Meet the Team
Occupational Therapy
Erin is the founder of Ability First Pediatrics. In 2005 she graduated with a Doctorate Degree in Occupational Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focused on movement in newborns and young infants as a predictor for fine motor outcomes in children. She began her career as a feeding specialist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. She served as an adjunct professor at Towson University. She established Ability First Pediatrics in 2007 to ensure that children in central Illinois receive highly effective, evidence based occupational therapy services. Erin has a passion for serving young children with developmental delays and working with families to achieve optimal outcomes. Erin’s interests include genetic conditions, feeding concerns, visual deficits and cognitive delays.
Erin J. Brown, OTR/L
Lauren joined Ability First Pediatrics in January 2011 after graduating from Washington University in St. Louis with a Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy. Prior to attending school for occupational therapy, Lauren earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She taught in a early learning center for four years and uses this background to aid in achievable solutions both at home and in the child care setting. Since joining our team, Lauren has taken several continuing education courses on reflex integration, sensory processing, feeding and lactation/infant feeding and breastfeeding support. In 2017 she earned a credential as a Certified Lactation Counselor. Most recently she received certification to deliver the Safe and Sound Protocol from Integrated Listening Systems. She is passionate about finding ways to integrate activities into daily routines as well as providing families with evidence based strategies for supporting each child’s development. She has a unique approach to a variety of situations and seeks to respect needs of the family and child in treatment planning.
Lauren N. Jurczak, OTR/L
Lisa has been with Ability First Pediatrics since 2014 after receiving a Doctorate degree in Occupational Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis. She enjoys combining her passion for OT in the 0 – 3 population with past education in the areas of psychology, human development and family studies. Her favorite part of her job is the opportunity to brainstorm with other therapists and parents in order to support children in reaching their full potential. Lisa’s areas of professional interest include sensory processing, reflex integration, and feeding. She is also working toward certifications in Autism and Functional Vision. Lisa’s attention to detail and compassion for the families she serves makes her an asset to any team.
Lisa Seymour, OTR/L
Natalie Haffner, OTD, OTR/L
Natalie completed her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy at Washington University in St. Louis. Her publications include:
Hoyt, C. R., Varughese, T. E., Erickson, J., Haffner, N., Luo, L., L’Hotta, A. J., ... & King, A. A. (2021). Developmental delay in infants and toddlers with sickle cell disease: a systematic review. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology.
Houdeshell, M., Haffner, N., Easow Varughese, T., King, A., & L'Hotta, A. J. (2021). Need for a Standard Approach to Service Delivery and Educational Opportunities in Pediatric Cancer Rehabilitation. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 75(Supplement_2), 7512510258p1-7512510258p1.
Natalie loves working with families and seeing children reach their full potential. She is SOFFI (Supporting Oral Feeding in Fragile Infants) certified. Her professional interests include children with feeding difficulties and complex medical needs.
Kim joined Ability First Pediatrics in 2021. She graduated from The University of Akron with a Bachelor of Exercise Science in 2016 and then Lewis and Clark Community College with her Associate Degree as an Occupational Therapy Assistant in 2020. In addition to being an Occupational Therapy Assistant, Kim is a Certified Exercise Physiologist and Emergency Medical Technician. Kim’s professional interests include working with children with sensory processing disorder. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, reading and traveling.
Kimberly Edmond, COTA/L
Amber joined AFP in 2017 after completing her Associate degree in Applied Science. Amber thrives working with children with sensory differences and feeding difficulties. She loves spending time with her family outside of work. They enjoy fishing, kayaking, hiking and being outdoors together.
Amber Moutria, COTA/L
Chelsea Bierman, COTA/L
Chelsea joined AFP in 2019. She graduated from the OTA program in 2008 from Lewis & Clark community college with her Associated Degree of Applied Science. Chelsea has spent her career serving individuals with special needs of all ages, but especially enjoys working with young children and their families. Chelsea enjoys working on motor skill development, challenging children to become stronger and more functional in their daily activities.
Linda joined Ability First Pediatrics in 2017 and holds an Associate Degree in Applied Science as an Occupational Therapy Assistant. Linda has always had a passion for working with children. Prior to becoming a COTA, she served as a teacher’s aide for Kindergarten, Pre-K co-teacher and preschool teacher. She has also taught a library preschool story hour, been a Girl Scout Leader, served as director of a Latchkey program and as the Director of the Children’s Art Walk for Art on the Bluffs. Linda has found her dream job in working 1:1 with children and their families in Early Intervention. Currently Linda serves children in Randolph, Monroe, Madison and St. Clair Counties. She provides fun movement activities, creative, home made activities and education to the families to facilitate children in reaching their full potential.
Linda Fletcher, COTA/L
Abbigal Zangori, COTA/L
Abbi graduated from Lewis and Clark in 2022 with an Associate in Applied Science degree. She trained with AFP while she was a student and has worked with us since June, 2023. Abbi is passionate about working with children and knew early on in her education that she wanted to focus on pediatrics. She likes collaborating with families and learning about their priorities for therapeutic intervention.
Amanda Slikker, RD
Amanda graduated in 2015 from the University of Central Arkansas with a Masters in Family and Consumer Sciences and focus in nutrition. She began her career as a Registered Dietitian working in long term care facilities and residential homes for those with special needs. It was in those homes that Amanda developed a passion for working with individuals with developmental delays. She has since worked as a substitute student aid for children with special needs and volunteered her time providing nutrition education to military families living overseas. Her own experience with a child with special needs and feeding challenges led her to want to help other children through the Early Intervention program. Amanda’s professional interests include tube feeding, poor weight gain, diabetes and food allergies.
Nutrition Services
Anick Diessongo, RD
Anick started working as a nutrition assistant at the South Bronx Pediatric Center in New York in 2015. She loved counseling and cooking with low-income/ new mothers and immigrant preteens. She graduated in 2017 from CUNY Lehman College in New York. Before going for her dietetic internship in 2020, she worked as a therapeutic cook in nursing homes and started a business making baby food. After graduating from her internship focused on clinical nutrition in 2021, she worked as a pulmonary/renal/behavioral dietitian. Anick feels that being part of Ability First Pediatrics is an opportunity to have a great impact on our future generations because she believes that food is the greatest medicine. Anick’s professional interests include tube feeding, parenteral nutrition, weight management, diabetes, and food allergies
Betsy Miller, SLP-CCC
Bio Coming Soon!
