Next Step Therapy Fills Community’s Need for Early Intervention Services

Joanne Bauer

Joanne Bauer

Published December 7, 2014 7:00 pm
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SENECA, Pa. (EYT) – About ten years ago, Tracy Cowles had an ingenious idea to provide early intervention services to Venango County. Living in a rural area, she realized there was a need to help children reach their potential through developmental support.

Tracy, a speech language pathologist, told exploreClarion.com, “I love working with children. Through my previous work in early intervention and home health programs, I realized it was almost impossible to get long term therapy for children in a rural community.” Tracy wanted to provide services that were typically only offered in large cities like Pittsburgh or Erie.

“I have always been an ‘out of the box thinker,’ and I had been thinking about providing these services to our community for quite some time.” Tracy worked with the Small Business Development Center at Clarion University to make her business plan.

On January 1, 2006, Next Step Therapy opened its doors at the old Cranberry High School with five therapists and an office manager. Shortly afterwards, Next Step’s Child Enrichment Center, a pediatric outpatient clinic, opened.

In 2008, Tracy purchased the former Steffee School in Seneca as the business had greatly expanded and more space was needed. The school was renovated to include pediatric therapy rooms, a gym, sensory rooms and offices. There are six therapy rooms that are furnished in a child friendly manner and the gym has an indoor playground.

About Early Intervention

Next Step Therapy, an early intervention provider, benefits children through developmental supportive services. The purpose of these services is to enhance a child’s abilities. Early Intervention services are available for children aged birth to three through the Human Services Programs in each county. A family is assigned a Service Coordinator who organizes an evaluation, and if the child demonstrates a delay of 25% in one or more area of development, the family can chose Next Step Therapy as the provider of services.

This program is offered at no cost to families and services can occur in the home, nst2 at childcare, or in the community. Services can include speech therapy, occupational therapy (including sensory needs), physical therapy, specialized instruction, and nutrition support. The staff of therapists at Next Step Therapy has many years of experience in pediatrics, is well trained in methods of working with children and families, and is highly regarded in the community.

The following is a simplified checklist that shows a few skills your child should
be doing from birth to three years old:

Developmental Milestones from 0 – 6 Months

• Recognizes primary caregiver
• Begins to babble
• Places objects in mouth
• Transfers objects from hand to hand
• Responds to own name
• Cries when hungry or uncomfortable

Developmental Milestones from 6 – 12 Months

• Stranger anxiety
• Responds to simple verbal requests
• Babbles with inflection and says mama/dada
• Crawls forward
• Stands momentarily
• Finger feeds self with pincer grasp

Developmental Milestones from 12 – 18 Months

• Drinks from a cup
• Imitates behavior of others
• Walks alone
• Pretend play with adult close by
• Can undress self

Developmental Milestones from 18 – 24 Months

• Builds towers of blocks, using two hands
• Plays near but not with other children
• Easily distracted
• Can run and do stairs
• Use 2 – 3 word sentences

Developmental Milestones from 24 – 36 Months

• Can take turns and share
• Uses 4 – 5 word sentences
• Follows 2 -3 step commands
• Climbs well and can kick a ball
• Fear of dark and abandonment from caregiver

Next Step Therapy provides outpatient clinic services for speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and nutrition services through the early intervention programs for children who qualify. These services are offered at two locations, Seneca and Titusville.

“If you have any concerns on whether your child is developing ‘normally,’ your child should be evaluated,” suggests Cowles. Contact the Human Services program for the County that you live in and ask for Early Intervention. The phone numbers for each office are on our website at www.nextsteptherapy.net.

Adult Speech Therapynst3

Next Step Therapy also provides adult speech therapy.

Next Step’s therapist, Heidi Underwood, MS CCC-SLP, specializes in the treatment of adults who experience problems in speech, language, cognition, voice production, and swallowing.

She earned a master’s degree at Clarion University, and holds a certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association.

She is also certified in voice restoration following laryngectomy.

Underwood provides adult speech therapy outpatient services.

For more information, visit Next Step Therapy’s website at: https://www.nextsteptherapy.net/.

Pediatric Outpatient Clinic

Next Step’s Child Enrichment Center is a pediatric outpatient clinic that offers physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. There are two locations for outpatient: 145 Steffee Boulevard, Seneca and 42490 State Highway 27, Titusville.

The clinic accepts most major insurances, Medicare and Medicaid. Flexible, after-school hours are offered so that children do not need to miss school to come to therapy.

Parents need to obtain a prescription from the child’s physician to begin services. The therapists will give parents suggestions and techniques that can be used at home. Therapy is a collaborative process, and parent involvement is essential to success.

The clinic works with local universities like Slippery Rock, Gannon, and Chatham to provide pediatric externships and field placements for college students in physical therapy and occupational therapy majors. The therapists enjoy sharing their knowledge and mentoring students.

Next Step Therapy Expands Operation

Today there are 37 employees at Next Step Therapy, and they serve 10 counties: Armstrong, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Forest, Indiana, Jefferson, Mercer, Venango, and Warren.

Cowles attributes the success of her organization to her experienced and loyal staff.

“My employees have 20 plus years of experience. They are good, caring, compassionate people who care about the kids.”

Photos by Amy Kaltenbach, Administrator, Next Step Therapy, Inc.

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