Welcome
Our practice provides comprehensive therapeutic services that integrate the most effective and current evidence-based tools and programs to best meet your child’s individual needs. We strive to create a fun, comfortable, and safe environment that encourages your child to explore, learn, and grow. Through ongoing collaboration with families, schools, and the community, we are also committed to ensuring the successful transfer of targeted skills to your child’s daily life.
- Kimberly and Jamie
Our Services
Speech-Language Services
Articulation
Receptive and Expressive Language
Pragmatic Language Skills
Executive Function
Fluency
Feeding Therapy
Pre-Reading Skills
Voice Therapy
Occupational Therapy Services
Gross Motor Skill Development
Fine Motor Skill Development
Sensory Processing
Interactive Metronome
The Listening Program
Handwriting
Executive Function
Interoception
Our practice offers a full sensory gym and dedicated fine motor and speech-language therapy rooms. We also provide formal and comprehensive occupational and speech-language evaluations, classroom consultations, faculty development workshops, parent workshops, and social skills groups.
We are trained to utilize a number of specialized methods including: PROMPT, Kaufman Method, The Listening Program, Social Thinking, Zones of Regulation, Handwriting Without Tears, Sounds in Motion, and more.
We work with a team of consultants including a reading specialist, physical therapist, and psychologist.
Please contact us for more information.
Meet Our Team
Kimberly Gilsenan
Kimberly Gilsenan is a licensed speech-language pathologist and co-founder of Gilsenan and Costa Center for Occupational and Speech-Language Therapy in Greenwich, CT. She received her Master’s degree in Communication Disorders from Northwestern University. She has since been providing comprehensive speech-language evaluations, screenings, and therapy for more than 20 years. During this time, she has treated children, some of whom diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder, Apraxia, Cerebral Palsy, mixed receptive-expressive language disorders, stuttering disorders, articulation disorders, and weaknesses in the social pragmatics and executive functioning. She specializes with children ranging from toddler to school aged and has had the opportunity to work in a variety of settings, including outpatient hospital and clinical settings, private schools, Early Intervention, and private practice.
Presently, Kimberly devotes her time to her private practice and regular consultations with many professionals and schools in her area. In the center, she provides individual therapy, small group therapy and runs larger groups in collaboration with an occupational therapist. She has extensive experience building social skills, executive functioning skills, language processing/comprehension, word retrieval abilities, written/oral expression, fluency, articulation, and pre and early reading skills. She also works closely with children experiencing oral-motor weakness and/or feeding concerns. Kimberly prioritizes the advancement of her skills by pursuing continuing education in her specialty areas. She has been fortunate to participate in a number of conferences and courses with the leading experts in her field. She is currently trained in many evidence-based programs including PROMPT, Kaufman Method, Social Thinking, Zones of Regulation, and Linda Mood-Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing. She has also attended courses at Windward School to develop skills in teaching expository writing and multisensory reading and has participated in conferences run by the Stuttering Foundation of America.
Jamie Costa
Jamie Costa is a licensed occupational therapist and co-founder of Gilsenan and Costa Center for Occupational and Speech-Language Therapy in Greenwich, CT. She received her Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Mercy College. Jamie also has a Master’s degree in Early Education from Fordham University. Jamie has been providing comprehensive pediatric occupational therapy services for more than 10 years. She has experience treating common pediatric and adolescent conditions including: Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder (ADD/ADHD), Cerebral Palsy (CP), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). She has worked in a variety of settings including schools, private practice, and home care. Prior to entering the field of occupational therapy, Jamie was an early childhood teacher in both the public and private school setting. Jamie has also served as an adjunct professor for the Mercy College Graduate Occupational Therapy Program, specifically teaching assessment and treatment of the pediatric population.
Jamie currently dedicates her time to private practice both at her clinic and at several private schools. In the clinic, Jamie provides individual therapy, small group therapy, and also leads social skills groups in collaboration with a speech language pathologist. In the school setting, Jamie provides individual therapy, small group training for motor skills and executive function, and teacher development programs. She specializes in sensory processing skills, gross and fine motor skill development, handwriting, and executive function. Jamie is dedicated to providing evidence-based treatment and is committed to continued education. She has received extensive training in sensory processing, including a mentorship at the Star Foundation in Colorado. Jamie is also trained in the Zones of Regulation, Handwriting Without Tears, Size Matters Handwriting Program, Interactive Metronome, The Listening Program, and Social Thinking.
Emilie Westhoff
Emilie joined the Gilsenan and Costa team in 2019. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Policy with a concentration in children and families from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Emilie earned her Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Sacred Heart University. She dedicates her time to private practice both at the clinic and in a private school setting. Emilie provides small group therapy, individual therapy, and has led social skills groups in collaboration with a speech therapist. Emilie has received training in the Size Matters Handwriting Program, Interoception Curriculum, Sarah Ward's Executive Function Skills Program, and the Integrated Listening Systems, specifically the Safe and Sound Protocol.
Courtney Powers
Courtney joined the Gilsenan and Costa team in January of 2016. She has worked in special education since 2009. Courtney earned her Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Sacred Heart University in 2015. She has worked in both public and private school settings, treating children with a variety of developmental and physical challenges including Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury, Sensory Processing difficulties, Executive Function disorder, and visual processing difficulties. Courtney has received training in Handwriting Without Tears®, Size Matters Handwriting Program, Interoception Curriculum, Sarah Ward's Executive Function Skills Program, the Zones of Regulation, Brain Gym®, and sensory integration strategies. She has extensive experience with Individualized Education Programs (IEP).
Gina DeMasi
Gina joined our team in 2020. She is a Connecticut and New York State licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and certified Teacher of Students with Speech and Language Disabilities (TSSLD), who holds her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Gina received her undergraduate degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the Pennsylvania State University - University Park Campus and she received her Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology at CUNY Brooklyn College. Gina has extensive experience in working with early intervention, preschool and school age children in both a private practice and school setting, with additional experience in working with school-age students and adolescents with language and learning disabilities. She is skilled in providing individual and group therapy for children with expressive and receptive language delays and disorders, learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, auditory processing disorders, Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder, literacy development, voice disorders, articulation and phonological disorders, and pragmatic language disorders. Gina has been trained in PROMPT therapy, and she has worked with a wide population of articulation disorders and delays, including children who are nonverbal. She has been certified in PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) - Level 1, and is experienced in using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices. Gina has also received training in Sarah Ward's Executive Function Skills Program as well as Linda Mood-Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing program.
Christine Petriello
Christine joined the Gilsenan and Costa team in October of 2021. She is a Connecticut State licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and has worked in special education since 2012. Christine received her undergraduate degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences at Arizona State University and received her Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology at New York Medical College. Christine has extensive experience working with preschool and school-aged children with speech, language, and learning disabilities in both the private practice and school setting. Christine is skilled in conducting comprehensive speech-language evaluations, with extensive experience administering a wide range of evaluation instruments. She provides individual therapy, small group therapy and larger social skills groups in collaboration with speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists. Christine has had the opportunity to work with children with expressive and receptive language disorders, articulation/phonological disorders, learning disabilities, language-based literacy disorders, intellectual disabilities, auditory processing disorders, stuttering disorders, pragmatic language deficits (social skills), Apraxia, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder. Christine has received training in PROMPT therapy, the use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, Wilson Reading System, LindaMood-Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing program, and Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking methodology.
Lindsay Darrell
Lindsay joined our team in 2022. She is a Connecticut licensed Speech-Language Pathologist, who holds her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Lindsay received her undergraduate degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northwestern University and received her Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology at Southern Connecticut State University. Lindsay has broad experience working with a variety of populations and disorders ranging from 12 months to 23 years old within medical, clinical and education settings. Lindsay provides both individual therapy and small group therapy, and is experienced in collaborating with a variety of medical professionals including occupational therapists, physical therapists, audiologists etc. She has professionally worked with children with a variety of disorders including Autism, Down Syndrome, Developmental Delays, Fluency Disorders, Central Auditory Processing Disorder, Dyslexia/Specific Reading Disability, Articulation/Phonological Disorders, Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder, Cleft Lip/Palate, Vocal Cord Dysfunction, and Cochlear Implants. Lindsay is skilled in administering a variety of comprehensive speech-language evaluations and has received specialized training in basic sign language, the Picture Exchange Communication system, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices and LindaMood-Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing program.
Enas Galal
Enas joined the Gilsenan and Costa team in 2022. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Long Island University and her Master of Science Degree in Occupational Therapy from Utica University. In December 2022, she completed an Evidence Base Occupational Therapy (EBOT) project and received her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Utica University. Her Capstone project for this program was on a Universal School-Based Program For School Staff’s Self-reflection and Self-regulation Interventions, which was published in January 2023. She has worked as a pediatric occupational therapist since 2016 in California and now in Connecticut since 2017. Enas has extensive training in pediatrics including Handwriting Without Tears® program, FUNdations program, Interoception Curriculum, the Zones of Regulation, Brain Gym®, and the RULER program.
Brianne Schneider
Brianne joined the Gilsenan and Costa team in 2023. She is a Connecticut and New York State licensed Occupational Therapist. Brianne earned her Bachelor's degree in Health Science and Master's degree in Occupational Therapy from Quinnipiac University. Brianne has been working in special education within Darien Public Schools since 2018 and has extensive experience with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). She has also worked in private practice settings with pre-school and school-aged children. Brianne has had the opportunity to provide individual and group therapy to children with a wide variety of diagnoses including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder and Dyslexia. Brianne has received training in Handwriting Without Tears, FUNdations Program, the RULER program and the Zones of Regulation.
Testimonials
To find speech and occupational therapists who are amazing at what they do, are kind, energetic and genuinely care for your child's entire well-being is not an easy thing. Luckily for our family, we have found such speech and occupational therapists in Kim Gilsenan and Jamie Costa, respectively. We began with them when our son was 22 months and we are so blessed to have had their support on our journey. They have worked tirelessly with our son, helped to reveal his strengths and worked through challenges on all levels -- speech, fine/gross motor skills, play and social skills. They have been, and are his greatest advocates and we recommend them wholeheartedly without reservation."
I refer to Gilsenan and Costa as my dream team! They have been there for all three of my children. From handwriting, to speech and to feeding issues, they have the knowledge and compassion to help. They truly get my kids and their needs. I know because I have seen positive changes in their development. Gilsenan and Costa are not only therapists. They are true friends to my family."
Today, my daughter completed a tree top high-ropes course 60 feet off the ground all while chatting up the adults around her giving them instructions on how to complete the challenges. This is the same girl who three years ago was afraid of ceiling fans, slouched and refused to speak. Thanks, Kim and Jamie for everything you’ve done for her!"
Contact Information
For more information about the services offered at Gilsenan and Costa, please contact: