- December 7, 2025
For years, Speech Language Pathologist Sara Ambrosio dreamed of a hosting a therapeutic play group, with caregiver support element.
Through her work at Beachside Elementary and in her private practice, Connected Communication, Ambrosio met many families that struggled with feelings of isolation and lack of support as their children experienced a need for further early language development. She thought a play group, one that focused on helping young kids make connections while providing a space for their parents and caregivers to lean on each other, would help fill the community need.
"I've just had this —I call it my brain baby — for years about creating this kind of space for people in our community that need access to it, and I couldn't figure out how to get it off the ground by myself," Ambrosio said.
Then Ambrosio met Kara Heckerman, fellow a speech language pathologist. Heckerman is the founder of Aligned Horizons, which provides speech therapy services.
Together, they formed Social Seeds. The group first met on Sept. 15 at the Nova Community Center. The play group meets on certain Wednesdays at 4:45 p.m. inside the room for Club T-Rec. Each session costs $25 and once a month, Social Seeds offers a free parent-caregiver support group. The next play group session is Nov. 5.
Heckerman said that play groups like Social Seeds helps support early language development through creating a setting that is flexible to a child's needs while introducing elements of structured play in a group environment. Caregivers can also learn strategies to further language development at home.
"The child's also learning, 'Oh it is safe to be around kids my age and in a setting like this, and this is how you're supposed to act and participate when you do these sort of things,'" Heckerman said. "So it's helpful in that the parent receives some kind of education and feedback, but then also the child is experiencing what that's like."
Most of the children participating in social seeds are about 2-4 years old. Some are older but developmentally, are closer to the age range Social Seeds aims to serve. Some have diagnoses like autism, and others have a developmental delay, and some don't.
"We're just so proud that we were able to figure out a way to help bring people in our community together that may have otherwise not had the chance," Ambrosio said.
Melody Foley and her 3-year-old daughter Kinley have participated in a few of Social Seeds' sessions. The first time her daughter, who is speech delayed, took part, she had little interest in interacting in the group. But that has started to change.
"She sat for almost a whole story the other day, which was a huge achievement for us," Foley said.
She found out about Social Seeds after seeing a post on social media. Foley knows Ambrosio, and she reached out to learn more about Social Seeds. The interaction with other parents has also helped her feel less alone.
"All these kids are learning at their own pace," Foley said. "It's nice to have that, 'Oh, we're not sitting on an island by ourselves.'"
The addition of the caregiver support group is what stood out for Heckerman. That seemed like the biggest need in her eyes — a place where parents could speak to others going through similar experiences.
"I've been learning a lot, listening to their stories, and I feel like the last meetup we had was just so eye opening for me," she said. "To me, the advice would be, 'You're not alone,' because I think it can feel super isolating. You're navigating this whole new world you didn't think that you might have to deal with and it's devastating for a lot of families, especially if you've never had any experience with that."
Social Seeds hopes to bring in other professionals to help with the caregiver meetups. For example, for December's support group, Social Seeds is hosting Mandala Yoga who will conduct a class for the parents.
During that first caregiver meetup, everybody was emotional, Ambrosio said. Through her work with families, she often would leave sad from their sessions knowing they felt alone and that they needed a network and a community. Heckerman, she said, was the missing piece to creating that space.
"I just looked around the room and told everybody that I felt like after 20 years of being a speech language pathologist, my dreams were finally, literally, coming true right before my eyes," Ambrosio said. "... Watching it unfold has just renewed my passion for what I've known I've wanted to do since I was 10 years old."
To register for the next Social Seeds session, visit https://forms.gle/PWEy68N2zUK1bSVH7.
