Meet Leslie - Developmental Therapist, Owner.
Leslie graduated from the University of Kansas in 2005 and has been working with young children since, primarily birth to three years old. Her experience includes teaching in a toddler classroom, providing psychosocial care to children birth to 18 in a hospital setting and service coordination to families in Early Intervention.
Leslie founded Engle Developmental Group in 2016. She has proven to be an exemplary advocate for children and their families and excels in navigating the challenges associated with this type of care. She holds State licensing credentials to assess and treat children in the Early Intervention program. Leslie has built strong relationships with parents and organizations within the community, such as Child and Family Connections, preschools, social workers, and hospitals.
Leslie is a Minnesota transplant with degrees in Applied Behavioral Science and Early Childhood Education. Her specialties include behavior modification, preschool preparedness, and building a skill set that will set children up for a lifetime of success. She keeps abreast with what's current in the education of young children, specifically Early Childhood Special Education. In her free time, you'll find her riding her bike on the lakefront, playing tennis and spending time with family and friends.
Meet Mya - Developmental Therapist
Mya graduated from Saint Louis University with degrees in Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education. As an undergraduate, Mya began working with children as a floating teacher for children birth to four years old, and later taught two-year-olds in a co-teaching setting. In her studies, she worked in multiple education classroom settings including inclusive, resource, infant, and six months in a blended inclusive three and four-year-old classroom working under the special education teacher. After graduating and moving back to Chicago, Mya accepted a job as a three-year-old preschool teacher at Little Green Tree House West Loop, where she worked for two years. While working as head teacher, she was able to scaffold her curriculum to meet the unique needs of her students with a diverse range of abilities.
After leaving the classroom in the fall of 2018, she began working at Engle Developmental group as a state-licensed Developmental Therapist. She has used her knowledge of special education to identify children's strengths and challenges, adapt and modify play-based activities to meet the needs of the children she treats, and reflect with the help of families to determine progress toward therapy goals. Her extensive experience working with families has helped her excel in the field of Early Intervention.
Mya strives to stay current with best practices in early childhood through publications like NAEYC and early intervention workshops on a variety of topics. In her spare time, Mya loves to visit the dog park with her two pups, Stellaluna and Finn. She enjoys filling her home with way too many plants, knitting soft things for the people she loves, and rock climbing with her friends.