Are you looking for a roadmap to help your child? Do you find that creating a team for your child is difficult when so many agencies exist with so many different therapies?
We can help. Nourish Communication is an integrated program for children aged 3-18 with learning challenges and special needs, serving communities in BC.
The program was conceived out of the collective experiences of a Nutritionist, Speech Language Pathologist and a Level 4 Tomatis® Listening Therapy Expert.
Nourish Communication targets the foundations of learning through:
1. Nutrition/CHA – for brain health and maximal potential
2. Sound therapy – to integrate and re-educate the auditory/vocal loop
3. Speech/Language – to support speech and language development once foundational needs are strengthened
With this individualized, three-pronged plan, you are providing your child with the best opportunity to reach their full potential!
Our Approach
Services will be provided as building blocks as optimally as possible for each child as follows and the time frame expected to incorporate these three modalities to their optimum will be between 6 and 12 months.
Holistic Nutrition
Your child will benefit initially from a holistic nutrition and therapeutic supplement program tailored specifically by Nourish Me Nutrition. It will consist of any easy to follow meal plan and incorporate essential nutritional pillars to create an optimal foundation for learning for each child.
Tomatis® Listening Program
Once your child’s nutritional health plan is finalized and implemented, they will begin the Tomatis® Listening Program. The Tomatis® Method has proven to improve motor, emotional and cognitive abilities through music and language. An initial assessment will take place to identify the neural connections to be strengthened and expectations will be set regarding your child’s listening journey. The goal is to educate and re-educate the Auditory Vocal Loop.
Speech Language Therapy
Once the nutrition and auditory programs are up and running, your child will begin speech language therapy sessions with a registered Speech Language Pathologist from Vancouver Language Therapy 4 Kids. Each program will be based on an intake assessment and will offer a hands-on, visual learning experience to promote optimal speech and language development.
Meet the Nourish Communication Team
Donna Giachino
Founder & Special Educational/Family Consultant Vancouver Language Therapy 4 Kids
Donna was trained as a Speech-Language Pathologist and practiced as an SLP until May 1, 2019. She is now the Director & Special Educational/Family Consultant for VLTK. Donna is tremendously passionate about her work and believes that family education is critical in the overall progress of a child’s social, emotional and academic development.
As the Founder of Vancouver Language Therapy for Kids (VLTK), Donna also coordinates all of the Registered Speech-Language Pathologists, Communicative Disorders Assistants, Communication Health Assistants, Special Education Assistants, Tutors and Occupational Therapists on the VLTK Team. She is responsible for organizing parent and community educational workshops, community outreach and coordination with other service providers.
Donna obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Trent University (Peterborough, Ontario) and a Masters of Science Degree in Speech Sciences from the University of British Columbia in 1992. After 18 years of clinical practice as a Speech-Language Pathologist, she founded Vancouver Language Therapy for Kids. During her time as an SLP, her experience focused primarily with preschool and school aged children in variety of settings including children’s treatment centres (Fraser Valley CDC, Erinoak Children’s Treatment Centre in Ontario) and for 10 years at a specialized language intervention centre in Vancouver for children with primary language delays / disorders and language-based learning difficulties.
Donna’s areas of focus as a Special Educational & Family Consultant is Emerging Executive Functioning and Family Support. Her approach is based on a strong foundation in neuroscience and years of experience dealing with educational issues and ADHD/ASD.
Jill Schmelke
Registered Holistic Nutritionist & Founder of Nourish Me Nutrition
Jill Schmelke, a Registered Holistic Nutritionist at Nourish Me, is a journalist turned health advocate, researcher and nutritionist. Her own family’s health concerns motivated her to look for answers outside traditional medical pathways.
Her years of research increased her own family’s health and wellness. Now she empowers her clients by breaking down the vast and conflicting health information that is overwhelmingly available.
She provides individualized, relatable and essential knowledge to her clients. With this they are able to build sustainable habits to increase their vitality and health. Jill specializes in helping families with overall health by rebalancing nutrition to support their high-stress lifestyles.
Jennifer Muller
Tomatis® Method – Professional level 4 Consultant – Learning to Listen
Originally from South Africa, Jennifer and her family relocated to Australia and now are based in Vancouver, Canada. For 20 years now she has been pursuing a very keen passion in natural health and alternative healing. She became a Health Care provider in Australia providing professional reflexology and has continued and enhanced her professional development over the years with counselling skills obtained through Living Wisdom, New Zealand and working in conjunction with a holistic Health Shop in Gladstone Queensland for a number of years.
Once relocated to Canada her interests lead her to neuroplastic methods and she encountered the work of Barbra Arrowsmith-Young and the schools providing her Cognitive Improvement Program. The Eaton Arrowsmith schools. Her connections with this group of schools lead her to the work of Dr Alfred Tomatis.
Jennifer has earned her status of level 4 Tomatis® Consultant the highest level of expertise available within the Tomatis® Development SA global group based in Europe.
She currently practices in Vancouver and has a large client base of children and adults presenting with learning difficulties, emotional dysregulation, motor planning issues and language delays. Serving the city as well as the interior of British Columbia. This is possible with the state of the art portable Tomatis® Talksup system.
Liselotte Thoraval
Tomatis® Method – Professional Level 2 Tomatis® Practitioner & Registered Clinical Counsellor
Liselotte Thoraval, MA RCC, is an experienced Clinical Counsellor with over 15 years of experience in the field. For the past 10 years she has worked in the lower mainland specializing in supporting individuals and families. In this work she has skilfully provided support to her clients, helping them through various social and emotional challenges and circumstances. Liselotte has a varied and effective skillset to guide her practice, however, she prefers interventions that harness neuroplasticity and our biological need to connect with one another.
As a Clinical Counsellor and Tomatis® Practitioner, Liselotte is passionate about helping children, teens, and adults to be their best selves. After experiencing the transformative power of the Tomatis® method and witnessing the positive impact it had on her own child and family, she made a decision to integrate it into her clinical practice. Liselotte continues to be inspired by her experiences with the method and is passionate about using it to help people return to or discover themselves. When Liselotte is not working, she is practicing yoga, spending time with friends and family, or doing what she considers to be her most important work—being a mother to her two boys.
Contact Nourish Communication
Get in touch with Nourish Communication by using this contact form or email directly to: jill@nourishme.ca