Thursday, March 3rd-
2011
Facebook as a Resource
Not only is KidsCare Therapy committed to staying on top of the latest
trends in technology to treat our patients, we’ve also recognized the
importance of using it to stay connected with our patients and their
families, our therapists and the community. By allowing us to list
upcoming events, medical posts and constant updates on what’s
new at KidsCare Therapy, Facebook has become a fun way for our
families to keep in touch with KidsCare Therapy and each other. So
find something fun for your family to do this weekend, or see what our company is
really all about on our Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/KidsCareTherapyDFW
New Hires:
December
Evelyn Graham Marketing Coordinator
Haley Crowell Part-time Speech-Language Pathologist
Linda Chasteler Quality Assurance Analyst
January
Jon Clark Full-time Physical Therapist
Ashley Dipuma Full-time Physical Therapist
Celeste Pohl Full-time Occupational Therapist
Deborah Ledbetter PRN Bilingual Occupational Therapist to be full-time in May 2011
February
Stephanie Bizama Full-time Speech-Language Pathologist
Sophy Abrams PRN Speech-Language Pathologist
Kenya Ethridge Billing Coordinator
Refer a Friend!
Congratulations to Lauren Rose, winner of the most recent KidsCare Therapy
“Refer a Friend” promotion. As the winner, Lauren received a free Apple iPad!
The next give-away winner will receive a trip for two to New York, so be sure
to e-mail Krystal Szczsponik at kszczsponik@kidscaretherapy.com or call her at
(214) 575-2999 with the name of a PT, OT or SLP looking for a position. If they
come in for an interview, you could be on your way to New York! Contest ends
June 13, 2011, so send your referrals in as soon as possible.
Learn more about our company by visiting our page on Facebook.
Dallas (214) 575-2999 • For t Worth (817) 546-8661
Saturday, March 5th EDITION
Texas Speech-Language Hearing
Association Covention
Houston, Texas
Friday, March 25th-
Saturday, March 26th
CEU: The ABCs of Pediatric
Feeding and Swallowing
KidsCare Therapy Dallas Office
KIDSCARE EVENTS
Volume I, Issue 2: 2011
Monday, April 18th
CEU: Bridging the Gap from
Treatment to Home
Take a
KidsCare Therapy Dallas Office
KidsCare
Look Inside
Therapy Making
Friday, May 13th • KidsCare Therapy Making an Impact... 1
CEU: Ethics: What Does It an Impact
Have to Do With Me • New PT Clinical Manager..................... 2
KidsCare Therapy Dallas Office At KidsCare Therapy, we take our
commitment to providing quality • Success Story...................................... 2
home healthcare to children of the
Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex very Cortney Baker, M.S., CCC/SLP • It’s a Sensory World............................ 3
seriously. It’s important to us that CFO/President of Clinical Services
these services are not only excellent, • CEUs a Monthly Tradition at KidsCare
but also that they’re easily accessible. To ensure this, we are Therapy............................................... 3
constantly seeking out knowledgeable, skilled therapists to join
our team, as well as holding our current therapists to the highest
• Facebook as a Resource...................... 4
of standards.
• KidsCare Events................................... 4
However, unfortunately in today’s ever-changing world there are a
number of factors that block access to quality care that are simply
out of our hands, proposed legislation being one of them. Currently, • New Hires............................................ 4
the Texas House of Representatives and Senate are considering
budget cuts that would have devastating consequences to health • Refer a Friend...................................... 4
care service providers like KidsCare Therapy, our employees, and
the children we treat.
Texas legislators are working now to balance our upcoming
budget in the midst of a severe economic recession, and while
we understand that cuts will need to be made across the board, suggested amendments to current and proposed legislation. We
our state is already drastically behind in efforts to provide health are asking senators and house members to vote no to Senate
services to the developmentally delayed. Texas currently ranks Bill 1 and House Bill 1, respectively, which if passed could result
49 out of the 50 states in this area of performance! This lack of in 28% cuts to funding to services like Medicaid.
a priority on developmental services for the youth of our state is
simply unacceptable. High cuts such as this would have devastating effects on small
businesses like KidsCare Therapy, which would not only make
access to quality healthcare services even less affordable, but
While we are not able to directly shape the future of Texas, we
would also have a grave impact on the local economy. Our
do have a voice with our legislators, and our commitment calls employees invest their salaries into the Texas economy when
us to actively use our voices. I, along with David Reimer, Director they support local restaurants and stores, as well as when they
of Business Development, Melissa Scott, Administrator, and Debi pay their taxes.
Lindsey, Clinical Education Manager, have taken multiple trips to
Austin, testifying before and meeting one-on-one with legislators,
attending conference meetings, and even submitting some continued on page 3
• www.KidsCareTherapy.com Dallas (214) 575-2999 • Fort Worth (817) 546-8661 • www.KidsCareTherapy.com
New PT Clinical Manager
We are pleased to announce Kristie Nieslanik as our new Physical Therapy Clinical Manager!
Kristie, who has been with KidsCare Therapy for almost five years in the field, was the first full-
time physical therapist hired after KidsCare Therapy opened its doors seven years ago. She brings
a total of 13 years of pediatric PT experience to the KidsCare Therapy office. Her background
includes experience in NICU, ECI, home health and rehab settings.
As the primary contact and source of support for our field physical therapists, Kristie will be
performing and reviewing evaluations, leading quarterly therapist meetings, assisting in CEUs,
advocating for families denied by insurance, and ensuring proper treatment for each of our
patients.
Kristie’s favorite part of her career is working with children, and she will continue to have a few
patients to “keep her fingers” on the treatment side. Kristie also hopes that this new role will
allow her to be a strong representative for the other physical therapists on staff, as she’ll be an in-office advocate for her colleagues.
This position isn’t just a new role for Kristie, but also for KidsCare Therapy. As the company continues to grow, this position has become
an imperative part of maintaining the clinical support the company values. Kristie was happy to fill the position—she believes that having
a PT Clinical Manager on board will bring a unique perspective to the office, and will better help to meet everyone’s needs. She also has
hopes that this will allow the Physical Therapy department at KidsCare Therapy to continue to grow and thrive.
We welcome Kristie to the office, and we are excited to see what the future brings with her on board!
Success Story
Danna Pelland, SLP
I first evaluated Emily over a year ago for speech and language services, and I have been fortunate to be her treating speech-language
pathologist ever since. Emily has a rare genetic disorder that affects her bones and muscles. In addition, she presents unspecified delays
in development that affect her cognitive and communicative development. Emily’s communication delay is considered ‘severe’ since she is
now five years old and currently uses just single word approximations or hand signs to communicate. Emily also has difficulty coordinating
her oral musculature for intelligible speech.
Emily comes from a primarily Spanish-speaking home environment, so as a bilingual therapist I was able to provide excellent parent
education and also understand what was important to her caregivers with regard to increasing functional communication in the home. Emily
is tri-lingual: she uses a combination of hand signs and English and Spanish word approximations to communicate. I definitely had to ‘brush
up’ on some sign language to be a more competent therapist for Emily, but at least I had the Spanish part down!
Emily, like so many other children with communication disabilities, really benefits from a multi-modality approach to therapeutic intervention.
In therapy sessions with Emily, I used many different ways to teach a single language concept. For example, Emily just mastered the
goal of understanding the quantity concepts of ‘all’ and ‘one’. I drew pictures for her (she got a kick out of my stick figures!), used
manipulatives like checkers, and even involved her favorite dolls in pretend picnics! Emily is
a hard worker, but she doesn’t like typical school-age activities such as crafts or worksheets,
so she is always keeping me on my toes looking for new and engaging ways to teach her the
essential communication skills she will need at home and in the community.
In the past year of intervention, Emily has increased her expressive vocabulary from less
than 10 words and signs to more than 50! Her understanding of spoken language continues
to steadily increase, and her ability to control and coordinate the muscles needed for speech
has increased dramatically. Just this week, she was making /f/ and /w/ sounds in imitation, a
historic development for her! I am convinced that the intensive home-based therapy that she
receives twice a week is what helps Emily to communicate to the very best of her abilities. And
the smiles that greet me at the door remind me that what I do is invaluable to both the children
and the families that we serve at KidsCare Therapy.
www.KidsCareTherapy.com
It’s a Sensory World
KidsCare Therapy has found a great new resource for special needs kids with developmental
delays! It’s a Sensory World is a special gym facility where families are encouraged to
get involved in implementing therapy tactics recommended by their therapists.
The gym provides an on staff therapist, as well as a staff of students pursuing child
development-related degrees; however, they encourage the parents and siblings to work
with the children to begin to supplement their therapy in a fun environment. Kids can
participate in one-on-one parent guided sensory circuits, staff-guided sensory circuits
or small groups.
The gym includes equipment such as a climbing wall, several types of swings, trampolines,
resistance and crawling tunnels, crash pads and therapy balls. Gross and fine motor toys
such as scooter boards and balance beams provide patients with an array of tools to
enjoy their extra therapy.
It’s a Sensory World also hosts birthday parties for special need children, as well as
parents’ nights out. For additional information, visit their website at
www.itsasensoryworld.com.
CEUs a Monthly Tradition at KidsCare
KidsCare Therapy prides itself on making continued education a high priority for all employees. In keeping with this commitment, KCT will
be offering CEUs on a different topic every month, each focusing on a different subject ranging from specific diagnoses to an assortment
of treatment techniques.
KidsCare Therapy hopes that by continuing to refresh and educate therapists, they will be able to better recognize potential problems in
their patients, as well as be able to associate different treatment techniques with varying symptoms.
In January, attendees learned about Verbal Apraxia, a speech disorder in which patients have difficulties saying words consistently and
accurately. Therapists were educated on the warning signs, symptoms, treatments and challenges of this diagnosis. It was evident that the
CEU was beneficial, as many therapists were able to recognize these potential warning signs in their current patients.
Up-coming CEUs include: “Treating Children with Severe Disabilities,” “The ABCs of Pediatric Swallowing,” and “Bridging the Gap from
Treatment to Home.” Check our website for a full line-up of this year’s CEUs.
KidsCare Therapy Making an Impact
continued from page 1
In addition to voting no to Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1, we are also asking them to put regulations on Medicaid Managed Care Organizations
(MCOs) that would require them to reimburse at rates even to the State Medicaid Fee Schedule (MFS)—not at rates that are substantially
below the MFS, which is what many of them are currently offering. We believe that just this small step would allow many small businesses
such as ourselves to sustain budget cuts. In addition, many of these MCO companies are based outside of Texas, resulting in millions of
Texas dollars leaving the state and not entering back into our economy.
We hope that you’ll join this fight for Texas children. If you’re interested in learning about how you can get involved, please contact David
Reimer, Director of Business Development, at dreimer@kidscaretherapy.com or (214) 575-2999.
We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change
the course of history.
Sonia Johnson, American Activist
www.KidsCareTherapy.com
New PT Clinical Manager
We are pleased to announce Kristie Nieslanik as our new Physical Therapy Clinical Manager!
Kristie, who has been with KidsCare Therapy for almost five years in the field, was the first full-
time physical therapist hired after KidsCare Therapy opened its doors seven years ago. She brings
a total of 13 years of pediatric PT experience to the KidsCare Therapy office. Her background
includes experience in NICU, ECI, home health and rehab settings.
As the primary contact and source of support for our field physical therapists, Kristie will be
performing and reviewing evaluations, leading quarterly therapist meetings, assisting in CEUs,
advocating for families denied by insurance, and ensuring proper treatment for each of our
patients.
Kristie’s favorite part of her career is working with children, and she will continue to have a few
patients to “keep her fingers” on the treatment side. Kristie also hopes that this new role will
allow her to be a strong representative for the other physical therapists on staff, as she’ll be an in-office advocate for her colleagues.
This position isn’t just a new role for Kristie, but also for KidsCare Therapy. As the company continues to grow, this position has become
an imperative part of maintaining the clinical support the company values. Kristie was happy to fill the position—she believes that having
a PT Clinical Manager on board will bring a unique perspective to the office, and will better help to meet everyone’s needs. She also has
hopes that this will allow the Physical Therapy department at KidsCare Therapy to continue to grow and thrive.
We welcome Kristie to the office, and we are excited to see what the future brings with her on board!
Success Story
Danna Pelland, SLP
I first evaluated Emily over a year ago for speech and language services, and I have been fortunate to be her treating speech-language
pathologist ever since. Emily has a rare genetic disorder that affects her bones and muscles. In addition, she presents unspecified delays
in development that affect her cognitive and communicative development. Emily’s communication delay is considered ‘severe’ since she is
now five years old and currently uses just single word approximations or hand signs to communicate. Emily also has difficulty coordinating
her oral musculature for intelligible speech.
Emily comes from a primarily Spanish-speaking home environment, so as a bilingual therapist I was able to provide excellent parent
education and also understand what was important to her caregivers with regard to increasing functional communication in the home. Emily
is tri-lingual: she uses a combination of hand signs and English and Spanish word approximations to communicate. I definitely had to ‘brush
up’ on some sign language to be a more competent therapist for Emily, but at least I had the Spanish part down!
Emily, like so many other children with communication disabilities, really benefits from a multi-modality approach to therapeutic intervention.
In therapy sessions with Emily, I used many different ways to teach a single language concept. For example, Emily just mastered the
goal of understanding the quantity concepts of ‘all’ and ‘one’. I drew pictures for her (she got a kick out of my stick figures!), used
manipulatives like checkers, and even involved her favorite dolls in pretend picnics! Emily is
a hard worker, but she doesn’t like typical school-age activities such as crafts or worksheets,
so she is always keeping me on my toes looking for new and engaging ways to teach her the
essential communication skills she will need at home and in the community.
In the past year of intervention, Emily has increased her expressive vocabulary from less
than 10 words and signs to more than 50! Her understanding of spoken language continues
to steadily increase, and her ability to control and coordinate the muscles needed for speech
has increased dramatically. Just this week, she was making /f/ and /w/ sounds in imitation, a
historic development for her! I am convinced that the intensive home-based therapy that she
receives twice a week is what helps Emily to communicate to the very best of her abilities. And
the smiles that greet me at the door remind me that what I do is invaluable to both the children
and the families that we serve at KidsCare Therapy.
www.KidsCareTherapy.com
It’s a Sensory World
KidsCare Therapy has found a great new resource for special needs kids with developmental
delays! It’s a Sensory World is a special gym facility where families are encouraged to
get involved in implementing therapy tactics recommended by their therapists.
The gym provides an on staff therapist, as well as a staff of students pursuing child
development-related degrees; however, they encourage the parents and siblings to work
with the children to begin to supplement their therapy in a fun environment. Kids can
participate in one-on-one parent guided sensory circuits, staff-guided sensory circuits
or small groups.
The gym includes equipment such as a climbing wall, several types of swings, trampolines,
resistance and crawling tunnels, crash pads and therapy balls. Gross and fine motor toys
such as scooter boards and balance beams provide patients with an array of tools to
enjoy their extra therapy.
It’s a Sensory World also hosts birthday parties for special need children, as well as
parents’ nights out. For additional information, visit their website at
www.itsasensoryworld.com.
CEUs a Monthly Tradition at KidsCare
KidsCare Therapy prides itself on making continued education a high priority for all employees. In keeping with this commitment, KCT will
be offering CEUs on a different topic every month, each focusing on a different subject ranging from specific diagnoses to an assortment
of treatment techniques.
KidsCare Therapy hopes that by continuing to refresh and educate therapists, they will be able to better recognize potential problems in
their patients, as well as be able to associate different treatment techniques with varying symptoms.
In January, attendees learned about Verbal Apraxia, a speech disorder in which patients have difficulties saying words consistently and
accurately. Therapists were educated on the warning signs, symptoms, treatments and challenges of this diagnosis. It was evident that the
CEU was beneficial, as many therapists were able to recognize these potential warning signs in their current patients.
Up-coming CEUs include: “Treating Children with Severe Disabilities,” “The ABCs of Pediatric Swallowing,” and “Bridging the Gap from
Treatment to Home.” Check our website for a full line-up of this year’s CEUs.
KidsCare Therapy Making an Impact
continued from page 1
In addition to voting no to Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1, we are also asking them to put regulations on Medicaid Managed Care Organizations
(MCOs) that would require them to reimburse at rates even to the State Medicaid Fee Schedule (MFS)—not at rates that are substantially
below the MFS, which is what many of them are currently offering. We believe that just this small step would allow many small businesses
such as ourselves to sustain budget cuts. In addition, many of these MCO companies are based outside of Texas, resulting in millions of
Texas dollars leaving the state and not entering back into our economy.
We hope that you’ll join this fight for Texas children. If you’re interested in learning about how you can get involved, please contact David
Reimer, Director of Business Development, at dreimer@kidscaretherapy.com or (214) 575-2999.
We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change
the course of history.
Sonia Johnson, American Activist
www.KidsCareTherapy.com

Facebook as a Resource
Not only is KidsCare Therapy committed to staying on top of the latest
trends in technology to treat our patients, we’ve also recognized the
importance of using it to stay connected with our patients and their
families, our therapists and the community. By allowing us to list
upcoming events, medical posts and constant updates on what’s
new at KidsCare Therapy, Facebook has become a fun way for our
families to keep in touch with KidsCare Therapy and each other. So
find something fun for your family to do this weekend, or see what our company is
really all about on our Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/KidsCareTherapyDFW
New Hires:
December
Evelyn Graham Marketing Coordinator
Haley Crowell Part-time Speech-Language Pathologist
Linda Chasteler Quality Assurance Analyst
January
Jon Clark Full-time Physical Therapist
Ashley Dipuma Full-time Physical Therapist
Celeste Pohl Full-time Occupational Therapist
Deborah Ledbetter PRN Bilingual Occupational Therapist to be full-time in May 2011
February
Stephanie Bizama Full-time Speech-Language Pathologist
Sophy Abrams PRN Speech-Language Pathologist
Kenya Ethridge Billing Coordinator
Refer a Friend!
Congratulations to Lauren Rose, winner of the most recent KidsCare Therapy
“Refer a Friend” promotion. As the winner, Lauren received a free Apple iPad!
The next give-away winner will receive a trip for two to New York, so be sure
to e-mail Krystal Szczsponik at kszczsponik@kidscaretherapy.com or call her at
(214) 575-2999 with the name of a PT, OT or SLP looking for a position. If they
come in for an interview, you could be on your way to New York! Contest ends
June 13, 2011, so send your referrals in as soon as possible.
Learn more about our company by visiting our page on Facebook.
Dallas (214) 575-2999 • For t Worth (817) 546-8661
Thursday, March 3rd-
2011
Saturday, March 5th EDITION
Texas Speech-Language Hearing
Association Covention
Houston, Texas
Friday, March 25th-
Saturday, March 26th
CEU: The ABCs of Pediatric
Feeding and Swallowing
KidsCare Therapy Dallas Office
KIDSCARE EVENTS
Volume I, Issue 2: 2011
Monday, April 18th
CEU: Bridging the Gap from
Treatment to Home
Take a
KidsCare Therapy Dallas Office
KidsCare
Look Inside
Therapy Making
Friday, May 13th • KidsCare Therapy Making an Impact... 1
CEU: Ethics: What Does It an Impact
Have to Do With Me • New PT Clinical Manager..................... 2
KidsCare Therapy Dallas Office At KidsCare Therapy, we take our
commitment to providing quality • Success Story...................................... 2
home healthcare to children of the
Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex very Cortney Baker, M.S., CCC/SLP • It’s a Sensory World............................ 3
seriously. It’s important to us that CFO/President of Clinical Services
these services are not only excellent, • CEUs a Monthly Tradition at KidsCare
but also that they’re easily accessible. To ensure this, we are Therapy............................................... 3
constantly seeking out knowledgeable, skilled therapists to join
our team, as well as holding our current therapists to the highest
• Facebook as a Resource...................... 4
of standards.
• KidsCare Events................................... 4
However, unfortunately in today’s ever-changing world there are a
number of factors that block access to quality care that are simply
out of our hands, proposed legislation being one of them. Currently, • New Hires............................................ 4
the Texas House of Representatives and Senate are considering
budget cuts that would have devastating consequences to health • Refer a Friend...................................... 4
care service providers like KidsCare Therapy, our employees, and
the children we treat.
Texas legislators are working now to balance our upcoming
budget in the midst of a severe economic recession, and while
we understand that cuts will need to be made across the board, suggested amendments to current and proposed legislation. We
our state is already drastically behind in efforts to provide health are asking senators and house members to vote no to Senate
services to the developmentally delayed. Texas currently ranks Bill 1 and House Bill 1, respectively, which if passed could result
49 out of the 50 states in this area of performance! This lack of in 28% cuts to funding to services like Medicaid.
a priority on developmental services for the youth of our state is
simply unacceptable. High cuts such as this would have devastating effects on small
businesses like KidsCare Therapy, which would not only make
access to quality healthcare services even less affordable, but
While we are not able to directly shape the future of Texas, we
would also have a grave impact on the local economy. Our
do have a voice with our legislators, and our commitment calls employees invest their salaries into the Texas economy when
us to actively use our voices. I, along with David Reimer, Director they support local restaurants and stores, as well as when they
of Business Development, Melissa Scott, Administrator, and Debi pay their taxes.
Lindsey, Clinical Education Manager, have taken multiple trips to
Austin, testifying before and meeting one-on-one with legislators,
attending conference meetings, and even submitting some continued on page 3
• www.KidsCareTherapy.com Dallas (214) 575-2999 • Fort Worth (817) 546-8661 • www.KidsCareTherapy.com