About Us

East Texas Children’s Therapy Services is located in Tyler, TX. We currently employ 16 full-time therapists, 2 part-time therapists, numerous PRN staff, as well as support staff. We are an expanding and productive outpatient pediatric rehabilitation clinic offering physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy and social work services to children all over East Texas.

Our patient’s ages range from infant up to 21. We treat children with a variety of diagnoses including Cerebral Palsy, Sensory Integration Disorder, Speech/Language delays, genetic syndromes, Traumatic Brain Injury, spinal cord injury, etc. We are currently located in a 8,500 square foot facility on South Loop 323 near Broadway Square Mall.

Meet the Staff

Owners:

Kristi Smith, PT, PCS
Board Certified Specialist in Pediatric Physical Therapy

Kristi Smith has 15 years experience in pediatric rehabilitation as a licensed Physical Therapist. She received her Board Certification in Pediatric Physical Therapy in 1999 and maintains her ABPTS certification currently. Kristi is also certified to perform Serial Casting for the pediatric population which she has been performing since 2000.

Kristi has focused her continued education in the areas of pediatric wheelchair/seating and equipment fitting, serial casting, Kinesiotaping, taping for neuromuscular re-education, Theratogs®, NDT, partial weight bearing gait training techniques, gait analysis, pediatric myofascial release and craniosacral therapy, as well as, animal assisted therapy, sensory integration, and orthotic management and Dafo® fitting among other treatment strategies. She has taught as adjunct faculty at Kilgore Community College in the Physical Therapy Assistant program for pediatric rehabilitation and normal child development as well as, teaching and co-teaching continuing education courses for pediatric casting and taping and animal assisted therapy in pediatrics.

Kristi has also been closely affiliated with the TMF Special Needs Clinic program since 1997 assisting in determining the rehabilitation needs of special needs children and assisting the physicians and their staff in acquiring the necessary resources for their special needs children and their families.

Kristi has co-owned East Texas Children’s Therapy Services since its inception in February 2003.

Personally, Kristi is the proud mom of three wonderful, busy girls. She also is involved with Greyhounds Unlimited in assisting in the fostering and adoption of retired greyhounds. She has three adopted greyhounds who are working toward certification to become Therapets. Kristi currently serves on the board of the Smith County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

LeAnn Cargile, OTR SIPT Certified

LeAnn is an Occupational therapist with 14 years of experience. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Texas Woman’s University. LeAnn has focused on expanding her knowledge and skills in the specialty area of Sensory Integration with a certification to administer and interpret the Sensory Integration Praxis Test (SIPT), the most comprehensive assessment of its kind. She is also certified to perform Interactive Metronome treatment.

Other areas of specialty training include, neuro-muscular re-education with taping techniques, NDT, dyspraxia in pediatrics, assessment of the home and adaptive equipment needs, pediatric hand splints, evaluation and treatment of visual perceptual dysfunction, and assessment of hand writing skills.

LeAnn has co-owned East Texas Children’s Therapy Services since its inception in February 2003.

Personally, LeAnn is the mother of three great active children. She enjoys scrapbooking , water skiing and flying with her husband and kids.

Physical Therapists & Physical Therapy Assistants:

Carolyn Long, PT
I have always had a heart for kids and a desire to help individuals achieve their highest quality of life. Due to my desire to aide those without access to standard medical care I have traveled around the world and returned back to Tyler. My education began at the University of Arkansas where I received a BS in Biology (2002) and then went on to receive a Masters in Physical Therapy from UT Southwestern Medical Center (2006). Over the course of my education and work experience I completed rotations specialized in orthopedics, pediatrics, acute care and spinal cord injury. My main areas of interest in pediatric physical therapy are working with children who have sensory issues, autism and traumatic brain injuries.

I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to use my skills and education while working over seas spending time in Kolkata, India, Ghana and Togo, West Africa. I had the privilege of working at Mother Theresa’s Home for the Dying and an orphanage for special needs kids. I returned to Tyler, my hometown, in August 2006.I was drawn back specifically to East Texas Children’s Therapy Services to do what I love, help children achieve their maximum level of physical functioning.

Janelle Melo, PT
I joined the ETCTS team in May 2007. I was born and raised in Florida and received my Bachelors degree in Human Sciences from Florida State University in 2004 and then went on to receive my Masters degree in Physical Therapy in 2006 from the University of South Florida. I have had an array of affiliations and have had the opportunity to gain experience in many different realms of physical therapy including pediatrics, geriatrics, and orthopedics in both inpatient and outpatient settings. I have always had a special interest in working with children and am committed to making a purposeful and meaningful contribution in every child’s life.

Kristi Brannon, PTA
Kristi is a 1997 graduate of the University of Texas at Tyler with a BS in Psychology and a 2001 graduate of Kilgore College’s Physical Therapist Assistant program. While attending PTA school, she knew after graduation that she wanted to work with the pediatric population since she had always enjoyed working with children. She began her therapy career with Tyler ISD where she worked for 6 years before coming to ETCTS in August of 2007. She has had several years of experience with wheelchair positioning and maintenance, sensory diets, NDT, functional seating, myofacial release, as well as, experience with the geriatric population.

Mellissa Jones, PTA
Mellissa Jones, Physical Therapist Assistant is a 1998 graduate of Tyler Junior College with an Associates in Applied Science in Behavioral Psychology and a 2000 graduate of Kilgore College with an Associates in Applied Science for Physical Therapy Assistants. She has 9 years of patient care experience in the physical therapy setting. She has been licensed since 2000. She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association, the Texas Physical Therapy Association (TPTA) and a member of the Pediatrics section of TPTA. Mellissa has experience in long-term/geriatrics, mental health, acute, outpatient and school settings with adults and pediatrics. She is experienced in Partial Weight Bear Treadmill Training, Neuro-Developmental Treatment, and Manual Therapy in Pediatrics.

April McDonald, PTA
April McDonald graduated from the Physical Therapy Assistant program at Kilgore College in May 2004. She has been working for East Texas Children’s Therapy Services since that time. April has been trained in Myofascial Release, Neuro-Developmental Training, and Partial-Weight Bearing Treadmill training with functional electrical stimulation.She has recentlycompleted training in Animl Assisted Therapy and the use of therapeutic taping. April is a member of the APTA and a member of the Pediatrics section.

Occupational Therapists & Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants:

Nicole Bush, MOT, OTR
My interest in rehabilitation began after watching the movie ‘Regarding Henry’. I was captivated with the process of teaching people how to regain their independence. I graduated from Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in May 2003 with a Masters degree in Occupational Therapy. Initially I worked in home health for adults and children. I began working at East Texas Children’s Therapy Services in March 2004. My special interests include sensory integration and kinesio taping.

Rhiannon Thomas, MOT, OTR
Rhiannon is an occupational therapist who graduated from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in 2007 with a Master’s degree in occupational therapy and undergraduate studies in special education. She has completed specialized rotations in inpatient rehabilitation working with children and adults, outpatient pediatrics, and the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). She also has experience working with the special needs population as a Special Olympics coach and serving as a special education classroom volunteer. Her special interests include NICU and sensory integration.

Karen Brown, COTA
Karen Brown is a Licensed Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant with 25 years of experience with a vast background ranging from inpatient adult acute care, inpatient/outpatient adult rehabilitation, and pediatric experiences including 12 years in the school system and 1 year of outpatient pediatric service. She has training in a variety of handwriting programs including hand skill development. She also has experiences creating classroom environments conducive for learning and incorporating sensory integration techniques. Her primary interest is helping children achieve their maximum potential for greater independence. This also includes educating the family members on ways to assist their special needs child.

Brandy Davis, COTA
Brandy Davis is a 2007 graduate of the Navarro College OTA program. She is a member of the National Honor Society in Psychology, AOTA, and TOTA. Brandy completed her academic fieldwork at Baylor Institute of Rehabilitation and Our Children’s House at Baylor. She also has 6 years of patient care experience in mental health, pediatric, orthopedic, adult long term care, and emergency department settings. Brandy chose to begin her occupational therapy career at ETCTS due to her desire to help children of all abilities achieve their personal goals and live to their fullest potential.

PRN Therapists:

Rhonda Nichols, COTA
D’Andra Beaulieu, OTR
Wendy Griffith, OTR

Speech Language Pathologists:

Dawn Lo, M.S., CCC/SLP
Dawn Lo is a speech-language pathologist with 25 years of pediatric patient care experience. She has a Master of Arts degree in Speech Pathology from Kent State University in Ohio. She is licensed by the state of Texas and has held a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) since 1983. She has had training in all areas of treatment involving children. Her areas of specialty include treatment of severe phonological disorders, childhood apraxia of speech and delayed speech-language development within the toddler/preschool population. She also has extensive experience in treating children of all ages with articulation, fluency, language, and voice disorders, cleft lip/ palate, and hearing impairment and/or cochlear implantation.

Lori Sartor, M.S., CCC/SLP
Lori Sartor is a bilingual speech-language pathologist with experience providing services in English and Spanish to diverse cultural and linguistic groups. She holds a Master of Science in Communication Disorders from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Master of Arts in Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin with emphasis in Linguistics. She is licensed by the state of Texas as a Speech-Language Pathologist Intern and has her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Lori has specialized training in phonology/phonetics, sociolinguistics, and providing family-centered services for the birth to age 3 population. Lori also has training in areas of treatment including articulation, augmentative communication, expressive/receptive language, voice, fluency, dysphagia, oral-motor function, apraxia, and feeding/oral aversion.

Stacy Crawley, M.S., CCC/SLP
Stacy Crawley is a speech-language pathologist with 14 years of experience. She has worked in both adult and pediatric settings. She has a Master of Science degree in Speech Pathology from Baylor University. She is licensed by the state of Texas and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Stacy has experience performing Modified Barium Swallow studies. She has worked in a variety of settings including nursing homes, acute care, adult and pediatric rehabilitation. Stacy is a certified provider of VitalStim therapy.

Fionna English, M.S., CF/SLP
Fionna holds a Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. Fionna has experience in instruction of elementary age children and has treated clients in both school and hospital settings, where she also performed Modified Barium Swallow studies with her supervisor. She has been trained in the areas of oral aversion, articulation/phonology, language acquisition and development, voice disorders, dysphagia, and augmentative communication. Fionna joined ETCTS in June 2007 and is excited to be providing services to the pediatric population here in East Texas.

Kristen Hanvey, M.S. CCC/SLP
Kristen is a speech-language pathologist who joined the ETCTS team in the Spring of 2008. She is licensed by the state of Texas and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Kristen received her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Baylor University, and her Master’s degree from the University of Texas at Dallas in Communication Disorders. She has experience working with children of all ages and needs. Kristen has focused training in the areas of social language development, articulation, expressive and receptive language development, fluency, and augmentative communication. She has passion to help children communicate and enhance the quality of their lives.

PRN Part-Time Speech Therapists

Diane Smith, M.A., CCC/SLP	Aki VanBuskirk, M.S., CCC/SLP

Social Work:

Denise Elliott, LBSW
Denise Elliott is a Licensed Social Worker who received her Bachelors degree in Social Work at Stephen F. Austin State University. She also has an Associate of Arts from Kilgore College. She has 14 years of experience as a medical social worker, dealing primarily with people who are chronically ill. She joined East Texas Children’s Therapy Services during the summer of 2004 and began full-time in August 2005. She enjoys assisting families with their needs by referring to appropriate, available resources and providing ongoing support and encouragement to the whole family.