Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Eyes on the Prize: Katie Peters, 5, works with therapist Karen Brady at Pediatric Interventions, Inc. on Meridian Avenue.
Special children's clinic will offer various therapies in one location
Pediatric Interventions will offer occupational, speech and physical therapy for youngsters
By Jessica Lyons
Five-year-old Katie Peters' tiny metal walker is parked in the waiting room of Pediatric Interventions, Inc. in Willow Glen. Two slightly worn stuffed animals--a brown and white dog and a Siamese cat--perch on a nearby bookshelf. Katie's walker is about 3 feet tall with a purple and blue bicycle basket attached to the front handlebars. A brown paper bag lunch waits in the basket.
Katie's in the adjoining activity room, straddling a swing above a blue gymnastics mat. With the help of physical therapist Karen Brady, Katie holds onto the swing's rope, pushing herself back and forth. When she starts to lose her balance and slide off the swing, Katie panics and begins to cry, until Brady helps her regain her balance and her calm.
"All of those things we never even have to think about, for Katie they're are all so difficult," says Katie's mom, Chris Peters, standing in the doorway watching her daughter. Katie was born with a neurological disorder that doctors can't quite pin down. "For Katie, nothing comes naturally," Chris says. "She has problems speaking and moving, everything she does she has to think about it."
Katie's a tall 5-year-old with long blond hair and startling blue eyes. Today she's wearing a lavender T-shirt with tropical fish on it, and matching hair ribbons and glasses. She can only say individual words, and she walks with the help of her walker and small plastic ankle braces. She's been in therapy since she was 2.
For Chris to give Katie what she needs, she must spend approximately six hours a week going to appointments with doctors and therapists--Katie receives occupational, physical and speech therapy. Having all therapy needs in one location would come in handy.
Currently, Katie only receives physical therapy at Pediatric Interventions, but Chris is eagerly awaiting the day in the near future when all three will be offered in one location.
Willow Glen's Pediatric Interventions on Meridian Avenue is expanding to offer all three therapies. The plan, according to president Carol Block, is to have all services in place and therapists hired by the end of June.
The clinic's five child-therapy rooms, brightly decorated and stocked with games, stuffed animals, books, crayons and Play-Doh, accommodate physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy for youngsters.
"Not a lot of clinics offer all three," Block says. "Our goal is to take all three of those, and bind them together to make it user-friendly for parents."
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Helping Hand: Katie Peters receives help learning basic physical maneuvers from physical therapist Karen Brady.
Eighteen therapists staff the private clinic. In addition, two counselors are on site for family and individual counseling. But the majority of Pediatric Interventions business, about 75 percent, comes from outreach services--including home care services, schools services and neonatal services, working with preemies and other babies with health problems in intensive care.
Currently, the clinic only sees about five youngsters on site regularly. Once the program reaches full capacity, however, they're hoping that number will increase to 20 or 30, Block says.
The range of disabilities varies from arthritis and neurological disorders such as Katie's, to Downs Syndrome, premature babies and youngsters with learning disorders.
"Some of the children just need support with fine-motor control for writing," Block says.
The front room in the Willow Glen clinic is for speech therapy. A child-size table sits against one wall, with a mirror beside it, to help little mouths and tongues practice forming words. It's not fully decorated yet, Block says. Soon, the bookshelf will be filled with children's books and board games.
The next room is for occupational and physical therapy, where youngsters can work on movement, balance and strength. There's a tiny wooden bar mounted against the wall, "the baby plié bar," Block says. Colorful climbing blocks lean against one corner, and a large orange therapy bar rolls around the middle of the room. Paddington Bear stencils smile from the walls.
Katie and therapist Karen Brady sit at a table in the room next door. Karen rolls a red palm-sized ball across the table to Katie, who tries to catch it and roll it back.
"Good catching," Karen says, and claps for Katie, before they move on to making Play-Doh snakes.
"The big thing with kids is never to let them know they're doing therapy," Block says. "You have to make it into a game."
So occupational therapy becomes playing with Legos or cutting with scissors--strengthening hands and finger coordination. And physical therapy involves jumping on a trampoline or swinging on a trapeze while batting at a hanging ball--to increase hand-eye coordination.
Once the clinic is up and running and fully staffed to provide occupational, speech and physical therapy, Chris and Katie will be the first in line for all three services, Chris says. "Adjusting to different places and people--that's something Katie has a problem with, too," Chris says. "To provide all these services in one place where the child can come and be comfortable will be fabulous."
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
