About Eb Pediatric Resources

EB Pediatric Resources is located in Chicago, IL. We provide a variety of home-based and center-based services to families with children under 5 years old, including Speech Therapy, Developmental Therapy, ABA Therapy and other Pediatric Therapy services, Global Developmental Evaluations, home-based Infant Massage Instruction, Family Counseling and Support, training workshops such as "Undercover Speech Therapist for Parents," and a home-based educational service called Therapeutic Play Interactions™.

The Learning Through Play™ Center for Child Development in the Lakeview area offers Playgroups and Classes for children ages 2-5 years. These classes were designed by developmental therapists and early learning specialists to help children transition effectively to preschool and kindergarten. They are small (6-7 children max), provide a teacher/child ratio of one adult for every 2 children, and are taught by experienced therapists. The classes are formatted to provide a playful but structured forum for children to learn socialization and language skills, to separate from their parents in a gentle and positive way, and learn to be comfortable and confident in a structured classroom setting. The classes are particularly helpful for children who may still be learning language skills or have difficulty socializing with their peers.

The Center also provides a pleasant, environment where parents can socialize and browse through books and parent resources. Therapists are available to consult with parents, as needed, and discuss their concerns and goals for their children.

Children learn through play!

Our philosophy is that all children have an amazing capacity to learn new skills and all children learn best through play. Our therapy approach involves assessing a child's areas of challenge — whether cognitive, social, sensory, motor or language-related — and providing them with tools to overcome these challenges through play-based interventions.

Our therapists are multidisciplinary and are trained in therapeutic and educational models including DIR/Floor Time, ABA/discrete trial/TEACCH, RDI, Play Project, and PECs.

Affiliates

Erin Hedlin, CCC-SLP/L CLC
Claire M. Halloran, MA CCC-SLP CIMI
Shari Lenz, MOTR/L
Kim Lukecart, OTR/L
Jennifer Tarle, SLP MA

Courtney Allen, DT

Courtney is a Developmental Therapist and Evaluator for the Illinois Early Intervention Program. She received her undergraduate from Illinois State University in Special Education. She has worked in the school system with special needs in the suburbs before acquiring her Developmental Therapy credential. She has experience working with children of all ages in many different settings and with a variety of disabilities and diagnoses. Her most recent experience has been working with children diagnosed with Autism. Her professional experience also includes social skills training for children, IEP development, curriculum development, and lesson plans.

Elizabeth Benney, MA DT CIMI

Elizabeth is a Developmental Therapist and Evaluator for the Illinois Early Intervention Program as well as an IAIM-certified Infant Massage Instructor. She is the founder of the Illinois Developmental Therapy Association and current Chair of its Professional Development Committee. Her practice specializations include certification in the Interactive Metronome program, Therapeutic Listening program ("Core/Listening with the Whole Body"), and Infant Massage Instruction. She has had extensive experience addressing atypical sensory integration and her practice specifically addresses sensorimotor stability and organization. She utilizes various modalities including DIR® model of Floor-time as well as ABA protocols to tailor her sessions to each individual child as appropriate.

Elizabeth earned her graduate degree from University of Chicago and collaborates with graduate schools to provide child development graduates and interns with supervised clinical experience and training. She opened the Learning through Play Center several years ago as a forum in which she and her staff could design a unique style of developmental playgroup, which utilizes structure in conjunction with various modes (art, music, movement) tailored specifically to help children organize, adapt, socialize, communicate, and learn effectively in group settings.

Catherine Byrnes

Catie earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a minor in Art Studio from DePaul University. She will earn her graduate degree in Child Development with Infancy concentration from Erikson Institute and plans to receive her Developmental Therapy credential by June 2015. Her experience includes working with at-risk children and adolescents through after school programs for Chicago Public Schools. She has been working for the Learning through Play Center assisting with running the therapeutic playgroups.

Megan Brady, MA ATR-BC LCPC

Megan is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor as well as Registered Board-Certified Art Therapist. She graduated with a MA in Counseling Psychology and Art Therapy from the Adler School of Professional Psychology. She has had several years of experience in both individual and group therapy and in art therapy for children. She has worked in a variety of environments including hospital, school, private clinic, and home-based settings. She has additional training in play therapy, parent education, and behavior management strategies.

Lisa Brennan, M.Ed. DT LPC

Lisa Brennan is a Developmental Therapist and a Licensed Professional Counselor. She received her M.Ed. in Counseling with a specialization in Early Intervention from DePaul University and a B.A. in Psychology from Wayne State University. Lisa has completed coursework in sensory integration, treatment options for children with autism, Theraplay, and Floor Time. Before Early Intervention, Lisa worked with at-risk children and their families, led social skills groups for young school-age children, and taught preschool.

Heather Copeland, MSW DT

Heather is a Developmental Therapist who received a second Master's degree in Infant Mental Health and Child Development from Erikson Institute, earned her Master's in Social Work from University of Chicago, and has an undergraduate in Psychology from University of Michigan.

Heather joins our staff after several years of conducting Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy privately for children diagnosed with Autism. She has supervised and managed preschool classes for three-year-olds using the Reggio Emilio approach to early childhood when designing the daily curriculum. Her professional experience also includes counseling, social skills training for children, IEP development, child development and scholastic assessments, and data collection/reporting for ABA programs.

Elissa Garcia, MS MSW DT

Elissa is a Developmental Therapist and Evaluator for Early Intervention Program. She received a Masters in Child Development with a Specialization in Infant Studies from Erikson Institute, and a Masters in Social Work from University of Chicago (degree completed 6/2011). During her child development studies, Elissa interned with an Early Head Start home visiting program and a program that provides specialized early education for children on the autistic spectrum, where she received training in Greenspan's "Floor Time" approach. As a social work intern, Elissa has worked with pregnant and parenting teens, as well as an agency that serves children and teens impacted by trauma.

Wendy L. Garcia

Wendy is a Pre-School Teacher who earned her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education from Windbridge in Guatemala City. She has earned her Early Intervention credential as an Interpreter for Spanish speaking families with children with special needs. Wendy has also worked as a Case Manager providing assistance with evaluations and assessments as part of her daily work load. Early on, she worked as a freelancer as an interpreter during citizenship interviews for citizenship, family petitions and asylum cases at the immigration office and asylum office in Chicago. Currently, Wendy serves as a bilingual interpreter from English to Spanish during evaluations and therapy sessions while creating a bridge between Spanish speakers and their therapist to help them achieve their goals.

Samantha Grzesik, MS

Samantha received her Masters in Mental Health Counseling from Purdue University Calumet in June 2011 and is a LPC-candidate. She studied Clinical Psychology at California State University and earned her BA in Psychology from the University of Denver. Her clinical internship year in mental health counseling was spent working with at-risk children/adolescents as well as with adults. Samantha has also worked as a psychiatric technician and a forensic research assistant. She spent time in Denver as a research assistant for a Family Stress & Coping Center. She has been working for the Learning through Play Center for more than three years as Office Manager/Early Intervention Coordinator, and she also assists with running the therapeutic playgroups.

Jessica Hollingsworth, MS DT

Jessica is a Developmental Therapist who completed her MS in Child Development with a specialization in infant studies at Erikson Institute. Prior to joining the Learning through Play staff, Jessica worked at Educare, an early childhood center through the Ounce of Prevention Fund, where she provided counseling and therapeutic intervention for low-income, at-risk children from birth through age five and their families. While there, she also co-facilitated the Early Head Start developmental playgroup which helped the children work on social/emotional skills as well as language and expression. Additionally, Jessica has worked at a daycare as an infant/toddler teacher and currently volunteers at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois where she helps to grant wishes to young children.

Laura Holmgren, MS DT

Laura is a Developmental Therapist who completed her MS in Child Development with a specialization in infant studies at Erikson Institute in 2008 and earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Miami University in 2005. Laura has been an Early Intervention provider for several years working with at-risk children and special needs children under 3 years old. She also has had several years of experience of Head Teacher at St. Chrysostom's Preschool where she managed the staff, led a classroom of 10 preschool age children, and organized a play-based curriculum for use in the entire preschool. She also worked at Educare, an early childhood center through the Ounce of Prevention Fund, where she designed and implemented an attachment-based playgroup for two-year-olds.

Laura is certified in infant and child CPR, completed child abuse/neglect prevention training, and is trained in the administration of various assessment tools including Bayley III and ASQ-SE. She is familiar with various teaching approaches, including Reggio Emilia approach and she uses family-centered, strengths-based approach in her individual therapy sessions.

Alyson Hu, MA LSW DT

Alyson is a Developmental Therapist who earned her dual graduate degree in child development/social work from Loyola and Erikson Institute and she specializes in children and families. She has experience working in the public school system in elementary and preschool classrooms where she has developed curriculum and counseled children with special needs and children with Individualized Education Programs (IEP's). She has had extensive experience with parent support and student/classroom behavioral interventions.

Brandi Neuberg, M.S. CCC-SLP/L

Brandi is a Speech Language Pathologist. She works full time in the public schools and part time providing Early Intervention Services at the Learning Through Play Center. She has been working as a speech language pathologist for 8 years and studied Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson where she received a Bachelor of Science Degree.

Brandi earned a Masters of Science Degree at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the Communication Disorders and Sciences Department. Brandi works with children ranging from birth thru high school and runs the summer language camp for children in early childhood at the Learning Through Play Center. She has experience with children who have a wide range of communication delays including Autism, Dysfluency, Learning Disabilities/ ADD and ADHD, Cognitive Impairments, Traumatic Brain Injury, Articulation and Phonology Delays, and Language Delays.

Tracy Tuyn, MA, CCC-SLP/L

Tracy is a Speech-Language Pathologist (CCC-SLP/L) who graduated from Northwestern's Master of Arts program in Speech-Language Pathology in June 2009. Her passion is to motivate and teach children by synthesizing creative, therapeutic methods with scientific, evidence-based research. She has experience conducting diagnostic evaluations and working with children with diagnoses of Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Speech and Language Delay or Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, Global Developmental Delay, Pervasive Developmental Delay-NOS, and other neurodevelopmental and genetic disorders. She has expertise in multiple approaches to intervention. She utilizes behavior principles, cognitive learning approaches, and creative modification of targets and materials. Additionally, she incorporates gross and fine motor activities to enhance her clients' progress. She has experience in augmentative and alternative communication devices such as Dynavox M3, Dynavox Maestro, and Proloquo2Go iPad software. She tailors each therapeutic program to best suit the family's needs and provide effective, efficient, and individualized therapy.

Christina Vestevich, M.A., BCBA

Christina is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She received her Master of Arts in Behavior Analysis: Autism Treatment from Western Michigan University under the supervision of Dr. Richard W. Malott. Christina has experience working in the Early Childhood sector, private therapy institutions, as well as consultative work for school districts. She has extensive experience conducting functional behavior assessments and analyses, developing behavioral intervention plans for severe problematic behaviors, providing Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention, staff and parent training, assessing and developing verbal behavior and learning programs, as well as Activities of Daily Living training. When she is not working, Christina enjoys painting, drawing, visiting museums, cooking and sampling many of Chicago's wonderful restaurants.

Affiliates

Erin Hedlin, CCC-SLP/L CLC, (Group Feeding Therapy)

Erin is a Speech-Language Pathologist (CCC-SLP/L CLC) and a Certified Lactation Consultant. Her areas of clinical expertise include feeding and swallowing in premature infants, toddlers, and children. She does a variety of assessments and treatments for feeding/swallowing including bedside swallow evaluations, clinical feeding evaluations, and videofluoroscopy swallow evaluations. She is certified in the NOMAS (Neonatal Oral Motor Assessment Scale) as well as the SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach to feeding. She has worked in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for the last 7 years and she has been a credentialed provider for the state's Early Intervention program for the past 5 years.

In the past, Erin has lectured about feeding issues in the NICU and with post-NICU infants. She received her Bachelor of Science in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from Ball State University and her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from Seton Hall University in South Orange New Jersey. For more information about the Feeding Therapy Group or to inquire about her services, please contact Erin directly at ewhedlin@hotmail.com.

Claire M. Halloran, MA CCC-SLP CIMI

Claire is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has worked with young children and their families for over 20 years. She became affiliated with EB Pediatric Resources as a result of a rich and fruitful co-therapy session with Elizabeth Benney, founder of the Learning Through Play Center, three years ago. Elizabeth then invited Claire to join her Early Intervention Evaluation Team and has now invited her to become a professional affiliate to the programming and services provided by the Learning through Play Center. Claire provides speech-language and feeding therapy services at the Center to children age birth to seven. She also provides clinical and reflective supervision to recent speech-language pathology masters graduates as they complete their Clinical Fellowship Year requirements for full accreditation, licensure, and Early Intervention Credentialing.

Claire holds a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Infant Mental Health from The Erikson Institute in Chicago. Claire received her undergraduate degree in History from the College of The Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. Claire's clinical specialties include: Language & Communication Delays, Feeding Challenges, Down syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Neurogenic, Neuromuscular, Congenital, Genetic & Metabolic Disorders, Preemies, Preschool Inclusion Support, Social Language and Peer Interaction, Infant Mental Health Certificate, Infant Massage Instruction Certification, Parent Advocacy and Preschool Transition Support, SSI and Due Process Evaluations. Claire's clinical work is strongly influenced and informed by the principles of Floortime/DIR and Infant Mental Health practices.

For more information, to schedule an evaluation, or to inquire about ongoing speech-language/feeding therapy, please contact Claire directly at 773-710-8304 or clairehalloran@sbcglobal.net. You can also check out her professional profile at Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/claire-halloran/8/22a/987

Shari Lenz, MOTR/L

Shari Lenz is an Occupational Therapist with 14 years of experience in Pediatrics and Early Intervention. She specializes in sensory processing, modulation and regulation disorders and has extensive experience with preemies, feeding, Failure to Thrive, ASD/PDD/ Asperger's, genetic disorders/syndromes, Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and neuromuscular disorders. Shari is SIPT certified and certified in Therapeutic Listening Program. Shari was an OT director for 10 years and currently provides state and private OT evaluations.

Kim Lukecart, OTR/L (Group Feeding Therapy)

Kim Lukecart is an Occupational Therapist who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003. Kim currently works in a pediatric clinic setting, is an Illinois Early Intervention credentialed evaluator and treatment specialist, and provides hippotherapy to children and adults in Lake Forest, IL. Throughout her career, Kim has gained experience in a variety of pediatric settings including acute care, outpatient and a neonatal intensive care unit. She provides treatment for a variety of diagnoses for the birth to three populations and has completed many trainings to further her professional development in pediatrics including the SOS Approach to feeding, Food Chaining, Therapeutic Listening, Astronaut Training, kinesiotaping and hippotherapy.

For more information about the Feeding Therapy Group or to inquire about her services, please contact Kim directly at kjlukecart@yahoo.com.

Jennifer Tarle, SLP MA (Presenter, "Undercover Speech Therapist")

Jennifer is a Certified Speech Pathologist with over 12 years of experience in speech-related training and pathologies. Jennifer earned a BS degree and an MA degree in Speech Pathology. She is licensed in CA, IL, & OH, is certified with the State Boards of Education in IL and OH, certified by the IL early intervention system, holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA), & has earned several AHSA ACE Awards for continuing education. Jennifer is trained and certified in the Hanen Program, Pyramid Approach, TEFL, PECS and Compton PESL.

As a frequent guest speaker on Golden Opportunities, a television show for seniors, Jennifer spoke on age related communication and swallowing issues. She presented on coaching parents to provide language enrichment at the Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago, Near South Side Preventative Initiative Program Symposium. Teacher and parent training classes are presented year round. Jennifer is also a guest lecturer at Columbia College in Chicago. Jennifer strives to help individuals and groups to improve their lives through better communication.

For more information or to inquire about her services, please contact Jennifer directly at jennifertarle@hotmail.com. You can also check out her website at: http://tarlespeech.com.