Heather Theriault, MS, CCC-SLP/L, is a licensed speech-language pathologist in the state of New Jersey and holds her Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Heather is the founder and owner of Wave Makers Pediatric Therapy and created Wave Makers with the vision of providing truly individualized, relationship-centered care while fostering a strong sense of community and inclusion for children and families. Heather has over 15 years of experience working as a pediatric speech-language pathologist across a variety of settings and has extensive experience supporting children with diverse communication, sensory, social, and developmental needs. She is passionate about building connections with children and believes that authentic rapport, trust, and engagement create the foundation for progress. Her therapeutic approach prioritizes connection over compliance while honoring each child’s strengths, interests, and communication style. Heather is a practicing PROMPT-trained therapist with advanced knowledge in speech intelligibility, speech sound disorders, motor speech disorders, and childhood apraxia of speech. She has a strong passion for understanding how the motor system influences speech production and enjoys helping children develop confidence and success in their communication abilities through individualized and evidence-based intervention. Heather has also spent the past 15 years working alongside autistic children and their families utilizing neurodiversity-affirming and child-centered practices. She has training in the VB-MAPP framework through a compassionate and strengths-based lens and is currently pursuing her DIRFloortime certification to further support relationship-based, developmental, and sensory-informed intervention approaches. Her clinical philosophy is heavily influenced by the language development frameworks of Bloom & Lahey as well as the teachings of Marge Blanc and Natural Language Acquisition (NLA), particularly in supporting gestalt language processors and authentic communication development. When Heather is not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband, two daughters, and their dog, Kira. As a family, they love beach days, movie nights, and creating core memories together. Heather also enjoys cooking, a good barre class, and embracing the calm and connection that inspired the coastal feel behind WaveMakers Pediatric Therapy.