ABOUT ME

Hi, my name is Allison Ladavat and I am the founder of Pittsburgh Stuttering Therapy. I was born and raised here in the city of Pittsburgh and graduated from The University of Pittsburgh in 2011 with a Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology. I worked in the private practice and early intervention settings for 8 years, before deciding to finally pursue my true passion in the field, stuttering. As a person who stutters, I understand firsthand the shame and frustration that results from not being able to say what you want to say, when you want to say it. I also know it doesn't have to be this way.

I have stuttered since I was 2 years old. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I was on the search for a cure for my stuttering. I wanted nothing more in my life than to be fluent. Because of this, I did everything I could to hide my stutter. In high school, I "passed as fluent," but unfortunately this meant that I was hiding my true self. I wasn't participating in conversations, school activities, and social events the way I would have liked to. I avoided anything and everything that could have "outed me" as a stutterer. Eventually, the shame became overwhelming as it affected my self-esteem, emotional, and mental health. In college, I decided to give speech therapy one last shot. It was then that I finally found a knowledgeable SLP who truly got it. This was a major turning point in my life and was the start of change for me.

I want to be able to give people who stutter what I was fortunate enough to experience - therapy with an SLP who understands. Because I've been through speech therapy several times in my life, I know how it feels to dread sessions and truly hate speech therapy. Every client of mine should have a positive experience. I will always meet you where you are at and listen to your fears and concerns. I will never push too hard. You will help create the goals because this is about your unique experience with stuttering. I always welcome feedback, and open, honest communication.