Meredith Bazaar, CCC-SLP, has worked with our apraxic son Connor for the past 1½ years. In addition to dealing with apraxic issues, Meredith has successfully managed our child’s heavy sensory integration, anxiety and behavioral issues. Our son is motivated to work hard to improve his speech and language skills primarily due to Meredith’s positive outlook and her innovative and creative approaches, which make therapy sessions productive and enjoyable.

We are pleased with the progress Connor has made with Meredith and feel very fortunate to have her as a vital member of our son’s therapy team.

— Kimberly Frick,
Boonton Township, NJ

When I first heard of hippotherapy, I was skeptical of the benefits, but I decided to enroll my three-year-old son, Austin, and check it out.  I figured he would at the very least gain self-confidence by learning the skills involved in riding a horse.  I quickly saw that there were many benefits.  Austin was able to modulate his arousal level better on the days he rode (he was less hyper and fell apart less). Over time, he has learned to integrate speech and movement.

None of Austin’s accomplishments could have been achieved without Meredith’s expertise and patience.  She guided Austin supportively and patiently through his fears of getting on the horse.  She is always challenging him to learn more in a way that enables him to be successful as well as progress forward.

Hippotherapy has enabled Austin to do work on speech skills which were much more difficult without the input from the movement of the horse.  With Dude’s (Starlight Farm’s horse) help Austin has made many therapeutic gains.  In addition, he has learned that if he works hard he can achieve anything.

Prior to working with Dude, Austin was terrified of horses.  Now, he loves horses and describes Dude as “nice and bumpy.” Austin looks forward to his weekly session with Meredith and Dude, and that means a lot!

— Kimberly Marsden,
Kinnelon, NJ