My name is Lorna Muthamia, I am a passionate and experienced speech pathologist, and the founder of Learning Re-Imagined.
I enjoy working with children, and I equally enjoy empowering parents and therapists (+ allied health assistants), who also wish to make the work we’re doing, their meaningful contribution to the world.
I have never been one to conform to the status quo, or sit by the side lines. I am most fulfilled when I am involved in some type of innovation that improves the quality of life of those I serve.
I started Learning Re-Imagined with the aim of continuing with my problem-solving crusade, which began when I founded the largest speech therapy service provision clinic in Kenya, an underserved region for speech therapy services. Interestingly, the problems being experienced by many higher income countries related to access are still due to a shortage of speech pathologists, not dissimilar to all underserved regions.
My mission has been to create solutions that empower parents, result in optimised outcomes for children experiencing communication, literacy and learning difficulties, and overall greater impact.
My problem-solving has resulted in the following ventures:
I have in the past decade, founded and grown the largest speech pathology practice in East and Central Africa, located in Nairobi, Kenya. Speech Therapy Totos on average, serves between 800 – 1000 families every month
I have created our online courses for
parents, and the Speech Therapy Totos Online Training School (STTOTS), an online
platform equipped with courses for
therapists and allied health professionals
wishing to learn how to employ evidence
-based practices when working with children.
Professional Background/Biography
I graduated from University of Canterbury, New Zealand, started my career in NZ, before relocating to Melbourne, and again to Nairobi, Kenya, where I’ve spent a little over 10 years developing systems and sustainable models of practicing to counteract the severe shortage of speech therapy services. Kenya is considered an underserved region for speech pathology services. There are less than a handful of qualified speech pathologists against the country’s population of 50+ million. I was able to start and run a practice that is currently the largest provider of speech therapy services in the region.
I, then returned to Melbourne in 2021 and again my brain has been hard at work trying to solve the speech pathology provider shortages that are currently being experienced, and the reason behind the overly long waitlists or closed waitlists that families searching for providers are often met with.
Being able to provide services that provide out of the box solutions that ensure better and more widespread access and subsequently more impact, is my driving force. I have been able to prove that you begin from right where you are. My experience developing speech therapy services in an underserved region is proof that you can make an impact despite the state of things, and you start by challenging how things have been done, and envision how they could be improved, and you put blinders on and just focus on the work that needs to be done.
There is always more that can be done; it is not enough to just settle for what is the norm, or the easiest thing to do.
I never find the ‘comfort zone’ comfortable.
My areas of interest include:
- Early Intervention
- Literacy (reading, spelling, and writing)
- Pronunciation Errors (Articulation)
- Socratic Discussions
- Cleft Palate Errors
- Stuttering
- Auditory Processing
I am able to realise the fastest gains for the following parents:
- Those who are committed to the process.
- Those who wish to learn how to improve their child’s outcomes.
How we can help?
Clinic Services
DIY SLP@Home Courses
SLP@Home Guided Therapy Plans
Other roles I currently juggle:
Problem-Solver: I so freely describe myself as an ardent problem-solver. My brain enjoys the challenge, and process of finding solutions. The work I do as a speech pathologist has benefited from this predilection (compulsion)
Entrepreneur: Goes hand in hand with problem-solving. I enjoy doing meaningful work
Learner for Life: I enjoy bending my mind, courting different perspectives, and allowing my mind to consider that most things can be challenged
