Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati (DSAGC)
"Tara, thank you so much for your informative sessions for the DSAGC families. We are so fortunate to have someone with your level of expertise on feeding skills in our community." - Sally Tillow

Trina Campbell — Parent
"Our daughter Kelsey has Down Syndrome and is almost 6 years old. When she was almost 2, she began to see a traditional speech therapist — which ended up being an awful experience. Not only were Kelsey and I frustrated with the experience but it was obvious the therapist was also frustrated with Kelsey's lack of cooperation. After 9 months, I decided to stop her speech therapy, as it didn't seem to make any difference. A few years later, a speech therapist at Kelsey's pre-school suggested we have Kelsey evaluated by Tara. My first thought was... no, not another frustrating speech therapy experience. Boy was I wrong! Tara was absolutely amazing with Kelsey. After the evaluation, Kelsey actually hugged and kissed Tara (no small feat since Kelsey absolutely hated going to any sort of doctor/therapy appointment!). I immediately scheduled regular visits with Tara. That was in early 2004 and in just a few short months we saw a huge difference in Kelsey. She has gone from being basically non-verbal to being a little chatterbox. Her speech is dramatically different than it was this time last year. To us, what Tara has done with Kelsey is nothing short of a miracle. The best part is that Kelsey loves to see Tara — she views it as fun! And Tara makes it easy for us to work on things with Kelsey at home. I would recommend Tara to anyone — we don't know what we would do without her! Kelsey definitely wouldn't be the little chatterbox we know and love had it not been for Tara."

Chris V. — Parent
"Our son Shawn is five years old and had been categorized as being on the autism spectrum, but highly-functional, with several sensory issues and speech delay. Early on, our primary concern was Shawn's diet. He would only eat foods of a certain texture, and never asked to eat on his own. Through the process of diagnosing Shawn's problems and finding help, we found ourselves with several therapists, including speech, but none showed any interest in helping with Shawn's feeding issues. We then had the opportunity to see Tara, and after discussing Shawn's problems, she suggested that Shawn was displaying symptoms of Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and oral dysphagia. Tara suggested that we request Shawn be given a prescription for Zantac from his pediatrician. After a few days on Zantac, Shawn began sleeping better and having much less stomach pain.

Although Shawn was feeling better, he was hesitant to eat because many of the foods he had eaten before had caused stomachaches. Tara was very patient and effective in helping Shawn eat foods that he was afraid to eat either because of his previous stomach pain or the texture of the food. She chose foods that were healthful, and adapted her therapy to foods that were acceptable to Shawn's dietary restrictions because of allergies. She also taught us things that we could do at home between sessions in addition to Shawn's therapy. At the same time, Tara was helping Shawn with his speech delay using the PROMT method, making great progress. At this point, Shawn's feeding issues are no longer of any concern. As far as we are concerned, he eats like a normal child and this is due in large part to Tara's outstanding work with him. We would encourage any parents who have children with any kind of feeding issues to consult with Tara and highly recommend her feeding therapy."