Joe’s Kids in Warsaw provides physical, occupational, and speech therapy to special needs children in Kosciusko County. Pictured is Director Rebecca Bazzoni in the sensory gym. (Photo by Phoebe Muthart)
WARSAW — At Joe’s Kids, special children receive physical, occupational, and speech therapy in order to help them reach their maximal level of independence. These are in the areas of gross motor skills and mobility, fine motor skills, sensory processing, self care, feeding and swallowing, and speech and language.Joes Kids’ mission is to help children reach their full potential and to educate and support their families along the way. Recently, the non-profit moved. Rebecca Bazzoni, executive director, said the move was necessary due to demand.
“There was no room for referrals,” she said of the old location. “In order to serve more kids, we needed more room.”
The new facility has three rooms for speech therapy and a feeding room. The feeding room helps children with swallowing and feeding issues.
Joe’s Kids serves children as young as infants to age 18. The majority of children are under age 12.
“We’ve had a huge growth in infants and toddlers,” said Bazzoni.
Joe’s Kids also offers occupational therapy. The therapy helps with fine motor skills and sensory processing disorders. This can include children with autism and other disorders.
The facility offers physical therapy, helping those children with gross motor skills. Children with Down syndrome, autism, and spina bifida and other developmental delays may also benefit from physical therapy.
Along with the move to a new location, Joe’s Kids has an indoor track for children to ride bikes and scooters or use a walker.
A gym offers more amenities. A jungle gym has been added, as well as swings. The sensory gym is called Sophie’s Playroom, and is named after Sophie Long, a patient who passed away last fall.
Skylar Payton, 12, attends therapy at Joe’s Kids. For years, the family traveled to Fort Wayne for therapy.
“She would have three sessions back to back,” said her mother, Samantha Payton. “With me leaving work, it would take two hours by the time I left to get to the other place. Which in the beginning was great.”
But, she said, it wasn’t helping because her daughter was too tired from doing that much in one day. A normal day wore her out, plus a long trip and three therapies on top of that, she said, adding, “We would either pack a supper to eat on the way or have to eat out.”
“When Joes Kid’s moved to Warsaw, we were all so excited,” said her mother.
“We didn’t have to make all the therapies in one day, and I didn’t have to miss as much work,” she said. “At Joe’s Kids, all the therapists make it fun. Skylar loves going there. She always has a smile on her face and gets upset if we have to miss a week of therapy. Right now, she is doing just physical therapy with Mindy.
“She knows when she needs pushed a little bit more and how to get her talk her through overcoming her muscle tone that she battles daily with her cerebral palsy,” said Skylar’s mother.
Skylar has been working on one very important goal: walking across the stage at her high school graduation.
“With the help of Mindy and Joe’s Kids, I have no doubt she will do it,” said her mother.
Joe’s Kids offers free developmental screenings. Joe’s Kids new location is 902 Provident Drive, Warsaw. Call (574) 376-2316 or visit www.joes-kids.org.
