Feeding Therapy

Dr. Melissa Donegan is a recent graduate from Midwestern University and received her clinical doctorate in occupational therapy. She received her bachelor’s in kinesiology with a focus in exercise science and health promotion at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Her doctoral project focused on establishing evidence through program evaluation and research to demonstrate the value of occupational therapy’s role in community mental health-based practice.

During her time at Midwestern University, she received the Tiered Occupational Therapy (TOT) Scholarship, a 1-year training program designed to prepare occupational therapy scholars to address the mental health needs of children and youth. The TOT Scholarship strived to prepare scholars to engage in holistic and trauma-informed care practice. Melissa is dedicated to performing evidence-based, client-centered treatment with a passion for inclusivity, advocacy, and addressing mental health. She hopes to combine her passion for the pediatric-based practice and program development to create groups that can address the needs of the community of Buffalo Grove and the surrounding areas.

Melissa loves traveling and embracing new cultural experiences. While in undergrad, she traveled and lived in Dublin, Ireland completing a sports psychology research program at the University College Dublin. During graduate school, Melissa traveled to Belém, Brazil to research occupational therapy’s role in community-based practice. When not in the clinic, you’ll find Melissa enjoying a morning run, board games, yoga, and a good meal with friends.

I am is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist. I received my Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences & Disorders with a minor in Psychology from Elmhurst University where I continued on to receive my Master of Speech-Language Pathology where I had a research focus in Functional Communication for People with Cognitive Disorders. I have experience evaluating and treating individuals in outpatient and private practice clinics. I have worked with clients with speech & language impairments, articulation difficulties, social-pragmatic language disorders, Autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, and developmental language delays. In my free time, I like be with my family and friends. I enjoy spending as much time as possible outside and love to take walks with my nieces and sister to new coffee and lunch spots.

Lindsey graduated from Concordia University with her Bachelor’s degree in Rehabilitative Science and received her Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy. Lindsey has 10 years of experience working in pediatrics and nursing homes as an OT and 10+ years working in respite care for disabled children and adults in the home and in a camp setting. Lindsey grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and currently lives in Racine, Wisconsin. Lindsey is currently completing her training to become a DIR/Floortime Provider (Developmental Individual Relationship-based, she is also SOS certified (sequential oral sensory), and has taken the NDT 5 day course (neuro-developmental treatment). She is also our Co-Director of the Occupational Therapy Department. Lindsey has two children who have/currently receive therapy (OT, PT, ST) so she enjoys connecting and meeting new families and being able to help give real life experiences with juggling a child who receives services with everything else you have to do as a working parents. She loves finding activities and using play to help kids learn as well as individualizing each session based on kid’s interests. In her free time, she enjoys playing games and doing crafts with her children, spending time with her nieces and nephews, going to the beach and zoo and is almost always looking for a new book to read! A fun fact about Lindsey is that she lives next to the zoo and lake in Racine!

Gwen Reilly, Licensed Speech and Language Pathologist, has been a practicing clinician for the past 20 years. She received her master’s degree from Northern Illinois University and specializes in working with children on the Autism Spectrum. Gwen has experience working with a diverse population, and a variety of speech and language disorders, including language disorders, apraxia of speech, speech sound disorders, social-pragmatic disorders, and regulation disorders of sensory processing.

Gwen embraces the DIR (Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-Based) Model. Using this model, she brings a genuine and positive therapeutic approach to her clients to help them feel empowered by all forms of communication and build on the strengths of their own and unique developmental foundation. Gwen believes that therapy is an individualized process and loves to help others grow in all capacities of life.

Gwen has received her Trainer Certificate in the Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-based Model through Profectumä. In addition, she is trained and certified in Therapeutic Listeningâand bone conduction, Interactive Metronomeâ, PROMPTã, and Lindamood-Bell’s Visualizing and Verbalizingã.

Gwen enjoys spending time with her family and friends whether it is at home or on a vacation adventure to some warm place. She loves to travel, watching football, gardening, coffee, Pilates, and going for long walks (especially on a beach). Her favorite thing to do though is spending time with her two best girls, her daughters, Claire and Paige.

My name is Maddie and I am a certified and registered Occupational Therapist! I graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Clinical Exercise Science at Grand Valley State University and received my master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from North Central College. I have worked with children my entire life, through babysitting, working at camps and coaching soccer. I fell in love with occupational therapy after observing a pediatric clinic and knew that this is what I was meant to do. I have a variety of experiences within the pediatric setting working with diagnoses including ASD, sensory processing, cerebral palsy, ADHD, etc. In my free time I like to go to concerts, go out to eat with friends and play with my dogs!

Rachel is a graduate from Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine where she received her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy. She completed her doctoral capstone at Shirley Ryan Ability Lab where she contributed to rehabilitation outcomes research for neurologic populations. Rachel received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Illinois Wesleyan University where she was a student-athlete and swam collegiately for 4 years.

Rachel has always had a passion for working with children and has over 7 years of experience as a swim coach working with all ages and abilities. Her approach to therapy is to create a fun, safe, and welcoming environment to build on strengths, address areas of concern, and support growth holistically and collaboratively. In her free time, Rachel enjoys fitness, reading, and coffee.

Kayte Colleran earned her undergraduate degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Central Michigan University before completing her Masters of Science in Speech Language Pathology at Elmhurst College. Kayte has three years experience working at an elementary school with children from pre-k to 6th grade. Within the school setting, she treated children with developmental language delays, Autism, Down syndrome, behavioral difficulties, and other health impairments. She worked with students in self-contained classroom setting co-treating with teachers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and Registered Behavior Technicians (RBT). Kayte also has four years experience working with the geriatric population with focus on stroke and dementia patients. Kayte enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends, exercising, and helping out with the local Ukrainian youth group. She also enjoys Ukrainian dancing at her church and traveling with her husband.

Melissa was born and raised in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. She graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, IL with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and minor in Psychology. She then received her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Melissa has always had a passion for working in pediatrics and has worked with kids ages 2.5 through 17 with a wide variety of diagnoses. Her background includes extensive volunteer work at Pathways and other pediatric clinics, working with the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab’s Modified Constraint-Induced-Movement-Therapy camp for kids with cerebral palsy and stroke, as well as working at sensory integration based clinic, where she discovered the importance of using sensory integration and DIR-Floortime models in her treatment sessions. Melissa is a strong believer in the occupation of PLAY!

In her free time, Melissa enjoys cooking, board games, puzzles, traveling, spending time with friends and family, and watching TV shows on Netflix.