kct newsletter 4qtr 2011

8/3/2019 KCT Newsletter 4QTR 2011

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Dallas (214) 575-2999 Fort Worth (817) 546-8661 www.KidsCareTherapy.com

Volume I, Issue 4: 2011

2011EDITION

WrappingUp The Year

Cortneys Letter ............................... .. 1 Success Story......................................2 New OT Clinical Manager.....................2 Run, Walk, Roll Ability Connections.....2 Representative Speaks to KCT.............3 DARS Eye Can Swim Event...................3

KCT Electronic Tracking.......................4

Refer a Friend ..................................... 4

Cortney Baker, M.S., CCC/SLPCFO/President of Clinical Services

The relief from the exhaustingTexas heat brings the arrival of myfavorite time of year. Football

games, the state fair, and theholidays are only a few of thewonderful reasons that the end ofthe year is so enjoyable. But insidethe KidsCare Therapy office, thingsare as busy as ever with the startof the holiday season. In Novemberwe will celebrate Christmas witheach of our patients and theirfamilies by hosting a holiday partyfor both our Fort Worth and Dallas clients. Being able tocelebrate the holidays with our families is something that I lookforward to each year. With the parties taking place at theStockyards in Fort Worth and the Museum of Nature & Science

in Dallas this year is sure to be extra special! Stay tuned forour next newsletter edition (and on Facebook) to see all thegreat pictures of our patients.

This is also the time of year when we begin to ramp up ourcommunity involvement with organizations, such as theSalvation Army, in order to help our patients and thecommunity with the extra expenses that the holiday seasonbrings. I am always impressed with how involved ouremployees get in our philanthropic causes, especially during theholidays.

But community involvement and celebrating the holidaysdoesnt even begin to cover everything we have going on within

the company we also have exciting expansion news toannounce! KidsCare Therapy will now be servicing the Wacomarket. This is great news for us, as it comes only a short yearand a half after our move into Fort Worth. We are currently inthe works of hiring qualified therapists for the area, and welook forward to continuing to provide the incredible therapy weare known for to the Waco area!

I would also like to send out a special thank you to North Texaslegislative representatives Stefani Carter and Roberto Alonzo.

As many of you know KidsCare Therapy has been veryinvolved with the legislative changes that havethreatened to change funding for our patients, as wellas many other Texas children who desperately need it.Representatives Carter and Alonzo have helped greatlywith this cause - even though it was not directly part of

their platform. They realized the need to take care ofour future by putting exhausting efforts in tovictoriously keeping funding for these kids.Representative Carter even made a special appearanceat the KCT office to speak with our therapists. Makesure to check out the article inside for more informationon this moving presentation!


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www.KidsCareTherapy.com

Molly enjoys problem solving, developing more efficient ways of doing things, and facilitating growth. She admires that her

profession encourages one to be a lifelong learner, and she attends as many courses and lectures as possible to help not only

better herself as a clinician, but also as a manager and individual. These are all qualities that we look forward to seeing Molly

bring to the OT Clinical Manager position at KidsCare Therapy!

We would like to give a special welcome to Molly McNown, our new OT Clinical Manager

here at KidsCare Therapy! Molly graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia

and shortly thereafter began working around the country as a traveling therapist. She

brings the KCT Clinical Management team over ten years of experience in pediatrics,

with extensive knowledge in documentation, assessments, various therapy models,

behavior management, and sensory integration in the school, clinical, and home health

setting.

Upon searching for positions in Dallas, Molly says she chose KidsCare Therapy because

of the reputation for a high standard in service, and the outstanding growth potential in

the leadership roles. She has enjoyed her time here at KidsCare Therapy thus far,

stating that the helpful and friendly staff members have made the transition easy. She

is also excited about the opportunity to continue to be able to support and mentor, as

well as learn from the clinicians around her.

New Occupational Therapy Clinical Manager

The first time Texas saw rain in months just happened to be

on the morning of the 16th annual Run, Walk, Roll event

supporting Ability Connections. But a little rain didnt stop

the handful of KidsCare Therapy employees, or hundreds of

other runners who were all there to support this wonderful

cause. The event, which featured both a one mile fun

walk/run as well as a 5k race, still went off without a hitch.

For many of those running, the rain was actually welcomed

as an alternative to the expected scorching heat, and it

allowed for the runners to bond over their soaked running

gear and out of place hair. It was clear as the day

progressed that even those who might have preferred a

dryer run kept their spirits high and their focus on the cause

they were supporting.

Ability Connections provides services to those with cerebral

palsy (CP), and other physical, cognitive, and developmenta

disabilities. This annual event is always a lot of fun for our

staff members, and we were so happy to be back for anothe

year. For more information on Ability Connections, check ou

their website at http://www.abilityconnectiontexas.org/

Run, Walk, RollAbility Connections

Success Story - Ruby TrejoRuby Trejo, age one, was born with a mass in her throat that

was removed shortly after birth. Due to weaknesses in the

muscles in her throat and the inability to swallow properly

after the mass was removed, Ruby was placed on a g-tube

for all feedings. At this point it was uncertain as to how long

it would take for Ruby to be able to drink from a bottle and

no longer need to be on the g-tube.

Ruby began treatment with KidsCare Therapy approximately

seven months ago. The main goal of Rubys speech therapy

was to improve oral motor skills, in order to allow her to

begin feeding from a bottle. When therapy initially started,

Ruby was unable to even suck properly from a pacifier.

Therapy began by helping her establish a non-nutritive suck

pattern in the hopes that she would eventually be able to

transfer that skill to a bottle nipple. (A non-nutritive suck

pattern is where the motions and rhythmic patterns of

sucking are made with the mouth, however, no sucking and

swallowing are present.) While it took Ruby approximately

two to three months to establish this with the pacifier, she

was quickly able to transfer the skill to a bottle nipple!

At first, Ruby was only able to extract about half of an ounce

of formula from a bottle using a slow flow nipple over

approximately 30 minutes, and it required a great deal of

tactile support and cueing to get her to do so. She was still

unable to establish the continuous suck-swallow pattern and

continual lip support to keep the formula she needed in her

mouth.

However, after a few more months of therapy, Ruby began totake in approximately 3.5 oz from her bottle with a

continuous suck and swallow pattern. Right before her six

month evaluation, Ruby went for a check-up at the doctors

office and it was recommended to discontinue use of the

g-tube and move to all oral feedings!

Ruby is now able to consume approximately four ounces of

formula from her bottle five to six times daily. This is

tremendous for Ruby and her family, as she no longer has to

rely on g-tube feedings for nutrition. Thanks to home health

therapy, Ruby is now able to participate in feeding activities

with her twin sister. This progress has also saved the state a

great deal of future medical expenses, as Ruby no longer

requires the use of g-tube equipment.


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www.KidsCareTherapy.com

On Friday, September 16th, Representative Stefani Carter came to the

KidsCare Therapy Dallas office to speak to nearly 100 therapists and

employees about the importance of childhood healthcare, and to review

the past successes from the legislative session. Representative Carter

discussed her assistance in helping support a cause that holds high

importance for the future of Texas our children. Ms. Carter thanked the

audience for what they do each day to change the lives of the children in

our community, as well as explained how proud she was that her stance

was able to avoid critical cuts that could have resulted in many Texas

children no longer receiving healthcare that is vital to their future.

Representative Carter stated, Kids dont have their own voice, so its

important that people like us represent them. We are so proud to have

such great representation in the Dallas area, and are thankful for all that

she has done to support our patients and other north Texas children!

Representative Stefani Carter Speaks to KCT Therapists

Stefani Carter represents district 102 in Dallas, for additional information go to http://www.carterfortexas.com

KidsCare Therapy was so proud to be a sponsor of the third

annual EYE Can Swim event held by the Department of

Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) Division for Blind

Services. Roughly 285 DFW community members including

special needs kids, siblings, parents and volunteers cooled off

at the Lancaster Recreational Center in Lancaster, TX, for two

days of aquatic therapy, food and fun for all. This years event

was able to provide 82 special needs children with therapy,

which was a new record for EYE Can Swim.

During the event children with vision problems and other

disabilities enjoyed a 45-minute aquatic therapy session withassistance from volunteer therapists, parents, and members

of various agencies. This year KidsCare Therapys very own

Ellen Enright, PT, led the first days session. The therapy

included various in-water activities such as wall pushes, ball

throwing, and specialized movements on toys such as noodles

and swim boards to improve strength and motor skills for

children ranging in ages and disabilities.

It was a joy to be able to be a part of this event. I really

believe it opened some eyes to different ways of addressing

goals in therapy, stated Ellen Enright. My hope is that the

parents and caregivers learned some new techniques to use

for aquatic therapy with their kids in the future.

Siblings of the DARS Division for Blind Services clients also

attended the event. They enjoyed a free swim session with

various pool toys, a coloring contest, bingo and pizza, and it

was apparent they had just as much fun as those in the

therapy session.

It is our goal to continue to provide aquatic therapy to those

who are MIVI (those who have multiple disabilities, one of

which being a vision problem), as they may not have an

opportunity to experience other facets of our program, says

Nicole Rogers with DARS, who organized the event.

DARS Division for Blind Services assists children and adults

afflicted with a wide range of vision problems by helping them

to integrate themselves into the community and lead a norm

life through training and providing assistive technology. For

more information on this great event, or on the services DAR

Division for Blind Services provides, please contact Nicole

Rogers, Blind Childrens Specialist at 214-378-2677.

DARS Blind Division Annual Eye Can Swim Event


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Dallas (214) 575-2999 Fort Worth (817) 546-8661 www.KidsCareTherapy.com

New Hires:

Refer a Friend!

KCT Electronic Tracking

Learn more about our company by visiting our page on Facebook.

KidsCare Therapy prides itself on being one of the industry leaders in techno-logical innovations, in order to ensure we are working as efficiently as possible.By streamlining our work into the simplest and most productive manner, we areable to free up time for what really matters our patients and the therapyservices we provide for them. Thats why all of our therapists recently receivedtablet devices to use during their therapy sessions in order to easily documentsession notes and patient information. By doing this we can accurately andsimply monitor the quality of our service, and receive the most up-to-datepatient information at the click of a button!

Congratulations to Deborah Ledbetter, OT,the most recent winner of the KidsCareTherapy Refer a Friend promotion. As thewinner, Deborah received a trip for two toSan Francisco! The next give-away winner willreceive a trip for two to Sante Fe, New Mexico so be sure to email Krystal Szczsponik [email protected] if you

know any licensed PTs, OTs, or SLPsinterested in an exciting career opportunity.Contest ends December 2nd, so get yourreferrals in today!

October 14th

ECCNT Collaborative Care

Conference

October 14th and 15th

CEU - Beckman Oral Motor

October 18th

Texas Tech Career Fair

October 26th

University of Central ArkansasCareer Fair

October 28th & 29th

Texas Physical Therapy Association

Conference/Student Conclave

November 4th & 5th

Texas Occupational Therapy

Association Conference

November 11th

CEU Sensory:

Behavior Approach to Intervention

November 12thFort Worth Family Holiday Party

November 12th

Walk Now for Autism Speaks

November 19th

Dallas Family Holiday Party

December 9th

CEU- Therapeutic Taping Strategies

December 14th

Hardin Simmons Career Fair

Scan this code with yosmartphone app to visiton Facebook and see wh

KidsCare Therapyis all about!

We recommend the Qrafter app for scan

JuneLynn Brink, Human Resources Manager

Donna Catterton, SLP

Jennifer Gray, SLP

Sarah Hamilton, SLP

Haley Kemp, SLP

Christan Morrison, SLP

Anne Potts, SLP

Kate Short, Clinical Development Supervisor

Teresa Scarmardo, PT

Whitney Shaw, SLP

JulyAlejandro Jaimes, Case Conference Coordinator

Joni Jenkins, HR & Payroll Specialist

Molly McNown, OT Clinical Manager

Jessica Puckett, SLP

Angela Ruiz, Translator/Receptionist Fort Worth office

Carly Snell, Event Coordinator

AugustKathryn Ingels, Social Work Intern

Nicki Heussner, SLP

Blair Landy, PT, DPT

Ashley Schilling, MOT, OTR

Jacqueline Sisk, OTR

SeptemberLaresha Anderson, SLP Intern

Leigh Anne Cipriano, SLP

Emily Ferguson, SLP

Edna Hernandez, Intake/Processing Coordinator

Sarah Swann, SLP

Lyndsay Sather, Staffing Coordinator

Julie Wood, SLP

kct newsletter 4qtr 2011

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