“We have worked with many therapists over the past 12 months, and Sarah is by far one of the best. She is the total package! She is very knowledgeable, she is patient with our active 3 year old boy and she is so kind to our whole family She is a great listener, and she has addressed any concern we might have about anything relating to our son. We all truly enjoy her visits. Our son’s progress in therapy has been nothing short of amazing. He has met and often surpassed all of his goals. When we think back to where he was 6 months ago, we are reminded of how far he has come, and how hard Sarah and our son have worked. His speech is so much clearer and his language has greatly expanded. This has had a great impact on his behavior and social skills; we’ve seen so much positive growth. Sarah has given our son the gift of communication and we are so thankful!”
A private practice focusing on the very best pediatric speech, language and feeding therapy
At Nashoba Speech and Feeding Therapy, we are dedicated to providing comprehensive, individualized assessments and intervention programs for children with speech, language and feeding disorders. We specialize in children from toddlerhood through the elementary school years. Serving Nashoba Valley and surrounding communities since 2010.
Services
At Nashoba Speech and Feeding Therapy, we strive to provide individualized and specialized care for children with various speech, language and feeding disorders. We are committed to providing the highest quality care for our clients. All of our assessment approaches and intervention programs are supported by the most recent, cutting-edge research.
Whether it’s developing knowledge and understanding, learning to talk or eating to grow, each and every developmental milestone in your child’s life is a crucial one. Together, with parents, caregivers and other professionals, we nurture each child’s strengths and areas of need to help them reach their full potential.
Evaluations
A comprehensive two-hour speech and language evaluation consists of a parent interview, review of background information and appropriate standardized testing. A speech evaluation is about one hour in length and also includes a parent interview, review of background information assessment of oral structures/articulation skills. A comprehensive feeding evaluation consists of a parent interview, extensive review of background information including feeding history and a feeding observation.
Follow-up for all assessments consist of verbal feedback on the day of the evaluation and a written report which will be sent to your home. The written report will include impressions/diagnoses, recommendations and a treatment plan.
Speech Therapy
Treatment plans are specialized for the individual needs of your child. Sessions focus on acquisition of developmentally appropriate speech sounds, remediation of phonological processes and addressing motor speech disorders through the principals of motor learning. Treatment plans consist of regularly scheduled therapy appointments accompanied with daily skill-building exercises for home practice. Therapy sessions are 30-45 minutes in length, which includes parent feedback and progress updates. Length will be determined based on your child’s needs.
Language Therapy
Research has demonstrated that children learn language through play. We embrace a play-based approach to language therapy, tailored to your child’s age and developmental level. Therapy sessions are 45 minutes in length, which includes parent feedback and progress updates.
Feeding Therapy
Specific feeding programs will be developed to address your child’s motor, sensory and behaviorally based feeding needs. Therapy can be provided on an individual or group basis. Therapy sessions are 45 minutes in length, which includes parent feedback and progress updates.
Consultation and Screenings
We provide student screenings and staff educational seminars to local elementary, preschool and daycare programs.
Meet Sarah
Sarah A.H. Belcher, M.S., CCC-SLP is a Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist specializing in diagnosis and treatment of early childhood speech, language and feeding disorders. She has special interests in diagnosing and treating motor speech disorders and implementing feeding programs for children requiring intensive treatment in individual and group settings. Since starting to practice in 2003, Sarah has been conducting comprehensive assessments and providing therapy for children through the early elementary school years with various speech, language and feeding needs. She has provided consultative services to local school systems to help screen and identify students with speech, language or feeding needs. In addition, she has led seminars to educate administrators, teachers and other specialists.
Prior to opening Nashoba Speech and Feeding Therapy, Sarah practiced in a variety of academic, medical and private settings. She has been a lecturer at the university level, teaching management of feeding and swallowing disorders. She served as a clinical supervisor for graduate students at Boston University for two years. As a staff Speech-Language Pathologist at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, she evaluated and treated children with speech, language and feeding disorders.
Sarah received her M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology from Boston University and her B.S. in Communication Disorders from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is certified and licensed in Speech-Language Pathology at the state and national levels.
Outside of the office, she enjoys hiking, skiing, reading and traveling with her husband, two children and her dog, Bandit.
Meet Nancy
Nancy O’Connor, M.S., CCC-SLP comes to Nashoba Speech and Feeding Therapy with nearly 30 years of experience as a pediatric speech-language pathologist practicing in a variety of settings including public and private schools and early intervention.
Nancy has experience working with children with a wide variety of communication, speech-language, social communication, executive function, and literacy challenges. Nancy is also certified as an Orton-Gillingham reading interventionist through the Children’s Dyslexia Centers, a program accredited by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council, and has taken advanced Orton-Gillingham training with Dr. Sandra Donah. Nancy has additional training in EmPOWER writing and Brain Frames with Dr. Bonnie Singer, a structured approach to academic writing. Following a strengths-based approach, Nancy’s primary goal is to work closely with families and other interventionists to meet children where they are developmentally and support them with best-practice services.
In her free time, Nancy treasures time spent with her family, hiking Wachusett Mountain, scouring thrift shops, and walking her two quirky rescue dogs.
Nancy received her B.A. from Smith College and her M.S. from Emerson College. She is certified and licensed in Speech-Language Pathology at the state and national levels.
Contact Us
Email: sarah@nashobaspeechandfeeding.com
Phone: (774) 364-0335
Address:
77 Great Road, Suite 204
Acton MA, 01720
Directions
Our building is located at the back of the 77 Great Road Plaza
The most convenient parking to our second floor office is in the back of the building
“When my children started seeing Sarah for articulation issues, they were frustrated that peers and adults outside their family were not always able to understand them. Not only are they much clearer to understand now that they receive services, their self esteem and confidence has grown tremendously. Their weekly sessions with Sarah are something we all look forward to.”
“Each time my toddler tries a new food, 1 think fondly of Sarah. Our 2 1/2 year old daughter Joy was not gaining weight consistently we had episodes when she would lose weight, and her weight percentile hovered around 5%. It did not help that she was an extremely picky eater/drinker that would refuse to eat even her favorite foods (sausage and waffles) at the times when 1 offered her new foods to try Lucidly Sarah was referred to us by a close family friend and we consider her a miracle worker. Sarah’s ability to be caring yet firm with our daughter during feeding therapy created an environment where Joy tried all sorts of new foods. Sarah also helped my husband and me to understand how to introduce new foods and set guidelines about how much Joy should eat. The amazing one-on-one experiences that we received with Sarah transformed our daughter into a child that loves to help err her own meals, enjoys new foods like steak, and almost quadrupled her weight percentile by her 3rd birthday”
