Feeding Therapy in Bucktown, Chicago

Our Bucktown feeding therapy clinic helps your child eat more on their own, so you can cook one dinner and watch them eat it. Pediatric feeding therapy in Bucktown for ages 18 months to 18 years.

Gagging at new textures, tears over one bite, a diet that keeps shrinking. If that sounds like your house, a feeding specialist at our Bucktown clinic can tell you why. Then they build a plan to change it.

Pediatric Feeding Specialists

BCBS PPO In-Network

No Referral Needed

Feeding Therapy in Bucktown - front of CST Academy at 1765 N Elston Ave

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Wondering if your child needs feeding therapy? Schedule a feeding evaluation in Bucktown, and your child can begin therapy with the same feeding specialist, at the same location. No referral needed.

What Feeding Therapy in Bucktown Looks Like at CST Academy

Feeding therapy at our Bucktown clinic has one job, helping your child become a capable, confident eater. Here is how the program works.

How We Approach Feeding Therapy:

Your child works one-on-one with a feeding specialist, and each session targets the biggest barrier at your table. For toddlers and preschoolers, that usually means safer chewing and playful exposure to new textures. For school-age kids, it means adding foods to a narrow diet and getting through a full meal calmly. As skills build, the goals move with your child, week by week.

What Makes Our Program Different:

Feeding progress often depends on more than feeding. At CST Academy, your child's feeding specialist works alongside our behavior and occupational therapy teams and trades notes with them directly. If a sensory or behavior challenge is driving the eating struggle, the right specialist is already part of the plan.

Feeding Therapy in Bucktown - child during a feeding therapy session at CST Academy

Integrated Care Model.

Feeding, behavior, and sensory support happen under one roof, planned by a team that talks every day.

Play-Based, Low-Pressure Mealtimes.

Sessions start with touching and playing with food, so the first taste arrives when your child is ready for it.

Data-Driven Progress.

Each visit builds on what the data shows, which foods were accepted, which were refused, and what you report from home.

Parent Coaching Inclusion.

Our feeding specialist shows you what to serve and how to respond between sessions so mealtime at home gets calmer.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Address

1765 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL 60642

Phone

(773) 620-7800

Hours

Monday to Thursday: 8AM to 6PM
Friday 8AM to 5PM

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Feeding Therapy in Bucktown: What Happens After You Call

Bucktown parents researching feeding therapy keep asking the same question first: what happens once we sign up? Here is each step, laid out in order, so you know exactly what is coming before you reach out.

YOUR CHILD'S PROGRAM

From Stressful Meals to Wins You See at Home

Feeding Therapy in Bucktown - child during a feeding session at CST Academy

Most families notice the first changes within a month of starting. A new food makes it from the plate to an actual bite. Dinner stretches longer before anyone leaves the table. Your feeding specialist records your child's progress and builds the next goal on top of it, so the plan advances as fast as your child does.

Book Your Child's Evaluation. Our Team Responds in 24 Hours.

Steps

1

Your First Call.

Reach out through the online form or by phone. Within 24 hours, a member of our team calls to hear what meals look like at your house.

2

Insurance Check and Therapist Match.

Our team confirms your benefits while we choose the right feeding specialist for your child's age and goals.

3

Feeding Evaluation.

The evaluation covers chewing, responses to different textures, and behavior across a full meal. Those findings become your child's care plan.

4

Your Child's First Session.

Your child starts one-on-one sessions with one of our feeding specialists. How often they come in depends on what the evaluation shows and what your family's schedule allows.

5

Progress and Home Practice.

Your feeding specialist walks you through your child's progress each week and shows you what to practice at home.

Get a Feeding Specialist On Your Side This Week

Call our Bucktown clinic, tell us what mealtime looks like, and get a clear plan for what comes next.

Get Started Today

(773) 620-7800

Signs Your Child May Benefit from Feeding Therapy in Bucktown

Parents usually sense a feeding problem long before anyone names it. The list below covers what Bucktown families most often describe on their first call to us. If you recognize your child in even one of these, that is enough to pick up the phone.

child eats a very small variety of foods

The same few meals on rotation, with entire food groups like fruits or vegetables off the menu.

Gagging, coughing, or choking during meals, or visible struggle with chewing and swallowing.

child reacts strongly to food textures and smells

Strong reactions to food textures, smells, or temperatures, and refusal of anything unfamiliar.

child refuses meals or melts down at the table

Meltdowns at the table, early exits, or flat refusal to come to meals.

child pockets food or overfills their mouth

Food pocketed in the cheeks, overstuffed bites, or food held in the mouth without swallowing.

child struggles with cups, straws, or utensils

Trouble with cups, straws, or utensils that other kids the same age manage easily.

child not gaining weight or eating too little

Weight loss, slowed growth, or daily eating that seems too small to keep your child nourished.

daycare or pediatrician raised concerns about eating

Concerns raised by a teacher or pediatrician about how, or how much, your child eats.

After your first consultation, you learn whether your child would benefit from feeding therapy or whether their eating is developing normally for their age. Either answer puts you ahead of where you are today.

Talk to a Feeding Therapist

"My pediatrician said to wait. Should we?"

Pediatricians see your child for fifteen minutes a year, and feeding struggles often show up only at home. Our Bucktown feeding team gives you a second opinion based on a full evaluation. If waiting is the right call, the evaluation will tell you that too.

"Will my child feel pressured to eat?"

Our program is built on the opposite of pressure. Your child gets to know each new food through play first, touching it, smelling it, and deciding when a taste comes next. Curiosity does the work that coaxing never could.

"What if my child does great here but still struggles at home?"

Every session is designed to make progress stick at home, not just in the clinic. Your child's feeding specialist teaches you the same strategies your child practices in therapy. The changes you see at home are what prove it is working.

Meet Your Child's Feeding Therapy Team

Meet the feeding specialists who help your child eat with confidence and bring calm back to your dinner table

Carolyn R., MA, CCC-SLP

Feeding Specialist & Speech-Language Pathologist

Carolyn is a speech-language pathologist who provides feeding therapy at our Bucktown clinic. Her focus spans oral motor strength, sensory tolerance for food, picky eating, and the mealtime habits young children are still forming. Parents describe her as warm and practical, setting goals that reflect what each child can do today. She coordinates with the behavior and occupational therapy teams so gains from feeding sessions carry into the rest of your child's care.

Feeding Therapy

Katie R., OTD, OTR/L

Occupational Therapist (Coordinating)

Katie is an occupational therapist at our Bucktown clinic who supports the sensory and postural side of feeding. She helps children tolerate new textures, sit comfortably and stay upright through a meal, and handle utensils and cups with more control. Her approach focuses on practical strategies that hold up not just in the therapy room but at home and at daycare too. She collaborates closely with our feeding and behavior teams so every child has consistent support across their care.

Occupational Therapy

Self-Care Skills

Sensory Integration

Carolyn Z., M.Ed, BCBA, LBA

Board Certified Behavior Analyst (Coordinating)

Carolyn Z. is a board-certified behavior analyst who supports children through the behavior side of feeding. She helps reduce meal refusal, build tolerance for new textures, and shape routines that keep kids at the table longer. She partners with our feeding and occupational therapy teams to make sure mealtime progress lasts at home.

ABA Therapy

Mealtime Behavior

Parent Coaching

Your child gets the full focus of one feeding specialist and one plan built entirely around them. For families using our other services, our specialist also coordinates with the behavior and occupational therapy teams when needed.

Meet Your Child's Feeding Specialist. Schedule a Free Consultation.

One Form. One Call. A Plan for Your Child.

Tell us what mealtime looks like at your house, in whatever detail you have. A member of our Bucktown team calls within one business day with answers.

Feeding Therapy in Bucktown - Therapy Rooms at CST Academy

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Parent/Guardian Name*

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Child's Date of Birth*

Service(s) Interested In*

ABA Therapy

Autism Evaluation

Speech, Occupational, Physical, and/or Feeding Therapy

Therapeutic Preschool

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What Families Say About Our Feeding Therapy in Bucktown

She gave me so much useful advice on how to introduce new foods to my extremely picky eater, she made fun visual mealtime schedules for my son to physically use with velcro, and she used my sons interests (planets, animals, magna tiles) to get him to interact with his food in different ways. She taught me to be patient with this process and always encouraged us along the way.

Mia P.

Feeding Therapy

Feeding therapy can be very stressful and Amanda always made it calm, comfortable and smooth. She also always followed up with tons of great, developmentally appropriate resources. We feel so lucky.

Liz W.

Feeding Therapy

From the first moment we walked in their doors, they met every one of our daughters needs, while also training my husband and I on the ins and outs of autism. She received services ranging from OT, Speech, ABA, Feeding therapy , ALL OF THEM and each professional we dealt with was absolutely amazing. She loved them and they loved her.

Kristin K.

1000+

5-Star Google Reviews

Insurance and Enrollment

Insurance Accepted

In-Network

Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO

Coming Soon

Aetna

Important Note About Feeding Therapy Coverage:

Illinois law requires commercial health plans to cover medically necessary pediatric therapy services for children, including feeding therapy delivered by a speech-language pathologist or occupational therapist. Our billing team at CST Academy in Bucktown verifies your benefits, secures any pre-authorizations, and files all claims so that you never have to chase paperwork. We confirm your coverage before your child's first session.

A Feeding Evaluation Is the First Step:

One phone call books your child's feeding evaluation, no referral required. You leave the visit knowing where your child's skills stand for their age, what's on track, what's behind, and what therapy should target first. Sessions then continue at the same Bucktown clinic where you started.

Join the Bucktown Families Who Turned Mealtime Around

It started with one call to a feeding specialist, and it can start the same way for you.

Get Started Today

(773) 620-7800

Common Questions Parents Ask

Watch for a diet narrowed to a few foods, gagging on new textures, or meals that end in tears or refusal. Our feeding therapy team at our Bucktown clinic gives you a clear answer after a one-on-one evaluation. Most families wish they had called sooner.

Yes, feeding therapy can be an area where children with autism make meaningful progress, especially when it runs alongside behavioral support. At our Bucktown clinic, your child's feeding specialist and behavior analyst stay in close contact on the foods, textures, and mealtime behaviors in the therapy plan. Within the first few months, most families watch their child's diet widen and mealtimes grow easier.

Neighborhoods We Serve

Parents looking for a feeding specialist near Bucktown come from across the Near Northwest Side and the surrounding neighborhoods. Our clinic sits on Elston Avenue with quick access from the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/94), so most families in the area are 15 minutes away or less.

Bucktown
2-5 min

Logan Square
5-8 min

Wicker Park
5-7 min

Ukrainian Village
5-8 min

Humboldt Park
8-10 min

Noble Square
5-7 min

West Town
5-8 min

Avondale
8-12 min

By Car
From the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/94), take the North Avenue exit and head east. Turn north on Elston Avenue. CST Academy is on the east side of Elston, south of Wabansia Avenue.

Parking
Clearly labeled parking spots are located directly in front of the building.

By CTA
Blue Line to Division. Check the CTA trip planner for current bus connections to Elston Avenue.

Get Directions to Our Clinic

Feeding Therapy in Bucktown That Treats the Whole Child, Not Just the Plate

When your child needs feeding therapy, there is a good chance they also benefit from speech support, behavior strategies, or occupational therapy. At most clinics, that means separate locations, separate schedules, and specialists who never speak to each other. You end up coordinating the offices that should be coordinating with each other.

At CST Academy, your child's entire care team practices in the same Bucktown clinic. Their feeding specialist, behavior analyst, and occupational therapist see each other every day, share session notes, and adjust goals together. Updates travel between them directly.

Standalone feeding clinics cannot offer this kind of coordination because feeding is the only service they deliver. CST Academy built its model around the reality that most kids need more than one therapy. Progress moves fastest when the whole team works toward the same goal.

Every specialist your child needs, working together under the same Bucktown roof.

Your Child's Full Care Team in Bucktown: