OPPORTUNITIES FOR A GREAT START IN LIFE
UCP’s Early Intervention service is designed to give children birth through three years old the opportunity to reach their full potential.
SERVICES AVAILABLE IN CUMBERLAND/PERRY, DAUPHIN, LANCASTER, LEBANON, AND YORK/ADAMS COUNTIES
Our Early Intervention Services include:
Nutritional Therapy
Proper nutrition is essential to a child’s overall health and development. UCP’s Registered Dieticians work closely with families to adapt, modify and assess nutritional needs to ensure a child’s overall well-being.
Occupational Therapy
Being able to function and engage in everyday routines (such as sleep, meals, play and social activities) is vital to a child’s development. UCP’s Occupational Therapists assist families in developing strategies related to self-regulation, fine motor, and routines so that a child can be an active participant in the family unit.
Physical Therapy
Seeing your child achieve major motor milestones is every parent’s vision. UCP’s Physical Therapists work alongside you to teach you how to best support your child in reaching those goals so the success can be celebrated together!
Special Instruction
Social emotional play is an important part of cognitive skill development. Through play, Early Childhood Special Educators teach families how to engage their child in everyday learning.
Speech/Language Therapy
Communication is the key to having any need met. UCP’s Speech and Language Pathologists collaborate with families to encourage modeling of strategies (including use of technology) for language development.
Meet the Team
Marci Walborn
DIRECTOR OF CHILDHOOD AND ANCILLARY SERVICESAs Director of Childhood and Ancillary Services, Marci Walborn provides strategic direction and oversight of several inter-related UCP service lines, including Early Intervention, Family Support, and Assistive Technology/Independent Living Technology. She is responsible for fiscal oversight, regulatory compliance, continuous staff development, and ongoing evaluation of each service.
In 2022, she completed her RESNA Assistive Technology Practitioner (ATP) certification. Her ATP certification allows her to help support individuals seeking to use assistive technology to achieve their goals and independence across the agency and lifespan. Marci continues to actively work with families in Early Intervention as an Occupational Therapist and participates in many committees within the Early Intervention community to improve the system for both providers and families. When needed, she also lends her Occupational Therapy knowledge and expertise to other UCP divisions to support staff and individuals as well.
Caroline Dille
Manager Childhood & Ancillary ServicesCaroline’s credentials include: OTR/L; Master of Occupational Therapy from Saint Francis University 2019 and a Bachelor of Science with minors in Psychology and Neuroscience 2018. She currently holds a PA license as an occupational therapist and nationally certified as an occupational therapist.
Caroline is excited to apply her occupational therapy knowledge to the field of early intervention. Caroline has specialized training in Upper Limb Intervention Therapy for children diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy ages 3 months to 3 years including Multi-Sensory, Constraint Induced Movement and Bimanual Therapy. She also has training in the use of the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination. She highly values the collaborative approach which serves as the foundation for all occupational therapy services received throughout the life span. She has observed the impact and importance of early intervention services through her niece, brother and sister-in-law who have greatly benefited from the coaching model while supporting her development over the past several months. Caroline appreciates the principles of early intervention including the use of family-centered functional applications through everyday routines. She looks forward to empowering families to find opportunities in everyday routines to guide their child to the fulfillment of their goals.
Outside of work, Caroline enjoys spending time with her two dogs, reading, traveling and spending time with friends and family.
Sue Haverstock
Early Intervention Administrative CoordinatorWith over 20 years of experience at UCP, Sue Haverstock brings a wealth of knowledge and dedication to her role as the Early Intervention Administrative Coordinator. Sue’s journey with UCP began in 2003 when she joined the inclusive daycare program, fueled by her background in Elementary Education and Early Childhood. She found a passion for supporting children with differing abilities, which led her to transition into Early Intervention a few years later.
In her current role, Sue collaborates closely with therapists, county service coordinators, and the EI manager to ensure seamless operations for early intervention referrals, paperwork completion, therapist scheduling, and billing. She is committed to UCP’s “Mission First” focus and treasures the many wonderful coworkers, many of whom have become good friends, that she’s had the pleasure of working with over the years.
Outside of work, Sue enjoys camping, gardening, and spending quality time with her family, friends, and her rescue dog, Tilly. A fun fact about Sue: she has been leading and serving in an outreach for over 8 years now, providing meals to the homeless and less fortunate every Monday night. They have never missed a week of handing out a meal.
Amara Kreider
EI Credentials: OTR/L; Masters degree in Occupational Therapy from Elizabethtown College, Bachelor of Science degree in Health Science from Elizabethtown College, currently licensed in Pennsylvania as an occupational therapist and nationally certified as an occupational therapist.
Specialty Areas: Amara has a number of years of experience serving babies and toddlers in Early Intervention plus years working with school age children in educational and outpatient settings. Amara has specialized training related to sensory challenges and needs, feeding difficulties, children’s emotional health and regulation and tethered oral tissues (TOTs, or tongue and lips ties). Specifically, Amara has most recently completed “SOS Approach to Feeding”, “Treating Complex Feeding Problems: Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers” and trainings focusing on Sensory Processing and Sensory Integration in pediatric populations. Amara understands children’s movements and responses to their environment, recognizing how to manage their reactions and behaviors. Amara encourages parents to meet their children’s sensory and regulation needs and skillfully educates parents in ways to improve their child’s functioning and participation in daily life routines and tasks. From feeding obstacles to sleep concerns, Amara shares her knowledge with caregivers and embraces current research to enhance outcomes. Amara serves families with commitment and caring and truly appreciates the impact of early intervention support.
A Little About Amara: Amara lives with her husband, son, daughter, dog and two cats and enjoys play time and walks, baking and reading. Amara’s creativity, diligence, and attention to detail instruct both her personal and professional life. Amara always looks forward to special time with family and friends.
Tessann Merkel
EI Credentials: OTD, OTR/L, CBS, RYT; Doctor of Occupational Therapy from Chatham University, Bachelor of Science degree from Bloomsburg University, Certified Breastfeeding Specialist from Lactation Education Resources, Registered Yoga Teacher from YogaRenew, and is currently licensed in Pennsylvania and nationally certified as an occupational therapist.
Specialty Areas: Tessann has worked with infants and toddlers in various capacities over the years and is excited to apply that knowledge in the early intervention setting. She has assisted families with children who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, developmental delays, and feeding delays. Tessann’s areas of greatest knowledge include sensory processing strategies, feeding disorders, and improving play skills. She has specialized training in assisting the mother/infant dyad in the co-occupation of breast and/or bottle feeding. Tessann is an active member in the American Association of Occupational Therapy (AOTA) and Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association (POTA) and is a state ambassador for the American Occupational Therapy Political Action Commitee (AOTPAC) which enables her to stay current and up-to-date on research and policy to provide evidenced-based interventions and advocate for her families.
A Little About Tessann: Tessann enjoys spending time with her family, and friends outside of work. She is very crafty and knows how to crochet, sew, basketweave, latch work, and much more. Tessann loves traveling and desires to visit every continent except for Antartica (she is more than halfway to this goal). In her spare time, she also enjoys kayaking, hiking, playing the piano, and drinking coffee.
Kristen Powers
EI Credentials: OTR/L; Masters of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Thomas Jefferson College, Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin, currently licensed in Pennsylvania as an occupational therapist and nationally certified as an occupational therapist.
Specialty Areas: Kristen understands the challenges and joys of raising a child with developmental delays and neurological differences. She has personal experience on the caregiver side of EI services, having received services for her oldest child from infancy till he graduated out of the program at age 3. Kristen is passionate about supporting caregivers emotionally and through creative problem solving using her extensive Coaching background. She also has experience using American Sign Language, PECS and various augmentative communication devices (Proloquo2Go, LAMP) to support children in actively engaging with their family and in their daily routines. Kristen deeply believes that people can find their own solutions to the challenges in their lives when given the support and resources they need. She hopes to blend personal and professional experience to support families walking the dynamic path of raising children of all abilities.
A Little About Kristen: Kristen is a transplant from Texas who has lived in a variety of places including Florida, Michigan and Massachusetts. She lives in Mechanicsburg with her 3 rambunctious children, and enjoys needle work reading, get together with friends to eat while enjoying movies or boardgames. She is very active in her faith community and volunteers in her local community when she can. She is also a former Childbirth educator and Birth Doula.
Rebecca Verderame
EI Credentials: OTR/L; Masters in Occupational Therapy from Husson University; Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a focus on Neurosciences; currently holds a PA license as an occupational therapist. Certified in Family Guided Routines-Based Interventions which focuses on supporting family decisions and established routines during treatment.
Specialty Areas: Rebecca has five years of experience working as an OT in an outpatient setting with infants through high school aged children. She has been working in Early Intervention for the past three years. She has assisted families with children who have diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, developmental delay, feeding delays, muscular dystrophy, and genetic disorders to incorporate exercises and strategies into their everyday routines at home, as well as identifying adaptations where appropriate. Rebecca’s areas of greatest knowledge include sensory processing strategies, feeding disorders, and improving play skills, including fine motor skills. Rebecca has specialized training in Upper Limb Intervention Therapy for children diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy ages 3 months to 3 years including Multi-modal Therapy and Bimanual Therapy. She also has training in the use of the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination. She enjoys helping families to learn more about why specific strategies are effective so they will have the confidence to identify similar ways of helping their child beyond their time in therapy.
A Little About Rebecca: Rebecca lives with her two cats and enjoys creative hobbies with her friends such as crocheting, cross stitching, music, playing boardgames and crafting. She also enjoys spending time with her family whenever possible, and loves to settle down with a good book. Her personal experience with early intervention is what drove her to initially become an occupational therapist and she hopes to help others just as much as her family was helped.
Shannon Baker
EI Credentials: DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy) from Widener University; continues to learn from both courses and coworkers; certified EI coach.
Specialty Areas: Shannon started with Early Intervention in September of 2020 after working for 13 ½ years in a pediatric outpatient clinic with children birth to 21 years with a wide variety of diagnoses including torticollis, cerebral palsy, developmental delay, chromosomal abnormalities, down syndrome, and autism to name a few. She has always felt that the partnership between families and therapists is crucial, which aligns perfectly with the philosophy of early intervention.
A Little About Shannon: Shannon’s journey to early intervention started long ago. She has always loved children and started babysitting when she was twelve. She worked in a day care center for several summers and went to college for Early Childhood Education. As part of her coursework, she was required to observe occupational, physical, and speech therapy sessions. During a physical therapy session, she saw a preschool child take independent steps and everyone was cheering. It was so exciting, and she knew this was what she wanted to do, how she wanted to help children. She changed her major and became a physical therapist. Even though they are her “work children”, she could not be prouder of their accomplishments. Some of her proudest moments are when a family tells her they came to see her because another family recommended her because they were pleased with their therapy sessions, or a family asks her to see a sibling. Physical therapy is not just walking and running, it starts with weight shifting and includes rolling, sitting, transitions (in and out of positions), crawling, climbing, walking, steps (crawling then walking), running, jumping, hopping. Parents of babies have often commented that they cannot believe how tired the baby is after therapy because it just looks like they are playing. Physical therapy can be hard work for children, but Shannon’s goal is to make that hard work as fun as possible and part of daily life.
Erin Coyle
EI Credentials: Erin Coyle is a licensed physical therapist who received her BS in physical therapy from Russell Sage College. She has been practicing pediatric physical therapy for over 35 years, and she has provided Early Intervention services for over 25 years. Erin is committed to continuing to develop her knowledge and skills and to keeping current on best practice through ongoing continuing education. She has obtained specialized training through completing the NDTA (Neurodevelopmental Treatment Association) 8-week Pediatric Certification course and the 2-week Advanced Baby course.
Specialty Areas: Erin is able to draw on her experiences working in a variety of practice settings (hospital, rehabilitation center, outpatient specialty clinic, school, childcare/preschool, and home), working with children from infancy through adolescence, and working with children presenting with a wide variety of diagnoses including, but not limited to, prematurity, torticollis, plagiocephaly, Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, genetic disorders, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, autism spectrum disorder, and neuromuscular disorders when supporting the families that she provides services to through Early Intervention. Erin has experience working with children with complex medical needs and with children who are recovering from cardiac and orthopedic surgical procedures. he has experience with adapting infant equipment to meet children’s positioning needs and with ordering specialized positioning and mobility equipment.
A Little About Erin: Erin’s passion for working with babies and children began to develop early in life while growing up in a large family. It has continued to grow through her experiences working as a pediatric physical therapist, spending time with the many children in her large extended family and raising her son who is now in graduate school. Erin enjoys collaborating with families and other team members to promote children’s development in all areas and to provide supports needed to allow children to fully participate in family routines and activities at home and in the community.
Patti Linnane
EI Credentials: MA/CCCSLP; Masters in Communication Disorders and a Bachelor’s Degree in Speech Communications; currently holds a Certificate of Clinical Competency (CCC) from the American Speech/Language/Hearing Association; currently holds a PA license as a Speech Language Pathologist.
Specialty Areas: Patti has 28+ years of experience with 27+ years of experience in Early Intervention providing evaluations, therapy, and consultation in both the home, classroom, day care and community settings. Patti has experience in working with a variety of diagnoses, including autism spectrum disorder, apraxia of speech, developmental delay, expressive language delay, AAC, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, hearing impairment, and dysphagia. Patti has completed trainings and continuing education in Autism Spectrum Disorders (including early diagnosis, coaching with families, and targeting intervention goals), apraxia of speech, communicative temptations, ABA, PECS, sensory integration, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), American Sign Language (ASL), social skills/executive functioning, behavior modification, sleep concerns, potty training, and gluten free/casein free diet. Patti has experience working in inclusive classrooms at childcare facilities-part of a childcare classroom for 9 years; she works well coordinating with other disciplines. Patti feels she works well with families, being able to come up with plans that best support the family and child in their natural environment and in their daily routines. She loves empowering families through coaching so that the families have the strategies and tools to best help their child succeed.
A Little About Patti: Patti has been working for UCP for 27+ years. She enjoys working with families to come up with solutions together. She lives in Lower Paxton Township with her husband, daughter, and dog. She is vegan, loves all sports, and is an avid ultra-runner.
Laura McCone
EI Credentials: Laura is a licensed speech-language pathologist who received her Bachelor’s in Speech Pathology and Audiology at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and her Masters in Communication Science Disorders from Pennsylvania State University. She currently holds a Certificate of Clinical Competency (CCC) from the American Speech-Language Hearing association (ASHA). Laura has 5 years of experience working in pediatrics and early intervention.
Specialty Areas: Laura has experience working with children diagnosed with including autism spectrum disorder, expressive and receptive language delays, cerebral palsy, apraxia of speech, and a variety of developmental disorders. She is trained in many augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices and supports, including various dedicated devices, iPad apps, low-tech and mid-tech systems. She is passionate about including families in speech therapy sessions to find functional strategies and supports to address the goals on the Individualized Family Services Plan (IFSP).
A Little About Laura: Laura is eager to support families with children who have complex communication needs. When she is not working as an SLP, she can be found in Dillsburg spending time with her husband and dog, running, and reading.
Danielle Norris
EI Credentials: MS/CC-SLP; Bachelors of Science degree in Speech/Language Pathology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Masters in Science degree from Nova Southeastern University; currently holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) in Speech-Language Pathology from the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA); currently holds a PA license as a Speech Language Pathologist; has 15 years of experience working with the pediatric population in early intervention (birth to three and 3-5 year olds) private practice, school, and home setting. Danielle has been working for the Capital Area Intermediate Unit for 10 years and UCP for 8 years.
Specialty Areas: Danielle has experience in working with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down Syndrome, Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) and has had training and experience in American Sign Language and use of various augmentative communication devices (Go Talk Now, Proloquo2Go, LAMP).
A Little About Danielle: Danielle lives in Harrisburg with her husband, two sons (2 and 5), and a dog. Danielle pursued this career because she has always loved working with children and was passionate about helping them to communicate. She finds this career path extremely intrinsically rewarding and is happy to be a part of the Early Intervention community. Danielle believes in using the whole language approach in order to enhance the lives of children,and assist them in finding the most effective method for each individual child to express their wants and needs and improve their quality of life.
Morgan Tierney
EI Credentials: Morgan Tierney has Bachelor’s degrees in Communicative Disorders and Spanish and a Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She currently holds a Certificate of Clinical Competency (CCC) from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), a Speech-Language Pathologist license and an Education Specialist certificate level II in the state of Pennsylvania. Morgan is an NLA trained Clinician.
Specialty Areas: Morgan has 8-years of experience working with children across age-ranges and presenting with a variety of diagnoses, including autism spectrum disorder, childhood apraxia of speech, expressive and/or receptive language delay, Down Syndrome, hearing impairment, and visual impairment among others. Morgan has completed training and continuing education in Autism Spectrum Disorder, Natural Language Acquisition (NLA), Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), aided language modeling/stimulation, social skills/executive functioning, and behavior modification among others.
A Little About Morgan: Morgan relocated to Central Pennsylvania in 2016 after finishing graduate school. She is originally from the Poconos and loves to go back to visit. When not engaged in speech-language related activities, she can be found enjoying quality time with her family, friends, husband, and cat. Her favorite hobbies include swimming, running, reading, and traveling to new places near and far.
Norys Muñoz
EI Credentials: B.S. in Arts with a minor in Elementary Education in the University of Puerto Rico. Completed coursework at HACC in Early Childhood Education when she decided to move and settle in Central PA with her husband. As a Special Instructor she has completed courses on social and emotional development, responsive routines and environments, challenging behavior, autism spectrum disorder, as well as courses related to helping children who need to develop their play, cognitive and pre-language skills.
Specialty Areas: She worked for 23 years as an Elementary School Teacher in Puerto Rico. In PA she worked 10 years as a Lead Teacher in an Infant/Toddler classroom as well as a Director and Assistant Director in two Early Learning Centers. She is bi-lingual and fluent in Spanish. There she had the opportunity to establish a bilingual program where children learned words/word expressions in Spanish through songs and books. Her experience as a lead teacher has helped her to have a good communication with the teachers in Daycares, to work as a team with them and to coach them in the management of the best practices for the well-being of not only the children in her charge who receive early intervention, but for all children in general in the classroom. She works with parents paying attention to their cultural beliefs to develop simple and interesting activities within their daily routines with materials available at home. She helps them develop the confidence in themselves to help their children achieve their goals. She shows parents that we all have musical and artistic skills (art/dramatic play) and that we can use them to encourage their children to participate in developing their language, social and cognitive skills.
A Little About Norys: She and her husband enjoy spending time in nature. She loves traveling to Puerto Rico to visit her family, especially her son, grandson and her mother. In her downtime she enjoys music, watching television or reading and creating art. She often will be searching for new activities and ideas using everyday items to share with her families and their children.
Kayla Pavlosky
EI Credentials: B.S. in Elementary Education (PreK-4) and B.S. in Special Education, Mentally/Physically Handicapped (PreK-8); Masters in Educational Leadership from York College of Pennsylvania
Specialty Areas: Kayla was a former teacher. She taught elementary (3rd and 4th grades) for four years before switching to Special Education. As a Special Education teacher, she taught a self-contained Autistic Support Class for three years. During that position, Kayla communicated with parents daily to form close relationships with the families to support and best meet the needs of the students in her classroom.
A Little About Kayla: Kayla lives with her husband, three (soon-to-be four) children, and their three dogs. She enjoys spending time with her children, skiing, going on walks, and vacationing at the beach. She and her family can be found outside exploring in any weather.
Lynnette Meek
EI Credentials: Lynnette is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with over 30 years of experience. She received her bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and a Master of Science in Nutrition from Colorado State University with her thesis focusing on special diets used within the Autism Spectrum. She is currently licensed in Pennsylvania and has taken the SOS Approach to Feeding Therapy to help children with eating challenges.
Specialty Areas: Lynnette was interested in nutrition long before graduating from college, and she has found it very rewarding to support those with nutritional needs. Lynnette is very familiar with the nutrition requirements of children, having worked with the state of Idaho in reviewing the Child Nutrition Programs in schools and childcare centers. While working on her master’s degree a few years ago, Lynnette focused her thesis on the gastrointestinal issues associated within the Autism Spectrum and the outcomes of special diets. Earlier in her career, Lynnette received the certification for Child and Adolescent Weight Management and was the dietitian at a summer camp for children with Juvenile Diabetes. When not actively working as a dietitian, Lynnette has used her expertise in many volunteer settings, her children’s schools, community and church. Lynnette and her husband lived in Chile for three years, during which time Lynnette learned Spanish sufficiently to converse and read in another language.
A Little About Lynnette: Lynnette and her husband moved to Pennsylvania from Utah last year to be closer to their 4 married children and 10 grandchildren. Family activities are Lynnette’s favorite past-time, which include boating, skiing and hiking. She also enjoys gardening and cooking for a crowd!
English
Croatian
French
Haitian Creole
Nepali
Spanish