About Us:

Hi, I'm Lea Keating, founder of Sensory Street Kids. When my first son, Cole, was diagnosed with speech and cognitive delays at 16 months old, I set out to learn all I could about Early Intervention and how best to help Cole learn and thrive. We were blessed to be working with wonderful teachers and therapists, but Cole's frustration was growing and progress was slow. As a parent I needed to know that I was doing everything I could to help him succeed.

Another parent recognized characteristics in Cole that were similar to her son and told me about Sensory Processing Disorder and its effect on inhibiting learning. I first read The Out-Of-Sync Child by Carol Stock Kranowitz. Her explanation of the disorder made so much sense. Throwing myself into research was therapy for me, and I went on to devour Building Bridges Through Sensory Integration, Raising a Sensory Smart Child, and Engaging Autism: Using the Floortime Approach to Help Children Relate, Communicate, and Think by Dr. Stanley Greenspan.

We began incorporating sensory integration activities into Cole's daily routine and were thrilled to see dramatic results in the way he learned. Finally some Hope. It was as if a lightbulb had turned on. My little boy was talking! I realized that combining these sensory activities with a developmental approach to learning was not only successful, but really fun too. We were finally ready to join into social situations and start having some playdates.

I searched and searched for a play group that was both fun AND addressed Cole's social and educational goals. I was so disappointed when I couldn't find anything appropriate for my child. Time after time we walked out of gym or music classes with both of us in tears. Thats when I started a new approach. I decided to put together a team of professionals who could collaborate to develop a curriculum that would create a really fun music and movement class designed specifically for little ones with developmental delays. We began to invite friends' children (both special needs and typically developing) to join our classes and the support was overwhelming. We were addressing specific therapeutic goals while playing and laughing. The parents felt supported and the kids were having a grand old time. I learned a lot in those first few months, but mostly that I was not alone in this journey. It is my sincere hope and dream that parents and kids everywhere feel like they have a place where they belong.

The Sensory Street Kids advisory board now consists of a Speech Language Pathologist, an Occupational Therapist, a Special Educator, a children's Librarian, an Adaptive Physical Education Teacher, a Movement Therapist and a Music Therapist. Together we collaborate to build a well rounded, multi-disciplinary (and super fun!) curriculum. We always welcome parents' and kids' input, and many of our current songs and activities are inspired by SSK families.

We have worked on Sensory Street Kids for the past 3 years in order to bring you what I consider to be the best (and possibly only) sensory based language/music classes available. I welcome you to join us and see for yourself ... Sing and Play the Sensory Way!