I completed my Bachelor in Physical Therapy from D.Y Patil College of Physiotherapy in 2010. I am a Certified Neurodevelopmental Therapist, C/NDT and Trained in Sensory Integration (University of Southern California). I am one of the founding members at The Gateway School of Mumbai and a Consultant and Mentor at The Pollyanna Practice.
Assessing children with developmental disorders, neurological disorders, genetic disorder, orthopedic conditions
Creating therapeutic programmes for children
Creating Home programmes to help children generalize skills and maintain therapeutic goals achieved during sessions
Conducting therapy training programmes for Occupational and Physical Therapists, Mentoring interns
Partnering with parents, schools and other health care professionals to help children meet their goals in the home, school and outside community.
In my 12 years of clinical practice, I have consulted at private clinics across various parts of the city like Enliven, Ika Childrens Centre, Evolve Polyclinic and Sneh Rehabilitation Centre. Besides possessing an experienced skill set in Neurodevelopment Treatment and Sensory Integration, I am also trained in Handwriting without Tears, Therapeutic Listening, Astronaut Training, Integrated Listening Systems and Play Therapy.
I am a firm believer of using a variety of therapeutic techniques to help children meet their therapeutic goals. I find value in partnering with parents and working closely with the family and school to help a child achieve their goals. I also believe that therapeutic goals for children must be functional and purposeful and must be generalized in the home, school and outside communities. I believe in a multidisciplinary approach and working in a team is one of my strengths
In my freetime, I enjoy watching movies, hiking and traveling.
Ridhika Shah is the founder of The Pollyanna Practice. She is also a consulting Speech Language Therapist and the ‘Grandstand Coordinator’ at ‘The Gateway School of Mumbai’
Ridhika holds a Bachelors and Master’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology and Audiology from TN medical college & B.Y.L Nair charitable hospital, Mumbai and is a gold medalist in the state of Maharashtra for her final year graduation program. She is certified by the Rehab Council of India and is a member of ISHA (Indian Speech & Hearing Association). She has also received training and is certified by Hanen.
Ridhika has a special interest in pediatric language based challenges, Auditory processing (listening) difficulties, Autism spectrum disorders, Apraxia of speech, fluency disorders, feeding difficulties and picky eaters. She believes that language and movement go hand in hand and her style of therapy is holistic, experiential, with parent empowerment being a cornerstone of her approach.
Ridhika is experienced in actively working with other professionals in the client’s community including the schools to support transfer and generalization of skills into the real world and inclusion within the community.
School based therapy is another area of interest and Ridhika owes her learning to the Gateway school of Mumbai, a pioneering lab school with best practices for children with learning difficulties.
During her Master’s degree, Ridhika constructed a test of pragmatic skills for children of the age range of 5-10 years which led to her love of working towards building pragmatic/ social-communication skills in groups and their transfer into real life. Currently she is the Coordinator of Grandstand, a unique social space at Gateway, where large groups of children share, enjoy and communicate with each other and are also taught to transfer various 21st century skills (i.e collaboration, problem solving etc) to real life experiences.
Ridhika, a passionate believer in the power of positivity, tries to imbibe the same in her practice. Dream big, act towards it and magic follows!
If she’s not working, Ridhika is wandering away and exploring a new place either through her travels or is transported there via her books!
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+91 98202 90290, +91 8369233133
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I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology from Aliyavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Handicap Divyanjan in 2019. Subsequently, I pursued a MSc in Speech Language Pathology at the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing Mysuru, completing it in 2022. During my academic journey, I completed certification on Surgical Voice Restoration and also completed Oral Placement Therapy Level 1. Following my education, I gained one year of experience as a Speech-Language Pathologist at the Indian Navy Hospital Ship Asvini, where I worked in an Early Intervention Center as part of a multidisciplinary team. I also work in an NGO as a consultant.
As a speech-language therapist, I believe in the potential for improvement, providing individualized care, fostering effective communication, taking a holistic approach, committing to lifelong learning, showing empathy, promoting collaboration, following evidence-based practice, advocating for my clients, and upholding ethical standards. These core beliefs guide my approach in helping individuals with communication challenges.
I have a strong inclination towards working with neonatal and pediatric populations, particularly in the area of oral feeding skills for premature neonates. I am genuinely passionate about this field and remain dedicated to staying updated with the latest evidence-based practices. I thrive in a multidisciplinary setting where we can collectively make a significant positive impact on children’s well-being.
As a dedicated speech therapist, my true passion lies in cleft lip and palate cases. During my master’s program, I focused my dissertation on a project close to my heart – creating an articulation drill book for persons with cleft palate in the Marathi language. This resource is designed to simplify the process of working on speech sounds for speech language therapists offering a comprehensive collection of words, picture words, non-picturable words, paired words, and sentences. I’m thrilled to share that my thesis is in the process of becoming a practical product.
Beyond my professional pursuits, I find great joy in the world of theater. I actively participate in theater acts, and I also take immense pleasure in dancing, savoring delicious food, and engaging in the art of acting. It’s a wonderful blend of passion and creativity in my life