Summer 2022 Newsletter
Summer Schedule Changes
Summer is right around the corner! If you need to change your schedule, please contact us as soon as possible. We also appreciate advance notice about travel plans so we can staff accordingly or use those appointment times for make-up sessions for other clients.
Clinic Closures
Our clinic will be closed on May 30th in observance of Memorial Day, July 4th for Independence Day, and September 5th in observance of Labor Day.
Summer Theme Weeks
If you remember our fun summer kick-off week last year, you’ll love what we have in store for this summer! We will be celebrating summer throughout the season with a different theme each week starting the week of June 20. Some of themes include Camping Week, Water Week, and Wacky Week. Each week will include theme-related activities, decorations, and maybe even some dress up days.
Metro Therapy is GROWING
Exciting things are on the horizon at Metro Therapy! We will be expanding our clinic into the space adjacent to ours, creating additional rooms for speech therapy, new space for feeding therapy, expanded gym space, new sensory spaces, dedicated space for working on hygiene skills, and additional office space. We will remain open during construction and anticipate the expanded space being fully ready to use sometime in September. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates and photos.
Meet our New Therapists
We are thrilled to be welcoming two new speech-language pathologists to our team this summer. Bri Ciaccio will be starting at Metro in May and Krystal Powell will be joining the team in July. We are also welcoming a new COTA, Maddi Bartlett, who will be starting in June.
Bri earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Minnesota State University Mankato, where she also played soccer for four years. She recently graduated from University of Wisconsin—Madison with her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology. Outside of being an SLP, she enjoys painting, reading, playing games with her family, going on walks with her dog Wrigley, and cheering on her favorite Chicago sports teams.
Krystal received her Bachelor's degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a certificate in American Sign Language from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2020 and recently received her Master's in Speech-Language Pathology from Abilene Christian University at Dallas in 2022. In her free time, you can find her hiking, reading, thrift shopping, traveling and attending sports events of any kind with her soon to be husband!
Maddi graduated from UW-Stout in 2019 with her Bachelor’s degree in vocational rehabilitation. She has experience working with kids who attended behavior therapy as well as volunteering at the Children's Hospital in St. Paul for 3 years and at Courage Kenny in Golden Valley. She graduated from St. Kates in April of 2022 with an Associate’s degree as an occupational therapy assistant. Maddi has a dog named Jax and in her free time she enjoys bringing him to the dog park, being on the lake (boating, kayaking, paddle boarding), traveling and spending time with her friends.
Spring Lake Park Parade
After 2 years with no parade, we can’t wait to be back in the Spring Lake Park Tower Days parade! The parade is on June 9 starting at 6:30. We love to see our clients and their families lining the parade route. Watch for our bubbles and neon shirts and give us a wave so we can pass you a freeze pop!
Sensory Friendly Twin Cities Attractions
Did you know several popular Twin Cities attractions offer sensory friendly opportunities?
Sensory Sundays at the Walker Art Center
Sensory friendly showings at AMC movie theaters
One Sensory Saturday per month at the Bell Museum of Natural History
Sensory friendly performances at Children’s Theater Company
Stages Theatre Company offers ASL interpreted performances, Audio-Described performances, and sensory-friendly performances
The Works Museum in Bloomington, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Minnesota Historical Society are organizations that offer social stories for parents to download or watch with their children in preparation for their visit. The Minnesota Zoo offers a free app, MNZoo4All that explains the zoo experience with communication tools, sensory-friendly maps and tips to plan your visit.
Like and Follow us on Facebook
Did you know Metro Therapy is on Facebook? Like and follow our page for important updates such as weather closures, fun photos of therapy in action, announcements about upcoming events and community activities, and useful information about topics related to speech and occupational therapy.
Continuing Education
Sarah Hetz completed the courses: Building Communication with Aided Language Input, Embracing Expertise: Phonetic Science in Clinical Practice, and Conceptualizing the International Phonetic Alphabet as a Therapy Tool