NICE TO MEET YOU!

All About Saltwater Speech

Hi there! I’m Nicole, M.S., CCC-SLP, a pediatric speech therapist with specialized training in social communication, speech sound disorders, orofacial myofunctional disorders, and feeding.

I created Saltwater Speech to offer a comprehensive yet engaging approach to therapy. I believe that speech therapy should balance individualized care with evidence-based practice, and focus on meaningful and measurable progress. I provide families with thorough yet compassionate care, touching on a variety of areas of speech and communication development.

CLINICAL BACKGROUND

Training and Experience

I began my clinical career at the UCLA Kasari Lab at the Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART), working as a therapist under leading world experts in the field of social communication interventions and assessment. At UCLA I contributed to research developing JASPER (Joint Attention Symbolic Play Engagement and Regulation), an evidence-based approach for supporting communication and play in children with autism and social communication challenges. I continue to contribute to ongoing research with UCLA, and am currently the only provider offering JASPER in Brooklyn.

Over the past ten years, I’ve worked with children across a wide range of communication needs, including speech sound disorders, language delays, behavioral challenges, childhood apraxia of speech, feeding challenges, and myofunctional disorders. I have worked in a variety of settings, from clinics and schools to research settings, and have traveled internationally to work with families.

  • [Nicole's] work extends well beyond traditional speech therapy: she understands how engagement, play, social communication, and language development come together, and how to individualize intervention for each child.

    — Dr. Connie Kasari, leading expert in autism research at UCLA

Additional Expertise

I have pursued additional training and certification in evidence-based interventions in order to provide clients with comprehensive quality care. These trainings include but are not limited to:

  • I am certified in Levels I and II of JASPER. Jasper (Joint Attention Symbolic Play Engagement and Regulation), 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.

  • I am 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.

  • I am 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.

  • The SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach to Feeding is a research-informed, play-based method that helps children feel more comfortable with food by gradually building skills and positive experiences around eating. This approach goes beyond picky eating by addressing the underlying sensory and motor challenges that impact a child’s relationship with food.