Meet the Owner

Nicole Kramer, M.S., CCC-SLP, is a pediatric speech therapist specializing in supporting children with autism, speech and language delays, sensory feeding issues, myofunctional disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, and articulation disorders.

Nicole was born and raised in Southern California. She began her career as a therapist at the  Kasari Lab for Autism Research at the University of California, Los Angeles, working directly with experts in the development of play interventions for autism. Prior to opening Saltwater Speech, she worked within private practice settings in Santa Monica, building experience working with children, their families, and other therapists. In addition to her experience working one-on-one with clients, she has extensive experience coaching parents & caregivers, as well as supporting children within a classroom setting. In addition to running Saltwater Speech, Nicole continues to assist in therapy research and development with UCLA.

Additional Expertise

Nicole has pursued additional training and certification in evidence-based interventions in order to provide clients with comprehensive quality care. she has further training in the following:

  • Nicole is certified in levels I and II of JASPER. Jasper (joint attention symbolic play engagement and regulation) is a ucla-developed, play-based intervention. it emphasizes regulating children’s emotions and establishing engagement through children’s interests. Jasper targets play skills, as well as language and social communication.

  • Nicole is trained in PROMPT (prompts for restructuring oral muscular phonetic targets). It is a hands-on speech therapy intervention. through prompt, a therapist identifies the source of verbal speech difficulties, and supports and guides the mouth and other articulators using touch on the face. It is designed for childhood apraxia of speech.

  • Nicole is currently a certification candidate in Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy through the Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy. Myofuncational therapy is an intervention that consists of systematic exercises designed to improve the function and coordination of facial and oral muscles. it benefits children who are exhibiting tongue ties, tongue thrust, breathing issues, saliva management issues, and more.