Brain Injury & concussion
Registered Speech Language Pathologist · Virtual Across Ontario · No referral needed
You Seem Fine to Everyone Else. It Doesn't Feel That Way.
Maybe it's harder to follow conversations, or a class. Maybe you lose your train of thought mid-sentence, or feel exhausted after a meeting or school day that used to feel easy.
These changes are real, and you don't have to just push through them.
common symptoms After A Brain Injury or Concussion
After a concussion, brain injury, or motor vehicle accident, whether it happened at work, on the road, in sport, or elsewhere, teens and adults often notice changes like these:
Word-finding difficulty
You know the word you want. It just won't come mid-conversation
Difficulty Juggling Tasks
Complex instructions and switching between tasks feel harder than they should
Brain Fog
Thinking feels slow and cloudy. It takes longer for what people say to sink in
Trouble Concentrating
You lose focus, can’t pay attention, or lose your train of thought partway through a task or conversation
Memory challenges
You forget what was just said, why you walked into the room, or that upcoming appointment
Mental Fatigue
You feel drained after conversations, screen time, or a full day of work or school
Conversation Overload
Busy conversations, group settings, and noisy rooms quickly feel like too much
Reading & Writing
You reread the same page multiple times, or struggle to get your thoughts down in writing
Concussion Therapy for Teens and Student Athletes
Back in class, but reading the same page three times?
It can feel like you’re ready to return to school when the headaches and symptoms settle. But, the dwindling of these symptoms doesn’t always reflect the brain’s whole healing progression, especially if you’ve been off school and away from daily responsibilities while healing.
Many teens and student athletes feel ready to get back to normal, then find a full school day harder than it used to be: following lessons, taking notes, remembering what they studied, or keeping up with fast conversation among friends and teammates.
Speech therapy can help retrain skills and build strategies to support progress and a successful return-to-school. Therapy focuses on the cognitive communication skills that school relies on:
Return-to-learn pacing: planning class load, homework, and screen time around energy and mental fatigue
Study and note-taking strategies: ways to learn, remember, and review while the brain recovers
Test and assignment planning: breaking work into manageable pieces and staying on top of deadlines
Self-advocacy: scripts and strategies to explain ongoing difficulties and helpful strategies to teachers, coaches, and friends
Social confidence: staying in conversations, team life, and friendships without feeling left behind
Family members and caregivers are welcome throughout this process. Support is an integral part of recovery, and it will always be encouraged when possible. For clients under 18, a caregiver is present during the free consultation and is welcome into treatment to learn caregiver strategies and functional support.
Sessions are virtual, so there's no extra drive between school, practice, and appointments.
If any of this sounds familiar, reach out.
getting start is simple
No referral needed
You don't need a referral or a diagnosis to receive speech therapy.
Start whenever you're ready.
Direct Billing Available
Cognicare direct bills most major insurers, including Canada Life, Manulife, Desjardins, and Beneva, so claims go straight to your insurer.
WSIB and Auto Insurance Claims
Injured at work? Cognicare accepts WSIB claims for work-related injuries where speech therapy has been recommended by a physician. Upon receipt of that recommendation and confirmation from WSIB, clients may choose their own speech therapist.
Injured in a car accident? Cognicare completes OCF-18 Treatment and Assessment Plan that auto insurers review for approval.
Questions about a claim? Call 416-477-4428 or book a free consultation.
How Speech Therapy Helps After Brain Injury or Concussion
Speech therapy after a concussion or brain injury focuses on cognitive-communication skills: connecting the thinking skills, such as attention, memory, and processing speed, with language skills.
Sessions work toward:
✓⃝ Memory and attention: Recalling what was said in a meeting or class, and staying on task and topic with fewer restarts and less time resetting
✓⃝ Word-finding: Finding the word you want, and managing your response if it doesn’t come to you in the moment
✓⃝ Brain fog and processing: Keeping up with conversation on foggy days, while retraining processing speed
✓⃝ Planning and organization: Planning your day, daily problem solving, and managing tasks without overload
✓⃝ Reading and writing: Maintaining focus on what you read and recalling it, as well as expressing your thoughts through texts, emails, reports, and other written requirements
✓⃝ Energy and pacing: getting through a day of conversations and screens with pacing and load management
✓⃝ Partner Training: Caregiver coaching to provide communicative support on both ends of the conversation
✓⃝ Swallowing: Management of post-injury or post-hospitalization swallowing differences
This work is grounded in the model of cognitive-communication competence (MacDonald, 2017), a peer-reviewed framework for evidence-based communication care after brain injury. Approaches include compensatory strategy training and cognitive-communication pacing tailored to your specific goals.
Getting Back to Work, School, and Daily Life
Work
Managing demands of meetings, workload, and remembering instructions, with support for sustainably return to work
School
Managing school schedules, studying, and assignments, with return-to-learn pacing for students
Daily Life
Managing the appointments, errands, planning, and household tasks that now take more effort
Relationships
Support for following conversations, remembering details, and keeping up with family and friends.
Related Conditions
These presentations are often complex and you may find that the information on the following pages also resonates with you:
what happens next
Free consultation
15 minutes. No obligation.
Assessment
A clear picture of your strengths, challenges, and goals
Treatment plan
Built around your symptoms and how they actually affect your day-to-day life
Functional application
Skills and strategies carry over into daily settings such as school, work, and social settings through home practice and community integration
Progress and taper
Sessions ease off as you meet your goals and work towards independence. You leave with a toolkit that's yours to keep and an open door to return to if needed.
why virtual speech therapy?
Online speech therapy offers the convenience of receiving personalized treatment straight into your home. It offers increased flexibility in your schedule, removes the commute time, and accommodates your abilities and energy.
With Cognicare:
No downloads or subscriptions required
One click access. You receive a personalized link to your session in your inbox
Sessions are safe, secure, and private
who you’ll work with
Mariya is a registered speech-language pathologist based in Toronto. She is a member of the Canadian Concussion Network. Her approach treats communication within the context of recovery, cognition, and fatigue.
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions? Take a look at the FAQ or reach out anytime!
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Functional speech therapy often targets rebuilding the brain’s capacity and processing skills that are often impacted by brain fog and fatigue.
We’ll explore triggers that make it worse, identify what helps, and what is most impacted. This allows us to build a personalized plan to begin improving your capacity; these can include strategies like pacing and jot notes.
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No, you don’t need a referral to start private speech therapy!
If this is for a WSIB claim, a doctor’s recommendation is often required for approval under a claim. Once you have this and your claim number, you’re ready to reach out.
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Yes, virtual speech therapy is just as effective as in-person therapy.
Multiple research studies indicate that the results of online sessions match those of in-person sessions. What’s more, many clients even find added benefits: practicing in a familiar home environment often boosts comfort and confidence, making it easier for skills to carry over into everyday life. Virtual sessions also offer terrific flexibility, fitting around school, work, and family schedules. This flexibility creates consistency, which is a key driver of real progress.
Virtual speech therapy isn't a compromise — it's a proven, high-quality path to meaningful, lasting communication gains!