Baumgardner, Kaye Koelker

To believe, to hope, to empower! These are the values that drive her as she provide therapy and guide her great colleagues at Minnetonka Pediatric Therapy Center.

Areas of Expertise: Kaye expertise over the past 28 years has narrowed to running MPTC and working as an expert feeding specialist for Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMD), Tethered Oral Tissue (TOTS) / Tongue and Lip Tie, and working with infants who have difficulties breast or bottle feeding (lactation) and / or transitioning to solids.

Education / Certification: She graduated from Illinois State University in 1994 with a Master’s Degree in Speech & Language Pathology. She hold her certificate of clinical competency through the American Speech Language Hearing Association and is licensed in the state of Minnesota.

She am the second person in the state of Minnesota to become a Certified Orofacial Myologist (COM) through the International Association of Orofacial Myology (IAOM), am a Certified Lactation Consultant (CLC), a Talk Tools Level 4 trained therapist, co-author of Feeding Foundations class and Talk Tools speaker.

Membership and Professional Activities: She is a member of Minnesota Speech Language Hearing Association (MSHA), American Academy of Private Practice Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (AAPPSPA), International Association of Orofacial Myology (IAOM), AOMT and on the IAOM Board of Directors.

She speak regularly at local parent groups have had two publications in the Newsletter of the National Down Syndrome Congress.

Specialized Training: She have had extensive training and years of experience evaluating and working with infants and children who have muscle-based and sensory-based feeding disorders. She have taken many courses on infant development / lactation / feeding to support mothers and babies who are having difficulty nursing; have years of experience working with Tethered Oral Tissue (TOTS) ~ tongue and lip ties; restorative breathing; and Orofacial Myology Disorders. She have trained in Talk Tools programs since 1999 and hold their level 4 Talk Tools Certification.