Augmentative
Alternative
Communication (AAC)
AAC tools and devices aim to facilitate, supplement, or replace verbal speech.
Picture exchange systems, communication boards, choice cards, and speech generating devices are all examples of AAC options.
AAC isn't just for people who have motor impairments which limit their verbal speech. AAC can also be used for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Delays, or Cognitive Disabilities.
Carol
Briggs
CCC-SLP
founder, president
Founder and administrator of Abilities, Carol has dedicated over 30 years to serving the needs of families in Baton Rouge and the surrounding communities. Carol’s commitment to excellence and her dedication to her staff as well as the families they treat continue to provide the foundation for Abilities success.
Amy
Arledge
CCC-SLP
therapy manager
With over 20 years of dedication to helping children succeed, Amy Arledge leads our team with a contagious passion for helping every family that walks through our doors. In addition to making sure the clinic runs smoothly, Amy serves as a mentor to our speech therapy clinical fellows and provides direct therapy to our Abilities children as her schedule allows.
Margaret
Reed
CCC-SLP
speech-language
mentor
With over 25 years of clinical experience, Margaret enjoys working with all children and has a special interest in assisting children with feeding difficulties. She is the leader of the Abilities Feeding Team and also mentors graduate students, newly graduated therapists, and newly hired therapists as the Abilities Speech Therapist Mentor.
Amy
Fuselier
LOTR
occupational
therapy
mentor
Amy piloted our occupational therapy program over 20 years ago. Her keen eye for seeing a child’s strengths paved the way for the client-centered and strength-based approach for which the Abilities occupational therapy department is known. In addition to providing direct occupational therapy services to the children of Abilities, Amy mentors graduate students, newly graduated therapists, and newly hired therapists as the Abilities Occupational Therapist Mentor.
Sarah
Roshto
MOT, LOTR
best
practice
coordinator
Sarah provides direct intervention and parent education for children requiring OT services here at Abilities. In addition to her role as a therapist, Sarah also acts as the liaison between the clinic and our surrounding community by updating our website and social media. As best practice coordinator, Sarah consistently reviews current research in child development- ensuring our staff is apprised of the latest evidenced-based research in pediatrics.
Lindsay
Perque
CCC-SLP
speech-language
pathologist
Lindsay has over 15 years of experience working with pediatric clients with various language disorders, learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, apraxia of speech, oral motor disorders, articulation disorders, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) needs. She believes in the importance of a team approach that includes therapists, families, caretakers, and educators in therapeutic process.
Renee
McGuinness
CCC-SLP
speech-language
pathologist
Renee has 16 years of experience practicing Speech-Language Pathology addressing the following disorders: language disorders, articulation disorders, reading disorders, autism spectrum disorder, and apraxia of speech. She loves working with children and is dedicated to working with families to help a child reach his/her full potential.
Lauren
Collier
CCC-SLP
speech-language
pathologist
Lauren has a true passion for early intervention and helping children develop literacy and articulation skills. She believes that communication is the key to successful interaction. Lauren strives to work collaboratively with children and their families to help each child she works with reach their maximal potential.
Emily
Hingle
CF-SLP
speech-language
pathologist
Emily believes that we were created to have relationships and communicate with others. She understands the short window of opportunity children have to mature in these skills. The techniques and knowledge she’s gained as a certified PK-3 teacher and speech therapist help steer her sessions. Specifically, she is passionate about early intervention, parent education, and involving gross motor activities to stimulate children’s whole body and encourage verbal expression.
Katie
Matkins
CF-SLP
speech-language
pathologist
Katie has a passion for early intervention and believes that working in a multidisciplinary setting and providing functional, play-based intervention can drastically improve client motivation, progress, and self-confidence. She utilizes a whole child approach to promote skill mastery and carryover of skills learned in therapy.
Mary Kate
McHugh
CCC-SLP
speech-language
pathologist
Mary Kate believes in the importance of using fun and functional activities to expand a child's ability to learn and apply skills taught in therapy. She is passionate about the importance of early intervention for language development and believes the key to therapeutic progress is parent involvement and multi-disciplinary collaboration.
Kaitlyn
Byrnside
CCC-SLP
speech-language
pathologist
Kaitlyn believes that parent involvement and early intervention are critical to a child’s success in pediatric therapy. She has a passion for helping children overcome all language challenges and has special interests in how hearing and auditory processing impacts language development as well as childhood apraxia of speech. Kaitlyn loves working with children and their families to help them achieve their goals and long term success.
Kendall
Harper
CCC-SLP
speech-language
pathologist
Kendall has a strong passion for working with children of all ages who have articulation disorders, language disorders, and/or learning disabilities. She believes it is important to implement the whole-child approach by incorporating parents and caregivers within her treatment. She also enjoys utilizing strategic yet fun activities to target the client's goals for success.
Jacee
Truax
MOT, LOTR
occupational
therapist
Jacee empowers children to develop new skills through the use of client and family-centered approaches. She carefully plans motivating and meaningful functional activities to ensure children are actively engaged throughout the therapy processes- leading them to achieve their goals.
Rachel
Misita
MOT, LOTR
occupational
therapist
Rachel has been providing direct therapy to children and caregiver training to their families for over seven years. She is especially interested in how processing of visual stimuli and motor coordination impact a child's daily activities. Rachel enjoys facilitating children's abilities to accomplish their goals and witnessing their self confidence flourish.
Hannah
Hodges
MOTR, LOTR
occupational
therapist
Hannah provides direct interventions that progress her clients towards achieving their
functional goals. She has a passion for school-based therapy and enjoys collaborating with teachers and parents to help children reach their fullest potential in the classroom. Hannah also enjoys facilitating
trans-disciplinary groups and FRIEND model groups at Abilities to provide children with a fun and functional environment to develop and improve their social interaction, emotional regulation, attention and
focus skills.
Bridget
Champagne
MOT, LOTR
occupational
therapist
Bridget enjoys collaborating across disciplines to ensure comprehensive treatment is provided to each of her clients. Bridget believes it is important to emphasize fun yet functional activities in play-based therapy to help motivate each child to increase their independence and meet their goals. Bridget feels that through her work she can truly make a difference in a child's life.
Lauren
Sherman
MOT, LOTR
occupational
therapist
Lauren believes that carefully chosen, motivating, and functional activities can make direct intervention fun and engaging for every child. Lauren is dedicated to a child-centered approach and believes that play-based interventions have the biggest impact on skill development in early intervention settings. Lauren has a special interest in fine motor skill development and its impact on increasing a child’s independence with their activities of daily living.
Taylor Ann
Hasty
MOT, LOTR
occupational
therapist
Taylor Ann is honored to serve families by striving to provide individualized and child guided therapy to allow for the greatest independence and participation in daily activities possible. She enjoys collaborating with a multidisciplinary team, including parents, in order to help a child enhance meaningful skills and occupations and reach his or her full potential.
Kaila
Martin
MOT, LOTR
occupational
therapist
Kaila is fulfilling her lifelong dream of making the difference in the lives of others. Kaila has a passion for collaborating across disciplines with other therapists to ensure the most comprehensive treatment is provided to each of her clients. Kaila was also integral in helping the administrative team establish our second location in Satsuma, Livingston.
Alana has over 10 years of experience in pediatric therapy. She has a special interest in how a child's sensory processing and motor coordination skills impact their behavioral and emotional regulation. Alana employs a multi-cultural approach to therapy ensuring holistic and client-centered interventions are provided to each child she serves.
Alana
Winters
MOT, LOTR
occupational
therapist
Candace
VanDine
patient
scheduler
With 7 years of experience in the medical field, Candace assists our Abilities parents in scheduling their child's weekly therapy appointments. Her efforts ensure continuity of care and in turn optimum therapeutic progress.
Aubrey
Efferson
patient
services
coordinator
Aubrey is often the first smiling face you will encounter when you walk through our lobby doors. Aubrey will ensure you are checked in and ready for therapy, receive pertinent therapy reports and updates, and that all personal information needed for seamless service delivery is up to date and accessible to our team.
Wanda
Templet
billing
insurance
coordinator
With 11 years experience in medical billing, Wanda assists our families with all of their billing and insurance needs. She is in charge of contacting your insurance providers to determine applicable benefits, file claims, and when necessary, request additional visits. Wanda’s efforts ensure continuity of care and seamless service delivery.
Shelly
Aucoin
intake
specialist
Shelly helps parents navigate the process of setting up an initial evaluation with Abilities. She is the first voice our Abilities parents will hear when they begin their journey with us. Shelly is in contact with your local pediatricians and health care providers to ensure necessary medical documents are collected and filed prior to your child’s initial evaluation. Through information gathering, Shelly makes families' transition to Abilities seamless.
Serina
Leblanc
billing
insurance
coordinator
Serina has 17 years of experience in the medical field with 13 of these years as a Medical Billing & Coding specialist. She assists our families with all of their billing and insurance needs. Serina is in charge of billing, coding, insurance collections and when necessary additional visits. Her efforts ensure continuity of care and seamless service delivery.