Sunflower Neurolymph Therapy Provider Spotlight, September 2026
By Valerie Briggs, Katy Hardy and Jade Browning
When you hear the words “speech therapy,” what comes to mind?
Most people picture a child learning how to pronounce a sound correctly. That is certainly part of speech therapy, but it is only a small piece of what a speech language pathologist, or SLP, actually does.
SLPs work with communication, language, cognition, memory, voice, feeding and swallowing. They may help a toddler begin communicating, help a child use a communication device, help someone with Parkinson’s disease maintain their voice, or help an adult communicate and swallow safely after a stroke or brain injury.
For this Provider Spotlight, I would like to introduce Jade Browning and Katy Hardy, co- owners of Connected Voices Co. in Kansas City.
Connected Voices was founded to make speech, language, cognitive and swallowing services more accessible for children and adults. Jade and Katy bring experience from schools, early intervention, hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, home health and private practice. Their services include speech and language therapy, feeding and swallowing care, cognitive communication therapy, augmentative and alternative communication, parent coaching, screenings and consultations (Connected Voices Co., 2026).
Jade has worked as a speech language pathologist for more than nine years across early childhood programs, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, home health and schools. Her experience includes developmental delays, apraxia, autism, AAC, Down syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, aphasia, dysphagia and dysarthria. Katy brings experience from early intervention, schools, rehabilitation, home health and hospitals, including work with speech and language delays, autism, apraxia, AAC, Parkinson’s disease, aphasia and dysphagia.
What caught my attention about Connected Voices is how closely their philosophy aligns with whole person rehabilitation. Jade explains that they created the practice after repeatedly seeing children who could have benefited from earlier intervention and adults who needed specialized cognitive and swallowing therapy after stroke, brain injury and neurological disease. They want families to understand what is happening, know what resources are available and find the care that best fits their needs, even when that care ultimately comes from another provider (Browning, 2026).
What Does a Speech Language Pathologist Actually Do?
Speech therapy is about vocal quality, speaking patterns, planning, reasoning, and oral function in eating and swallowing. An SLP may work with the ability to understand language, express thoughts, read, write, remember information, organize ideas, speak clearly, use the voice, eat, drink and swallow safely.
The American Speech Language Hearing Association describes aphasia, for example, as an acquired language disorder caused by brain injury that can affect spoken expression, understanding spoken language, writing and reading comprehension. SLPs evaluate these abilities and also help identify related problems such as cognitive communication changes, dysarthria and apraxia.
Cognition is another broad area of treatment. Attention, memory, organization and executive function all influence how effectively someone communicates. An individual can sound perfectly clear when speaking yet still have difficulty keeping track of a conversation, remembering instructions, organizing thoughts or solving everyday problems after neurological injury (ASHA, n.d.).
SLPs are integral members of the healthcare team for diagnosing and managing oral and pharyngeal swallowing disorders. Dysphagia can affect nutrition, hydration, respiratory health and a person’s ability to participate comfortably in something as fundamental and social as eating a meal (ASHA, n.d).
How Can Speech Therapy Help Me or Someone I Love?
For a child, the first years of speech and eating development are critical to growth and acquiring new skills. Maybe your toddler is using fewer words than other children their age, or your child understands what you say but has difficulty expressing themselves. Maybe other people cannot understand their speech, or they show frustration because they know what they want but cannot communicate it effectively. Feeding, textures, social communication are all referrals for speech language pathologists.
Jade and Katy are particularly passionate about early intervention. Connected Voices offers speech and language evaluations, therapy, early intervention, AAC support, parent coaching, feeding and swallowing services, screenings and IEP consultation. They also offer free consultations and screenings to help families determine whether a more complete evaluation is needed (Connected Voices Co., 2026; Browning, 2026). You can sign up for a consultation at
For adults, the reason for referral may be very different. A stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease or another neurological condition can change much more than strength and mobility. It may also change language, memory, attention, voice, cognition, and swallowing.
The Connection Most People Miss: Stroke, Swelling and Speech Therapy
I frequently look at the body through movement, fluid and function. After a stroke, a person may develop weakness, limited movement and swelling of an affected arm or hand. Poststroke hand edema is documented in rehabilitation literature, although the research has not established one universally effective management method. Occupational therapists are commonly involved in addressing these functional and upper extremity problems (Giang et al., 2016).
But the same person whose swollen hand brings them into rehabilitation may also have an unmet communication, cognitive or swallowing problem. I frequently will refer to a SLP for collaboration on treating the whole person.
“I know what I want to say, but I just can’t find the words.”
After a stroke, some people develop aphasia. Aphasia can interfere with finding words, understanding language, reading or writing. It is important to understand that aphasia is a language disorder. The presence of aphasia does not automatically mean a person has lost their intelligence or even that they have a cognitive impairment (ASHA, n.d.).
Imagine knowing exactly what you want for breakfast but being unable to say the word. Imagine recognizing your spouse but struggling to say their name. Imagine someone asking you a simple question and being unable to organize the language needed to answer.
A Cochrane systematic review found evidence that speech and language therapy after a traumatic event improves functional communication as well as areas such as reading, writing and expressive language compared with no speech and language therapy (Brady et al., 2016).
If I am working with someone and notice new difficulty finding words, understanding directions, reading, writing or communicating what they need, that may be an important reason for an SLP referral. Connected Voices specifically includes aphasia among Jade and Katy’s areas of experience.
“They can talk, but something with their thinking is off. Sometimes, they don’t make sense.”
An SLP may also treat cognitive communication. Sometimes people have changes in attention, memory, organization, awareness and executive function. Those changes affect communication, but they can also affect the ability to manage daily life.
This becomes especially interesting to me as an occupational therapist and lymphatic practitioner. A person may physically be capable of sitting down for a session with me, but still struggle to remember the steps, organize supplies, understand instructions or communicate when something has changed.
Connected Voices offers comprehensive cognitive communication evaluations and therapy for adults, and both Jade and Katy have strong experience working with neurological populations (Connected Voices Co., 2026).
“They cough a lot when they eat and drink.”
This may be one of the most important reasons to recognize the broader role of an SLP. Speech language pathologists also work with swallowing disorders, known as dysphagia. Dysphagia can involve difficulty moving food or liquid safely through the mouth and throat. Depending on the cause and severity, consequences can include dehydration, inadequate nutrition, choking and aspiration related respiratory complications. SLPs are integral members of the interprofessional team evaluating and managing oral and pharyngeal dysphagia (ASHA, n.d.). Connected Voices provides swallowing evaluations and swallowing therapy for adults, and both Jade and Katy list dysphagia among their clinical experience (Connected Voices Co., 2026).
The Lymphatic Connection: Head and Neck Lymphedema
Head and neck cancer treatment can create a unique overlap between lymphatic therapy and speech language pathology. Surgery and radiation can disrupt lymphatic pathways and lead to head and neck swelling. Swelling may be visible externally around the face, jaw or neck, but internal lymphedema can also involve tissues deeper in the throat and laryngeal region. This feels puffy, and symptoms include difficulty swallowing, frequently biting the tongue or cheek, difficulty saying words, or dribbling saliva.
Recent systematic review evidence describes head and neck lymphedema as a condition that can significantly affect structure and function. Internal lymphedema is particularly important because swelling may affect areas involved in swallowing and other upper airway functions even when the problem is not obvious from looking at the outside of the neck (Gaitatzis et al., 2026; Rajaram et al., 2025). Patients themselves have also reported that head and neck lymphedema can affect swallowing, voice and speech function (Jeans et al., 2019).
This creates a very clear interdisciplinary relationship between OT and SLP. As a lymphatic practitioner, I may be looking at swelling, fibrosis, skin and tissue mobility and external fluid management. An SLP may be looking at what is happening functionally when that same person speaks, communicates, eats and swallows.
Research is beginning to investigate whether treatment of head and neck lymphedema may also improve dysphagia, but the evidence is still developing and is not strong enough to assume that reducing swelling alone will resolve a swallowing disorder (Smith, 2024).
What Does Success Look Like?
Connected Voices describes celebrating when a child gains confidence, an adult returns to activities they love, or a family finally gains peace of mind because they understand what is happening and where to turn next (Browning, 2026).
When Should You Contact Connected Voices?
Here is a list of possible reasons you might contact Connected Voices:
- not communicating like other people their age and you are wondering whether you should wait or seek an evaluation.
-increasingly frustrated when trying to communicate.
-repeatedly lose words or cannot understand what someone is telling them.
- memory, organization or following directions changed
-voice has become difficult to hear.
-coughs or struggles during meals.
-completed head and neck cancer treatment and now have both swelling and changes in swallowing, speech or voice.
Connected Voices offers free consultations and screenings and emphasizes helping families navigate their options even when the best resource ultimately turns out to be another provider (Browning, 2026).
I particularly appreciate working with Jade and Katy. Healthcare requires coordinated care to maximize functional outcomes. Whole person care happens when providers recognize their own piece of the puzzle and also recognize when another professional may be consulted.
Kansas City is fortunate to have Jade Browning and Katy Hardy building that resource through Connected Voices Co. “Your voice is more than the sound you make. It is one of the ways you connect with the world around you.”
To learn more about Connected Voices Co., request a free consultation or explore their pediatric and adult services, visit Connected Voices at
This article is for education and referral awareness and is not a substitute for individualized medical or rehabilitation assessment.
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