Christy Himstreet, M.S. CCC-SLP, the founder of Rancho Coastal Speech Therapy, is a pediatric speech and language pathologist (also known as an SLP and sometimes called a speech therapist) with over two decades of experience. Christy is passionate about meaningful, researched-based evaluations as well as interventions and developmentally appropriate practices that build on children’s strengths and foster measurable outcomes. She has helped hundreds of children successfully reach their communication potential and remains close with many of the families she’s served.

Christy earned her Master of Science degree in 1998 from Northern Arizona University and holds a certification of clinical competency (CCC) from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA), a CA SLP license and a SLP Services Credential from the CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Christy has served many times as a clinical fellowship year (CFY) supervisor, a graduate student supervisor with NAU, CSUSM and SDSU, and has facilitated parent support groups for Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).

The entirety of her career has been with children and young adults spanning the ages of 18 months to 22 years. She had her first job in the public schools in 1995 and has attended countless IEP meetings and worked with the gamut of speech and language issues affecting children’s learning profiles. She has provided her services in public schools, non-profit clinics, non-public schools, and private practices. Christy does independent consultations for families and runs trainings for private preschools on the speech and language connection to learning. Christy whole-heartedly understands the desires of parents to help their children and honors that unrelenting pursuit.

As our Client Services and Administrative Coordinator, Victoria is a vital part to the RC Speech team. Christy and Victoria have been working together for many years now. She provides assistance with data entry, template editing, as well as managing patient portal updates and helping families navigate the process of a speech and language evaluation. Victoria has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Science from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where her parents are originally from.

Christy and Victoria initially first met 15 years ago, as Victoria’s younger sister Melissa went to Christy for speech therapy as a preschooler. Melissa has a rare genetic condition called Koolen-de Vries Syndrome, which is characterized by developmental delay and mild to moderate intellectual disability. The two sisters are very close, and Melissa is the reason Victoria is inspired to do what she does.

Sophie Knox, M.S. CCC-SLP, is a pediatric speech-language pathologist. She received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2018 and her Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2021 from the University of Vermont.

During her graduate studies, Sophie’s research focused on supporting social cognition, memory, and personal narrative development in autistic children. After earning her Master’s degree, Sophie worked at a school in Vermont supporting children with complex communication needs and various developmental disabilities. In this role, she gained experience implementing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems and developed a passion for using technology to help children communicate and access the educational curriculum. Sophie is currently pursuing her certificate in assistive technology through California State University Northridge. 

Sophie is committed to providing evidence-based evaluation and services. She understands that thoughtful and thorough assessment is crucial for helping children receive the support and accommodations they need to succeed in their learning environments. 

First and foremost, we help children. We never lose sight of that driving force, and our pledge to the ASHA Code of Ethics  “To hold paramount the welfare of persons (we) serve professionally,” whether we are screening a student for the possibility of an evaluation, helping to examine a service being provided or assessing to understand what the needs are of a student with extenuating circumstances, it is always the child first. What do they need to be successful? How can we help? We do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to speech pathology as each child we see is uniquely different. We chose to reject the big agency model in favor of a more holistic approach that takes into account not only our client’s front-line requirements but also the more subtle ones, focusing on those that provide access to their education and community. At Rancho Coastal Speech Therapy we honor our responsibilities for all our clients’ needs through evidence based, developmentally appropriate practices.