Welcome! Whether you are looking for speech and language services, professional development, or ASL learning opportunities, I look foward to working with you.Click below for information on:

Testimonials:

From an ASL tutoring client: “Rhys really understands American Sign Language inside out; he can explain how it should feel, summarize guidelines, and provide specific feedback. He noticed things in my signing to adjust that other tutors haven’t.”

From a deaf disabled high school student: “Thank you for understanding me.”

From a deaf middle school student: “I like working with you! You make learning fun.”

From a workshop participant: “I enjoyed this session so much, and feel like I have new tools to use in my work.”

From a college professor: “I am so excited you were able to come and present to the class. Your presentation was wonderfully informative and I so appreciate you giving us some allyship suggestions.”

From an elementary school teacher: “The students LOVED your visit and are begging for you to come back again!”

From an ASL tutoring client: “Tutoring helped me close the gaps in specific skills I knew I struggled with, and also helped me understand skills I didn’t realize I was missing!”

From an ASL class participant: “Even though I had taken a college level ASL course before, I learned SO much from these beginner 1 & 2 courses!”

From a young client working on articulation: “I wish it was Sunday so I could see Rhys!”


Opportunities for Every ASL Learner

Whether you are a seasoned interpreter or just learning the ASL alphabet, I can help you build your skills through lessons that are affordable, effective, and fun. Together, we can create a more deaf-friendly world.What comes next in your ASL journey?

Want more information on ASL tutoring? Click here!
Looking for something else? I'd love to hear from you!


Language Therapy and Disability Coaching

Services in English and American Sign Language for youth and adults, with sliding scale fees and invoicing for insurance reimbursement.

Screenshot of a zoom call with Rhys on the right and a young blond boy and his mother on the left. The boy is smiling and signing 'more'
Rhys and a young girl with long curly hair sitting at a table, leaning together and smiling.

Language Therapy
Language therapy involves working to increase communicative joy, ease, and success. This could include building skills in speaking, listening, social skills, perspective taking, articulation, vocabulary, literacy, memory, and more! Any communication skills and tasks can be identified as goals.

Screenshot of a zoom call with Rhys on the right and a young blond boy and his mother on the left. The boy is smiling and signing 'more'
Rhys and a young girl with long curly hair sitting at a table, leaning together and smiling.

Disability Coaching
Disability coaching is related to the lived experience of disability and guided by collaboratively-identified goals. Coaching may address any aspect of life, such as navigating a new diagnosis, building self-knowledge, increasing personal organization, creating access modifications for your home, and more.

Areas of Professional Experiences

Executive FunctionADHDChronic Illness
Traumatic Brain InjuryAutismSelf-Advocacy
Sensory ProcessingAphasiaDown Syndrome
Intellectual DisabilityDyslexiaWorking Memory
Expressive LanguageArticulationHearing / Vision Loss
Receptive LanguageSocial SkillsStuttering / Dysfluency

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Consultation and Professional Development

For Organizations and Teams
I offer professional development for existing professional teams with content personally tailored to the needs of the requesting organization.

For Schools, Districts, and Families
I offer comprehensive bilingual (ASL/English) language assessment services for students with complex profiles, particularly those with multiple diagnoses.

Looking for something else? I'd love to hear from you!

Previous Clients Include:


Meet the Team

Rhys McGovern - Owner/Founder

Rhys, a genderqueer person with glasses and short facial hair, looks into the camera and smiles.

Rhys is a hard of hearing, bilingual speech language pathologist and teacher who grew up in New England and has been working with children, teens, and young adults for over 20 years. Rhys founded New Leaf Language in 2018, and holds a Masters of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders, Massachusetts state licensure in speech language pathology and teaching, and the Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association. A constant in Rhys’ personal and professional life is a love of learning and a love of teaching.

CollaboratorsWhile New Leaf Language is primarily an individual operation, I am fortunate to work with some amazing folks from time to time!

Angie Bedoya - Deaf Mentor

Angie is a woman with long wavy brown hair and glasses. She is looking toward the camera and smiling.

Angie is a Deaf woman born in Colombia and raised in New York. She works with Deaf and DeafBlind youth and adults as a co-navigator (CN) and support service provider (SSP), and holds a BS degree from Gallaudet in business administration with a certificate for CN and SSP. Angie has a passion for travel and connecting with Deaf communities across the world.

Tyler James Fortson -
Deaf Mentor

TJ, a black man wearing a denim jacket and glasses, looks to one side of the camera with a wide smile.

Tyler James Fortson, also known as TJ, is a versatile ASL artist raised in Houston, Texas. Tyler’s artistic journey spans across multiple creative industries, including appearing in the iconic musical Rent at Lincoln Center with Deaf Broadway and performing ASL as Miles Morales in Spider-Man by Insomniac Games.

Daniela Ioannides - Deaf Mentor

Daniela, a white woman with a shaved head, glasses, and a purple shirt, looks into the camera and smiles slightly.

Daniela Ioannides is a proud Gallaudet Alumni and longtime ASL instructor. Her passions are teaching, genealogy and geocaching.


Looking for more information? Please send me a message!