Meet your therapist

I created Saltwater Speech to offer a more intentional, individualized approach to therapy. Therapy should be both engaging and structured, with clear goals and meaningful progress.

Originally from Southern California, I began my career at the UCLA Kasari Lab for Autism Research, where I worked alongside leading experts in the development of play-based interventions for autism, including JASPER (Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation). I am currently the only JASPER provider offering services in New York City.

Over the past ten years, I’ve supported children with a wide range of communication needs, including speech sound disorders, language delays, childhood apraxia of speech, feeding challenges, and myofunctional disorders. I continue to contribute to ongoing research and development with UCLA.

I founded Saltwater Speech in Southern California and have since relocated my practice to New York City, where I provide in-home therapy designed to support children in the environments where they communicate every day.

Many families come to me after feeling unsure what their child was working on in therapy or frustrated that progress felt unclear. My goal is to make therapy thoughtful, collaborative, and transparent, so you always understand your child’s goals and how they’re progressing.

This past year, I was a recipient of the ACE Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association for continuing education.

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.

  • 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.