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This journey can be hard, you don’t have to do it alone
Reach out to set up a complimentary 20 min phone call to discuss your concerns and goals.
Feeding, Speech and Myofunctional Therapy from the comfort of your nest or ours
In-home & In-office Evaluation and Treatment Services
Feeding Therapy
Assessment and Treatment for infants and toddlers
A whole-child approach that addresses underlying oral-motor sensory issues to improve breastfeeding, bottle feeding, introducing cup/straw drinking, and successful transitions to solids.
Difficulties may include:
- Poor weight gain
- Maternal pain
- Weak suck
- Long feed times
- Poor latch/transfer
- Fluid loss
- Clicking
- Coughing, choking or gagging
- Difficulty progressing from purees to solids
- Difficulty chewing or managing textures
Speech Therapy
Assessment and Treatment for toddlers and children
Individualized treatment that addresses underlying issues that may be impacting speech sound production, unintelligible speech, and providing early language intervention for late talking little ones. A natural play-based approach is used with younger children along with a variety of evidence based treatment strategies for all ages.
Difficulties may include:
- Speech that is hard to understand
- Frustration due to not being able to effectively communicate
- Limited babbling, imitation, or use of words
- A lisp
- Difficulty producing specific sounds
Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy
Assessment and Treatment for children
Targeted therapy focusing on specific exercises of the mouth and face to improve swallow patterns, oral rest posture, and nasal breathing. Myofunctional therapy is used to treat orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMDs) that can affect all ages and significantly impact quality of life.
Some signs/symptoms of an OMD include:
- Tongue Thrust
- Low tongue resting posture
- Mouth breathing
- Dental malocclusion
- Poor speech/distortion of sounds/lisping
- Oral habits
- Poor sleep/fatigue
- Snoring
- Feeding difficulties
- Feelings of anxiety or difficulty with attention
Tethered Oral Tissues
(TOTs)
Assessment and Treatment for infants and children
Restrictive oral tissue (i.e tongue-ties, lip-ties, buccal-ties) can impact feeding, swallow pattern, speech, breathing, and more. A functional assessment is performed to determine if oral tissues are restrictive and impacting oral function. As well as specialized therapy pre and post release for optimal function and outcomes. Whole-child approach is utilized which may include collaboration and referrals to appropriate health providers.
Signs/symptoms of TOTs include:
- Difficulty with breastfeeding or bottle feeding
- Difficulty transitioning to solids or managing solids
- Poor speech
- Gastrointestinal issues
- High palate
- Low tongue resting posture
- Snoring
From the comfort of your nest or ours
In-home Services
The ability to observe and treat a mother-baby dyad or child in their most comfortable, natural environment not only allows therapy to be a more accessible stress free experience, but it translates into a realistic understanding of what day to day life looks like, with a greater ability to coach parents and implement therapy strategies that will be individualized and effective.
In-office Services
To make NEST care accessible to as many families as possible, I’m pleased to offer in-office services at our lovely Encinitas therapy space. This space has been carefully curated to create a warm, calming, and inviting environment where children and parents can feel safe and supported.
Looking for Naturalistic, Evidence-based, Supportive Therapy? Here's how to get started with NEST...
Get in touch
I would love to hear from you! Call, email, or complete the contact form to set up a complimentary phone consultation. During our 20 minute call we will address your concerns and goals and determine next best steps for your family.
Evaluation
In-depth assessment in your home or at our carefully curated, inviting office space which may use a combination of formal and informal measures (i.e. interview and observations). Evaluations are typically 60-90 minutes depending on areas being assessed. I gather as much information as possible to get a clear and comprehensive understanding of your child, underlying issues, and goals. I will share my impressions and we will discuss recommendations for an individualized therapy plan.
Treatment
The good stuff! Therapy is provided in your family’s most natural environment, your nest, or at our warm, inviting Encinitas therapy space. Therapy sessions are weekly, length and frequency will be determined after the evaluation based on individual needs. Feedback, coaching, and recommendations for practice are always an integral part of the process. A fun play-based approach will be used with toddler and elementary school kiddos along with a variety of evidence-based strategies. No matter the age, therapy will always feel positive and encouraging.
Shari is truly a miracle worker! From our very first session, Shari provided strategies that made bottle-feeding our daughter so much easier. And, after just a few sessions, our daughter made drastic improvements in her feeding and has doubled her weight percentile. Hiring Shari was one of the best decisions I have made for our family, and I highly recommend her if you are having any difficulties feeding your little one.
ALEXA BMother 
I highly recommend Shari Jones for myofunctional therapy! Shari’s knowledge, professional expertise, and combination of caring and individualized treatment directly helped fix my swallow pattern. She is kind, patient, and was always flexible! Shari continued to follow up with my progress after I left for college!
GEORGE BClient
Shari is the best speech therapist my son has had. My son has congenital hypotonia and she has been amazing to help him with his oral motor movements and strengthening to improve his speech, all while making it fun for him. Shari has really helped my son in so many ways and she has been a true blessing to us.
MELISSA CMother
Shari is amazing with our son! We chose her specifically because of her care, kindness and expertise!
DANIELLE RMother
I am so incredibly grateful to have found Shari. After struggling with breastfeeding for 3 months due to my little girl’s severe tongue tie, which we got released week 1 of her life, we decided to strictly pump and bottle feed. However, the eating challenges were still there for her. She has a very weak tongue and high palate and I knew we needed an expert in oral function. We have been working with Shari for over a month now and have seen huge improvements in my daughter’s tongue strength and ability to eat from the bottle. Her suck is stronger, her jaw is stronger, she is taking in less air when eating, and I credit this huge stride to Shari.
ALEX LMother
I truly wish we could’ve found Shari sooner. She is an amazing person and extremely knowledgeable. She gave us a plan we could stick to and comes weekly to check on our daughter's progress and make all the necessary tweaks to our program. She has been a tremendous resource and I plan on working with her the entire first year of my daughter's life. My daughter is almost 4 months now and is able to take in plenty of milk a day from her bottle and I no longer feel intense anxiety feeding her. Shari has truly helped us tremendously and I am so happy I found her!
ALEX LMother
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Frequently Asked Questions
As a parent, you may have heard to “wait and see”, but research shows that early intervention is best. True disorders or dysfunction do not go away on their own. I will help you understand what is developmentally appropriate for your child’s age and if treatment is warranted. I want to help your child reach their full potential as soon as possible.
Every infant, child, and teen is unique. Therapy is individualized and frequency will be determined after the evaluation for optimal results.
We’re pleased to offer our services either in-home, or out of our warm, inviting, carefully curated office in Encinitas.
Yes! Virtual sessions are wonderful for parent coaching. They may also be appropriate for therapy based on the age of your child and their goals, or in cases where distance is an issue.
I am happy to support families in north county San Diego and the surrounding communities. A mileage fee may be added for travel over 20 miles.
I am considered an out-of-network provider and do not bill your insurance directly. However, I am happy to provide you with a superbill for services that you may submit for reimbursement.
Supporting little people and their families to thrive
Empowering Parents
I’m with your child for one hour while you’re with them every day. I’ll provide the support and knowledge you need to work on improvements throughout the week.
Underlying Issues
With children, we often find ourselves treating the symptoms rather than the cause. My area of extertise is identifying the root cause of the symptoms and providing treatment (or referrals) before issues worsen or begin to manifest in other ways.
Early Intervention (If possible)
Although it is common to take a ‘wait-and-see approach’, research shows that early intervention is best. I want to see children reach their potential as soon as possible.
