Chat & Munch Founder Monica Valdivia

Monica is an enthusiastic and dedicated speech language pathologist with over 16 years of experience evaluating and treating children with feeding and swallowing disorders, oral-motor impairments, and speech- delays. She is passionate about what she does and advocates for every child that crosses her path, resulting in outstanding outcomes that are recognized by the family. She enjoys working in partnership with the caregivers and goes above and beyond in providing them with education and tools that allow the stimulation of various skills during daily activities. Monica understands the importance of the interdisciplinary team as key to success, for which she continuously collaborates with medical professionals and therapists involved with the child. She always seeks out the most up to date, evidenced-based treatments to ensure the highest quality of care.

 Over the years of her professional career, Monica has developed a special interest in the area of feeding and swallowing and has sought extended continuing education in this area which adds to her area of expertise. She not only assesses the oral-motor capabilities of the child, but also the entire body’s movement, positioning, and posture as it impacts feeding function. She has also worked with children with food aversion, restricted diets, oral aversion, and alternative means of nutrition (e.g., gastrostomy tube). 

In addition to Monica’s knowledge and capabilities to assess and treat feeding disorders, she has also worked extensively with a variety of diagnosis including, but not limited to:

• Speech delays

• Autism spectrum disorder

• Chromosome and genetic syndromes

• Motor speech disorders (childhood apraxia of speech and dysarthria)

• Cranio-facial disorders

• Articulation and phonological disorders