About FirstRowe Therapy | Speech & Feeding Specialists
Our Mission & Our Approach
The FirstRowe Speech & Feeding Center provides comprehensive diagnostic evaluations and individualized therapy for infants and children with speech, language, feeding, and swallowing disorders. Our team of licensed speech-language pathologists and feeding specialists brings nearly 50 years of combined experience across the U.S. and internationally.
We are proud to be the only private practice in the community where all speech service providers are PROMPT-trained. To ensure the highest level of care, our therapists collaborate closely with medical professionals, neuropsychologists, lactation consultants, occupational and physical therapists, as well as teachers in schools and ABA programs. This team-based approach allows us to address each child’s needs in a holistic and effective way.
Families turn to us for our expertise in treating pediatric dysphagia and for helping nonverbal and minimally verbal children with dysarthria, selective mutism, language disorders, and developmental delays find their voice and feeding success.
Learn more about our Speech Therapy Services
Tailored Services for Every Child
At First Rowe, we welcome children with a wide range of needs — from those who simply need support with articulation, fluency, or language development, to children who require more specialized, intensive care. For families seeking support with “everyday” speech and language challenges, our therapists provide evidence-based, play-centered interventions that help children build confidence and communication skills in school, at home, and in social settings.
For children with more complex needs, including autism spectrum disorder, childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), cerebral palsy, and feeding or swallowing disorders, we offer highly specialized therapy that draws on advanced training, including PROMPT, DTTC, and SOS approaches. Our clinicians collaborate closely with medical and educational teams to ensure progress is meaningful and consistent across all areas of a child’s life.
No matter the level of support required, every child receives an individualized plan of care built on respect, compassion, and the belief that progress is possible at every stage.
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FirstRowe's Founder
A few years later, Natalia traveled to La Paz, Bolivia, where she volunteered at a local hospital with a team led by Dr. Catherine Crowley, contributing to the development of an aural habilitation program at Camino de Sordos, a school for the hard-of-hearing. In 2015, she returned to Columbia University as a faculty member, serving as a Bilingual Diagnostics Supervisor at the Edward D. Mysak Clinic for Communication Disorders.
Currently, Natalia provides in-service training for therapists and ABA teachers at Yeled V’Yalda Early Childhood Center and works privately with infants and young children with speech, language, feeding, and swallowing disorders. As Director of First Rowe, she hires and trains all therapists and strongly believes in the collective power of a team of dedicated professionals to achieve the best outcomes for children and families.
Natalia has a special interest in dysphagia and motor speech disorders. She is widely recognized among peers for her consistently high success rates with nonverbal and minimally verbal children with autism and childhood apraxia of speech, including those with a history of persistent lack of progress in their treatment. In feeding therapy, she addresses behavioral, motor, and sensory aspects by integrating behavior modification strategies, motor learning techniques, and the SOS Approach to Feeding.
Natalia is the Founder and Director of the First Rowe Child Speech & Feeding Therapy Center. She brings nearly 20 years of international expertise, beginning her career in Russia, where she earned a dual degree in speech pathology and special education, along with extensive training in child psychology and brain anatomy/physiology.
She advanced her education in the United States, completing a Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology at Columbia University. Her clinical experience includes serving in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at SUNY Downstate Hospital in Brooklyn, NY, as well as working in New York State Early Intervention since 2008.
Natalia Rowe
