Almquist, Candace Marie

Candy completed her Masters Degree in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Minnesota in 1995. In 2001, Candy opened Kid Talk providing speech-language therapy to children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), Downs Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Auditory Processing Disorders, developmental delays, TBI, strokes, neurological diseases as well as various other medical diagnoses. She has extensive experience with the following: Articulation impairments and phonological delays, Verbal Apraxia, Dysarthria, Aphasia, oral motor impairments, swallowing (dysphagia) and feeding disorders, expressive and receptive language disorders. Candy continues to expand her knowledge of new therapy techniques and tools to ensure success for the children and adults she treats by regularly attending workshops. She recently became the fifth Certified Orofacial Myologist in Minnesota and feels that this certification has positively impacted her professional skills like no other continuing education course has in the 23 years she has been practicing! It has made her a much more skilled therapist! She is also a TalkTools® Level 3 OPT™ Specialist and loves working with children with Down Syndrome. Candy believes that the therapy process is a team effort between the therapist, the patient, the patient’s parents and physician. She knows that the patient makes progress faster with consistent attendance and carryover of skills taught in the therapy room to the home environment on a daily basis. She believes that therapy should be functional and gets the most satisfaction out of her work as a speech-language pathologist from watching her patients grow and overcome their challenges.

Candace is a speech language pathologist and specializes in speech, language and swallowing disorders in patients. As a speech language pathologist, Dr. Almquist evaluates, diagnoses and treats patients with communication and swallowing troubles. These conditions may be due to developmental delay, brain injury, hearing loss, autism, stroke or other diseases and injuries. She helps patients make sounds and improve their voices through various methods. Speech language pathologists also work with patients to strengthen muscles used to speak and swallow, and work with individuals and families to help cope with their conditions.