April 8, 2025 • 19 mins
April is Autism Awareness Month, and our guests are Clara Miller and Nikki Bina from Heartspring! They stop by to tell us why this month is so important to so many Wichita area families, and to invite us to the Heartspring Gala on April 12th. www.heartspring.org; www.heartspringgala.org
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is the Wichita Weekend podcast from iHeartRadio Station's ninety
seven point nine, B ninety eight one O two to one,
The Bowl Channel nine sixty three and All one oh
seven three. I'm your host, Don Guidas, Thanks for joining us.
April is Autism Acceptance Month, and our guests today come
to us from heart Spring. We have Nicki Bina. She
(00:23):
is the clinical director of Interdisciplinary Therapy at heart Spring.
Welcome Nicki.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hi, I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
It's great to have you. And Clara Miller's here. She's
a friend of Wichita Weekend. She's been interviewed before. She's
the director of marketing and communications there at heart Spring.
Welcome Clara.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Very true.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Nikki, you are the lucky one because you're the new
interviewee today, so you get the first question. What is
important about Autism Acceptance Month?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Autism Acceptance Month helps us bring attention to neurodevelopmental differences,
and at heart Spring this is our daily focus. One
in thirty six children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders,
and the growing number really reinforces why early intervention is
(01:10):
so important. We know that the earlier a child receives support,
the greater their progress.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
One in thirty six That seems really high.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
The number has been growing, has it? It's way more
than it was even just ten years ago, and in
Kansas alone it's gone up over three hundred percent in
that time period.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
What do they attribute that to? What do the experts say,
is it reasonably? I missed the button? I'm gonna ask
you questions. One in thirty six kids. That seems kind
of high, Nikki to what today attribute that? What's causing that?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
We're still not sure the cause of autism, but we
do know that early intervention is best and that is
our focus at heart Spring. We hope to see children
and families at the at the very beginning. Yeah, we
could see you kiddos around a year, eighteen months. We
(02:13):
know that early is better, and we really focus on play.
Play is essential for a child's learning and their development,
no matter what difficulty difficulty they're having. It's really the
vehicle that children use to learn about their world, right.
(02:38):
It's how they engage with engage with the world, and
develop and build skills and confidence. At heart Spring we
are play experts.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, I bet you are. How do most of your
clients come to you? How do they find their way
to you. Does it begin with a family referral or
a physician referral? How does that happen?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
It really begins with a family concern. A parent could
call us directly. We also work with pediatricians regularly, but
really it can start with a parent and then picking
up the phone or going on our website.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And I don't suppose we need to go through the
kind of red flags that a parent might see early on.
But maybe it wouldn't hurt you know, maybe there's a
few bullet points on that.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Sure. If parents are seeing signs like speech delays or
trouble with motor skills or sensory sensitivities, we really encourage
them to trust their instincts. You don't have to have
a diagnosis to reach out for help, right You could
just go ahead and give us a call.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Okay, if you even begin to suspect, make that call first,
educate yourselves, get with the folks that know.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, and I think one of the values of calling
Heartspring and getting to talk with someone like Nikki and
her team is you know, something we know that parents
do when they have a concern is they go straight
to the internet, straight to TikTok and kind of scrolling
through for anyone who can help them answer their question.
And while that can be great, and certainly it's a
(04:08):
very convenient thing to do, you always have your and
you're there anyway, right, Yeah, sometimes it's nice to just
talk to a real person who can help you validate
your concerns, share what's going on with your specific child,
and get that expert feedback. And that's really the value
of engaging with our team at heart Spring.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Ye been doing it for so many years and you know,
a lot of great stories coming through heart Spring. Now
on the calendar, we have something scheduled coming up for
April twelfth. It's going to be a very special thing. Claire,
Do you want to take that one and run with us?
What's happening April twelfth, Sir?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
April twelfth is the heart Spring Gala, And the gala
is really a concert for a cause. It's a private
concert with the band Neon Trees.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Oh heard of them? They're hipsters, right?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Are?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
They're really kind of mid nineties, early two thousands, but
very well known and very very cool, unique artists. So
they're coming.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah. If you know that song is started with a whisper.
I always want to sing it for you because I'm
not a singer.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Well, I will not sing it.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So we're on the same page there. But it's a
private concert. It's going to be an Interest Bank arena,
wonderful and it is our annual fundraiser where we get
to raise both awareness and funding for the work we do,
which is of course supporting children with all types of
neurodevelopmental conditions and challenges.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Okay, well, where do we get tickets for the gala?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
So if you go to Heartspring Gala dot org you
can get connected with the opportunities for engaging with us,
and even if you don't come, our silent auction opens
online next week and so if you watch our social
media you could actually bid on things without even having
to come to the event, although you will be missing
out on the event itself.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah, I think you'd really want to check that out
A bad out.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah great, it's going to be fun, lots of fun.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
So live auction, can you share with us some of
the items that we can bid on?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah, So for the online silent auction, one of our
most popular items is called the Golden Ticket, and there's
only one hundred and fifty of those, and it is
a chance to win a very nice vacation, and so
that tends to be our most popular item. The rest
of the silent auction has all kinds of different things
that you know, different folks in the community, different supporters
of ours have put together different experience packages. So there's
(06:34):
some cool stuff.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Always is Heartspring does it great? You're listening to the
Wichita Weekend podcast and we've been visiting with Nicky Bina
and Clara Miller from heart Spring about Autism Acceptance Month
This April. We'll take a quick break and we will
be back with more from Wichita Weekend.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
One amazing summer entertainment music Theater Wichita's twenty twenty five
season has it experienced Rogers and Hammerstein's timeless hits and
a grand night for singing, Laugh out Loud with Hilarious
Something Rotten, feel the energy of Disney's Newsies, and enjoy
Gershwin's delightful Crazy for You, and savor the heartwarming story
of Waitress mt. Wichita delivers Broadway quality shows right here
(07:12):
in our hometown, with single tickets starting at just twenty
five dollars. Tickets are on sale now get the best
seats for the shows everyone will be talking about. Visit
mt Wichita dot org.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
And we're back with the Wichita Weekend Podcast. We're visiting
with Clara Miller and Nicki Beana, both from Hartspring about
Autism Acceptance Month in April. Boy Nikki, I know you've
worked with so many families and so many of your
clients I call them clients. I don't want to call
them patients, but at any rate, you've worked with so
(07:43):
many over the years. Can you tell us what is
it like for a family when they first come in
to you for a consultation or treatment.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Well, our families can expect that they are welcomed into
a fun environment, where they're met, where there are like
their child can be who they are. We create an
environment where kids can learn and grow and feel safe
(08:13):
through play. They will see a lot of They will
see a lot of play in every different type of
therapy that we provide for families. We specialize in a
variety of therapies. One is feeding therapy, and I'm a
speech language pathologist by trade who also has training in
(08:33):
feeding therapy. And what you would see in a feeding
therapy session is well initially you know, we're always looking
at the entire child. In the feeding therapy sessions, we
are learning about food in a playful way and really
meeting the kiddo where they're at, you know, so their
(08:55):
body can stay calm and they can move up the
steps to eating.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
We call that.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Many children we see have a very restricted food interest.
Maybe they eat foods of the same color or of
the same texture, and we're able to create an environment
where they can learn and explore. We follow the child's
lead and enter into a to place schemas that they enjoy,
(09:23):
and we work with the child and their family on
you know, expanding those food preferences and decreasing the stress
at meal times. So many families that we meet meal
times are stressful just culturally. For my family, food is
so important and it would be a true barrier. You know.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
It sounds so simple and so basic that you know, gosh,
you've got got a guide a child to learn how
to eat different foods. You've got to guide a child
in a way to learn how to play a little
bit or or at least help them find their way
to it. For whatever reason, they're not able.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
To tell that it is basic, but it's essential. Yeah,
and it's it's necessary for families.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Yeah, And often the way they learn that is just
you've just got to keep trying and keep trying, and
what works on one child may not work on the
next child the next time.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
You're exactly right. We provide individualized therapy for all children.
So while play is consistent, play is a constant thread
that you'll see throughout various therapies.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
But but it's it's still got to be tailored to
each individual child.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
And it is it is we're treating the kiddo that's
right in front of us. Yeah, We're meeting their individual needs.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
It's not one size fits all, not a long shot.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
It is not. That's not what's best for children and
their families.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Now do you find when okay, the family gets involved
others in the family that might not have might not
be on the spectrum, does it benefit them as well
like the other kids? Are they able to get along
with their brother or sister better? Do you find the short.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Answer to that is yes, Okay, many of the strategies
that we teach parents help the entire family, help help
the sibling, help siblings.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Sure, yeah, and everybody maybe if everybody understands a little
bit better what everybody's going through, and we can understand
and communicating.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
And that's actually what it's about. It's not about what
a therapist can get a child to do in their
therapy room. It's about arming the parents with tools that
they can take home with them and out in their community.
So all kiddos, you know, with autism or kiddos with
a neurodevelopmental disability or delay can access their environment.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Okay, very good. Yeah. So if I'm a parent, let's
say I just move to town, and let's say there's
been a whole lot of changes going on in our
life with jobs and kids. And let's say I've got
a couple of young children, move the family to town,
and we're noticing some signs maybe in speech development or something,
(12:15):
and we don't know where to begin. Would I go
online and google? Would I google for speech pathologists or
Google for hearts What would I do?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
You could go online to heartspring dot org to get
a sense of the services that we provide. You could
pick up the phone and give us a call.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, okay, go to the website as well. Right, there's
all kinds of info there and contact info that we
could go too.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
That's a great place to get that dialogue.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
And that's heartspring dot org. Correct, it is okay, but
there was a special website for the Gala.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Correct that that's right, it's Heartspring Galata. Yeah, just a
slight variation, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
So Heartspring dot org been in Wichita for one hundred
plus years.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Well, last year was our ninetieth year, so we're in
our ninety first year.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Ninety first. Originally Institute of logo Pedics.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
That's right. Originally we were the Institute of Logopedics, and
originally we started in the speech pathology area. It wasn't
called that at that time. But helping children overcome communication
challenges is in our DNA and it has been from
the beginning. So that's why it's exciting to sit here
with a speech language pathologist like Nicki, because she's it's
(13:34):
coming full circle.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Nikki, how'd you get into speech pathology? You know?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I my undergraduate was in elementary education, and I loved teaching.
I found myself in New York City and I knew
I didn't want to be in the classroom forever. So
speech language pathology was a no brainer. Once I heard
(13:59):
about it. It was I would describe it as like teaching,
but better. I get to work with children individually. I
get to work so closely with the families. The part
about kindergarten that I loved was the language development. So
this just made sense for me.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Yeah, okay, that's a good thumbnail sketch of how you
got into it. And wow, oh wow. So how long
of a career have you had to this.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
I've been a speech pathologist for seventeen years. I taught
kindergarten in Brooklyn for two years prior to that, and
did my master's level training on the East Coast.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Oh boy, are you originally from the East Coast?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I am not originally from the East Coast. I'm originally
from just north of here and Marion County. Oh sure,
small little town of Pilsen, Kansas. I grew up on
a farm.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Well, welcome back, glad. I'm glad you came back to Kansas.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
You know, I'm so happy to be back in Kansas
near my family.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I can imagine that must have been a huge culture shock.
I mean, you teach kindergarten because you love the kids,
But in New York City that's a whole different It
is environment.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
It is like a different, different world. But I've learned
and grown so much from that experience and met so
many different kinds of people that I didn't have access
to in Marian County.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Right well, Wichita and Heartspring are richer for it for
having you here, So thank you and ladies. Anything else
that we'd like to cover regarding April Autism Month, Maybe
remind him about the gala on April twelfth.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Heart Spring provides therapies and special education for pediatric neurodevelopment
and a lot of people in Wichita may not know that.
They may have been more familiar with us as the
Institute of Logopedics. As heart Spring, we have a pediatric
outpatient clinic that provides PTOT, speech language pathology, all the
things Nikki mentioned, and so it's really like a specialty
(15:58):
healthcare office, and we help children who have diagnosed neurodevelopmental
disorders and challenges, but also that early intervention where there's
not yet a diagnosis. I'm a parent, I'm not sure
what's wrong. I need some help understanding how I can
best support my child at this stage in the game.
And that's one aspect of our business. We also have
(16:20):
our therapeutic school that has students who live with us
residentially twenty four to seven three sixty five. We also
have some day school students and those children are typically
level three on the autism spectrum, and so we provide
therapies right alongside their education in a highly specialized environment
(16:42):
that exceeds with their home school district and even their
family can provide in their home and so Tho's are
the two main facets of our business. We're also really
excited about eventually moving our outpatient clinic downtown just right
near this studio, going to be part of the biomedical corridor,
(17:02):
right alongside WSU and some of the other partners who
are building down here.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So exciting. It's going to be a fantastic central location
for you guys.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
It absolutely is.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Yeah. It will facilitate a lot more partnerships for research
and really helping us start to look at how is
pediatric neu ourdevelopment care provided and what can we do
to make it even better.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
It's good work. It's a huge mission, but I can't
think of a better group of folks to tackle that mission.
And the wonderful caring pros at Heartspring and we've been
visiting with two of them today, Clara Miller, Director of
Marketing and Communications, also Nicki Bina. She is the clinical
director of Interdisciplinary Therapy there. I said it one time
(17:46):
without stumbling through it. Quick reminder, go ahead and check
the website anytime you want to learn more about what's
going on at Heartspring at heartspring dot org. And then
if you're interested in getting tickets for the gala April
twelfth with Neon Trees, then you go to Heartspring Gala
dot org, get your tickets and get out there and
(18:07):
get behind this great organization. Ladies, thank you so much
for being with us on Wichital weekend today.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
It's been a lot of fun, even all the behind
the scenes stuff with equipment falling apart and non working
air conditioning and that kind of stuff. We made it through,
you soldiered through another one.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
We're good to go. We'd love to come back more frequently.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
I would. Well, you don't even have to wait till
you move downtown.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Yeah, no, we won't.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
When you move downtown, you can just skateboard over here.
But until then, considering an open invitation, we'll get you
very soon, awesome all right, love that. Thanks again Clara
Miller and Nicki Bina from Heartspring. This is Wichita Weekend
the podcast. This has been the Wichita Weekend podcast, produced
(18:53):
by iHeartRadio Wichita. It is en
This is the Wichita Weekend podcast from iHeartRadio Station's ninety
seven point nine, B ninety eight one O two to one,
The Bowl Channel nine sixty three and All one oh
seven three. I'm your host, Don Guidas, Thanks for joining us.
April is Autism Acceptance Month, and our guests today come
to us from heart Spring. We have Nicki Bina. She
(00:23):
is the clinical director of Interdisciplinary Therapy at heart Spring.
Welcome Nicki.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hi, I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
It's great to have you. And Clara Miller's here. She's
a friend of Wichita Weekend. She's been interviewed before. She's
the director of marketing and communications there at heart Spring.
Welcome Clara.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Very true.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Nikki, you are the lucky one because you're the new
interviewee today, so you get the first question. What is
important about Autism Acceptance Month?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Autism Acceptance Month helps us bring attention to neurodevelopmental differences,
and at heart Spring this is our daily focus. One
in thirty six children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders,
and the growing number really reinforces why early intervention is
(01:10):
so important. We know that the earlier a child receives support,
the greater their progress.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
One in thirty six That seems really high.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
The number has been growing, has it? It's way more
than it was even just ten years ago, and in
Kansas alone it's gone up over three hundred percent in
that time period.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
What do they attribute that to? What do the experts say,
is it reasonably? I missed the button? I'm gonna ask
you questions. One in thirty six kids. That seems kind
of high, Nikki to what today attribute that? What's causing that?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
We're still not sure the cause of autism, but we
do know that early intervention is best and that is
our focus at heart Spring. We hope to see children
and families at the at the very beginning. Yeah, we
could see you kiddos around a year, eighteen months. We
(02:13):
know that early is better, and we really focus on play.
Play is essential for a child's learning and their development,
no matter what difficulty difficulty they're having. It's really the
vehicle that children use to learn about their world, right.
(02:38):
It's how they engage with engage with the world, and
develop and build skills and confidence. At heart Spring we
are play experts.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, I bet you are. How do most of your
clients come to you? How do they find their way
to you. Does it begin with a family referral or
a physician referral? How does that happen?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
It really begins with a family concern. A parent could
call us directly. We also work with pediatricians regularly, but
really it can start with a parent and then picking
up the phone or going on our website.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And I don't suppose we need to go through the
kind of red flags that a parent might see early on.
But maybe it wouldn't hurt you know, maybe there's a
few bullet points on that.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Sure. If parents are seeing signs like speech delays or
trouble with motor skills or sensory sensitivities, we really encourage
them to trust their instincts. You don't have to have
a diagnosis to reach out for help, right You could
just go ahead and give us a call.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Okay, if you even begin to suspect, make that call first,
educate yourselves, get with the folks that know.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, and I think one of the values of calling
Heartspring and getting to talk with someone like Nikki and
her team is you know, something we know that parents
do when they have a concern is they go straight
to the internet, straight to TikTok and kind of scrolling
through for anyone who can help them answer their question.
And while that can be great, and certainly it's a
(04:08):
very convenient thing to do, you always have your and
you're there anyway, right, Yeah, sometimes it's nice to just
talk to a real person who can help you validate
your concerns, share what's going on with your specific child,
and get that expert feedback. And that's really the value
of engaging with our team at heart Spring.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Ye been doing it for so many years and you know,
a lot of great stories coming through heart Spring. Now
on the calendar, we have something scheduled coming up for
April twelfth. It's going to be a very special thing. Claire,
Do you want to take that one and run with us?
What's happening April twelfth, Sir?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
April twelfth is the heart Spring Gala, And the gala
is really a concert for a cause. It's a private
concert with the band Neon Trees.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Oh heard of them? They're hipsters, right?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Are?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
They're really kind of mid nineties, early two thousands, but
very well known and very very cool, unique artists. So
they're coming.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah. If you know that song is started with a whisper.
I always want to sing it for you because I'm
not a singer.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Well, I will not sing it.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So we're on the same page there. But it's a
private concert. It's going to be an Interest Bank arena,
wonderful and it is our annual fundraiser where we get
to raise both awareness and funding for the work we do,
which is of course supporting children with all types of
neurodevelopmental conditions and challenges.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Okay, well, where do we get tickets for the gala?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
So if you go to Heartspring Gala dot org you
can get connected with the opportunities for engaging with us,
and even if you don't come, our silent auction opens
online next week and so if you watch our social
media you could actually bid on things without even having
to come to the event, although you will be missing
out on the event itself.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah, I think you'd really want to check that out
A bad out.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah great, it's going to be fun, lots of fun.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
So live auction, can you share with us some of
the items that we can bid on?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah, So for the online silent auction, one of our
most popular items is called the Golden Ticket, and there's
only one hundred and fifty of those, and it is
a chance to win a very nice vacation, and so
that tends to be our most popular item. The rest
of the silent auction has all kinds of different things
that you know, different folks in the community, different supporters
of ours have put together different experience packages. So there's
(06:34):
some cool stuff.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Always is Heartspring does it great? You're listening to the
Wichita Weekend podcast and we've been visiting with Nicky Bina
and Clara Miller from heart Spring about Autism Acceptance Month
This April. We'll take a quick break and we will
be back with more from Wichita Weekend.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
One amazing summer entertainment music Theater Wichita's twenty twenty five
season has it experienced Rogers and Hammerstein's timeless hits and
a grand night for singing, Laugh out Loud with Hilarious
Something Rotten, feel the energy of Disney's Newsies, and enjoy
Gershwin's delightful Crazy for You, and savor the heartwarming story
of Waitress mt. Wichita delivers Broadway quality shows right here
(07:12):
in our hometown, with single tickets starting at just twenty
five dollars. Tickets are on sale now get the best
seats for the shows everyone will be talking about. Visit
mt Wichita dot org.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
And we're back with the Wichita Weekend Podcast. We're visiting
with Clara Miller and Nicki Beana, both from Hartspring about
Autism Acceptance Month in April. Boy Nikki, I know you've
worked with so many families and so many of your
clients I call them clients. I don't want to call
them patients, but at any rate, you've worked with so
(07:43):
many over the years. Can you tell us what is
it like for a family when they first come in
to you for a consultation or treatment.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Well, our families can expect that they are welcomed into
a fun environment, where they're met, where there are like
their child can be who they are. We create an
environment where kids can learn and grow and feel safe
(08:13):
through play. They will see a lot of They will
see a lot of play in every different type of
therapy that we provide for families. We specialize in a
variety of therapies. One is feeding therapy, and I'm a
speech language pathologist by trade who also has training in
(08:33):
feeding therapy. And what you would see in a feeding
therapy session is well initially you know, we're always looking
at the entire child. In the feeding therapy sessions, we
are learning about food in a playful way and really
meeting the kiddo where they're at, you know, so their
(08:55):
body can stay calm and they can move up the
steps to eating.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
We call that.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Many children we see have a very restricted food interest.
Maybe they eat foods of the same color or of
the same texture, and we're able to create an environment
where they can learn and explore. We follow the child's
lead and enter into a to place schemas that they enjoy,
(09:23):
and we work with the child and their family on
you know, expanding those food preferences and decreasing the stress
at meal times. So many families that we meet meal
times are stressful just culturally. For my family, food is
so important and it would be a true barrier. You know.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
It sounds so simple and so basic that you know, gosh,
you've got got a guide a child to learn how
to eat different foods. You've got to guide a child
in a way to learn how to play a little
bit or or at least help them find their way
to it. For whatever reason, they're not able.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
To tell that it is basic, but it's essential. Yeah,
and it's it's necessary for families.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Yeah, And often the way they learn that is just
you've just got to keep trying and keep trying, and
what works on one child may not work on the
next child the next time.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
You're exactly right. We provide individualized therapy for all children.
So while play is consistent, play is a constant thread
that you'll see throughout various therapies.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
But but it's it's still got to be tailored to
each individual child.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
And it is it is we're treating the kiddo that's
right in front of us. Yeah, We're meeting their individual needs.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
It's not one size fits all, not a long shot.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
It is not. That's not what's best for children and
their families.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Now do you find when okay, the family gets involved
others in the family that might not have might not
be on the spectrum, does it benefit them as well
like the other kids? Are they able to get along
with their brother or sister better? Do you find the short.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Answer to that is yes, Okay, many of the strategies
that we teach parents help the entire family, help help
the sibling, help siblings.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Sure, yeah, and everybody maybe if everybody understands a little
bit better what everybody's going through, and we can understand
and communicating.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
And that's actually what it's about. It's not about what
a therapist can get a child to do in their
therapy room. It's about arming the parents with tools that
they can take home with them and out in their community.
So all kiddos, you know, with autism or kiddos with
a neurodevelopmental disability or delay can access their environment.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Okay, very good. Yeah. So if I'm a parent, let's
say I just move to town, and let's say there's
been a whole lot of changes going on in our
life with jobs and kids. And let's say I've got
a couple of young children, move the family to town,
and we're noticing some signs maybe in speech development or something,
(12:15):
and we don't know where to begin. Would I go
online and google? Would I google for speech pathologists or
Google for hearts What would I do?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
You could go online to heartspring dot org to get
a sense of the services that we provide. You could
pick up the phone and give us a call.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, okay, go to the website as well. Right, there's
all kinds of info there and contact info that we
could go too.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
That's a great place to get that dialogue.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
And that's heartspring dot org. Correct, it is okay, but
there was a special website for the Gala.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Correct that that's right, it's Heartspring Galata. Yeah, just a
slight variation, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
So Heartspring dot org been in Wichita for one hundred
plus years.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Well, last year was our ninetieth year, so we're in
our ninety first year.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Ninety first. Originally Institute of logo Pedics.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
That's right. Originally we were the Institute of Logopedics, and
originally we started in the speech pathology area. It wasn't
called that at that time. But helping children overcome communication
challenges is in our DNA and it has been from
the beginning. So that's why it's exciting to sit here
with a speech language pathologist like Nicki, because she's it's
(13:34):
coming full circle.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Nikki, how'd you get into speech pathology? You know?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I my undergraduate was in elementary education, and I loved teaching.
I found myself in New York City and I knew
I didn't want to be in the classroom forever. So
speech language pathology was a no brainer. Once I heard
(13:59):
about it. It was I would describe it as like teaching,
but better. I get to work with children individually. I
get to work so closely with the families. The part
about kindergarten that I loved was the language development. So
this just made sense for me.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Yeah, okay, that's a good thumbnail sketch of how you
got into it. And wow, oh wow. So how long
of a career have you had to this.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
I've been a speech pathologist for seventeen years. I taught
kindergarten in Brooklyn for two years prior to that, and
did my master's level training on the East Coast.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Oh boy, are you originally from the East Coast?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I am not originally from the East Coast. I'm originally
from just north of here and Marion County. Oh sure,
small little town of Pilsen, Kansas. I grew up on
a farm.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Well, welcome back, glad. I'm glad you came back to Kansas.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
You know, I'm so happy to be back in Kansas
near my family.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I can imagine that must have been a huge culture shock.
I mean, you teach kindergarten because you love the kids,
But in New York City that's a whole different It
is environment.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
It is like a different, different world. But I've learned
and grown so much from that experience and met so
many different kinds of people that I didn't have access
to in Marian County.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Right well, Wichita and Heartspring are richer for it for
having you here, So thank you and ladies. Anything else
that we'd like to cover regarding April Autism Month, Maybe
remind him about the gala on April twelfth.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Heart Spring provides therapies and special education for pediatric neurodevelopment
and a lot of people in Wichita may not know that.
They may have been more familiar with us as the
Institute of Logopedics. As heart Spring, we have a pediatric
outpatient clinic that provides PTOT, speech language pathology, all the
things Nikki mentioned, and so it's really like a specialty
(15:58):
healthcare office, and we help children who have diagnosed neurodevelopmental
disorders and challenges, but also that early intervention where there's
not yet a diagnosis. I'm a parent, I'm not sure
what's wrong. I need some help understanding how I can
best support my child at this stage in the game.
And that's one aspect of our business. We also have
(16:20):
our therapeutic school that has students who live with us
residentially twenty four to seven three sixty five. We also
have some day school students and those children are typically
level three on the autism spectrum, and so we provide
therapies right alongside their education in a highly specialized environment
(16:42):
that exceeds with their home school district and even their
family can provide in their home and so Tho's are
the two main facets of our business. We're also really
excited about eventually moving our outpatient clinic downtown just right
near this studio, going to be part of the biomedical corridor,
(17:02):
right alongside WSU and some of the other partners who
are building down here.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So exciting. It's going to be a fantastic central location
for you guys.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
It absolutely is.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Yeah. It will facilitate a lot more partnerships for research
and really helping us start to look at how is
pediatric neu ourdevelopment care provided and what can we do
to make it even better.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
It's good work. It's a huge mission, but I can't
think of a better group of folks to tackle that mission.
And the wonderful caring pros at Heartspring and we've been
visiting with two of them today, Clara Miller, Director of
Marketing and Communications, also Nicki Bina. She is the clinical
director of Interdisciplinary Therapy there. I said it one time
(17:46):
without stumbling through it. Quick reminder, go ahead and check
the website anytime you want to learn more about what's
going on at Heartspring at heartspring dot org. And then
if you're interested in getting tickets for the gala April
twelfth with Neon Trees, then you go to Heartspring Gala
dot org, get your tickets and get out there and
(18:07):
get behind this great organization. Ladies, thank you so much
for being with us on Wichital weekend today.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
It's been a lot of fun, even all the behind
the scenes stuff with equipment falling apart and non working
air conditioning and that kind of stuff. We made it through,
you soldiered through another one.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
We're good to go. We'd love to come back more frequently.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
I would. Well, you don't even have to wait till
you move downtown.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Yeah, no, we won't.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
When you move downtown, you can just skateboard over here.
But until then, considering an open invitation, we'll get you
very soon, awesome all right, love that. Thanks again Clara
Miller and Nicki Bina from Heartspring. This is Wichita Weekend
the podcast. This has been the Wichita Weekend podcast, produced
(18:53):
by iHeartRadio Wichita. It is en
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