Life Step Therapy

Hands down the best Speech Therapy My Son Could've Have! My Sone Started In April 2025 with speaking a few words and doing lots of babbling to having more than 59 words and spontaneous speaking, using 3 step commands and putting words in a sentence!

We’ve been working with Miss Cynthia for over a few weeks now, and she has been absolutely wonderful with our son. She is always so sweet, patient, and understanding, and it’s clear that she truly cares. She pays attention to the little things that make a big difference for him, and that means so much to us as parents. Her kindness and thoughtfulness shine through in every session, and we are so grateful to have her as part of our son’s journey. Thank you, Miss Cynthia, for everything you do! 💙

I would give Life Step Therapy infinity stars if I could. My daughter was born 2 months premature and had some mild speech delays and struggled with food textures. She qualified for speech, occupational, and physical therapy, so the San Diego Resource Center referred us to Life Step for the first two. Speech: We were assigned Estela Mora for speech when Daughter was about 1.5 years, and Estela quickly became part of the family. She is so passionate about her work, and was just the person I needed when I was struggling with parenthood and feeling like the worst mom in the world (ya know, mom stuff). Daughter went from maybe a dozen words to now holding full-on conversations. Daughter adores her, and I know it's because Estela has a warmth and safety about her that any kid would respond to. I've laughed, cried, and lamented about life and parenthood with Estela and could not have asked for a better person to help Daughter not only catch up on but SURPASS her speech milestones. Occupational: Shortly after Daughter turned 2, we were assigned Elizabeth Lyons as her occupational therapist to help with the feeding issues Daughter exhibited (refusal to try new foods, or eat solid proteins). This recommendation comes with the extra context of experiencing another therapist, who was great, but simply not the right fit for us, so I had the chance to see the different styles of occupational services that might be provided to a young baby/toddler. Daughter took to Elizabeth almost immediately, and even now, there are things I've seen her get Daughter to try that she has refused to try with just myself or Daughter's father. Elizabeth's mix of fun play activities with strategically getting Daughter to touch, smell, and even taste food was remarkable and amazing to watch. Daughter still has a way to go practicing eating solid proteins at home, but her daycare reports that Daughter eats almost all her food at mealtimes, which I credit to Elizabeth for giving her the bravery and confidence to taste the things she sees her friends eating. I have also seen a huge amount of progress in her at least trying new foods, whether it's simply touching/playing with them, or even taking a tiny bite. Although we only had about 9 months with Elizabeth, she not only helped Daughter make huge progress, but gave my husband and I tools to continue the momentum. In short: I'm so immensely grateful for Life Step's resources and help. Early intervention is so important for a child who had a complicated start to thrive. I couldn't have done it without them!

We have had the pleasure of working with Valerie for the past two years and she is truly a gem. It’s an amazing feeling to know that someone is genuinely interested in helping your child but also cares about them. She has encouraged him to come out of his shell and helped him feel comfortable to do the necessary work and made it fun in the process. It is the one place he will never complain about when I tell him we are going🙂

We’ve had the privilege of working with Valerie for our 2.5-year-old daughter, who was born prematurely at 28 weeks, and I truly cannot speak highly enough of her and the impact she's had on our daughter's development. From the very first session, Valerie brought compassion, patience, and deep expertise to every interaction. She took time to truly understand our daughter’s history, needs, and personality. Each session was play-based, engaging, and thoughtfully tailored to help her grow in areas like gross and fine motor skills and sensory regulation. As a preemie, our daughter faced several developmental challenges, but under Valerie’s care, we’ve seen incredible progress. She is now more coordinated, expressive, and confident in daily activities—from grasping toys and feeding herself to tolerating different textures and navigating transitions with greater ease. Valerie also made us feel supported as parents. She communicated clearly, shared practical strategies for home, and always encouraged our questions and involvement. If you are looking for a pediatric occupational therapist who is both deeply knowledgeable and genuinely caring, Valerie is outstanding. We’re so grateful for the difference she’s made in our daughter’s early journey. We’ll miss seeing her every week!

We had occupational therapy here for about a year and an half. Our therapist Valerie was amazing! She created engaging sessions that were both fun and effective, and my son made so much progress not only in fine motor skills, but also with his attention span, sensory regulation and patience! We are very grateful for their support and highly recommend:)

We had the BEST experience with Life Step Therapy! Back office staff was always so helpful. We had Valerie for OT and she was the sweetest, most patient, and most CARING person. She truly made such an impact in my son’s life!! She was so creative with activities that helped him in every aspect of his daily life. She truly paid attention and to what he liked and responded well with. He grew to absolutely adore her! 1000% recommend starting with Valerie! We also had Speech Therapy with Almira (LOVED her as well!) before she moved away, so we finished up our last few months of sessions with Fanny who was also so patient, calm, and kind!! My non verbal son was able to start communicating his needs better to us with some words, sign language, and picture boards! We will miss all of the amazing therapist here at Life Step Therapy! They were are all such a wonderful light in our lives! THANK YOU!