Meet Colleen Krummenacker of Speech Inspired Colorado in Highlands and Northwest Denver

Today we’d like to introduce you to Colleen Krummenacker.

Colleen, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was a little lost when I first started college but then I took an Introduction to Communication Disorders course and quickly found my passion. I knew I loved working with kids and I knew I was interested in science but I wasn’t sure how to mesh the two. I was a big nerd in my small college Communicative Disorders department and I loved every aspect of being a “Speechie,” a term you use when you live and breathe speech-language pathology. Following grad school, I landed an Early Intervention job in Brooklyn, NY. Let’s just say, it wasn’t glamorous. I took the subway to children’s homes all over Brooklyn to support their early language development. It was a complete culture shock. The beauty of that particular job was learning just how much I loved building relationships with families that were desperate for ways to reach their children.

Despite the sweat (subways are hot) and the many tears (there were some really sad situations), that job solidified my love for my career. From there, I worked in schools and private practices until I decided to build my own practice in Hoboken, NJ. I was lucky enough to work with so many wonderful families and schools in that area. I still keep in touch with many of them, but my husband and I were looking for a change of scenery and the mountains were calling. We moved to Denver and I started working for a private practice here. I loved my kids but I missed the autonomy of my own work. It wasn’t long before I decided to head back out on my own. I’m growing slowly but surely and the birth of my sweet son, Reid, slowed things down a bit, but I’m so excited to continue building relationships with families in Denver.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Going out on your own is never an easy venture, especially in a new city with other established speech/language practices. It can be competitive and territorial. But hey, we’re all in the business of helping kids and families so I’m going to continue to support my fellow Speechies and keep on moving forward.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
I’m a Speech-Language Pathologist. I know, that’s a mouth full (pun intended). I support children and their families in the development of speech and the use and understanding of language. Sometimes the child is a bit delayed or in other cases, the child has a diagnosis that limits their ability to communicate. In both situations, I build relationships with the child and their family to intervene and get communication skills on track.

We create a team of players (parents, siblings, caregivers, teachers, etc) who I coach to facilitate the child’s speech and language skills in all environments. I like to think my approach is holistic in nature because I consider the whole child in my treatment plans. I love working with little ones because they are tiny sponges. They learn so quickly! And I can’t even explain to you how fun my job is. Children learn best through play so essentially we play all day. Not a bad gig, right? I specialize in language development, social language disorders, phonological/articulation disorders and apraxia of speech. I provide consultations, treatment sessions, evaluations, screenings and teacher in-services.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
The dreaded and hilarious canoe trip. We went camping a lot as a family when I was growing up in Upstate NY. My parents had decided to take us on a canoe trip with a bunch of my aunts, uncles and cousins. I was terrified of the rapids and was convinced we were going to tip in the canoe. I was only about seven years old so my swimming skills weren’t great. My parents had to convince me for weeks leading up to the trip that we weren’t going to tip and they were experienced canoeists.

We start off down the Delaware River and about 20 minutes into the trip, my parents miscommunicate about steering and next thing I know, I’m floating down the river. Luckily, my mom grabbed ahold of me and we were able to make it to shore. I was livid and terrified and nearly stepped on a fish carcass as we made our way to safety. One might think that’s a horrible childhood memory but we reminisce about that camping trip at just about every family party and laugh so hard our cheeks hurt.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.speechinspired.com
• Phone: 607-206-0412
• Email: crk.speechtherapy@gmail.com
• Instagram: @speechinspired_colorado

Image Credit:
KB Custom Photography, LLC

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