About us
About TIKES
TIKES is run by sole speech therapist, Barbara Goldfarb Portnoff. Based in Livingston, NJ, TIKES provides pediatric speech-language pathology services for toddlers to young adults, across Essex County and the NY Metropolitan area.
About Barbara
Speech and language therapy brings together so many things I love. It’s an incredibly creative field, with so many opportunities for learning. My first introduction to the idea of speech therapy was from my cousin, who has a profound hearing loss. As a young girl, I loved finding ways to communicate with him. The joy he expressed was magical. As I became older, I volunteered with the Special Olympics organization and enjoyed learning from and sharing in these new friendships. In college, I studied communication disorders and knew it would be the career for me.
Throughout my own childhood and studying, right through to my career now, the most powerful pull is having the ability to connect with people and through those connections, foster growth and new abilities. I feel truly honored to be a part of the lives of the families I work with.
More about Barbara
Barbara has practiced for over 20 years as an ASHA Certified and Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist in New York and New Jersey. She has a Masters Degree from NYU in Speech Pathology. She is PROMPT® Certified at the instructor and therapist levels, certified as a DIRFloortime® practitioner, and Clinically trained in Social Thinking®. Barbara has specialized training in many therapeutic methodologies in the areas of motor speech disorders, articulation, language, social cognition/pragmatics, sensory integration, fluency, behavioral-therapy, oral motor and feeding disorders. She creatively blends work and play with developmental and relationship-based approaches. She has extensive experience integrating individual and group therapy in a wide variety of educational, medical, and home based settings. She presents workshops, lectures, supervision, and mentoring to school staff, parent and professional groups, in addition to developing and coordinating teams of professionals. Barbara is repeatedly selected as one of NJ Family's NJ Favorite Kids Docs Exceptional Healthcare Providers.
The big and small things that matter to TIKES
Our therapy practice was founded on six core values:
Collaboration
Forming deep and meaningful partnerships to help progression through childhood.
Creativity
Being innovative with solutions, thinking outside the box, and tailoring everything to individual needs.
Learning
Learning as a practitioner, and educating kids, teens, families and other professionals.
Connection
Listening first and always. Really hearing a child, family or other practitioner lies at the very heart of connecting.
Flexibility
Staying flexible and able to modify treatment plans and locations as frequently as a child pivots.
Fun
Because learning and communicating should be fun.
TIKES’ Offices
Sometimes Barbara’s office is the park, sometimes it’s co-treating with another therapist or at a school or via teletherapy. TIKES treats children in the most meaningful places to them.
If you do visit TIKES, you’ll see that it’s a place for children. Colorful, welcoming and friendly, everything has been designed with children and teens in mind.