed the SATPAC Program in action. I was most impressed with the systematic nature of the program using different phonetic contexts, the high number of repetitions of the target sound in a short period of time and the acceptance of only perfect productions. During the 25-minutes sessions, students were on-task for 20 minutes-an amazing rate compared to most other therapeutic techniques. Through the use of SATPAC, I was able to see students make growth within a 25-minute period.
Kathleen Scott
Program Manager
Fresno Unified School District

Thank you very much for your program! I have seen immediate results! My students have progressed more quickly with this program than with any other program that I’ve used in the past 20 years!!! …Thank you again for all the hard work you’ve put into developing this great resource!
Sue Ann Hooker
North Vernon Elementary School
North Vernon, IN

I’m still using your program after all these years and still experiencing phenomenal results.  Just recently, my supervisor stated that I have more speech dismissals than anyone in our corporation!  (Now, if only I could get everyone else on board.)  Thanks for the part that you have played in my success.   SATPAC gets results!
Sue Ann Hooker
North Vernon, IN

I have great success with SATPAC.  I have integrated it into my traditional therapy and seen rapid increases in correct productions.  I have also stimulated a correct /r/ using eerga where before I was getting only an /l/ sound!  I was thrilled about that!

Thanks so much!
Lauren Ramirez, M.A. CCC-SLP
Ladera Ranch, CA
 

I have been using SATPAC for several years and have found it to be a highly effective tool in articulation remediation. Students achieve generalization more rapidly than with other more traditional therapies I have used. Because SATPAC is systematic and stresses coarticulation from the earliest phases, students meet their goals very quickly. My dismissal rate has increased significantly since implementing SATPAC. I highly recommend this program for the busy school clinician.
Jody King, M.A., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Specialist

The SATPAC Program is systematic and user friendly. It gives articulation students maximum practice in a step-by-step format. They know at each step what level of achievement is expected of them and if they have met their goals. Concentrated practice enables students to progress at a faster rate. Practice lists are generated at the click of a mouse-a great time saver. This is a valuable tool.
B. H. Moats
Speech-Language Specialist
Fresno Unified School District

I have appreciated the “facilitating context” approach since graduate school, but frankly, with high volume and diverse caseload I wasn’t able to spend the time doing it correctly. SATPAC makes it easy! I firmly believe that there’s no substitute for good old fashion drill work to optimize results, and this program does it. I chose several students who I felt were just not progressing to begin using the program. At first their reaction was that the lists were silly and easy. It didn’t take too many times of having to repeat the lists over and over to reach criteria before they really got serious and accepted the challenge. That vigilance and the automaticity of production that the lists emphasize enabled them to “get over the hump” and stabilize production relatively quickly.

I have used it with both elementary and middle school students with great results. I think that SATPAC is a particularly valuable resource for upper elementary and middle school students who need a “no nonsense” approach to correcting sound production errors. Thanks for a great program!
Laurie Graves MS CCC/SLP
Tuscaloosa County Schools
Tuscaloosa, AL

My 4-year-old son has developmental verbal dyspraxia (or so says his speech therapist). I was very concerned about his speech because nobody could understand him and he will be starting kindergarten in the fall. After 20 weekly sessions and practice at home using the SATPAC program, he has made major improvement and can be understood most of the time. He still has a long way to go but the systematic nonsense words in SATPAC have really helped him.
Gary Privett
Fresno, CA

What a great product! Thanks for all your hard work in developing it. I have seen huge improvements in my speech kids in just the last few weeks!!
Shannon Boyd
Lenawee Intermediate School District
Adrian, Michigan

Just wanted to thank you for a wonderful program. I began therapy with my second grader that has a severe “r” problem. I used the oral-motor exercises that you recommended (i.e. eer with mirror etc.) with great success!!!! It was nothing less than exhilirating!! I didn’t expect to get a good “r” so fast. The child was particularly excited because she has an “r” in her name. Your program is truly dynamite…It is systematic and effective..I am telling many colleagues about it! THANKS, THANKS and THANKS! You have made a great contribution to the field!
Rivky Freid
New York

I can’t get over the progress my difficult /r/ clients have been making using SATPAC. They have made considerable gains in producing an accurate /r/ in most contexts, and they are highly motivated because they are excited about their gains. They actually look forward to coming to speech. Two of these clients have been in speech for 3 years, and are just now making the progress they need to “graduate” from speech.
Lisa Dugoni
Modesto, CA

I am having the best time generating word lists and presenting them to my students. I’m using your approach in remediating the /r/ and have found great success in less than a week. It truly is an amazing program!
Sara Bell
Lakeside School District
San Diego, CA