It’s been a very exciting past couple of days for Family Chatterbox! First, an amazing post on Twin Cities Mom Blog, and now we are excited to announce that one of our part time Speech-Language Therapists has accepted an offer to join Family Chatterbox full time!!! Below you will find out some more information about our newest full time therapist Amber Petereck!
First, Tell us about your family.
I grew up with my parents and older brother. I am told that my poor brother never got a word in, because I talked so much! I guess I joined the right field! I am now happily married to my wonderful husband and have a sweet and handsome baby boy who is growing way faster than I want him to! My husband and I have been together for 9 years and married for almost 3 years! He is my best friend and so supportive! Our baby is 7 months old and it is exciting to watch him learn about his environment and learn new skills! His laugh is the sweetest sound to my ears! My family is close and gets together frequently, though never enough. I am also close with my in-laws who are wonderful and I miss them when they move to Florida in the winters (but visiting them is so nice)!
Why did you choose Speech-Language Pathology?
While growing up, my mom was a Physical Therapist Assistant who worked with children with special needs. When I was younger, I was able to go with her to work on some days, and I loved the experience! I knew from then that I wanted to work with kids in some capacity, but did not know how just yet! My first year in undergraduate school, I shadowed a Speech and Language Therapist in a school and knew that helping kids learn to communicate was what I wanted to do! I have been on that track ever since and I could not love it more!
What is your work experience?
During my graduate program, I had the opportunity to intern with kids in a variety of clinics. I gained experience working in outpatient clinics with a few larger companies as well as working in clinics where they address goals in a group setting. Once I graduated, I began working at Fraser, where I was able to work with children with a variety of diagnoses including ASD, apraxia, phonological disorders, mental health disorders, and a variety of others. Fraser is also where my passion for feeding therapy evolved! I have experience doing feeding evaluations and therapy with kids who need help learning how to safely eat and expand their diet! I love that there are so many different areas within Speech Therapy where we can help overcome difficulties!
What are you most excited about when you think about joining Family Chatterbox?
I am excited to be able to work closely with parents, who are the ones who know their child the best, in their homes to help them with gaining and generalizing functional skills that the kids have difficulty with. Kids are most comfortable in their home, and getting to work with their toys and in a familiar environment helps to speed up the generalization process and keeps kids motivated and engaged. Also, it allows us to give specific home programming for parents and caretakers to work on during the week!
Lastly and most importantly... What is your favorite food?
Oh, man! I love all food! My favorite food changes on a daily basis! Being that one of my favorite areas of being a Speech-Language Pathologist is being feeding therapist, I can’t be picky!!
