Today we spoke with Christina Scalise-Morrissey. Christina is owner of Hummingbird Pediatric Therapies. Christina is a speech language pathologist and feeding therapist. She is the mother of two children.

Listen here: 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chicagoland-parenting-stories/id1690228503?i=1000633324609 

Welcome to Chicagoland Parenting Stories, I am your host Lisa Zimmermann. On this podcast, I will be discussing parenting ups and downs with other providers that support new families. These providers may be involved with new families prenatally or postpartum, but all are located in the greater Chicago area. We hope that you laugh a little, have some food for thought and learn a little something along the way.

Small, strong, unique and determined are just a few words Hinsdale's Christina Scalise-Morrissey uses to describe a hummingbird. She said those same words accurately describe the children who turn to Hummingbird Pediatric Therapies for help to overcome all sorts of obstacles and meet all kinds of goals.

Founder and CEO Scalise-Morrissey and her teams provide a host of services to children from newborns through pre-teen, including speech, occupational, physical and feeding therapy and a host of tools to help children overcome all sorts of physical, emotional, mental and developmental challenges.

"In this area, we offer the most comprehensive services for children," said Scalise-Morrissey, who began her private practice nearly 30 years ago and opened her first brick-and-mortar space above the Steinway Piano Gallery in downtown Hinsdale. She's since outgrown that space, expanding to two locations in Woodridge and Westmont. Together, the two locations have about 60 employees, many of whom hold master's degrees or doctorates in their field of expertise, she said.
Scalise-Morrissey said she was on her way to a career in finance when, as a junior at Northern Illinois University, she fell in love with speech therapy.

"There was no looking back," said Scalise-Morrissey, who still remembers the phone call she made to her parents, telling them she would be switching majors and pursuing a master's degree. Scalise-Morrissey earned that degree at St. Xavier in Chicago.

Today, Scalise-Morrissey specializes in speech therapy and infant feeding. Other team members have other specialties, some of which are quite specific and unique, allowing children to receive multiple services all in one place.

"It relieves stress for parents," she said, and saves them from having to drive from place to place for their child's services. It also can be a comfort for a child to come to a familiar place for their various therapy needs.

While some children need minor help with a single issue, others require more intensive, multi-faceted help, Scalise-Morrissey said.

"The younger we can get the children and engage them in consistent therapy, we know that therapy works," she said.

Hummingbird offers a free, online interactive tool at http://www.hummingbirdpediatrictherapies.com, to help parents determine whether a child might benefit from services.

The Hummingbird Academy is an extension of Hummingbird Therapies. Scalise-Morrissey describes it as a one-of-a-kind therapeutic enrichment program that uses play to provide therapy and education to children in small groups.

Hummingbird Academy offers programs year-round. Parents and children can learn more at an open house set for 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, at the Westmont location, 750 Pasquinelli Drive, No. 204. Families should register for the event at the website listed above.

"The academy has really grown," said Scalise-Morrissey, who said Hummingbird Therapies also has room to grow. It soon will offer even more children and families the help they're looking for in even more locations.

- by Sandy Illian Bosch

See the full article on The Hinsdalean website: ​https://www.thehinsdalean.com/story/2023/11/02/experts/ask-an-expert-business-profile-christina-scalise-morrissey-therapist-and-ceo/7025.html 

ABC Chicago spoke with Laura Cottrell, MA., LCPC-ATR-BC, about Hummingbird Pediatric Therapies' Zoom session for parents on ways to help children work through grief.

​Watch here.​

Lisa Marie Farver | Patch Staff

WOODRIDGE, IL — Community members donated hundreds of toys and other items during a recent toy drive organized by Hummingbird Pediatric Therapies to aid children in war-torn Ukraine.

The two-week donation drive was held at the Woodridge and Westmont branches of Hummingbird Pediatric Therapies. The efforts were organized with the help of Rep. Deanne Mazzochi.

In all 15 boxes of toys and diapers were collected and will be shipped to Ukraine via air cargo to help children and who have been displaced from their homes. The toys included stuffed animals, coloring books, crayons, balls and more.
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"It's our hope that these toys will give Ukrainian children a little light in the midst of an incredibly difficult time," Hummingbird Pediatric Therapies owner Christina Scalise-Morrissey said in a news release.

Scalise-Morrissey added, "Thank you to our Hummingbird community – our families and friends – who worked quickly to donate and ship hundreds of items to these precious kids."

​Woodridge, IL – Over the weekend, more than 200 people gathered in Woodridge to tour and celebrate the opening of Hummingbird Pediatric Therapies’ second location. The 11,000 square foot pediatric therapy center is equipped with state of the art and professionally designed rock-climbing walls, gyms, and more.
 
“Hummingbird Pediatric Therapies offers the most comprehensive pediatric therapy services and support for families in the Chicagoland area,” said owner Christina Scalise-Morrissey. “Now, with locations in Westmont and Woodridge, we will be able to provide greater access to care for kids and families.”
 
Since expanding to Westmont in 2017, Hummingbird’s team has grown by 10x and now has over 40 team members. Hummingbird’s offerings and support includes: Hummingbird Children's Academy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, feeding therapy, developmental therapy, counseling, parent child coaching, sensory integration, hippotherapy, handwriting without tears, interactive metronome, aquatic therapy, therapeutic listening and more.