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Occupational Therapy

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The Pediatric OT

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Hi! I am a pediatric OT with over 20 years of experience serving children in the school system, private clinics, teletherapy, and in their homes. I am here to help educate, empower, and embrace your personal situation with your child. My passion is to help meet the needs of parents and caregivers without the constraints of time, space, and insurance limitations. I have years of experience customizing individual plans for children ages birth to 21 with a wide range of special needs. Having worked in a variety of settings, I understand the development of children and how to think out of the box to achieve new skills. I love teaching through play and have a knack for using things already in the environment to create fun, engaging, and therapeutic tasks! Seeing children become more confident and independent is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job. In the school setting, I have designed a fine motor box (FMB), especially for kindergarteners. This toolbox focuses on specific skills needed to succeed in the early years of school. The FMB can also be used for preschoolers and even through first grade to help support important development. Check it out in my storefront!

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Vitalxchange

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What is Vitalxchange?

Vitalxchange is a health community app where people are able to connect and talk directly with health experts. Using special matching technology, we make it easy for you to find and connect with the right experts.

Our Mission is to ensure that everyone has access to the information they need to make good health choices without feeling isolated or overwhelmed.

We are currently supporting families caring for children with special needs or developmental challenges.

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The Inspired Treehouse

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At The Inspired Treehouse, our passion is teaching parents, caregivers, professionals, and kids about the power of play!

In 2013, we launched our blog to share activity ideas and information with parents and professionals to help them navigate common developmental issues that come up for kids. Since then, The Inspired Treehouse has become one of the most popular online platforms for therapists, teachers, and parents all over the world who are looking for information and activities to support healthy development in their kids. Our site also offers an online shop full of ebooks, courses, printables and more!

Inspired by the success of our online business, we opened a non-profit organization in 2017 called The Treehouse. In our storefront space just outside of Cleveland, we offer low-cost developmental play groups led by pediatric occupational and physical therapists. Our passion is to ensure that every child has the opportunity to engage in structured play experiences regardless of their ability level or their family’s income. We now serve more than 300 families in the Cleveland area, providing play groups, events, and support to parents/caregivers.

Do you have general questions or concerns about your child’s development? Check out our site for information on all kinds of developmental skills for kids!

Looking to support developmental skills in your child from the comfort of your home? We offer therapist-led virtual play groups – email us for more information.

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KidsLink Connect

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Welcome to KidsLink Connect!

We Provide:
●Intensive center-based Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy for children and teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder or other developmental disorders.
●Individualized therapy programs, developed by one of our Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA).
●Minimum requirement of 8 hours per week of direct therapy.

Goals Of ABA Therapy Can Include:
● Behavior modification
● Communication and social language skills
● Daily living skills
● Social skills
● Self-care skills
● Gross and fine motor skills

How Does a Center-Based Program Work?
●One of our expert BCBAs will provide assessment, program development, parent training, and consultation.
●Tutors are skilled Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs).
●Programs are customized to your child’s specific needs.
●Various data collection methods are used to monitor progress and guide programmatic changes.
●Different instructional methods are used, including Naturalistic Environment Teaching (NET) and Discrete Trial Training (DTT).

Father's Perspective: Connect with a Parent Expert on Vitalxchange
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A Father's Perspective

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The journey through autism presents many challenges and Fathers play a critical role in their child’s development each step of the way. Focused on being a good father and husband while maintaining a positive, healthy and safe family environment can be very challenging during this journey.

This support group is here for the Dads out there facing these challenges and bring them together to help one another. Whether you are struggling with first time diagnosis, a child going through puberty, sports or just want to talk to fellow Dads who can relate to everyday issues this site is for you.

This site is also here for all parents who want to discuss anything autism, or even just want to get a Fathers point of view.

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Koinonia Homes

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Koinonia is a leading provider of services for people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. We provide residential services, adult day support, senior services, and employment services – right in your community. We offer a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, holidays, 403b retirement, paid time off, paid training, and tuition scholarship.

A Mother's Love: Connect with a Parent Expert on Vitalxchange
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A Mother's Love

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I am a wife and mother of twins. I am also a Social Worker for the past 22 years. Our son was diagnosed with PDD at 20 months and then with Autism shortly after. Those early years were especially challenging as we tried to understand and then learn as much as we could to help our son who was struggling.

We have attempted to push forward the best we knew how and to keep our minds open to new opportunities for our son. We have also worked to keep our family strong and to focus on what is most important- some days we do better than others.

My goal is to be transparent with our challenges but also with our victories. I have found value in the community of Vitalxchange and truly wish we had something like this when our son was first diagnosed. I am pleased to contribute and help others, and to continue on our own path of helping our son, as each day presents new opportunities. He is now a teenager, and this too has presented some additional hurdles, but we will never give up.

I hope you will find comfort in knowing someone else understands, and most likely shares your concerns, feelings, and experiences. All children are unique, but we parents have many similar thoughts and worries, as well as hopes and dreams for our children.

Plan A-Z: Connect with a Parent Expert & VitalGuide on Vitalxchange.
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Plan A-Z

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Autism is not a one-size fits all condition. It is often said that if you’ve met one person with Autism, you’ve met one person with Autism. What works for one person may not work for another; what works one time may not work the next time. That’s why it’s beneficial to have options…to fill up your toolbox with different plans to meet the next challenge. I am a mom of children with Autism and other special needs, and I’ve been advocating for them for over 17 years. I’ve learned a lot through this journey, and I’d like to share what I have learned with you. There’s a lot of new language to learn, a lot of specialists and therapists that you’ll encounter, so many meetings to attend (IEPs, IFSPs, etc.), and a lot of other medical conditions that can go along with Autism. It can be overwhelming to navigate all of this – and you don’t get an instruction manual with your special needs child that tells you what steps you need to take and when. That’s where I can help.

Autism 'Tude: Connect with a Parent Expert & VitalGuide on Vitalxchange.
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Autism 'Tude

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I am the mom to an amazing 14-year-old boy who has autism, apraxia, sensory processing disorder, and a seizure disorder. Over the years, I have tried my share of both traditional and non-traditional interventions for my son, and I want to share what I have learned from those experiences to help other parents.

There are no “one-size-fits-all” answers for our kids, and I believe strongly that parents should be presented with options and be empowered to choose the treatments that resonate for their children. We know our kids better than anyone and should be the leaders of our kids’ teams, surrounding ourselves with people who believe in our kids as much as we do and who look at things from a holistic perspective. I would like to help parents be the leaders of their team and not have to feel at the mercy of others who don’t know their child the way a parent does.

Through the most challenging times of my son’s journey, I have studied how to manage my own attitude so that I can be the most effective advocate and parent for him. I want to pass along some of those attitudes and skills to again help empower parents.

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KidsLink Neuro-Behavioral Center

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With a strong desire help families and children through a linked team of professionals, KidsLink NeuroBehavioral Center was born in 2007! At KidsLink, we recognize how multiple settings impact the development and behavior of children with special needs. We strive to promote collaboration among the home, school, and community-based settings as we provide comprehensive services to children with autism and other developmental disabilities. In addition, we embrace an interdisciplinary approach to intervention, including collaboration among medical professionals, mental health professionals, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, educators, and related services personnel, as deemed appropriate to meet the comprehensive needs of our child patients and their families.

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