The Pediatric Place Announces Opening of Autism and Neurodevelopmental Center

The Pediatric Place is excited to announce the opening of our new state-of-the-art Autism and Neurodevelopmental Center next month in Clinton, Missouri. This exciting milestone represents the culmination of years of vision and planning to meet a great need in our community.

“With 1 in 36 children diagnosed with autism in the US, I am excited to see a much-needed collaborative setting creating immediate and long-term opportunities for not only the clients, but also their families,” said Brooke Allen, Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Director of the new Center. “As it is a diagnosis that can truly shift the dynamics of the entire family, to know that TPP will be offering collaborative care that can include family training on techniques to support communication, social, and behavioral needs, is priceless.”

A child in physical therapy felt frustrated when attempting new tasks and would shut down when he felt an activity might be difficult. Collaboration with an occupational therapist enabled the child to develop self-regulation techniques that allowed him to make progress toward PT goals.

An occupational therapist consulted with speech therapists to learn how to model language and structure activities to better support communication skills for children so they could express their wants and needs during sessions.

At The Pediatric Place, situations like these occur every day. With experts in physical, occupational, speech, mental health, and medical nutrition therapy as well as applied behavior analysis under one roof, therapists are able to consult colleagues to support the needs of clients that fall outside their area of expertise in order to provide comprehensive care and empower children to achieve their goals.

“Having the ability to discuss information collected, evaluation findings, and observations helps me see things I may not have seen originally or reassure myself that my goals and treatment plan are on track,” explained Jami Voelmeck, TPP speech therapist.

Brooke Allen, Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Director of TPP’s new Autism and Neurodevelopmental Center, agrees. “My vision for TPP’s new ABA program is to offer collaborative expertise across disciplines to each and every client. Having the ability to walk right down the hallway to ask a counselor a question, pick the brain of an SLP, make a referral to our dietitian, and so many more experts is key to comprehensive ABA programming. My hope for our ABA program is to utilize the expertise of our incredible staff to support each child.”

When TPP owners Jessi Frencken and Carmen Rathert set out to found a multidisciplinary pediatric clinic, their vision was to create a single place where children in our community could receive all the services they need to reach their full potential. Today, with a comprehensive range of services offered, that vision has been realized.

“Collaborative care is looking at the child from all angles and understanding how each discipline brings their expertise to the table to reach the maximum potential of that child,” Jessi explained. “Collaborative care IS The Pediatric Place.”

What services will be offered?

The Center will provide Applied Behavior Analysis therapy for children ages 2 to 9 years, 11 months with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

“ABA therapy can help kids develop a variety of functional skills to make them safe and comfortable in their environment,” Brooke explained. “In collaboration with speech, occupational and physical therapists, it can address social skills, academics, communication, functional/self-help skills, toilet training, sleep struggles, and more.

Children requiring significant support in these areas will attend a half or full day ABA program. TPP’s therapy experts will be on site to provide all the services students require in one location.

“The Center allows more space for collaborative work,” said TPP co-owner Carmen Rathert. “Our mission includes collaboration between each discipline for increased success.”

What will the Center look like?

Adjacent to TPP’s Clinton clinic, the Autism and Neurodevelopmental Center includes 2 large rooms for social interaction and group therapy; a large kitchen; a conference room for professional collaboration, parent training, and treatment team meetings; 12 individual therapy rooms and 4 observation rooms; a life skills room where students practice functional tasks such as laundry; and a 3,000-square foot gym for children who need to move their bodies for regulation. Carmen and Brooke agree that they are most excited about the gym and the future outdoor play space.

“Outdoor play can be a barrier for many of our learners with autism, as 49% of children with autism have been reported to engage in elopement behavior at some point (wandering or bolting away from a safe environment),” Brooke said. “This barrier can be removed when clients have access to outdoor play spaces with safer play boundaries created by assessing the triggers that result in elopement and teaching coping strategies to reduce the risk of elopement.”

The Center will provide safe, fun spaces to practice skills that will enable them to safely access their home, school, and community environments.

By Amy Wolcott, M.S. CCC-SLP