How to Use Step Up For Students for Speech/Language Therapy in Palm Beach and Martin Counties
Can you use Step Up For Students for speech-language therapy? Learn how the Unique Abilities Scholarship works, what an SLP can address for children with dyslexia, dysgraphia, or ADHD, and how to find Coastal Orofacial Wellness in EMA. The guide also explains how full-time public school enrollment affects funding.
How to Use Step Up For Students for Speech Therapy in Palm Beach and Martin Counties
Your child has a Step Up For Students scholarship, and you’re looking for speech therapy. But where do you find a provider? And what do you click in EMA once you find one?
If your child has funding through the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA), you may be able to use available scholarship funds for eligible speech-language services. I’m Marianne Salem, a speech-language pathologist and the owner of Coastal Orofacial Wellness. I offer in-home visits in Palm Beach and Martin counties, including Jupiter, Tequesta, Hobe Sound, Stuart, and Palm Beach Gardens. Virtual visits are also available when they’re a good fit for your child.
What would you like to get easier for your child?
Maybe your child has a lot to say, but people outside your family have trouble understanding them. Maybe they get frustrated when they have to repeat themselves. Or maybe you’re wondering whether it’s time for a speech-language evaluation. An everyday example like one of these is enough to start the conversation.
I also work with families who have questions about tongue resting posture or swallowing patterns. If you’re looking specifically for orofacial myofunctional therapy, ask me about the service you’re considering so we can check whether it’s available through EMA before you reserve funds.
Can speech-language therapy help with dyslexia, dysgraphia, or ADHD?
An SLP can help with spoken and written language. What we work on depends on the skills your child is having trouble with.
Dyslexia. Your child may know the sounds for individual letters but have trouble blending them to read a word. Therapy can target skills such as hearing and manipulating sounds in words, decoding, and spelling.
Dysgraphia. Your child may be able to tell you an idea out loud but struggle to get it onto the page. An SLP can address the language involved in writing, including spelling, building sentences, and organizing ideas. If letter formation or other handwriting mechanics are the main concern, an occupational therapy evaluation may be a better fit.
ADHD. If an evaluation identifies a co-occurring language difficulty, an SLP can work on that skill. For example, a child might need help understanding spoken information or retelling a story in order.
ASHA’s guide to written language disorders explains the connection between spoken language, reading, and writing.
What Step Up can pay for
Step Up lists services from approved speech-language pathologists as an eligible specialized expense under FES-UA. The family handbook lists dyslexia and dysgraphia under Specific Learning Disability and ADHD under Other Health Impairment. These diagnoses may support scholarship eligibility when the application and documentation requirements are met. If your child already has funding, confirm that the specific service is eligible before reserving funds. FES-UA Family Handbook
If your child attends public school full-time, Step Up cannot fund their FES-UA account while they remain enrolled full-time, even if EMA shows them as eligible. That means there are no FES-UA funds to use for private speech-language therapy during that enrollment. Step Up’s public school enrollment guidance
How to find Coastal Orofacial Wellness in EMA
Sign in to your Education Market Assistant (EMA) account.
Select Marketplace, then Find Providers.
Choose the child who will receive services.
Search for Coastal Orofacial Wellness. Click the practice name to see the available offerings.
Once we’ve confirmed which offering fits your child’s needs, choose that service and the quantity we discussed. Add it to your cart and select Reserve Funds.
For eligible services with enough available scholarship funds, EMA direct billing lets the practice bill the scholarship account for the reserved service. Step Up walks through each screen in its guide to finding a provider in EMA. You can also review the Unique Abilities scholarship spending guide.
Let’s start with a short phone call
Tell me what you’re noticing and what you’d like to get easier for your child. In a complimentary 15-minute phone conversation, we can talk about whether an evaluation or therapy makes sense, whether home or virtual visits would work for your family, and which service to look for in EMA. New to the scholarship? Read my overview of how Step Up For Students works and how I can help.
Schedule a complimentary 15-minute phone conversation by emailing marianne@coastalorofacialwellness.com.
Marianne Salem, CCC-SLP
Coastal Orofacial Wellness
The Sandwich Generation: When Everyone Needs You, and You Just Need a Nap!
Kids need therapy. Aging parents need appointments. Your calendar needs a therapist of its own, and your coffee has been reheated four times! Welcome to the Sandwich Generation! 🥪 Discover how Coastal Orofacial Wellness makes life a little easier with convenient in-home speech and orofacial myofunctional therapy for families using eligible Step Up For Students scholarships. Less driving, less stress, and maybe even time for a hot cup of coffee!
The Sandwich Generation: When everyone needs you, your calendar needs therapy, and your coffee needs reheating…again!
Raising children, caring for aging parents, managing therapy appointments, and trying to remember why you walked into the kitchen.
There was a time when being "sandwiched" sounded delightful. Turkey, Swiss, a little avocado, maybe some spicy mustard.
Then you entered the Sandwich Generation, and suddenly you're the turkey.
On one side, you have your children, who need rides, homework help, emotional support, snacks, and approximately 47 different passwords for their school accounts.
On the other side, you have aging parents who need help with appointments, prescriptions, technology, and occasionally locating the television remote that's been sitting in their lap for 20 minutes.
And somewhere in the middle?
You.
Holding a lukewarm cup of coffee, wearing yesterday's yoga pants, and wondering whether you've brushed your teeth.
Welcome to the club. We don't have jackets. Nobody has time to order them.
When Your Family Calendar Needs Its Own Therapist
For parents raising children with unique abilities, everyday life often includes an entirely different level of scheduling gymnastics.
There's speech therapy on Tuesday, occupational therapy on Wednesday, a school meeting on Thursday, and an evaluation scheduled six months from now with a specialist whose office is apparently located on another planet.
Meanwhile, Grandma has a cardiology appointment, Grandpa needs help with his phone, the dog is overdue for grooming, and someone just informed you that tomorrow is "Dress Like Your Favorite Historical Figure Day" at school.
Wonderful.
Does Amazon Prime deliver Abraham Lincoln costumes overnight?
And let's not forget the paperwork!
IEPs, evaluations, progress reports, insurance forms, scholarship applications, and permission slips.
At this point, you could probably qualify for an honorary degree in administrative management.
Your Child Is More Than Another Appointment
Here's something important beneath all the chaos.
Your child isn't a collection of diagnoses, appointments, or developmental milestones.
Your child is a wonderfully unique individual with strengths, interests, personality, and incredible potential.
Maybe your child communicates differently, struggles with certain speech sounds, finds reading frustrating, has difficulty with oral-motor coordination, or needs extra support with feeding and swallowing.
Whatever the challenge, therapy should fit into your family's life—not require your entire family to revolve around therapy.
Because sometimes the greatest gift a parent can receive isn't another appointment.
It's one less place they have to drive.
Plot Twist: What If the Therapist Came to YOU?
Imagine this.
No rushing through traffic.
No packing three different snacks for a 30-minute appointment.
No sitting in a waiting room wondering whether you remembered to move the laundry into the dryer.
And no dragging an exhausted child across town after an already exhausting school day.
Instead, your child's therapist comes to your home.
Yes, your actual home.
With the toys on the floor, the dog barking, and the laundry pile you've been meaning to fold since approximately two months ago.
Good news: I'm coming to provide therapy, not judge your housekeeping!
At Coastal Orofacial Wellness, I offer individualized, in-home speech-language and orofacial myofunctional therapy services for children and families.
Depending on your child's needs, services may address:
Speech sound production and articulation
Language development and communication
Reading fluency and comprehension
Oral function and orofacial myofunctional concerns
Feeding and swallowing difficulties
Oral habits and tongue function
Therapy in a familiar environment can also create opportunities to practice meaningful skills during everyday activities.
And parents can learn strategies that fit naturally into family routines—without adding another complicated assignment to the refrigerator door.
Wait! There's a Scholarship for That?
Looking for a Step Up For Students therapy provider?
Coastal Orofacial Wellness offers individualized in-home speech-language and orofacial myofunctional therapy throughout Jupiter, Hobe Sound, Stuart, Tequesta, Palm Beach Gardens, and surrounding communities. Eligible Step Up For Students scholarship families may be able to use approved scholarship funds for qualifying services. https://www.stepupforstudents.org/
Now for some news that might make your coffee taste a little better.
Coastal Orofacial Wellness is a Step Up For Students EMA Marketplace provider!
For families participating in eligible Step Up For Students scholarship programs, qualifying therapy services may be available through scholarship funds, subject to program requirements and approval.
That means eligible families may be able to use their scholarship funds toward services designed to support their child's communication, learning, and oral function.
And because I offer in-home therapy, you may be able to eliminate another trip across town.
More convenience.
More individualized attention.
Fewer opportunities to discover that your gas tank is on empty.
That's what I call progress!
You Don't Have to Be a Superhero
Parents are often told, "You're amazing! I don't know how you do it!"
And while that's lovely, sometimes you'd rather someone say:
"I’d love a spa day but, here's dinner. I'll handle the laundry. Go sit down."
The truth is, you shouldn't have to do everything.
Supporting your child's development is important, but so is protecting your family's time, energy, and sanity.
Therapy should be collaborative, practical, encouraging, and occasionally even fun.
Because childhood should include more than appointments.
It should include laughter, exploration, play, and opportunities to grow.
And parenting should occasionally include sitting down long enough to drink a cup of coffee while it's still hot.
Revolutionary concept, I know.
Let's Take One Thing Off Your Plate
I'm the founder of Coastal Orofacial Wellness, a Florida-licensed, ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist with 26 years of experience.
I work with children and families throughout Martin and Palm Beach Counties, including Jupiter, Hobe Sound, Tequesta, Stuart, Palm Beach Gardens, and surrounding communities.
My goal is simple: provide thoughtful, individualized therapy that supports your child's development while respecting the demands of your family's everyday life.
If you're a Step Up For Students family wondering whether in-home speech-language or orofacial myofunctional therapy might benefit your child, I'd love to talk with you.
Schedule a complimentary 15-minute phone consultation.
Let's discuss your concerns, your child's strengths, and how we might make life a little easier.
Because you've already got enough on your plate.
And frankly, that sandwich is getting pretty tall.
Coastal Orofacial Wellness
Breathe better, speak clearly, read confidently, and thrive.
🌐 www.coastalorofacialwellness.com
✉️ info@coastalorofacialwellness.com
Services and scholarship eligibility are subject to individual needs, applicable provider qualifications, scholarship rules, and funding availability.