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Writer's pictureAmy Miller

Meet Kerry Herb


Speech therapist Kerry Herb and her family

Kerry Herb remembers sitting down with her dad during her junior year of high school, discussing an assignment. She needed to pick three careers she was potentially interested in pursuing. She knew what she didn’t want to do. She didn’t want to be a teacher looking after a whole classroom of kids. She didn’t want to be a nurse–too much blood. Her father suggested she consider speech therapy.


Kerry’s maternal grandmother had been a speech therapist. After her husband had a brain aneurysm at 39 which left him with very limited function, she watched him go through several levels of speech therapy. She then decided to go to college and grad school to become a speech therapist, ultimately becoming a director of an outpatient rehab facility. This inspiring woman had made such an impression on Kerry’s father that he suggested the field might be a good fit for Kerry, too. Although she put it down on the paper without much thought, two years later she attended Bloomsburg University for speech therapy and found she really enjoyed it.


After completing grad school she started her career at Schuylkill Medical Center, which later became Lehigh Valley Health Network–Schuylkill. This job allowed her to do a bit of everything encompassed within the speech therapy world. She saw outpatient adults and pediatrics, worked on the inpatient rehab floor, and even did adult home visits. She also did video swallow studies and newborn hearing screenings.


It was at one of those screenings that she met Jess Tofany, founder of Happy Hearts. In 2009, Kerry was newly graduated and employed, and one of the new mothers made the unusual request to observe her son’s hearing screening. Since Jess was a speech therapist herself and worked with kids who were hard of hearing, she wanted to watch the process. 


A few years later, the ladies met again at a community yard sale. Jess reintroduced herself and shared that if Kerry was ever interested in providing speech therapy through Happy Hearts, she’d be able to set her own schedule. After Kerry’s first son was born in 2015, she decreased her hours at the hospital to part time and joined Happy Hearts, where she’s been for nine years. After her second son was born she became PRN, deciding to work primarily within early intervention because she loved working with that population and appreciated the scheduling flexibility, which allows her to attend her boys’ sports and activities.


As a speech therapist, Kerry primarily encourages communication skills in children from birth to three years old. That includes incorporating some sign language if needed. She also enjoys feeding therapy, which includes working with children who have difficulty as early as bottle or breast feeding, suck-swallow-breath coordination, and strategies around picky eating. Basically, she assists with any difficulties that occur with chewing or swallowing.

 

Kerry is also an outpatient PRN with another organization. She is VitalStim® therapy certified, and can help patients strengthen their face and neck muscles to help with chewing and swallowing.


For Kerry, the best part of her job is working with toddlers. “They're my favorite people,” she explains. “They’re the most pure, innocent people that exist on the earth. They bring joy to everyone around them.” She also enjoys the final session with a family when they get to reflect on everything they’ve accomplished together during therapy. She loves seeing the progress each child has made and sharing in the family’s gratitude.


When she’s not working, Kerry enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, who are now nine and seven years old, as well as their dog and cat. They like to travel as a family, especially camping and beach trips. Her hobbies are helping with whatever her kids are involved in. She played soccer throughout her life, and is now assistant coach to her sons’ soccer teams. Since she enjoys planning events and helping with fundraising, she is the event coordinator for her sons’ Cub Scout pack and on the event and fundraising committee for the soccer club board. She’s also very active within her church, where she teaches second grade Sunday school and helps organize fun events such as a Christmas play, movie nights, and an Easter Lenten drama. 


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