Testimonials

“Miss Denise has changed our lives, yet again. The first time was when she worked with our non-verbal 3-year-old as his speech therapist. Our son’s primary means of communication was basically to scream when he needed something. As you can imagine, this was upsetting and frustrating for all of us. Within weeks he was expressing his needs in words, much to our surprise, as well as the surprise of his teachers and other family and friends. Everyone noticed an immediate and drastic change. From there, his ability to communicate and express himself continued to blossom. At 4 ½ he’s a chatty, happy, confident kid who no longer struggles to communicate in any environment. 

Meanwhile, mealtime was always a difficult time for us and said kiddo. We had pretty much accepted that he was surviving on hot dogs and PB&Js. Most other foods would be met with serious resistance as he pushed his plate away and declared that he didn’t like that. Only a few fruits were accepted, and vegetables were out of the question. Beyond that, running around the kitchen and laying on the chair were the norm. Let’s just say, there were lots of choo-choo trains, airplanes and negotiations that went into every exhausting meal, every day.

Enter Miss Denise. After the first session, while sitting at dinner, my son said the words, “I should try this.” Needless to say, we were shocked and thrilled. He continues to try new things while he’s SITTING at the table. He doesn’t even need to be asked or reminded. When it’s mealtime, he simply sits down to eat. He happily feeds himself and does not throw a fit if there’s an unknown food on his plate. Miss Denise gave us the understanding, tools and mindset to make mealtime painless and successful. 

 I cannot say enough about Miss Denise. She has changed our world in a major way and we are so very grateful. In the words of Grandma, “That girl is magic!”

— C. P., Mother of a 4.5 year old boy

My daughter, M, started her eating journey well, but unfortunately when we introduced textures around 10 months old she started having some trouble with gagging, coughing, and sometimes choking. Prior to working with Denise, my husband and I sought out support, but we didn’t make much progress. I would say, she was able to mostly bounce back to becoming a better eater, but our concerns persisted. Between 15-18 months M became a picky eater, denied many textures, would fight eating at every single meal, threw food off of her plate, and struggled with self-feeding. I was spending an hour at every single meal and out of desperation, would put on a show just to get my daughter to eat even a little at each meal. I felt defeated and overwhelmed and decided to try getting support again. 

We met with Denise this time. She started off with an evaluation to get a really clear picture of M's health history and past experience with eating. I then told Denise some of the challenges I was experiencing with M. She was able to provide me with real phrases and strategies which were so manageable and easy to implement immediately at her next meal. Such a game changer!

I couldn't be happier with M’s progress. I now have an 18 month who is drinking out of a cup on her own, self feeds without putting up a fight, and even eats meat and pasta and other textures which I could NEVER previously get her to eat, let alone try! She now eats her meal in 30 minutes without having me put on a show for her, books, or YouTube!

Denise was such a joy to work with. She was incredibly knowledgeable, upbeat and positive. She made me feel comfortable and at ease, and genuinely cared about M’s well-being and progress, which is most important as a parent. I am so grateful she was able to provide so much support via Zoom, and I am thrilled I now have Denise as a resource for any other concerns I may encounter in the future. 

— F.S., Mother of an 18-month old girl