NAPA Center was founded by Lynette LaScala in 2008 after spending years traveling the world to find the best pediatric therapy programs for her son. Now, NAPA has grown into an industry-leading pediatric therapy center; attracting patients worldwide by offering the best and most innovative therapies. We approach pediatric speech therapy and feeding therapy with the understanding that no two children are alike. Our highly trained and passionate speech and language pathologists provide your child with individualized, fun, and meaningful SLP sessions to help them reach their specific goals.
At NAPA Center, we offer individualized pediatric therapy programs with unique combinations of our wide range of physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, feeding therapy, and more. We strive to provide children and families with hope by offering services in a playful environment that helps children maximize their full potential.
In addition to our traditional weekly speech therapy sessions, we also offer intensive therapy sessions. At NAPA Center, we proudly offer speech therapy for toddlers and children of all ages. To discover how NAPA can help your child, contact our team to schedule a free 30-minute phone screening and a tour of our Boston pediatric therapy clinic. The NAPA Boston clinic is located at 220 Bear Hill Road, Suite 101, Waltham, MA 02451.
Join the NAPA family by scheduling a free screening and/or a tour of our Boston clinic!
START YOUR CHILD’S JOURNEY TODAY
Working with children of all abilities has always been a passion for Tara. During high school and college she worked in a variety of after school recreational programs for children with special needs as well as a summer camp program.
When Tara's first child Kate was born, she suffered a hypoxic event at birth and was ultimately diagnosed with cerebral palsy. This brought Tara back into the world of special needs. Like many parents, she searched everywhere for the most effective treatments for her daughter including traditional and alternative therapies. She found NAPA in 2016 when Kate was three years old and flew to LA with her family to complete her first intensive.
Tara told us “I knew immediately that I had found the right place for Kate. The expertise, therapies, knowledge, and community at NAPA is unlike anything I have experienced before.” Tara and her husband Mike are lifelong Connecticut residents and excitedly moved to the Greater Boston area to join the NAPA family. As Red Sox fans, the idea of moving to Boston was a natural fit as well as a great community to bring NAPA to.
M.A., CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathology, University of Connecticut
Tate has spent her time in Texas continuing to learn and explore her passion for pediatric speech therapy. Excited to be back in the northeast, Tate is passionate about building relationships with her patients and families. She believes in creating treatment plans that are individualized to each patient to ensure the most success in reaching communication and feeding goals.
Devoted to helping children in the areas of pediatric dysphagia, selective and restricted diets, speech and language delays, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), her energetic and positive energy creates a welcoming and fun environment. Tate has a love for exercising, soaking up sunshine on the beach and exploring the Boston area!
Emma received her undergraduate degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences and Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Connecticut before earning her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has a clinical background working with children and families with complex communication profiles and diverse mental health considerations. She strives to make speech and language therapy and feeding therapy a comfortable environment to nurture skill growth and have fun! She is so excited be a part of the NAPA team and continue to pursue her passion working with the pediatric population! Born and raised in New England, Emma loves to hike, adventure outside, and spend time at the beaches on Cape Cod, when not at the clinic.
Alyssa received her undergraduate degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from Boston University and earned her Master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Emerson College. She has always had loved working with children! Prior to becoming an SLP, she was a figure skating coach to kids of all ages. As an SLP, she is passionate about working children and their families to achieve their goals and carryover learned skills at home. Alyssa has clinical experience working in early intervention, home based services, school settings, as well as pediatric outpatient clinics. Alyssa is excited to be a part of the intensive model at NAPA. On the weekends, Alyssa enjoys spending time with family and friends, discovering new restaurants, hiking, skiing, and going to the beaches on Cape Cod and Long Island!
MS Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Vermont
Erika chose to pursue speech language pathology after an inspiring pitch from a professor in an undergraduate course entitled, “Major Decisions.” Since then, she has developed a passion and enthusiasm for working with children to help them achieve their highest potential. Erika has widespread evaluation and treatment experience with children of all ages, including childhood apraxia of speech, expressive and receptive language, speech sound disorders, fluency, pragmatics and social skills, and feeding and swallowing. She enjoys the fun, challenge, and diversity that comes with working with children, and she strives to create a constructive and trusting relationship with her clients and their families. She is committed to creating engaging, functional, and innovative treatment activities to best address each client’s unique goals and promote success in and out of therapy. Outside of work, Erika enjoys long walks with her dog, Lucy, going to the gym, and exploring the local food scene.
Maddie has a clinical background working in an inpatient pediatric hospital, pediatric outpatient clinic and early intervention treating a variety of childhood speech, language, social and feeding/ swallowing disorders. Maddie has extensive experience treating infant and pediatric dysphasia, working with children with Autism and assisting families with the feature mapping process to use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Maddie is passionate about working with pediatric patients and their families to ensure carryover of learned skills. She has a strong foundation in family counseling and education from being both SOS (Feeding approach) and Hanen trained. Her hobbies include bringing Lulu (wheaten terrier pup) on lots of walks, spending times with friends and family, skiing, exercising, exploring the beaches of Cape Cod and Maine and discovering new restaurants in the Boston area!
At NAPA Center, we proudly offer speech therapy for toddlers and children of all ages. Our pediatric speech pathologists provide the child with therapy sessions customized to the child's needs. To discover how NAPA can help your child, contact our team to schedule a free 30-minute phone screening and a tour of our Boston pediatric speech therapy clinic. The NAPA Boston clinic is located at 220 Bear Hill Rd Suite 101, Waltham, MA 02451.
NAPA Center also offers intensive pediatric therapy programs which attract families from around the world. We use the Intensive Model of Therapy (IMOT) when treating children with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders. This treatment model is increasingly used throughout the world as patients, therapists, and doctors recognize it’s many benefits and outstanding results. NAPA therapists create a customized program for each patient that varies in time, duration, intensity, and tools used. Children often advance to the next developmental skill or higher during the three-week program.
NAPA Center provides traditional weekly feeding therapy with our feeding specialists (Occupational Therapists and Speech Language Pathologists) to support children’s independence in eating and support families in creating successful mealtime routines. We offer relationship-based developmental feeding services to address various feeding difficulties and VitalStim for the treatment of dysphasia and swallowing difficulties.
Schedule a free 30-minute screening with one of our therapists today!
