Helping children become confident, clear, and functional communicators.

Speech therapy supports children who have difficulty producing sounds clearly, coordinating the movements needed for speech, or speaking fluently and effectively.

Every child's communication develops differently. We look beyond individual speech sounds to understand how your child is producing speech, what may be contributing to their difficulties, and how those challenges affect everyday communication.

What Can Cause Speech Difficulties?

Speech difficulties don't always have one clear cause. They may be related to developmental, motor, structural, sensory, or functional factors, including:

• Differences in speech sound development

• Difficulty coordinating or planning the movements needed for speech

• Oral motor or myofunctional differences

• Restricted tongue movement

• Dental or orthodontic differences

• Structural differences of the mouth, palate, or face

• Hearing difficulties or history of frequent ear infections

• Neurological or developmental differences

• Differences in fluency, rate, or rhythm of speech

Sometimes the cause isn't known. Our goal is to understand your child's individual communication profile and determine the most appropriate path forward.

Signs to Look For

Your child may benefit from a speech evaluation if you notice:

• Difficulty being understood by family, teachers, peers, or unfamiliar listeners

• Speech sound errors that persist beyond expected developmental ages

• Difficulty producing certain sounds, such as /r/, /s/, /l/, /th/, /sh/, /ch/, or /j/

• Sound substitutions or patterns, such as saying "tat" for "cat" or "wabbit" for "rabbit"

• Unusual tongue or jaw movements when producing speech

• Inconsistent speech errors, where the same word may sound different each time

• Difficulty sequencing sounds or syllables in longer words

• Stuttering or disruptions in the flow of speech

• Frustration when others don't understand what your child is saying

• Avoiding certain words or speaking situations because communication feels difficult

Why Does It Matter?

Clear, effective communication supports a child's ability to connect with others, participate in school, express their needs, build relationships, and develop confidence.

Speech therapy may focus on helping your child:

Produce: Learn accurate placement and movement for developmentally appropriate speech sounds.

Coordinate: Improve the timing, sequencing, and coordination of the lips, tongue, jaw, and breath for speech.

Generalize: Carry new speech skills from structured practice into everyday conversation.

Communicate: Increase overall speech intelligibility so others can more easily understand your child.

Speak Fluently: Support comfortable, effective communication when stuttering or other fluency differences are present.

Build Confidence: Help your child feel successful communicating across home, school, and social environments.

A Whole-Child Approach

Speech doesn't happen in isolation. The way a child breathes, rests their tongue, moves their mouth, hears, eats, and develops structurally can sometimes influence how speech sounds are produced.

When appropriate, we look beyond the speech error itself to determine whether other factors may be contributing. We may collaborate with your child's pediatrician, ENT, dentist, orthodontist, audiologist, occupational therapist, school team, or other providers to support the whole child.

Our goal isn't simply to practice sounds—it's to help your child develop the skills they need to become a clearer, more confident, and more functional communicator.

Helping children develop the skills and confidence to eat safely, comfortably, and successfully.

Feeding is about much more than simply getting a child to eat. Successful eating requires the coordination of oral motor skills, sensory processing, chewing, swallowing, breathing, and positive experiences with food.

Feeding therapy helps us understand why eating may be difficult for your child and builds the underlying skills needed to make mealtimes safer, more comfortable, and less stressful for the whole family.

What Can Cause Feeding Difficulties?

Feeding difficulties rarely have one single cause. A child's eating patterns may be influenced by developmental, oral motor, sensory, structural, medical, or environmental factors, including:

• Delayed or inefficient chewing skills

• Difficulty moving and controlling food within the mouth

• Oral motor weakness or coordination differences

• Sensory sensitivities to tastes, textures, smells, temperatures, or appearances

• Limited exposure to a variety of foods or textures

• Difficulty transitioning between feeding stages

• Restricted tongue movement or other structural differences

• Difficulty coordinating breathing, chewing, and swallowing

• Negative or stressful experiences surrounding food

• Medical, gastrointestinal, developmental, or airway-related concerns

Our goal is to look beyond "picky eating" and understand what may be making eating challenging for your child.

Signs to Look For

Your child may benefit from a feeding evaluation if you notice:

• Very limited food variety or a diet that continues to become more restricted

• Strong reactions to new foods or certain textures, smells, or appearances

• Difficulty chewing or progressing to age-appropriate food textures

• Difficulty moving food from side to side or using the tongue efficiently

• Food pocketing, overstuffing, or significant food remaining in the mouth after swallowing

• Drooling or poor management of saliva, food, or liquids

• Messy or inefficient eating beyond expected developmental stages

• Open-mouth chewing or unusual tongue and jaw movements during eating

• Frequent gagging with foods or textures

• Meals that regularly take a very long time or require significant caregiver assistance

• Stress, frustration, or avoidance around mealtimes

• Difficulty advancing feeding skills as your child grows

Why Does It Matter?

Eating is a complex developmental skill. When one part of the feeding system isn't working efficiently, children may compensate in ways that make eating more difficult, tiring, or stressful.

Feeding therapy may focus on helping your child:

Chew: Develop coordinated, age-appropriate chewing patterns and jaw movements.

Move: Improve tongue movement, lateralization, oral awareness, and control of food within the mouth.

Swallow: Support efficient oral preparation and functional swallowing patterns.

Explore: Build comfort interacting with unfamiliar foods through gradual, positive experiences.

Expand: Increase acceptance of different foods, flavors, textures, and presentations without pressure.

Participate: Build the skills and confidence needed to participate more successfully in family mealtimes.

A Whole-Child Approach

Feeding difficulties aren't always just about the food. We consider the interaction between your child's oral motor skills, sensory system, breathing, oral structures, development, and mealtime environment to understand the bigger picture.

When appropriate, we may collaborate with your child's pediatrician, GI specialist, ENT, dentist, orthodontist, dietitian, occupational therapist, lactation consultant, or other members of their care team.

Our goal isn't to force children to eat or simply increase the number of foods on their plate. It's to understand why eating is difficult, develop the skills needed for successful feeding, and help children build a more positive and confident relationship with food.