big sky pediatric therapy

Caren Arnold, OTD OTR

Owner/Clinical Director

Caren Arnold received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tennessee in Exercise Science and her Clinical Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Belmont University, Nashville. Caren has worked in private practice as well as inpatient and outpatient pediatric hospitals. She specializes in sensory integration, autism spectrum disorders, and dysgraphia. Specialty certifications include: The ALERT program, Interactive Metronome, Debra Beckman's Oral Motor Skills and Mary Benbow's foundational hand skills. Caren has also developed a cursive writing protocol, a curriculum for intensive print and cursive handwriting camps, and is skilled in conducting wheelchair and equipment evaluations.

Jessica Bryant, RYT

Owner/Director of Marketing/Yoga Instructor

Jessica Bryant received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Food Science from Louisiana State University. Jessica is a certified Hatha yoga instructor, registered with Yoga Alliance at the 200-hour level (RYT), and is also certified by Sonia Sumar's Yoga for the Special Child to treat children with disabilities. Before opening Big Sky, Jessica worked for 10 years in marketing and sales in Tennessee, Texas, and Montana.

Allyson Marshall, MPT

Physical Therapist

Allyson graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BS in kinesiology and from Texas Women's University in Houston with a MS in physical therapy. At TWU, she completed her thesis on hip and spine ROM in professional ballet dancers and the correlation to spondylolisthesis. Her work experience began in Houston in an early childhood intervention program followed by several different outpatient orthopedic settings in Houston and Austin. Orthopedic pediatrics is an area of special interest to her. Allyson is an avid runner and lives in West Lake Hills with her husband, Mike, and their 4 children.

Amelia Penoli, PT, DPT, MS

Physical Therapist

Amelia graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in Psychology, with an emphasis on child development. She received her Masters of Science in Physical Therapy, then later, her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Texas Woman's University in Houston, Texas. Amelia has worked in a variety of clinical settings, and loves working with children of all ages. Her experience includes: neuromuscular and musculoskeletal disorders, congenital disorders, torticollis, Autism spectrum disorders, sensory processing and motor coordination disorders, pediatric sports injuries, and more. Amelia has also worked as an aquatic therapist, and has developed sensory processing and movement in-services for local schools. When she is not working as a therapist, Amelia is a photographer who specializes in children and families, and she loves being active outdoors with her husband (who is also a physical therapist!) and their dog.

Andrea Knaack, M.A., MT-BC

Music Therapist

Andrea Knaack received both her Bachelor of Science in Music Therapy and Master of Arts in Music Therapy from Texas Woman’s University. She is a board certified music therapist holding the MT-BC credential. She has experience working with children and adolescents with special needs in both public and private school settings, as well as in private practice. Andrea lived in the Dallas area until moving to Austin in 2008. Her primary instruments are guitar, piano, and saxophone, and she enjoys participating in the vibrant Austin singer/songwriter community.

Delora Frederickson, RYT

Yoga Instructor

DeLora received her Bachelor of Science degree in Speech from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a certified yoga instructor. She has worked in a number of settings serving children with special needs – from public schools, summer camps, treatment facilities, to yoga studios. DeLora completed the world renowned Radiant Child Yoga Teacher Training and has been teaching Mommy and me, crawlers and toddlers, and children’s classes for many years. She specializes in yoga for autism and down syndrome. When DeLora is not busy teaching yoga classes she spends her time in her garden at the community garden center, swimming at Stacey Pool, dancing to live music around Austin and taking care of her family and home in South Austin.

Dodie Cashell, MS, CCC-SLP

Speech Therapist

Dodie received a Bachelor of Science in Education of the Deaf and a Master of Arts in Audiology from the University of Texas at Austin, and completed her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Texas Woman’s University. She holds the ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology and a license to practice speech-language pathology in the state of Texas. Dodie just completed her thirteenth year working as a speech-language pathologist in the public schools. She has experience working with children with articulation/phonological disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, receptive and expressive language delays, cognitive disorders, cerebral palsy as well as a variety of syndromes associated with communication disorders. She is especially interested in emergent literacy for children with special needs and in working with nonverbal and minimally-verbal children using both low-tech and high-tech augmentative communication methods.

Dori Chappell

Marketing & Insurance Specialist

Dori received her Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology from St. Edward’s University. Before joining the Big Sky team, she spent several years working with children on the autism spectrum doing ABA therapy, as well as working with insurance in the pediatric therapy field. Dori is originally from Austin and enjoys running, reading and traveling.

Julie Hewitt, COTA

Occupational Therapy Assistant

Julie Hewitt graduated in 1997 from Austin Community College with an Associates of Science Degree in Occupational Therapy. Working in pediatrics for 14 years in Austin, her experience has been used in a variety of pediatric settings including home health, hospital, rehabilitation, and pediatric clinics. Sensory Processing Dysfunction, Autism, Developmental Delays and Traumatic Brain Injury are her areas of specialty. She has worked as a Certified Bradley Instructor for natural births and is also a Professional Photographer. She recently returned to Austin from living in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands and lives with her partner Jim and her son Destry who is attending college in Austin.

Kim Strickland, MS, OTR

Occupational Therapist

Kim Strickland received her bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the University of Texas and her master of science degree in occupational therapy from the University of North Carolina. She has worked in a variety of pediatric settings including inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, schools, and a hospital for medically fragile children. Specialty certifications include physical agent modalities and assistive technology, with additional education in driving rehabilitation. She has extensive experience developing IEP's and 504 plans, performing manual and power wheelchair evaluations, and treating children with a variety of diagnoses including neurological disorders, dysgraphia, fine motor delay, sensory processing disorders and developmental delay. She lives in Westlake with her husband and two sons.

Michelle Curtis, MS, CCC-SLP

Speech-Language Pathologist

Michelle moved to Austin from Washington DC in May 2011. She received her Bachelors of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Chemistry and Masters of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from James Madison University. She has received her Certificate of Clinical Competence from ASHA, and is licensed to practice speech-language pathology in Texas. Michelle has worked in the private practice setting providing passionate, quality care to patients ranging from infancy to adolescence. Her expertise and interests are diverse and include: Autism Spectrum Disorders (including Asperger's Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder), childhood apraxia of speech, executive functioning deficits, brain tumors, strokes, ADHD/ADD, specific language impairments, expressive and receptive language delays, late talkers, early intervention, auditory processing disorders, stuttering/fluency, and articulation/phonological disorders. Michelle is trained in PROMPT (PROMPTs for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets), which is a holistic, dynamic, multi-sensory therapy approach for individuals with speech production disorders.

Sharon Peña, OTR

Occupational Therapist

Sharon Peña is orginally from Edinburgh, Scotland and has a Bachelors of Science in Occupational Therapy and Health Ergonomics from Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow. She has worked in an ouptatient pediatric setting and has experience working with children with developmental delay, fine motor delay, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, sensory processing dysfunction, and other diagnoses. She has lived in Austin for just over one year. Prior to living to Austin, Sharon and her husband lived in Scotland, Washington DC, and Italy.