First Steps Inc

Programs: Since 1957, first steps has served children with special needs and medical conditions while supporting their families. We serve families from many different socio-economic backgrounds and ethnicities. First steps provides expert education, care and therapy to children with special needs and medical conditions based on each family's unique needs. Our inclusive mcwhorter family children's center offers full time care and education to children with special needs alongside their typically developing peers ages six weeks to five years. In 2017, 93 children were served in the mcwhorter family children's center. Our staff is highly trained and provides each child the individual attention they need, recognizing that each child has a distinct set of strengths and challenges. Our staff reports daily to parents and caregivers via teaching strategies gold on their child's progress, while providing tools to continue to work on skills in their home environment. First steps provides our children with a curriculum rich in literacy and developmental skills that provide a strong foundation for achievement later in life. The first steps community outreach program consists of skilled developmental therapists that travel to a child's home, childcare center or other natural setting to spend time each week in play based interventions geared towards the child's goals. Working with parents and other caregivers in these natural settings and coaching them to utilize these techniques is an important part of this program. The ayundando ninos (helping children) program is a part of the community outreach program that works with children from latino families as well as other cultures, offering interpreters to assist in communicating with caregivers. We pride ourselves in offering the very best training to our staff to ensure that we are abreast of new techniques and evaluation tools to ensure each child receives the very best. Last year, the community outreach program served 692 children aged birth to three years old in the middle tennessee area. Our therapy program offers occupational, speech/language, physical, feeding and aquatic therapies to children up to age 12 in our mcwhorter family children's center. Over the past year, over 5,648 therapy sessions were provided to 214 clients, more children than ever before.