Meet Miss Jill!

Hi there! My name is Jill Justiniani and I am the owner of Limitless Littles Therapy! I am a wife, boy mom of two amazing boys, identical twin, older sister to a sibling who lived with medically fragile needs, a pediatric occupational therapist and feeding specialist!

 

My story started long before I ever knew about occupational therapy, growing up with a younger sister who lived with a rare genetic disorder leading me down a path to personal ties into the medical world at a very young age. Watching how my sister's occupational therapist interacted and engaged her in therapeutic interventions all the while keeping it fun, playful and most importantly using her preferred interests to keep her treatment individualized was what sparked my passion and interest in occupational therapy working with the pediatric population.

 

Going on my 8th year in the field of Occupational Therapy, I have worked in a variety of settings including several outpatient clinics, charter and public school systems, have gained clinical work in a pediatric hospital, and like many others, quickly adapted to the global pandemic leading me down a path to providing virtual services. I am passionate about education and have obtained my advanced practice in feeding and swallowing accredited through the national board of occupational therapy allowing me to better serve my clients through a deeper lens. I have also had the pleasure of being a fieldwork clinical instructor mentoring occupational therapy students as they obtain their first clinical experiences into the practicing world of OT. While all of these practice areas, achievements and experiences have been significantly impactful to my career as an occupational therapist, there is nothing quite like stepping foot into a client's home; their natural environment and supporting change on such a personal and deep level. 

 

My world expanded in great lengths when I became a mother to my son, Oliver, in May of 2022 and almost immediately stumbled upon our first of many roadblocks when he wasn't able to successfully latch to my breast for feeding. I was told "this is normal," "you both are still learning," "it can be painful in the beginning," "here's a nipple shield to help..." the list goes on and on. But my gut, and mommy instinct, knew that we weren't addressing the root cause of this challenge. In the midst of sleepless nights, endless pumping sessions glued to the wall (pre-cordless pump days), making lactation cookies and dodging blow outs I dove into continuing education courses to search for answers. That's when I discovered TOTs, also known as Tethered Oral Tissues and it all began to make sense. In my clinical practice I began to seek mentorship and dove into collaborative cases so that I can better understand the complexities of a tongue tie, whole body tension and how bodywork can impact function. As I watched my son fall into atypical breathing patterns like snoring at night, open mouth breathing, and drooling it became more apparent that the cause of his early feeding difficulties were now presenting in different ways; airway difficulties. Oliver has been identified to have a posterior tongue tie and upper cheek (buccal) ties and is undergoing early palatal expansion to support optimal airway development and I can confidently say we are finally on the right path to optimal orofacial and airway development. While the obstacles that we faced early on has further shaped me into the therapist, and mother that I am today, I wish I had support and guidance of a professional to validate my concerns, lend a listening ear and meet me in a state of collaboration to uncover the 'Why' behind the challenge. This is what I love to do with my clients! 

 

My second son, Russell was born 15 months after Oliver and while he was able to latch successfully, he presented with torticollis sending us down a new path of discovery and uncovering the 'why.' All this to say, I am passionate about early intervention, collaboration with a variety of providers and of course working in conjunction with my client's experts - their parents, to discover root causes and make long-lasting change. 

 

Here at Limitless Littles Therapy our mission is to meet our clients where they are at, work together in a collaborative approach to uncover and discover their unique needs and abilities all the while navigating the journey of development with support, compassion and empathy. My goal is to empower the caregiver-child dyad, support co-regulation through all phases of development, navigate the complexities of infant feeding, progressing towards transitioning to solids and working through picky eating all the while supporting sensory processing and nervous system development. 

 

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about this passion work and we would be honored to connect with you!