About Us

Founded in 2012, North Florida Therapy Services began as a small speech therapy clinic with a big vision: to bring quality care to children and families in underserved, rural communities. Over the years, we have grown into a comprehensive therapy provider, offering Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), Behavior Therapy, and Mental Health Therapy.

With our main clinic located in Quincy, Florida, and services extending into homes, schools, and daycares across ** Gadsden, Leon, and surrounding counties—including Tallahassee—**we are committed to meeting children where they are and helping them thrive in their natural environments.

Our founder, Abbie V. Hurst, MS CCCSLP (formally Woodard/Blackman), is not only a clinician but also a parent of children with special needs. Inspired by her son Brad, who was born with Down syndrome, and her son Parker, who is on the Autism Spectrum, Abbie’s personal journey shaped the guiding principles of our practice: compassion, collaboration, and the belief that every child can reach their full potential when given access to the right interventions.

At North Florida Therapy Services, we are proud to be therapist-owned and operated. Our team works together under one roof to create synergy across disciplines, ensuring that each child receives holistic, individualized care. We believe that by combining expertise and empathy, we can empower children and families to grow, learn, and succeed.

We recognize that many families in our community speak English as a second language. To ensure that all parents and children fully understand and have access to services, we are committed to staffing bilingual therapists and office staff. Our bilingual team is happy to assist parents in navigating therapy and insurance processes, breaking down language barriers so every family feels supported and empowered.

Abbie V. Hurst, MS CCC-SLP

Abbie V. Hurst, MS CCCSLP has been a SpeechLanguage Pathologist since 2005, working in private practices, schools, and as an Early Steps provider before opening North Florida Therapy Services. These experiences shaped her vision for a practice where therapists feel like family and where parents feel heard, supported, and empowered when seeking services for their children.

Abbie’s commitment to serving lower-income families and rural communities comes from her own life experience. At 16, she left high school and earned her GED, supporting herself through minimum-wage jobs. After the birth of her first son, Brad, who was born with Down syndrome, she pursued higher education to better understand how to help him. She graduated from Tallahassee Community College in 2001, transferred to Florida State University’s College of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and completed an undergraduate honors thesis before entering graduate school.

During her studies, Abbie balanced the challenges of being a single parent to a child with special needs, managing a full-time graduate caseload, and working as a student clinician. She knows firsthand the struggles of choosing what bills to pay, the exhaustion of juggling responsibilities, and the relief of having Medicaid as a safety net. Medicaid provided Brad with a lifesaving open-heart surgery at six months old—an experience that reinforced Abbie’s determination to serve families who face similar challenges.

Beyond her clinical work, Abbie has been a strong advocate for children and families. As a member of the Florida Speech and Hearing Association’s Medicaid Task Force, she worked with state leaders and the Agency for Health Care

Administration to protect therapy coverage during the transition to Managed Care in 2014. She has collaborated directly with members of the Florida House and Senate on Medicaid and children’s health policies, and in 2016, she addressed the Senate as both a professional and a parent regarding Children’s Medical Services.

Abbie’s unique perspective—both as a clinician and as a parent of children with special needs—continues to guide North Florida Therapy Services. Her unmatched empathy, resilience, and advocacy ensure that the most vulnerable children and families receive the care, respect, and opportunities they deserve.