Made for one child
Materials are built around this child — their family photos, their favorite things — never pulled from a one-size-fits-all box.
Psychologist · Speech & Language · Special Education
Every child has something to say. My work is helping them say it.
For nearly twenty years I've walked alongside children with autism, speech and language differences, and complex developmental needs — in Ukraine, Poland, and now the United States. One child, one connection, one word at a time.
- Years alongside children
- ~20Years alongside children
- Children supported
- ~1,000Children supported
- Countries, one approach
- 3Countries, one approach
- Patience, always
- ∞Patience, always
A little about me
I grew up in a family where teaching children was simply what we did.
I was born in 1986 in Drohobych, in the Lviv Region of Ukraine. My grandfather gave his life to education — helping build schools across the region and working for many years at a boarding school for children with special educational needs. My mother worked there too.
So from very early on, I was around those children. I saw how much they wanted to be understood, and how often the words simply wouldn't come. That stayed with me, and it became my life's work: to build ways of communicating that help children express themselves, grow more independent, and take their place in the world.
Where I trained
I qualified first as a practical psychologist, then as a speech-language pathologist and special education specialist, focusing on alternative communication and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and significant speech differences. I went on to the Master's program at M. Drahomanov Kyiv University, Faculty of Special Education and Speech Therapy.
The heart of it: “following the child”
“I don't ask a child to fit my plan. I start with what makes them curious, what makes them comfortable, what makes them want to join in — and we build from there.”
Trust comes first. A child who feels safe and genuinely enjoyed is a child who starts reaching out. Everything else grows from that.
The methodology
“From Card to Pen” — a bridge from pictures to words of their own.
Children begin with something they can hold and point to: a photograph, a picture, a card. From there we travel together toward words, phrases, sentences, and — when the time is right — writing. For children who don't speak, it opens a door to asking, choosing, and being heard. For children who do, it builds structure, confidence, and independence from prompting.
- Picture
- Word
- Phrase
- Sentence
- Writing
What makes it different
Starting with what they love
A car, a ball, a person they adore. Motivation is the easiest doorway into communication.
Parents right beside us
Families get guidance and real support, so the progress made in sessions carries into everyday life at home.
Careful listening
Qualitative speech markers and a percentage-based measure of phrase-speech development, used to track real progress.
The communication book
Photos, objects, actions, colors, words, sentence templates and removable strips a child can move around to build their own sentence.
Works with what already works
Used alongside visual communication, DTT, ESDM, TEACCH, speech-language therapy, occupational therapy and sensory integration.
How it works
Seven gentle steps — moving at the child's pace, never ours.
- Getting to know youWe talk with parents, look through any records, and learn the child's story, current skills, and what communication looks like for them today.
- Building the connectionBefore anything else: interests, reactions, motivation, the way this child likes to be with people. A child who feels comfortable is a child ready to try.
- Letters meet familiar facesLetters and materials arrive through things that already mean something — a favorite toy, photos of mom, dad, grandparents, colors, actions.
- Learning words that do somethingNot memorising. Understanding that a word can bring you what you want, or tell someone how you feel.
- Putting words togetherTwo words, then three. Short phrases that carry a real message.
- Phrases become sentencesWants, requests, needs, questions, answers, thoughts — first with the communication book, then more and more independently.
- Talking with the worldThe goal was never the session. It's real conversations with parents, teachers, therapists, friends and caregivers.
Stories & progress
What changes when a child can finally be understood.
Across my practice, families have seen growth in speech and language, in building phrases and sentences, in asking and answering, in everyday independence and adaptive skills — and real drops in the frustrated behaviors that often come from not being understood. Some children who don't speak have gone on to write words and messages independently, sometimes on a tablet.
One journey, nine years long
I met a non-speaking little boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder when he was about four and a half. He's thirteen now. We began with single visual cards, and slowly moved through words, phrases and sentences until writing became another way for him to tell us what he wanted, needed, and wondered about. His mom sat in on sessions and learned to carry the work into ordinary days. When distance came between us, we continued online for around four years. Long-term, patient, side-by-side with the family — that's what made it possible.
All case descriptions are anonymised. Videos and photographs are only ever shared with parents' permission.
The road so far
Ukraine, Poland, and now the United States.
2006 · Ukraine
Invited in my third year of university to work as a tutor at a specialized boarding school, with a class of seven children with complex developmental and speech needs. They taught me that no single method fits every child.
2011 · Ukraine
Opened my own developmental and corrective practice, focused on children with complex needs including autism and significant speech difficulties — individualized programs, materials, and communication systems. Volunteer work for families who needed it alongside.
2018 · Ukraine
Returned to that same boarding school as practical psychologist and special/corrective education specialist, this time supporting children psychologically, educationally and developmentally all at once.
2023 · Poland
After the war began, my family and I relocated. I founded the psychological and speech-language practice "Gala," and kept developing the methodology in a new language and a new setting.
Sept 2024 · United States
Today I work as a tutor and behavioral support assistant in American preschools, with both typically developing children and children with special educational needs — helping them communicate, play, and belong together.
In the wider professional community
- Scientific and practical seminars, international conferences, and professional supervision
- Methodology reviewed and supported by leading university educators
- Co-author of methodological recommendations for speech therapists and special education professionals
- Volunteer support for children and parents who needed a helping hand
For parents & colleagues
Tools, ideas, and where this work is heading.
Communication materials
Individualized communication books, visual cards, photographs of familiar people and objects, sentence templates, removable sentence strips, written markers.
Support at home
Practical guidance so families can keep communication growing between sessions — because most of a child's day happens at home.
What I'm studying
Functional communication, children who don’t speak, autism, AAC, visual and written communication, phrase-speech development, independence and social participation.
A dream taking shape: a center here in the U.S.
My hope is a warm, community-based center offering communication programs, parent support, workshops and outreach for children and families with developmental differences — a place where research and everyday practice stay connected.
Helpful links
Tell me about your child
Whether you're a parent wondering where to start, a teacher looking for ideas, or a colleague curious about the methodology — I'd love to hear from you.