About Us

East Texas Children’s Therapy Services is located in Tyler, TX. We currently employ several 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.

Meet the Staff

Owners:

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

Kristi Smith has 17 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.

LeAnn Cargile, OTR SIPT Certified

LeAnn is an Occupational therapist with 16 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:

Ashley Sparkman, PT
Ashley graduated from Texas Woman’s University in 2007 with a Masters degree in Physical Therapy. She has experience in pediatrics as well as outpatient orthopedics and rehabilitation, and inpatient acute care. While in school she completed rotations specializing in pediatrics, orthopedics, and inpatient rehabilitation of spinal cord injured patients. Ashley has participated in continuing education for post operative orthopedic care, PWBTT (partial weight bearing treadmill training), and early mobility. Her joy is to assist children in achieving mobility and the highest level of function possible and to use physical therapy to show compassion and God’s love to people around the world, most recently in the Ukraine.

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.

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.

Melanie Jones, PTA

Dennis Kress PTA

Nikki Curtis PTA

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. I have also been trained with the Handwriting Without Tears Program.

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 and AOTA. Brandy completed her academic fieldwork at Baylor Institute of Rehabilitation and Our Children’s House at Baylor. She has previous patient care experience in mental health, orthopedic and emergency department settings. Brandy has completed training in neuro-developmental techniques and treatment strategies for Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Brandy chose to begin her occupational therapy career at ETCTS because of her desire to help children of all abilities live to their fullest potential.

Natalie Grace Montfort, COTA
Natalie Grace Montfort is a 2009 Magna cum Laude graduate of the Navarro College OTA program. Natalie completed her academic fieldwork at Hillcrest Baptist Hospital, Innovative Therapies, and Waco Veterans Affairs. Natalie has continuing education in Neuro-developmental training for the pediatric population. I chose to become a COTA because I wanted to give back and help others regain their independence that most take for granted. I have always loved seeing the joy on a child’s face when they achieve something they never saw as possible. I chose to begin my career at East Texas Children’s Therapy Services to help children of all abilities to attain that joy.

Speech Language Pathologists:

Dawn Lo, M.S., CCC/SLP
Dawn Lo is a speech-language pathologist with 27 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.

Stacy Crawley, M.S., CCC/SLP
Stacy Crawley is a speech-language pathologist with 16 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.

Aki VanBuskirk, M.S., CCC/SLP
I am a speech-language pathologist who has been practicing in the pediatric setting for the last three to four years when I began working at East Texas Children’s Therapy Services. It is a tremendous blessing working in the pediatric setting, it is such a joy to help children improve and achieve their highest potential. I received my Master of Science degree from Stephen F. Austin State University. I am licensed with the State of Texas and hold my Certificate of Clinical Competence with the American Speech Language and Hearing Association. I have experience in the field working with various populations and my focus with the pediatric setting has been language skills and development, articulation disorders, feeding/swallowing disorders and children with autism.

Courtni Moore, M.S., CCC-SLP
Courtni Moore is a speech-language pathologist which has been practicing for almost 4 years. She received her Master of Science degree from Stephen F. Austin State University in May of 2005. She is licensed by the state of Texas and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from ASHA. She has had experience in a variety of settings including both adult and pediatric. She has worked in long-term care facilities, acute care, adult, and pediatric rehabilitation. She has experience in performing Modified Barium Swallow Studies. She is a member of the Texas Speech Language and Hearing Association. Courtni is a certified provider of VitalStim therapy.

Marisha George, M.S., CCC-SLP
Marisha George is a speech-language pathologist who has been practicing for 5 years. She received her Master of Science degree from the University of Texas at Dallas in December 2003. She is licensed by the state of Texas and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from ASHA. Before coming to ETCTS, she worked for Duncanville ISD for 4 ½ years where she specialized in the 3-5 year old population with disabilities and was part of the Autism team. She enjoys working with children of all ages and their families.

Dianne Myers, M.S., CCC-SLP
Dianne has been involved with pediatric speech pathology as a therapist for 15 years practicing in Early Childhood Intervention programs, school based programs and children’s rehab. She received a Master of Science Degree from the University of Texas at El Paso, is licensed in the state of Texas and holds the Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech and Hearing Association. In addition, she has participated as a member of various school district‘s Autism and Augmentative Communication Teams. She has received training in the Picture Exchange Communication System often associated with Autism. Professionally she belongs to the Texas Speech and Hearing Association, ASHA Division 4 and 13.

Linda Hemmen MA, CCC,SLP

Marykate Turner MS, SLP/CF

Diane Smith, M.A., 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 16 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.