Tandy Therapy Team

Lauren Tandy, M.S., CCC-SLP

Owner, Speech-Language Pathologist

I am a speech-language pathologist (SLP) who is also a Pacific Northwest native. I live in Post Falls, Idaho with a loving husband, two active sons, and a spitfire daughter. ​

It is my dream to share the different aspects of communication and feeding in a fun, engaging, and comfortable environment. I have been in private practice since 2016 providing in-home and clinic-based speech, language, and feeding and swallowing services to my clients.

Before starting Tandy Therapy, I worked in a variety of settings serving children and adults, including out-patient hospital clinics, adult rehabilitation programs, long-term acute care hospital therapy, and school district services. I now specialize in areas of speech and language development, caregiver coaching, telepractice, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), and other related feeding difficulties. I have a unique experience as a mother of three completely individual little human beings. They have taught me much more than a master's in communication sciences and disorders ever could have. But I definitely learned a lot from that, too.

I am an evidence-based clinician that applies the latest research and proven practices to my intervention approach.

Brittany Gilbert, M.S, CF-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

I am a speech-language pathologist (SLP) who has always had a passion for helping others. I live with my husband and our two German Shorthaired Pointers. We are expecting our first child in April of 2023! 

Being raised in a military family, we moved every three years from along the west coast of the U.S. to Japan and Iceland. After my parents retired, we moved to Alaska where I attended high school. At 18 I moved to Arizona for college and later met my husband. After getting my bachelors’ degrees, I worked as a direct support specialist with young adults who were diagnosed with developmental disabilities and/or serious mental illnesses. Then I decided to change it up and worked as a 9-1-1 dispatcher for police, fire, and paramedics in Arizona and then Boise. Dispatching was an emotional rollercoaster.  I eventually made my way back to the SLP world as a speech-language pathology assistant (SLPA) in the school setting for a couple of years. I graduated from Baylor University with a Master of Science in Communications Sciences and Disorders in 2022 and shortly after we moved to Coeur d’Alene. 

It is my goal is to help clients and families improve their quality of life through building meaningful relationships and improved communication. I understand that every client is unique and value the therapeutic relationship by providing empathy, trust, and respect. 

In my free time you’ll likely find me hanging out with my husband and dogs on a hike, camping, at a sporting event or concert, or trying out a local restaurant.

Amy Sarafin
Speech-Language Pathology Assistant

Hello, I am Amy Sarafin. My background is in early childhood education. I taught at a wonderful Montessori preschool and eventually opened my own preschool program in Alaska. Over the years, as I referred students to speech therapy and watched their confidence grow, I became increasingly interested in the field. I started working toward a master's to become an SLP in 2022, and will graduate in the summer of 2024. I am excited to offer therapy as an SLP-A while I complete my degree. I love working with kids and believe that therapy should be tailored to each child individually and should be fun! As a special needs mom, I know that therapists play an important role in the lives of kids, and I consider it an honor to work with your child. When I am not working or studying I am enjoying time with my husband and four kids, or snuggled up with a cup of coffee and a good book. family and friends, reading, and finding great places to eat and listen to live music.

Shayla Troy
Speech-Language Pathology Assistant

Hello! I am a speech-language pathology aide (SLPA) and have lived in Spokane, WA my whole life. I recently graduated from Eastern Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Sciences and Disorders. I just moved to the Spokane valley area with my boyfriend and our cat, and have loved getting to explore the Post Falls area as well. I enjoy reading, trying new restaurants, traveling to new cities, going camping or hiking with my family, and I was a ballet dancer for 10 years!

I have a background working with school-age children and have enjoyed receiving more experience in early intervention with toddlers and pre-school age children. I really enjoy treating speech sound disorders and am also passionate about helping children on the autism spectrum. I believe that it is every child’s right to be able to communicate, and I am so grateful to be able to help children find their voice and be able to express their wants, needs, emotions, and passions. I love getting to know each child individually and being able to help them grow and succeed in many different areas of their lives!

Mandy Nelson, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist

As an occupational therapist, I desire to equip people to be able to fully participate in their lives, no matter the circumstances. My time at Eastern Washington University exploring psychology, disability studies, and ultimately earning my master's degree in occupational therapy, grew my personal mission of helping others believe in themselves and all of the possibilities life has to offer.

While I enjoy working with all ages, my passion is with young people. As a mom of a child with a learning disability and speech apraxia, I completely understand the time and energy needed to navigate through all of the appointments and extra work that comes with these diagnoses, and I want to offer hope for others struggling to figure out how to manage it all. I believe with the right tools, every child can succeed and I love collaborating with families to provide the support they need for their child to thrive at home, in school, and everywhere else life takes them. Some of my professional interests are trauma-informed care, sensory integration, and strategies that promote positive family dynamics when faced with difficult diagnoses.

I am a mom of four amazing teenagers at home and also have five grown children out in the world busy being amazing adults, including two sons in the air force. When not at work, I love spending time with my kids, walking my three siberian husky dogs, gardening, reading books, drinking tea, and watching british television.

Daniela Brown, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist

Daniela is an occupational therapist who has been practicing since 2020. Daniela graduated from Eastern Washington university with a master’s in occupational therapy as well as a bachelor’s in exercise science. Daniela has an extensive history of working in pediatrics, she completed extensive job shadowing and was a therapy aide throughout graduate school. She works mostly with pediatrics and also has experience in adult rehab including trauma. She is passionate about trauma informed care and providing a holistic approach to therapy. She has received extensive ongoing training in MNRI, a primitive reflex modality that utilizes neurodevelopment re-patterning techniques to create change at the nervous system level. She has received certifications in trauma informed care as well as anti-inflammatory nutrition education. She enjoys working with families and children. She is passionate about helping children on the autism spectrum and increasing their functionality. Daniela enjoys health and wellness, yoga, and nature.

Sera Almeida, COTA/L
Occupational Therapy Assistant

Hello! I am Sera and I am an Occupational Therapy Assistant. I graduated from the COTA program at Spokane Falls Community College in 2016. It has always been my passion to help kids and I knew that this was my calling as soon as I started the program. I have worked in pediatrics since graduating school. I love being able to see the progress each week with kids and helping families strive to support their kids in a nurturing environment. I enjoy working with all types of kids, however my areas of interest have always been in feeding/sensory play, fine motor, visual motor and handwriting. I continue to take courses that support these interests to best support my kids and families.

I grew up in Spokane, Wa and have worked in both Spokane and Post Falls. I have a supporting husband, two beautiful kids and two dogs that are like my other children. We enjoy camping, taking the kids and dogs on adventures whenever possible, and spending time with family and friends.

John Tandy
Facility Maintenance Manager

John Tandy is our facility maintenance manager. He is our helping hand that fixes and builds what we need in order to deliver successful therapies to our families. He may be seen around the clinic assisting in various projects. He is also our owner, Lauren Tandy’s husband. He has been around the therapy world as long as she has. They have been married since 2007 and have three children. Their family calls Post Falls, Idaho home, and loves recreating in the surrounding lakes and mountains.

Ian Tandy
Facility Maintenance Assistant

Ian is the clinic helper that you will see moving around and doing what is needed in all buildings and parking lot areas. He is Lauren Tandy’s eldest son and has grown up helping create therapy materials and learning about all thing therapy from his mom and her team. He loves mountain biking, snowboarding, scootering, baseball, and parkour.