Feeding Therapy in Wilmette, Illinois

A pediatric feeding therapy clinic in Wilmette that replaces the weekly drive between separate specialty clinics across town. Pediatric feeding therapy for ages 18 months to 18 years.

At CST Academy, your child sees one feeding specialist who leads their care. Behavior and occupational support are in the same building. Because it is all one clinic, your child's care stays connected instead of scattered across the North Shore.

Pediatric Feeding Therapists

BCBS PPO In-Network

No Referral Needed

Feeding Therapy in Wilmette - front of CST Academy at 3201 Old Glenview Rd

Get a call back in 24 hours

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Not sure where to start? A play-based feeding evaluation at our Wilmette clinic shows you what is going on and what to do first. No referral. Book directly.

What Feeding Therapy in Wilmette Looks Like at CST Academy

You have likely compared every feeding clinic on the North Shore by now. The difference at our Wilmette clinic is integration. Here is what that looks like.

How We Approach Feeding Therapy:

Every 45- to 60-minute session moves your child toward eating more, more comfortably. To them it is play: exploring food, getting used to textures, trying a bite. Meanwhile the specialist steers each step toward calmer, fuller meals.

What Makes Our Program Different:

Every plan is designed around your child, but four things set our Wilmette clinic apart from standalone feeding providers on the North Shore.

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

Integrated Care Model.

When feeding overlaps with speech, one clinician covers both, and the behavior and occupational therapy teams are down the hall, not across town.

Play-Based Mealtimes.

Sessions play out like a meal: food to explore, a snack to sit through, a bite to ease into, all without pressure.

Weekly Adjustments.

Before every session, your feeding specialist adjusts the plan around the food your child accepted and what you saw at home.

Parent Coaching at Every Visit.

Every session closes with one or two things to try at your next meal, so progress shows up at home, not just in the clinic.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Address

3201 Old Glenview Rd, Wilmette, IL 60091

Phone

(773) 620-7800

Hours

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

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Get Directions

Getting Started with Feeding Therapy in Wilmette: Five Steps

You have already spent time looking up feeding therapy. Five steps take you from your first call to your child's first session, and you set the pace through all of them.

YOUR CHILD'S PROGRAM

You Know the Plan Before Day One

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

The evaluation report comes before your child's first session, so you start with the plan in hand. At every pickup, your specialist tells you how the session went. Every six months, you get a full progress report.

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

Steps

1

Consultation.

Fill out our form or call (773) 620-7800. Walk us through what mealtimes look like at home.

2

Insurance Check and Therapist Match.

Our team verifies benefits, goes over every coverage detail with you, and pairs your child with a feeding specialist.

3

Feeding Evaluation.

Come to our clinic for a play-based feeding evaluation. You see the full plan before you commit to ongoing sessions.

4

Start of Therapy.

Your child begins one-on-one feeding sessions that focus on the change most likely to help at your table.

5

Progress Tracking and Home Practice.

After each visit, you leave knowing what your child practiced, what worked, and one strategy to try this week.

A Feeding Specialist, Backed by a Full Pediatric Team

Start with one call. No referral, and no starting over somewhere new.

Get Started Today

(773) 620-7800

Signs Your Child May Benefit from Feeding Therapy in Wilmette

By now it has crossed your mind more than once, and maybe your pediatrician has said it, too. If two or more of the signs below sound like your child, feeding therapy is worth a conversation.

child eats a very small variety of foods

Your child eats only a small handful of food and refuses whole groups.

Your child melts down over the smell, texture, or look of unfamiliar food.

child reacts strongly to food textures and smells

Your child's breakfast, dinner, or bedtime snack has become a daily struggle, whether the issue is sitting down or the food itself.

child refuses meals or melts down at the table

Your child gags, coughs, or chokes at meals, or clearly struggles to chew.

child pockets food or overfills their mouth

Your child holds food in their cheeks or puts too much in their mouth.

child struggles with cups, straws, or utensils

Your child cannot yet manage a cup, straw, or utensils the way other children their age can.

child not gaining weight or eating too little

Your child leaves the table or refuses to come to meals at all.

daycare or pediatrician raised concerns about eating

Your child's eating has been flagged by your pediatrician or a family member.

Recognizing the pattern is the hard part. The evaluation handles the rest, telling you what is going on and what to do about it.

Talk to a Feeding Therapist

We have feeding goals at school already. Do we need private feeding therapy, too?

One does not replace the other. School feeding support through an IEP is short and focused on eating safely during the school day. Our clinic sessions run 45 to 60 minutes and target the broader picture: a narrow diet, gagging, and stressful family meals. Many families do both and coordinate the goals.

What if my child has already been in therapy with a different feeding specialist?

We pick up where the prior clinician left off. Your child's previous evaluation and goals inform our first session. We tell you honestly if the previous plan was on track or if a different angle would help. Continuity matters more than starting from scratch.

How transparent will you be about progress and methodology?

After every session, your feeding specialist tells you what your child practiced and how it went. Every six months, you get a full progress report showing how far your child has come and what comes next. Parent coaching is part of every visit, so you are never left guessing.

Meet Your Feeding Therapy Team

A team of pediatric specialists who make hard meals easier and keep your child's care connected

Courtney G., M.S., CCC-SLP

Feeding Therapist & Speech-Language Pathologist

Courtney guides the feeding program at our Wilmette clinic, with experience in oral motor skills, sensory food tolerance, and picky eating. Every session starts with food your child feels safe with, then adds the clinical goals. She coordinates with the speech and behavior teams so wins carry across sessions.

Feeding Therapy

Veronica M., MS, OTR/L

Occupational Therapist

Veronica is an occupational therapist who supports the sensory and postural side of feeding at our Wilmette clinic. She helps children tolerate new textures and sit upright through a meal. She also helps them handle cups and utensils with more control.

Occupational Therapy

Self-Care Skills

Sensory Integration

Kira L., M.S., BCBA, LBA

Board Certified Behavior Analyst

Kira is a board-certified behavior analyst at our Wilmette clinic who partners with the feeding team on the behaviors that shape a meal. She helps children reduce refusal, build tolerance for new food, and stay engaged from the first bite to the last. She coordinates with our feeding and speech teams so that the routines that help at mealtime carry into your child's other sessions.

ABA Therapy

Mealtime Behavior

Parent Coaching

Many Wilmette families start with feeding therapy. Your child may later need speech, occupational, behavior, or physical therapy. If so, those services are available at the same Wilmette clinic, and we already have your child's history and your family's preferences on file.

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

Talk to Our Feeding Therapy Team

No referral or diagnosis needed. Tell us what mealtimes look like, and a team member calls you back within one business day.

Feeding Therapy in Wilmette - Therapy Rooms at CST Academy

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Parent/Guardian Name*

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Service(s) Interested In*

ABA Therapy

Autism Evaluation

Speech, Occupational, Physical, and/or Feeding Therapy

Therapeutic Preschool

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What Wilmette Families Say About Feeding Therapy at CST Academy

Our son had extreme sensory issues with food and would cry at the sight of anything new on his plate. CST Academy's feeding therapists were so gentle, patient, and creative. Now he tries new foods regularly, and mealtimes have become something we actually enjoy together.

Amanda F.

Feeding Therapy

Our daughter struggled with chewing and swallowing, and we were so worried about her nutrition. The CST Academy team helped us understand what was going on and gave us a clear plan. Their support changed everything; she is now eating more confidently and gaining weight at a healthy pace.

Jason K.

Feeding Therapy

Mealtimes used to be filled with stress and battles. CST Academy did not just help our child, they helped our whole family. The feeding therapy team taught us how to support our son at home and made huge progress feel possible.

Danielle S.

Feeding Therapy

1000+

5-Star Google Reviews

Wilmette Insurance, Enrollment, and What to Expect Before the First Session

Insurance Accepted

In-Network

Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO

Coming Soon

Aetna

Important Note About Feeding Therapy Coverage:

Many Illinois health plans cover medically necessary feeding therapy for children. Families with a BCBS PPO plan often have low or no out-of-pocket costs depending on their plan. Our billing team verifies your exact coverage before your first appointment and explains what you can expect to pay.

A Feeding Evaluation Is the First Step:

It starts with a play-based feeding evaluation at our Wilmette clinic. You leave knowing what to focus on first and how often to come in. If your child had a prior evaluation, your specialist reviews that report first and will tell you if a new evaluation is needed.

You've Watched Enough Hard Meals to Trust Your Gut

One call turns that instinct into a clear picture of what is going on.

Get Started Today

(773) 620-7800

Feeding Therapy FAQs for CST Academy in Wilmette

Most parents who call us have something concrete: a pediatrician's flag or a diet that keeps shrinking. We listen and tell you whether feeding therapy can help. If it can, we book the evaluation.

We are at 3201 Old Glenview Rd, Wilmette, IL 60091, just off the Edens Expressway at Old Orchard Road. The clinic has a dedicated on-site parking lot in front of the building. Kenilworth Station on the Union Pacific North Line is the closest Metra stop, roughly one mile east of the clinic. We see families from Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glenview, Skokie, Evanston, Winnetka, Northfield, and Morton Grove.

For North Shore Families Near Wilmette

Our Old Glenview Road clinic sits just off the Edens Expressway (I-94) at Old Orchard Road. That puts us within a short drive of nearly every North Shore community. Every pediatric therapy service your child might need is here. The hour you used to spend driving between providers goes back to your family.

Kenilworth
3-5 min

Glenview
5-8 min

Skokie
5-10 min

Evanston
8-12 min

Winnetka
5-8 min

Northfield
5-8 min

Morton Grove
8-12 min

By Car
From the Edens Expressway (I-94), take the Old Orchard Road exit and head west. Turn south on Old Glenview Road. CST Academy is on the west side of the road in the office building at 3201.

Parking
Dedicated on-site parking lot right in front of the building. No meters, no street parking required.

By Metra
Kenilworth Station on the Union Pacific North Line is the closest Metra stop, roughly one mile east of the clinic.

Get Directions to Our Clinic

Why Wilmette Families Choose Our Integrated Care Model

Feeding progress runs on trust. An anxious eater will not try new things for a stranger, so starting over with a new provider at each clinic resets that trust every time.

At our Wilmette clinic, your child builds that trust once. The feeding specialist they know also covers speech when it overlaps. The behavior and occupational teams are familiar faces down the hall, not new introductions across town.

Most North Shore feeding clinics can offer skill and a schedule. What they cannot offer is one consistent team your child learns to trust, and with feeding, trust is usually what progress depends on.

Faster progress because all clinicians on your child's team coordinate regularly

Your Child's Full Care Team in Wilmette: