Lisa is great. I called several places looking for somewhere to start for my son's speech issues…read moreand Ms. Lisa called me immediately while I didn't get a single call back from anyone. My son adores her and Ms. Lisa does one on one with the parent right after each session to update them on the individual progress of their child. The only hardship is that (for us) it's about a half hour drive but TOTALLY worth it. I'd recommend Ms. Lisa to any child who is exhibiting any speech/language difficulty, plus after the initial evaluation she will tell you if your child needs to be seen and how often etc. I can honestly say that she is genuinely passionate about the progress and improvement for my little boy (now 4) and we just love her for it!

From the owner: Speech Language Pathologist, Speech Therapist, Pediatric Speech Therapy, Child Speech Therapy,…read moreAutism Speech Therapy

Duane Smith is the best. He has a highly impressive resume but more importantly is just a straight…read moreup guy. Like a good doctor, he gets right to the problem. Public speaking is extremely difficult but Duane can help anyone get better! I had a lot of confidence speaking publicly for many years and this was my biggest mistake. Wanting to improve my craft, I jumped at the opportunity to work with Mr. Duane Smith. He taught me what I needed to do and maybe more importantly, what not do. Errors in public speaking have serious ramifications! However, a well-planned, engaging presentation is a breath of fresh air. I learned that public speaking is a practice. Mr. Smith's expertise has helped me and his writing continues to help me to work on this very, very important skill.

Enjoyed Duane's workshop very much. Great tips plus useful tools. It's easy to be a speaker but…read morenot easy to be a speaker capable of capturing the audience with an effective, strong and structured presentation. Duane did a fabulous job coaching my team - at least he convinced my boss I am a good speaker too. -- Betty Young

I'm an east coast voice actor, and was tipped off about the Kalmenson method by my old online…read moreimprov coach. When I contacted K&K about remote class offerings, I found the Working Pros class was upcoming, and space was available. The class is taught in weekly sessions over Zoom, with some homework assignments and class recordings shared after each session for review. This class helped me restructure my auditioning approach, embrace The Method, and, has helped me improve my audition quality, with renewed confidence tackling new challenges as they arise. I feel refreshed and focused heading into this last chunk of 2023. My recommendation is an enthusiastic "Yes" - if you're a voice talent, look over their offerings & select a class to help your career improve. If you put the work in, I'm sure you'll see the results come out!

I was so disappointed by how remedial this class was. Like most working actors in LA, because I'm…read morenot in the top 1% of the industry I have to work long, hard hours at my day job to make ends meet. As such, I want a class that has good bang for my buck, wows me and frankly blows me away. For example, the first time I went to Lesly Kahn & Co or The Groundlings, I had that exact experience...It took me all of 5 minutes to realize how much more I had to learn and where I needed to get to in order to be competitive in my industry. I've worked HARD on my craft and I book several prime time TV shows per year. Co-star, guest star, recurring... I'm always in class, hungry, humble and honing my craft or looking to challenge myself. That being said, I felt like this school is a complete waste of time for anyone who's ever taken a basic acting 101 class. Keep in mind, I attended the class for "working actors"....I can't even begin to imagine how remedial the beginners class for "non-working actors" is. I knew this was a bad and costly decision as soon as I saw the very outdated class materials and older copy. I was appalled to see a page of "feelings faces" with faces describing attitudes from A-Z like: Angry, Arrogant, Happy, Lovestruck, Sad etc (basically, the kind of chart non-verbal children use to express themselves). I digress, our class started with a cheesy, pre-taped video intro that made me feel like I was doing an online orientation for jury duty. The first 2 classes were like pulling teeth...we had to take turns reading instructions/rules, also a very bad sign (basically killing time to prolong and stretch out the material so that you take the NEXT level). In addition to being snail-paced the actual MEAT of the acting instruction was ridiculously basic in terms of applicable knowledge. Something incoherent to the effect of truth = attitude...attitude = truth blah blah. Huh? How is that applicable to text analysis?? what about operative words? antitheticals? builds? It didn't resonate with me at all and I really kept trying to keep an open mind and just go with the flow. We had NO time to practice our copy week to week. Our class met once a week, so one would think...ok, we'll get our homework copy in advance so that we can practice all week in prep for the next class and try to apply some of the famous Kalmenson method we were learning. NOPE. We got our copy 5 minutes before we had to perform it for our classmates. So we had NO TIME to sit with the copy, think about it, or try to re-read instructions from our Ebinder and apply it to the copy so that there was some kind of eureka moment where we could say...oh gee, I guess that technique can help after all. It took soooo long (I think it was 5 classes in) before we started getting re-direction on copy. My feeling is that a good acting class you start doing re-direction on Day 1. Instead of waiting till the next to the last class and promise: "more to come in the NEXT LEVEL!!" Yeah, I did not buy into that "join our next round of classes!" spiel. K&K wants you to really INVEST and take all their classes, which honestly I would have NO problem doing if I felt like I actually learned something or had measurable results. More than anything, I wanted to take a good Animation Class, an area where I have booked acting jobs on studio sets before....but instead I had to start with the Level 1 class where I felt unchallenged and uninspired, then take Level 2 and THEN I could take the animation class. Level 1 was abysmal, so there was no point in continuing with level 2. Oh and our last class we were told we would get a "special guest speaker"...which made me think we were getting a VO Casting Director or VO Agent or somebody.. but NOPE...Our guest speaker was just another K&K teacher. Huge letdown, but at this point I couldn't help but laugh given how bad the class was. I reamed my manager out for suggesting this class. I was literally going to fire my rep, but we talked it out and he was very apologetic. He made some phone calls, confirmed everything I reported with others in the VO industry and took K&K off their recommended class list. What we were told by another CD was that while K&K may have been good at one time, they really have not kept up with the times and they also cast very infrequently. Before my class ended, I called their office to express my concerns... so this review should not be a surprise and is not coming out of left field. In short, this was just a big waste of time and nowhere near worth $700.

We've worked with Mayra F for about a year and half for my son's speech. She was awesome. My son…read morehad fun while he was learning. We wish we could've continued beyond 3 but we are happy with all the progress he has made.

Before I start my review, I'd like to express this review was NOT requested by the agency. I…read morewholeheartedly wanted to share my experience as a mother who always tries to find the best care for my children's needs, and truly that's what I got here at Maxima. I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for Rainu, who has been an absolutely amazing advocate and support person for both me and my son. From the very beginning, she brought a fresh breath of air into our journey--helping me learn how to better support my son's needs, navigate the process, and feel empowered every step of the way. It has truly been a joy working alongside Rainu. Her professionalism, compassion, and genuine care stood out immediately, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had her support. You are very lucky to have someone like her on your team. I also want to express my appreciation for the entire team at Maxima Therapy. Since my son started receiving services--from Infant Development to OT to Speech and now working with Rainu--our experience has always been exceptional. Maxima Therapy has consistently been our go-to agency because of the incredible quality of care and dedication your team provides. We had the privilege of working with Iliana C,. Cassidy G., Elizabeth H,. Larissa & Rainu. We had a brief experience with another agency in the past, and unfortunately, it didn't meet our expectations. That experience made us value Maxima even more, and I've continued to request your services because of the trust and positive outcomes we've had. Thank you for developing such a great program. I will absolutely continue to recommend Maxima Therapy to other parents I connect with through the Regional Center. Most importantly, I want to highlight that this message was not prompted by Rainu, Iliana, Cassidy, Elizabeth and Larissa (whom worked with my child)--this is something I felt strongly about doing on my own to show appreciation for the support and care we've received.

Shab has been helping my effective communication, speech clarity, and swallowing due to my chronic…read moremotor speech disorder. She is professional, patient, and caring. She is very punctual and provides care holistically.

Finally, after searching for a speech therapist that treats dysarthria in adults, I found Shabnam…read moreAmiri MS, CCP-SLP at SpeechPlan in Encino. She is wonderful! She is caring, thoughtful, methodical, and tailors her therapy plan to the individual. After only being in her care for 3 months, I feel that I've gained significant tools to aid in my verbal communication. I highly recommend her.