A Day in the Life at Spark Pediatric Therapy

People often ask us what a typical day at Spark looks like. The honest answer is that no two days are identical, because no two children are identical. But there is a rhythm to our days that reflects everything we believe about how therapy should feel.

Here is a look inside.

The space

Spark is located on the second floor of a building in Uptown New Orleans at 2620 Jena Street. We chose Uptown intentionally. It is where our families are, where the pediatricians and schools we work alongside are, and where we wanted to be rooted as a practice.

Our therapy rooms are designed to feel warm and calm, not clinical. You will not find fluorescent lights and sterile white walls. You will find soft lighting, carefully chosen toys and materials, and spaces that feel like places a child would actually want to be.

The morning

Our clinicians start their days preparing for the children they will see. That means reviewing notes from previous sessions, pulling materials, and thinking through how each session will be structured based on where each child is right now.

Every child who walks through our door has a different communication profile, different goals, and different things that motivate them. We invest heavily in clinician training and mentorship because we believe the quality of the relationship and the clinical thinking behind every session is what drives outcomes. Preparation is not optional. It is how we make sure every session counts.

The sessions

A typical session at Spark is 45 minutes. Within that time, a lot happens, even when it looks like nothing much is going on.

You might walk by a therapy room and see a child and a clinician playing with a farm set, building with blocks, or acting out a scene with figurines. What you are not seeing is the clinician drawing on a deep foundation of specialized training to follow the child's lead and embed carefully targeted communication goals into every interaction.

Our speech and language sessions are grounded in DIR Floortime, a Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-based framework developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Dr. Serena Wieder. A 2023 systematic review found DIR Floortime to be a cost-effective, child-led approach that significantly improves communication and emotional functioning in children with developmental differences. We also draw on Natural Language Acquisition, a framework developed by Dr. Marge Blanc that supports children who are gestalt language processors, and PROMPT, a tactile-kinesthetic approach to speech motor planning that helps children develop accurate, coordinated speech movement.

What that looks like in practice: the clinician is creating communication opportunities, responding to every attempt the child makes to connect, modeling language at just the right level, and tracking data on specific targets throughout the session. It looks loose. It is not.

Feeding therapy

Feeding therapy sessions at Spark are carefully structured to make food exploration feel safe, low-pressure, and child-led. Our approach to feeding is informed by Feed the Peds and grounded in principles from the SOS Approach to Feeding, one of the most widely respected sequential oral sensory frameworks in pediatric feeding therapy. We also hold training in TOTS, a specialized approach to identifying and addressing the functional impact of tongue and lip ties on feeding and swallowing.

We do not use pressure-based approaches. Progress in feeding therapy might look like a child tolerating a new food on the table, touching it with a finger, or eventually bringing it to their lips. Each step is meaningful and part of a carefully sequenced progression.

Myofunctional therapy

Myofunctional therapy focuses on the muscles of the mouth, face, and tongue and how they function during breathing, swallowing, chewing, and speaking. Our clinicians are trained in The Myo Method and Simon Says Myo, two of the leading myofunctional therapy frameworks in the field. Sessions involve targeted exercises for tongue posture, lip seal, and nasal breathing patterns and are individualized to each child's specific needs and capacity.

Myofunctional therapy often works in coordination with pediatric dentists, ENTs, and orthodontists. If a child has had a tongue tie release, myofunctional therapy before and after the procedure is essential to retrain the muscles and maximize outcomes.

Between sessions

Our clinicians document their sessions, communicate with families, collaborate with each other on complex cases, and plan for what comes next. The work that happens between sessions is as important as the sessions themselves.

We also stay in communication with the other providers in a child's life when it is helpful. Speech therapy does not happen in a vacuum. When we can coordinate with an OT, a teacher, or a pediatrician, outcomes improve.

What parents experience

We want every parent who walks through our door to feel like they are in the right place. That means being greeted warmly, being included in their child's care, and leaving every visit with a clear understanding of what happened and what to work on at home.

Research on parent-implemented home practice consistently shows it produces outcomes comparable to traditional therapy alone. That is why we invest time at the end of every session to make sure you leave with something specific and actionable. You are your child's most important communication partner, and the more you understand about what we are doing and why, the better the outcomes for your child.

Why we do it this way

Everything about how Spark operates comes back to the same question: is this what is best for the child in front of us?

We believe children deserve a therapy experience that respects who they are, builds on their strengths, and never asks them to mask or perform for the comfort of the adults around them. We believe parents deserve honest communication, real partnership, and a team they can trust.

That is not a philosophy we adopted because it sounds good. It is the reason Spark exists.

We are located at 2620 Jena Street in Uptown New Orleans and serve families across New Orleans and Jefferson Parish. If you would like to see if Spark is the right fit for your child, reach out and we will take it from there.

Sources

Divya, K. Y., Begum, F., John, S. E., & Francis, F. (2023). DIR/Floor time in engaging autism: A systematic review. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 28(2), 132-138. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijnmr.ijnmr_272_21

Greenspan, S. I., & Wieder, S. (1997). Developmental patterns and outcomes in infants and children with disorders in relating and communicating. Journal of Developmental and Learning Disorders, 1, 87-141.

Blanc, M. (2012). Natural Language Acquisition on the Autism Spectrum: The Journey from Echolalia to Self-Generated Language. Communication Development Center.

ASHA. Parent-implemented home therapy programmes for speech and language: A systematic review. apps.asha.org/EvidenceMaps