Answers for families

Speech-language therapy may address speech sound development, language development, social communication, and other functional communication needs. Recommendations are individualized based on your child’s strengths and areas of need.

In most cases, an evaluation is the best first step. It helps identify your child’s strengths, areas of need, and the most appropriate treatment plan. Recent outside evaluations may sometimes be reviewed to determine whether additional testing is necessary.

An evaluation typically includes a parent interview, observation of your child during age-appropriate tasks or standardized testing, and discussion of your child’s communication abilities in everyday settings. You will receive an explanation of the findings and recommendations for next steps.

Session length may vary depending on your child’s age, goals, attention, and treatment needs. Sessions are typically offered in 30-, 45-, or 60-minute increments based on your child’s individualized needs.

Frequency is based on your child’s individual needs, goals, and progress. Many children attend once or twice per week, but recommendations may differ depending on the evaluation findings and family schedule.

Yes. Parent and caregiver involvement is an important part of helping skills carry over beyond the therapy session. We may model strategies, provide home practice ideas, and discuss simple ways to support communication during everyday routines.

Brief and practical activities are typically recommended for parents and other caregivers. The goal is to help you reinforce therapy skills naturally during play, reading, conversation, homework, or daily routines.

We believe specialized care allows us to provide more focused, knowledgeable, and individualized services to the families we serve. By concentrating our practice on Motor Speech Disorders and Infant & Pediatric Feeding, we are able to dedicate our continuing education, clinical training, and treatment approaches to these specific areas. When a child’s needs fall outside our areas of specialization, we are happy to recommend other professionals who may be a better fit.

We understand that sensory needs, emotional regulation, and behavior can affect a child’s ability to participate in therapy. We make reasonable accommodations and adapt sessions to support each child’s comfort and participation. However, our practice is not designed to provide intensive sensory or behavioral intervention. If a child requires significant behavioral support to safely and consistently participate in therapy, we may recommend a provider or setting that can better support those needs.

Providing services in familiar, everyday environments allows us to see how your child communicates and participates during everyday routines. It also gives us opportunities to work directly with families in natural settings where skills are most often needed or challenging. Strategies become more practical and easier to carry over between sessions when they occur in natural settings.

A Speech-Language Pathologist with specialized training in infant feeding can help identify difficulties with the skills babies need for breast or bottle feeding. This may include trouble latching, a weak or inefficient suck, milk leaking from the mouth, difficulty coordinating sucking, swallowing, and breathing, becoming stressed or disorganized during feeds, or needing help with positioning for a more comfortable and efficient feed.

Infant feeding often works best with a team approach. A lactation consultant can provide important support with breastfeeding, milk supply, pumping, and other lactation needs. When feeding difficulties involve how your baby uses their mouth, coordinates sucking and swallowing, or stays calm and organized during feeds, a trained Speech-Language Pathologist can provide additional support while working together with your lactation consultant and medical team.

Feeding therapy may support infants and children who have oral-motor challenges, very limited food variety, difficulty progressing to new textures, strong mealtime stress, or other concerns that make eating harder for the child or family.

Selective eating is one reason families seek feeding support, but feeding therapy can also address oral-motor skills, chewing, texture progression, mealtime participation, and other functional feeding concerns.

A feeding evaluation typically includes a detailed history, evaluation of oral-motor structures and function, observation of eating and drinking, and discussion of mealtime routines.

Feeding progress depends heavily on what happens between visits, so caregivers are usually included in treatment. We will explain strategies and help you use them in a realistic, low-pressure way at home.

Feeding therapy should build skills, comfort, and participation without turning meals into a power struggle. We focus on creative positive feeding experiences through gradual exposure, skill-building, play, tasting, or other developmentally appropriate steps. We typically follow a sensory-motor and food-chaining approach to feeding.

Have your child’s preferred foods or drinks, their usual cups or utensils, and information about allergies, medications, medical history, or prior feeding evaluations available during the appointment. We will let you know if anything specific is needed before the visit.

Please share all relevant medical and allergy information before the appointment. Feeding therapy can often be coordinated with your child’s physician or other providers when medical, nutritional, gastrointestinal, or swallowing concerns are involved.

If your child shows signs that raise concern about swallowing safety, additional medical evaluation or an instrumental swallowing study may be recommended. We will discuss those recommendations with you and help coordinate next steps when appropriate.

Fees may vary depending on the type and length of service. We want to be transparent and therefore make our pricing available directly on our website. Contact us if you are unsure which appointment your child needs.

Our office currently accepts select health insurance plans for children receiving services through the Space Coast Early Steps Program, Private Pay and Step Up For Students - UA Scholarship.

This model gives us more freedom to tailor services around each child and family. By reducing insurance-related requirements and approval delays, we can offer more timely access to care, greater flexibility with scheduling, and treatment plans guided by your provider’s professional training and clinical judgment, as well as your child’s individual needs and progress.

Speech-language and feeding therapy services are often eligible medical expenses for HSA/FSA accounts. Families should confirm eligibility with their individual plan administrator.

Paid invoices and Superbills are provided once payment is made for rendered services. If you plan to submit a Superbill to your health insurance plan for reimbursement, please keep in mind that reimbursement is determined by your individual insurance plan and it is not guaranteed.

Payment is due at the end of each session. We require an active credit card to be kept securely on file with authorization to process payment after each session. Families may also make payments directly through our secure client portal.

Eligible families participating in the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA) may use scholarship funds toward qualifying speech-language pathology services.

Families may use FES-UA funds to pay eligible providers directly through EMA or may pay out of pocket and submit eligible services for reimbursement. Before your first visit, we can explain which payment option our practice uses and what information you may need to provide.

Families are responsible for confirming that funds are available and that the requested service is eligible under their scholarship. Families with available funds may make payments directly through the Step Up For Students EMA website. If you are unsure, contact Step Up For Students or review your scholarship account before beginning services.

Speech-language evaluations and therapy are covered services under the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA).

Any amount not covered by scholarship funds is the family’s responsibility. We recommend confirming your available balance and eligible expenses before services begin.

When families pay the therapist directly, we provide a detailed invoice that can be submitted through the EMA website for reimbursement.