Kristin Rae Mathis, M.S., CCC-SLP

Word of Mouth Clinical Associates

After receiving my bachelor’s degree in communication disorders from the University of Kentucky (1996) and my master’s degree in speech-language pathology at Miami University (1997), I began my career as a speech-language pathologist in Nashville in 1998. For more than 20 years, I have been providing therapy to children and adolescents in pediatric rehabilitation settings, schools, and private practice settings. I have focused my career on understanding and treating the pragmatic-social language abilities of students with autism spectrum disorder, ADD/ADHD, selective mutism, and various other social-emotional disorders. Throughout my career, I have addressed the receptive and expressive language abilities of children from two years of age through high school. I have been fortunate to collaborate with many occupational therapists who have increased my understanding of the significant impact that sensory integration therapy has on facilitating the child’s language, speech, and social behaviors.

In addition to providing individual speech-language therapy to students, I also have expertise in facilitating students' social (pragmatic) language skills through individual and group therapy. I have vast experience in assessing and treating social (pragmatic) language disorders in preschool through high school-aged. I have developed and implemented many social programs that facilitate children’s social understanding, behaviors, and skills with peers. I have had particular success in this regard with children with ADD/ADHD, anxiety disorder, selective mutism, autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Over the past several years, I have focused on expanding my understanding of how anxiety affects children’s communication and social abilities. I hold a certification in Rewiring the Anxious Brain: Applied Neuroscience for Treating Anxiety, Panic, and Worry. In addition, I have completed the School Refusal Training Institute (SR-TI) with Lindsay Scharfstein, Ph.D. I continue to focus on expanding my professional knowledge and experience in treating the communication and social struggles related to anxiety and the anxious brain.

I work directly with parents, teachers, and educational teams in understanding how anxiety is inhibiting the child’s social and academic development. I work alongside the student’s “team” to build the student’s confidence and comfort in communicating within their home, school, and community and expanding the individuals with whom they verbally communicate. I believe that optimal progress is obtained through close collaboration with the student’s parents and educational teams, and when therapy occurs in the student’s natural environments with their everyday communication partners. In addition to providing individual therapy, I work to build the child’s confidence and comfort in the community through groups and various community outings. Through the implementation of various treatment strategies, I have been successful in assisting children with communication behaviors that are often characteristic of children with selective mutism to overcome their anxiety related to communication. In addition, I conduct in-service training with school teams to facilitate their understanding of social (pragmatic) language, selective mutism, and anxiety, how these areas impact a student's classroom performance, and strategies to address students' social and emotional needs in their school setting.

I am excited to serve as one of Tennessee’s Selective Mutism Association State Coordinators and serve alongside the SMA team to increase public awareness of selective mutism and related childhood anxiety disorders. As so many parents have experienced, the families that contact me are frustrated and know their child needs help. Yet, they have struggled to find the appropriate medical, emotional, therapeutic, and educational support to assist them in addressing their child’s communication challenges. As an SMA State Coordinator, it is my goal to increase the awareness of selective mutism within the medical and educational systems of Tennessee and assist families in meeting their child’s therapeutic needs. Through increased public awareness, it is my goal that our community can decrease the time-lapse that often occurs between onset of symptoms, obtaining a correct diagnosis, and beginning the effective therapeutic intervention. One of the ways that I strive to facilitate the community's awareness of selective mutism is providing training seminars to school teams, parents, and other treating professionals. I have been honored to serve as a speaker for institutions such as the Annette Eskind Institute of Learning, TAIS Neurodiversity Conference, Green River Regional Educational Cooperative, Western Kentucky Educational Cooperative, Catholic Schools Diocese of Nashville, and Tennessee Association of Speech-Language Pathology (TASLP) Annual Convention.

I find it a blessing to “walk the journey” with the families who trust me to meet the therapeutic needs of their children. I strive to encourage, love, and support parents through the time they allow me to share in their child’s life.

I hold state professional licenses in Tennessee and Kentucky. I provide in-person therapy in Brentwood, TN and virtual therapy sessions to students in TN and KY.