About Us

Buttercup Therapy Services, PLLC began in the spring of 2022 by Tracy Camille Johnson, a licensed Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). Our mission is to provide quality intervention, education, and advocacy in regards to therapeutic interventions to clients and their families, either navigating services through the medical or education system. We strive to promote diversity and access to services through local child and patient find programs in order to educate the community on communication, play, social/emotional, and motor developmental milestones and deficits. We believe everyone deserves access to promoting their quality of life through therapeutic interventions regardless of race, religion, sexual identity, gender, ability, language and any other discriminatory or marginalized basis.

Tracy Camille Johnson

CCC-SLP, CLC, MSPA-CPSP

Executive Director, Pediatric Feeding Specialist

Certifications, Professional Affiliations, and Attendance:

  • Member Speech Pathology Australia- Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (MSPA-CPSP)

  • Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) from the Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice (ALPP)

  • Certificate of Clinical Competency in Speech Language Pathology (CCC-SLP) from the American Speech/Language and Hearing Association (ASHA)

    • Special Interest Groups (SIG): 13 Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders Dysphagia and 14 Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

  • Member of the National Black Association of Speech-Language and Hearing (NBASLH)

    • Committee Member: NBASLH Cares and Government Advocacy and Public Policy (GAPP)

  • Member of the  Pediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) Alliance

  • Member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

  • Certified Kids Yoga Instructor from Seattle Kids Yoga (SKY)

  • NBASLH Convention Attendee, Raleigh, NC, April 2024

  • NBASLH Convention Attendee, Washington D.C., April 2023

  • ASHA Convention Attendee, New Orleans, LA, November 2022

  • NBASLH Convention Attendee, Houston, TX, March 2022

  • Black SLPs in Private Practice Telesummit, Virtual, December 2021

  • International Pediatric Feeding Conference (IPFDC) Attendee, Virtual, March 2021

  • DIR 101: An Introduction to DIR® and DIRFloortime Attendee, Virtual, January 2021

  • ASHA Convention Attendee, Boston, MA, November 2018

Tracy is an SLP filled with passion and compassion for communication skills and those who benefit from her services. She grew up in the Chicagoland area, spending summer nights watching the Buckingham Fountain light show or going camping on the Michigan Dunes. She has experience as an international touring musician, nanny, and coordinator for art non-profits in Chicago, Seattle, and Syracuse.  And continues to engage in the universal language of music by actively volunteering and creating space in the global street performers' community. She loves to hike and camp with her best friends Daisy, a 5 year-old Australian Cattle dog and Franklin, a 1 year-old Chug. She resides in Austin, TX.

Tracy supports our pediatric population and their families at Buttercup. She specializes in feeding disorders, including lactation support and advocacy of support services in schools with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and 504 disability plans for all ages of children. She is a licensed SLP in the state of Texas and is certified in Australia as a Speech Pathologist in order to provide telehealth support to families on the waitlist for in-person services.

B.S., Human Communication Sciences and Linguistics, Northwestern University

M.S., Speech Language Pathology (with New York teaching track), Syracuse University

Experience in: private clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and schools.

Special interests and expertise in: early intervention for developmental disorders (e.g., CP and Down Syndrome), pediatric feeding disorders (including lactation and breastfeeding), late talkers, phonological disorders, executive functioning deficits (associated with diagnoses of ADHD and Autism) and special education advocacy. 

Approach: relationship-based interventions (such as D.I.R., Natural Linguistic Approach, and child-led interventions) to better serve clients and promote progress towards individual family goals.

Leah Runyan, M.S., CCC-SLP

Speech Language Pathologist- Adults Lead

The brain’s use of memory and then communicating from that memory go hand in hand. Memory deficits in cognitive disorders will often change words or completely deprive the person of the words needed to communicate in whatever language or dialect used. This word loss is called Aphasia.

Leah is skilled in the treatment of cognitive disorders such as the various forms of dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment, strokes, degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Her approach for patients is highly functional. If a patient needs only a minor boost in memory for words/concepts or a complete work up of memory, language, and oral-motor weakness, Leah will be able to help them return to favorite activities with the focus on their area of interest, family make-up or routines. Her therapy uses a variety of techniques to treat mental flexibility, prevent cognitive decline, and train the patient and family on compensatory strategies for speech and cognitive skills.

Swallow impairment (called Dysphagia) is a prominent part of speech-language pathology that isn’t obvious in our title. However, many folks with weakness from degenerative disease such as Parkinson’s or ALS, cancer or acquired brain deficits such as strokes and traumatic injuries also may have problems swallowing food. Leah is specialized in the diagnosis of dysphagia and the treatment and compensatory strategies to repair swallow ability. Her training includes the highly specialized dysphagia testing knowledge to diagnose and treat swallow ability with the same instruments of endoscopy as used by otolaryngologists (ENTs), the fibro endoscopic evaluation of swallow (FEES).

Leah began her career with a quest to unlock the mysteries of the brain and communication. In her free time spent reading everything remotely related to neurology and a range of subjects in the humanities, Leah is an arts and crafts aficionado. Her hobbies range from sewing to playing the trumpet, and recently, she is trying her hand at gardening. Leah has a cycling obsession and has completed group rides through Texas, Louisiana and Northern Mexico. She has worked as an SLP in Texas, California and the island of Hawaii (the Big Island).  

While living in NYC in her first career as a financial editor, she couldn’t stop wondering about how language and cognition makes us human. How does speech emerge from muscle action and where do the words come from in the brain to make it all happen? Cognitive communication treatment is the foundation of her practice and to Leah, it is simply that the memory for words (the cognition) is used in order to speak/sign/write the words (the communication). The muscle action of the mouth and throat may also be disordered in some cases, preventing the ability to use verbal communication (called dysarthria).

Camille Msall

Office and Accounts Manager

Camille is a retired Special Education teacher with over 30 years experience as a behavior specialist. She is a proponent of inclusion and accessibility for all and believes behavior=communication. With a Master’s Degree in Education, she has expertise and leadership in the areas of learning disabilities, behavior disorders, and elementary education. She taught elementary, junior high, high school and transition students throughout her tenure. She is also the guardian of her younger sister Christianne, who has Down Syndrome (both pictured). Camille believes her sister is a beacon of love, happiness, and joy and they spend time together at Christianne’s favorite restaurants or fundraising for L’Arche Chicago where Christianne lives. Camille loves to read, thrift store or estate sale shop, and talking on the phone with her 8 siblings (Christianne included).

Grace Pegler

Grace currently attends year 11 in Victoria, Australia. She has a love for family, music, and psychology with special interests in child development. She has experience completing administrative work for a physical therapy office and brings much joy, assistance, and professionalism to Buttercup Therapy Services, PLLC.

Administrative Assistant Intern