Erin Timian, MS, CCC-SLP/L

Director of Speech Department

Erin graduated magna cum laude with a Master of Science in speech language pathology from EIU in 1998. She has been working with children and families for over 20 years in hospital, outpatient and home settings. Working with pediatrics has always been a great joy for her, and she has been working exclusively with the pediatric population since joining the Shine Therapy Services team in March 2013. She was promoted to the Director of Speech in May 2019. Erin works carefully to foster trusting and productive relationships with the families, other therapists and physicians. She is passionate about providing families with the knowledge and resources to improve their child’s skills. Erin has over 10 years credentialed as an EI therapist and is an Early Intervention Evaluator. She has experience with pediatric speech, language and feeding disorders. She has spent many years growing her knowledge base in the area of motor speech disorders and finds working with these disorders challenging, but very rewarding. Erin married her long time sweetheart Ben, in April 2021, and they have a teenage son and a teenage daughter. She loves big dogs and counts her own three as extensions of her family. In her spare time, Erin spends as much time as possible logging miles in the swimming pool or spending time with her family, two legged and four.

An 8-week program for children age 3-6 with sensory processing differences

Children with sensory processing differences have difficulty with regulation, which sometimes makes it difficult for them to interact with the world around them. Our Sensory Explorers group targets regulation in order to build engagement! This group is led by pediatric occupational therapists Mackenzie Baldock (2:30 group) OR Meghan Day (8:30 group) and developmental therapist/PLAY Project Consultant Brenna Thompson, all of whom specialize in using developmentally appropriate strategies to support children so they can learn new skills. Group meets once/week for 60 minutes.

Wondering if this class is appropriate for your child? Some characteristics of kids who benefit: easily frustrated with play, repetitive play, difficulty sitting/keeping still to engage in play, refuses to allow others to engage in play, unable to be messy, overly busy, quickly overwhelmed in a busy environment, picky eater, difficulty tolerating grooming/dressing/diapering routines, struggles with transitions/following a group plan/routine. 

Goals of the group include:

  • Child participating in a variety of sensory play activities
  • Engaging socially with others in the group
  • Providing a non threatening environment where children can experience new sensations with the support of a pediatric Occupational Therapist and PLAY Project consultant
  • Providing personalized resources to caregivers, so they better understand the sensory system and learn strategies to assist their child with regulation outside of group
  • Opportunity to meet with other local families
 
 

GROUP MEETS for 8 weeks:  Caregivers must stay on the premises to support their child and learn helpful strategies. Children will separate from caregivers for the session; caregivers can socialize in the lobby (we will also provide a few toys for siblings to play). Caregiver education is a key component of this program. 

 

OPTIONAL Summary Report available at close of session. This 2 page report will summarize your child’s participation in the class and provide helpful sensory strategies to increase their participation in activities. This report could be given to teachers in classrooms & daycares or utilized to help educate other caregivers about ways to help your child participate. This option includes a 30 minute Zoom meeting with Brenna and MacKenzie/Brenna and Meghan to review the report and discuss your child’s progress in Sensory Explorers. COST: $100 due at sign up