Specialties
Customized support tailored to your needs
Speech Therapy for Late Talking Toddlers and Preschoolers
How many times have you heard things like, “They’ll talk when they’re ready,” or “his dad didn’t talk until he was 5 and he’s fine”? But you’re left feeling hopeless, helpless, frustrated and overwhelmed. It doesn’t have to be that way. Your child deserves a voice, and you deserve to have a strong bond with your child that is built on communication and connection. There are so many fun and doable strategies that I can teach you, practice with you and coach you to master. We can do this in the format you’re most comfortable with. You can come to my home-based clinic, I can travel to your home, or I can coach you through telehealth.
Speech Therapy for Articulation
Many of my clients come to me because their speech difficulties are not considered to have an educational impact. This makes them ineligible for school-based speech pathology services. This can also be the case with many of my adult and pediatric clients who are unable to access speech therapy through their medical insurance because remediating their articulation challenges are not deemed medically necessary. This can be frustrating and leave clients and families with nowhere to turn. Through my private pay program, we can skip the referrals, prior authorizations, insurance denials and headaches. We are not bound by limitations in the length or frequency of sessions as dictated by insurance. We can just get to work immediately and continue for as long as we need to.
Pediatric Feeding Therapy
My training and experience in responsive feeding therapy gives me the tools to help you set up your family mealtimes to reduce stress and increase connection, enjoyment, nutrition and feeding skill. I’ll work with you to understand and implement the Merry Mealtime Method while also working directly with your child to increase acceptance and intake of a wider variety foods while always maintaining autonomy and never using forceful or coercive methods to increase intake.
I’m also trained in how to identify if there are sensory-oral motor differences, possible structural barriers (i.e. tethered oral tissues, airway issues) or behavioral issues that can impact your child’s feeding. I’ll help you to create the right team to address issues that may be outside of my scope of practice (i.e. ENT, dentist, allergist, nutritionist, counselor, sleep doctor) and work to create open and collaborative lines of communication to achieve the best outcomes for your child.
Infant Feeding Therapy
Surviving with a newborn is hard enough. Throw in feeding and sleeping challenges and life can get overwhelming. My specialized training and first-hand experience with infant feeding and sleeping challenges due to tethered oral tissues (tongue, lip and buccal ties) position me to support you in a holistic and highly personal way. I provide a comprehensive feeding assessment and will give you strategies right away aimed at improving your baby’s feeding skill. I will refer you to other specialists when needed (IBCLC, ENT, GI, body worker) and help form a support team. Tongue, lip or buccal tie release could be necessary but it’s not typically the first line of defense. Treatment with a qualified feeding specialist like me should always come first and we should decide next steps together based on how your baby responds to treatment.
Some babies can bottle and breastfeed wonderfully despite oral dysfunction and then struggle to transition to solid food. Some are functioning ok with feeding, but sleep is a struggle. This could be caused by oral dysfunction as well and I’m here to help you figure all these things out.
Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy
Orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMDs) affect individuals throughout the lifespan but treatment using an exercise-based approach is reserved for those 4 years old and up. OMDs involve abnormal patterns of oral and orofacial muscle use that can disrupt normal growth, development, and function. Common symptoms include articulation difficulties, dental problems, drooling, mouth breathing, open mouth posture, orthodontic concerns, picky eating, chewing and swallowing difficulties, tongue thrust or reverse swallow, sleep disturbances, teeth grinding, temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD) and oral habits like thumb sucking.
The causes of OMDs are multifaceted, often related to tongue positioning, airway obstructions, craniofacial anomalies, prolonged use of pacifiers and sippy cups, tethered oral tissues and other structural or neurological issues. Assessment and treatment typically involve an interdisciplinary team, including orofacial myologists and specialists like allergists, dentists, orthodontists, otolaryngologists, sleep doctors and body workers like physical therapists and craniosacral therapists, to address the complex nature of these disorders.
My son was diagnosed with a tongue tie at 7 years old and I was diagnosed at 40. We underwent treatment with an orofacial myologist, and everything clicked for me. This was the missing piece in my practice. This is why I was seeing kids stay in speech therapy for years with residual articulation errors that were resistant to traditional speech therapy. It’s why so many of my clients and their children dealt with horrible sleep. It explained so many of the struggles I experienced with my son in infancy with eating, sleeping and breathing and it was the cause for my headaches, facial pain and nighttime clenching and grinding that led to me cracking a tooth. No professional ever helped me identify the root cause of our difficulties and I had to figure it out on my own. I don’t want that for you. I am here to help you and your child eat, sleep, breath, speak and thrive by addressing root cause.
Educational Advocacy
Getting your child the support they need at school can feel hard and adversarial. It can feel like your concerns are being dismissed when all you want to do is ensure your child is receiving an education that is appropriate for them and their needs.
As an educational advocate and parent to two children requiring support in school I understand special education laws, Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and 504 plans. I can help you navigate these complex systems to ensure your child receives appropriate services. I can facilitate communication between you and school staff, helping to express your child’s needs and your concerns clearly and effectively. If a dispute arises between you and the school, I can help mediate conflicts and work towards a solution that benefits your child. I can help get you set up with community supports like counselors and independent evaluators.
Having an advocate can empower you and give you the confidence in your ability to advocate for your child’s needs and rights. Navigating educational systems can be time-consuming and stressful. As an advocate I can help alleviate some of that burden, allowing you to focus on your child’s well-being. My primary focus is on your child’s best interests, ensuring that educational decisions align with their unique needs and goals.
