Our Story

About Alex

"If the only thing I accomplish today is helping someone learn something new, it will be a day well spent."

Established and founded by Alex Trusk, M.A., CCC-SLP, Rise & Shine Therapy strives to incorporate whole-person, neuro-affirming practices and approaches during therapy sessions.

Alex is a Speech Language Pathologist of 8 years and has always been driven to provide great client care with thorough collaboration with families and professionals. Our team integrates these practices across therapeutic contexts.

Alex attended Truman State University for both her bachelor's and master's degrees and finally graduated after six years of coursework and clinicals in 2018. She jumped right into the school setting and spent five years as a direct employee, led the new teacher program, and supported the special education department in the role of Related Services Coordinator (this was her first taste of collaborating heavily with staffing companies and supporting OTs and PTs in their school roles.

When she had her first child in 2022, Alex wanted to prioritize her agency as a therapist and her time as a mother. Her son was born premature and needed early intervention therapy to meet gross motor milestones starting at seven months old. Alex continued to explore inter-therapeutic collaboration and family roles in therapy as a mother provided physical therapy support for her son.

She left her district job and opened a staffing support company in order to ensure as much time spent at home as possible. As this became more successful and she explored support roles within public education, Missouri State School for the Severely Disabled, and First Steps early intervention, Alex observed significant gaps in our community regarding support that families were both able to financially and logistically access, such as considerations for working with those with significant disabilities, insurance/budget limitations, multiple locations, service packages, and a surplus of community need seemed to be consistent obstacles. Alex felt so strongly about this topic specifically, she gave a presentation on ethical and functional considerations when working with clients with multiple and severe disabilities at her state SLP convention in 2025.

Alex Trusk, Owner, Speech Language Pathologist,

and Lead Therapist of Rise & Shine Therapy

The goal of Rise & Shine Therapy is to fill those gaps. We strive to provide supportive therapy to families that are directly applicable to the activities they participate in on a daily basis in a way that is realistically accessible. If a client does best with a sensory regulating session with an OT followed by a language exposure session with an SLP, that should be attainable. If a client will make the best progress with collaboration between two therapists followed by a family debrief with involvement in the session on how to carry these skills into daily life, let's make it happen! If a family has multiple children with therapy needs in the same discipline and would benefit from a joint session in order to make therapy financially feasible, that should be an option. At Rise & Shine Therapy, we want the best for our clients and their families. It's a simple as that.

Focus Areas and Expertise

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pediatrics

A wide variety of clients present with ASD and deserve neuro-affirming care that is engaging and effective to each individual.

Pediatrics is our focus, however, we strive to provide effective care for all ages of clients that may seek our comprehensive services.

Multiple Disabilities

Collaborative Practices

Co-occuring disabilities is a call for increased expertise and collaboration. We provide services across disciplines to ensure a holistic approach.

Progress should not be made in only one discipline area! Our providers lean on each other for ideas and professional insight so the client may make progress most effectively.

Learn More

Testimonials

"Alex worked with my son with Level 1 Autism from ages 2-3 years old during his time in First Steps. My son communicates with gestalts-- Alex was wonderful about explaining what that means and explaining what she was doing during therapy time. Alex really helped to educate me on how to support him and was helpful with advice when I needed it. I highly recommend working with Alex, she gets a 10/10 from me."

-Melissa H.

"We met Alex through First Steps when my son, Luca, was 2 years old. Alex came with this warming, wonderful connection to Luca that I personally couldn't explain! This was before he was diagnosed and she was able to relate to him like no other therapist could. Luca has since been diagnosed with Tier 1, moderate Autism. Their sessions were so amazing that when Luca's time in First Steps ended, we chose to keep Alex on privately for feeding therapy services. When she was seeing him for First Steps, he didn't respond verbally, but she taught him sign language (which we couldn't do on our own) and he really flourished with her and they had a bond that I couldn't replicate! When she saw him privately, they addressed feeding through a sensory-based approach. Luca went from eating only soft foods to enjoying a variety of textures that he would not tolerate before working with Alex.

She was able to unlock Luca! It was really awesome-- she is kind and tender, but also firm. As parents, we loved that firmness, because it showed him that he could do things that he didn't think he could do! What Alex was able to accomplish with Luca was really beautiful. We are excited to return to Alex and we hope to see you around at Rise & Shine!"

-Sonya G.

"Alex became part of our care team around 16-18 months of age for our twins. Both twins at that time were delayed in pretty much all areas according to their age.

Within the first month she had identified a tongue tie in my son that had not been diagnosed. She provided tips and tricks for our daughter to motivate learning.

Within 6 months our words grew from 5-10 to 20 and above. Each week we were seeing success, success that was fun and educational. When we transitioned from home to daycare setting for sessions she kept the fluid communication intact and prompt. Aside her phenomenal hands on work with both kids in an individualized approach she brought a wealth of knowledge to the table for us as parents.

There is nothing more rewarding than to see your children make progress that allows them to be successful in their day to day world. If you are looking for improvement, fun, and someone who gives each session her all, please consider Rise & Shine Therapy! "

-Sade B.

"I had the privilege to work with Alex and she was just absolutely amazing, from the moment she walked through my door, she was so friendly, eager to learn about my child’s progress and quick to communicate with me on any issues I had. She not only cares about your child’s needs but she also cares about your family. As I worked with Alex and I got the know more about her, as she did with me, visits started to feel more like family visits. She made learning so enjoyable and fun. Alex has a genuine heart, a love for teaching and a love for children. You will not regret choosing Alex as your child’s therapist."

-Emelita C.