Administrative Professionals Day

During World War II, there was a shortage of skilled administrative workers. The National Secretaries Association was formed to recognize the work of administrative personnel to the economy, support their development, and attract skilled workers to the field. The name was changed to the International Association of Administrative Professionals in 1998. The first official celebration was in 1952. No Limits Pediatric Therapies is blessed with two top-tier administrative professionals, Kendall Drebes and Sarah Mills. Kendall joined the No Limits family in Spring of 2017 as our office manager. She came from the corporate world of Walmart, but quickly became well versed in all things therapy. Her list of responsibilities is endless, and she is quick to complete any and all assigned tasks. We have a running joke that she is the following: maintenance, plumbing, scheduling queen, IT, HR, handyman, daycare, and the list goes on and on. If it has happened at No Limits, she has been a part of it. Sarah joined No Limits in 2018, as our billing and parent resources coordinator. She was a quick learner, ethical, and has persevered through Medicaid and Insurance changes. She is such an unbelievable asset to the financial side of No Limits. Sarah also plans our community events, and No Limits is always a standout due to her work on these. She planned our Halloween event at the clinic, the clinic birthday party, all of our event booths (AIM Walk, Down Syndrome Connection, Classical Academy Health Fair, etc) She is always willing to lend a helping hand in any area, and is such a great personality in our workplace. We love our days with her. We are so appreciative of both of these women and the myriad of skills they add to our team. The administrative work load of a clinic is monumental, detail oriented, and often times time sensitive. We feel at ease with these two leading our administrative team and ensuring No Limits Pediatric Therapies is running smoothly. Join us in celebrating Kendall and Sarah this week. We are blessed with two of the best! Terrica Weatherford

Tips for Transitions

Lexie Huddleston, OTS Transitions call for change, and we all know that change can be difficult, unpredictable, and frustrating at times. A transition can be described as the process of moving from one activity to another or from one location to another. Whether at home, school, or in the workplace, transitions make up a large part of the day and can be challenging for many kids, especially when asking them to stop an activity that they enjoy, and move to a less desirable task such as homework or chores. Unlike adults, children do not have a strong awareness of time, which therefore hinders their ability to anticipate and prepare for upcoming transitions. Oftentimes, for children that are easily overwhelmed and have trouble adapting to change, transitions can be a trigger for problematic behaviors. Depending on the child and setting, difficulty with transitions can result in avoidance, negotiation, distraction, resistance, aggression, or a full-blown meltdown. Transition strategies are used to support kids during transitions and promote self-regulation when change or disruption occurs throughout the day. There are various verbal and visual techniques that can be used before, during, or after a transition to help children better understand the process. When used consistently, these strategies provide a sense of predictability and can help reduce anxiety and decrease the frequency of challenging behaviors. Incorporating these strategies throughout the child’s daily schedule will help them learn to manage their time and create positive routines that take some of the difficulty out of transitions. Create transition routines. Providing the child with structure and consistency is key! Allow plenty of time for the child to complete the transition, especially transitions that are particularly difficult for them.  Use a visual timer. This will give a visual description on how long a specific task or activity should last and how much time remains. Create visual schedules. Visual schedules show the sequence of daily tasks that need to be completed and signals when each activity should start and end. Allow the child to carry a transition object or toy. Holding something familiar in the midst of change can be comforting for the child. Adding movement activities throughout the transition can be a great distraction. Singing songs, marching, blowing bubbles or completing animal walks are great activities to help the child move from one location to another.

3 Year Anniversary

No Limits Pediatric Therapies is celebrating 3 years serving children with special needs and their families. WOW. Typing that sentence brings tears to my eyes. We are truly thankful to all of the families that entrust our therapy company to be a part of your child’s care team. It is humbling to become a part of your family and walk through the lightest times and the darkest times with each of you on your individual journeys. We are blessed each day to work with your children and are grateful for the joy they bring to our lives. Thank you for pushing our clinic to grow and improve. Thank you for providing me with consistent feedback. We have the absolute best group of parents, and I am awestruck that each of you chose and continue to choose No Limits. I would like to thank all of the staff members of No Limits for making my job fun and rewarding. Kendall and Sarah (our AMAZING office administrators) bring joy, sunshine, sassiness, and all the coffee at the right time. They are event planning masters, schedule fillers, master billers, and navigators of change. They keep us running and organized. They are such an imperative part of our team. Davinia, Amber, and Emily (our world class OT team) bring innovation, sensory integration slaying, parent education loving vibes, and so much fun to our clinic. They are a force with which to be reckon. Karina and Hannah (our dynamic PT duo) bring laughter, honesty, remarkably hilarious situations, and overwhelming amounts of knowledge to No Limits. They even make core strengthening look fun! Sarah, Brittney, Alyssa, Vanessa, and Laura (TEAM SPEECHIES!) are so gifted and unmatched in skill-set and passion for ST. Language, Artic, Pragmatics, Reading, Fluency, Feeding – they can do it all and amaze me each week. The No Limits Pediatric Therapies staff contribute the ideas that allow for positive growth and development of our clinic. I could not be happier with the team we have assembled and the work we do each day. No Limits Pediatric Therapies’ Goals for improvement this year are: Consistent Targeted Marketing Plan for physicians to show appreciation to our referral sources and improve community recognition of No Limits Pediatric Therapies Improve our Client Intake Process Create a comprehensive electronic medical record guide for our staff to improve consistency and clarity in our documentation We have accomplished so many things of which to be proud in the past 3 years. From our first week of business to entering our third year, we have more than tripled our visits per week – serving and providing more families with quality therapy services. As we look into entering another year of business, we look forward to further growth and the ability to serve more families in NWA and potentially increase the types of services offered to our current clients while keeping our “family feeling.” I love being a part of each of our clients’ lives, and love the family vibe of our clinic. Ensuring our clients are treated as individuals and not another number or 3:30pm appointment, has always and will continue to remain high on our priority list. Client centered care is and will continue to be a value of our clinic and one I hope each of you value and receive. Thank you for celebrating 3 years with us. We look forward to serving families for many more. Terrica