Hello there!

My name is Brianna Puentes (Bri, for short!) and I'm a speech-language pathologist (SLP, for short!). I work at our local children's hospital with kids ages 1-17 with apraxia, articulation disorders, phonological disorders, language disorders, autism, and fluency disorders. I'm currently training to evaluate and treat literacy disorders.

I was born and raised in sunny St. Petersburg, FL and I never want to leave! I married my wonderful husband Borys in January 2020 and we have a one year-old daughter named Noelle. Our beloved goldendoodle Luna is a certified therapy dog at the hospital where I work!

When I'm not in my speech room, you can find me playing with Noelle, eating at a restaurant with friends, listening to a true crime podcast, or working on home improvement projects.

lover of Jesus, florida, rainbows, pizza, disney world, goldendoodles, kids, genealogy, true crime, ginger jars, bright colors, interior decorating, lilly pulitzer, workout clothes, university of florida, creating websites, queso, podcasts, audiobooks, sleeping in, building my own biz.

ALONG came COVID

All was well in my little speechie world until... COVID-19.

In March 2020, news of COVID-19 swept through the country just as quickly as the virus did. SLPs all over the world scrambled to figure out how to shift from in-person therapy sessions to all-online teletherapy sessions. Our job as SLPs is completely centered around teaching kids through PLAY. Playing with kids! And how do you play therapeutically over the computer?! I had a beautiful speech room chock-full of fun and exciting toys with no kids to use them with. How frustrating! I had a lot of learning to do and, honestly, I was completely overwhelmed. I hunkered down one weekend and dove into researching teletherapy platforms, games, and materials. I found lots of awesome resources.

Of all of the websites I happened upon, I struck GOLD when I discovered Boom Learning! Jump to July 2020 and about 75% of my kids were back to attending their therapy sessions in the clinic. My games and toys rejoiced! But instead of reaching for my usual articulation, apraxia, and language cards to pair with games, I found myself reaching for my iPad. I had a wealth of fun, interactive materials in my Boom library and my iPad was SO much easier to clean than laminated cards. My kids began BEGGING for Boom time and I knew my day-to-day speech life was about to look a whole lot different. Click here to learn WHY I love Boom Cards and why you will, too!