LLA Spotlight: Tracy Heupel

March 12, 2021
Our Team

We have amazing therapists at LLA and want to showcase them to you! This week, meet Tracy Heupel!

Tracy is a Speech Language Pathologist who has been with LLA since August 2020. She serves students at Ashland City Schools. She became a therapist after realizing nursing school was not for her, so she set out to find what she was truly destined to do. At the time, she was working as a nurse’s aide and began observing the speech therapist who worked at the nursing home. She immediately took interest to her job and wanted to learn more. During the summer of 2014, she applied to the University of Akron’s Speech Language Pathology program and started on her journey to becoming a Speech Language Pathologist! It wasn’t until she started her schooling that she learned just how important Speech Language Pathologists are to our communities and the amount of people who are served on a daily basis. After only her first semester of school, she knew that she had made the right choice and has loved every minute of her journey to becoming the best therapist she can possibly be! One of her favorite things about being a therapist is getting to see her kids reach their goals. Her absolute favorite moments are when a child realizes they just did what they have been practicing for so long and working so hard on. She has been known on multiple occasions to get tears in her eyes because she gets so happy for them! She loves seeing their facial expressions when they realize they just met their goals too!

Let’s get to know Tracy better!

What is your favorite movie?

Steel Magnolias

What do you do in your free time?

If I’m not with family or friends, I am relaxing at home watching movies or at the yoga studio!

What is the funniest thing a kid has ever said to you in therapy?

“Ummm…. You wore your hair like that today?”

What is your favorite food?

Pizza

What is your best advice for kids?

Take a deep breath and you will get there! Just keep trying, if you mess up, it’s okay!

Would you rather have ice cream or cookies?

Cookies!

What is your favorite inspirational quote?

Dream, believe, achieve!

What is the best therapy advice you have ever received?

Sometimes, things do not always go as planned. You can spend hours planning your perfect therapy session only to realize nothing you planned is going to work that day. Just be flexible and have patience!

Where did you grow up?

Hartville, Ohio

What is your favorite season?

Summer

Tune in to our next Spotlight to meet another one of our wonderful therapists!

Crystal Scheibe

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Great place, glad we found them. Been going to Medina over 2 months now and he loves Lauryn and Kyler. Wish they had more ABA therapy places available... live in Wooster and long drive everyday.

Karrie Swan LaRock

My 11 year old son has dyslexia and has made noticeable gains in working At LLA THERAPY. Katie is strong in her approach toward him and also keeps him comfortable enough to perform well. We will continue visiting both the Fairlawn and Hudson offices and recommend them highly.

Ron Monroe

My 9 year old just completed about 9 months of weekly speech sessions (due to his stuttering) with Matt Hagge at LLA and we are thrilled with the experience and results. What I thought might be a negative (what kid really wants to go to speech class?) was made very positive by Matt, and my son never hesitated or complained when we talked about class. He really enjoyed it and really took what Matt taught him to heart. His speech has been greatly improved and we definitely recommend LLA. Thank you so much!

Heather Dougherty-Pantoja

My son’s Occupational Therapist, Jess, is an amazing OT! She gives practical tips on working with my son at home and school!

Terri Apgar

I cannot say enough good things about LLA Therapy. My daughter was a client of Teal Simmons’ for approximately 2 years and was just released from speech therapy! She was diagnosed with Apraxia in 2015 and worked with Teal twice a week. Through Teal’s application of PROMPT therapy, my daughter had age-appropriate speech after one year. All of the staff we interacted with at LLA were absolutely wonderful. They really care about what they do and making sure your child achieves their goals.

Kelli Geisler Davisson

LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for my son as well as my family! My son always asks, "When can I go see Ms. Jeannine again, is it Monday??" He has also made huge gains in only 5 months! I would highly recommend LLA and have already shared my experience with friends looking for services!

Victoria Hansford-Price

We are so grateful for our Speech Therapist Ms.Teal. We have seen a great improvement with our sons confidence and communication abilities since we have started "Prompt" therapy. What we love the most about LLA and Ms. Teal is that Kohl feels comfortable and relaxed which has played a critical role in his progress. Thank you Ms. Teal for all you have done.

Laura Lee Hogsett

They have helped in numerous ways. Speech, OT and behavioral. I've had numerous compliments on my son's progress thanks in very large part to LLA. I would recommend LLA before I recommend our local children's hospitals, though they are good, they don't have the staff that LLA does.

Amy Furukawa

We had a great experience with Matt Hagge at LLA! Our Middle School age son was becoming very conscious of his voice, which is nasal due to a cleft palate. Matt helped him to better form his sounds and project his voice in a way that makes the unavoidable nasality less noticeable.Our son is more confident and outgoing & even took on a speaking role in the church play. Matt has the perfect personality to relate with our son, and we would recommend him to anyone needing speech therapy services!

Jessica Havalotti

LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for our daughter. I would highly recommend LLA. Miss Grace was so amazing and I can't believe how quickly our daughter showed improvement. Thank you!