Our Team.
Our therapy specialists come from a wide variety of backgrounds, have diverse areas of expertise, and make Sensational Steps a very unique and comprehensive therapy clinic. Meet our team of occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and feeding therapists!
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
SPEECH THERAPISTS
PROVIDER BIOs
Kaylie Stearns, OTR/L
I am the owner of Sensational Steps Therapy, Inc. I am a registered, licensed pediatric occupational therapist and I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to provide OT services in the state of Michigan! I have been an OT and private practice owner for 12 years.
I use a play-based, child-led approach to treating developmental delays and sensory processing differences. I am a Sensory Integration certified therapist, Intermediate DIR Floortime provider, handwriting specialist, and feeding therapist. I have had formal training in Handwriting Without Tears, the SOS Approach to Feeding, Therapeutic Listening, and iLs Integrated Listening. In addition, I have experience providing interventions for social-emotional regulation and visual motor/perceptual development.
I have had the opportunity to practice in a variety of environments including in-home, private practice, early intervention, and school-based therapies. Today, I continue to work as a contract therapist and provide in-person pediatric OT services in/around the tri-cities area of West Michigan and teletherapy to the entire state of Michigan (and beyond).
Education: I received my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Michigan State University and my Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis. In graduate school, my master's thesis focused on Autism Spectrum Disorder and anxiety.
Emma McCleary, OTR/L
Meet Emma McCleary! She is joining the team at Sensational Steps Therapy as a registered and licensed pediatric occupational therapist.
Education:
Laurie Bullerman, OTR/L
Meet Laurie! She is joining the team at Sensational Steps Therapy as a registered and licensed pediatric occupational therapist.
Education:
Elyse Vos, OTR/L.
Elyse is our newest occupational therapist at Sensational Steps. We are so excited to have her! More information about Elyse coming soon.
Erin Carmode, CCC-SLP
Erin is an ASHA-certified and licensed speech language pathologist and has been practicing for the last 5 years. This is Erin's second career!
Erin embraces a play-based, child-led approach to treating development delays including speech, language, cognitive, social communication and feeding difficulties. She passionately believes in a whole-child approach to intervention, meeting children where they are at. She has experience providing interventions for children with global developmental delays, Autism Spectrum Disorder, social-emotional and social-communication regulation difficulties, pre-natal exposure and prematurity, and alternative and augmentative communication needs. Erin has had formal training in the SOS Approach to Feeding, Hanen It Takes Two and More Than Words, the PLAY Project based on evidence-based DIR-Floortime underpinnings, LAMP: Words for Life and PODD: Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display.
In addition to providing therapies within the private practice world with Sensational Steps, Erin is a full-time speech-language pathologist and primary service provider for Early On Muskegon County, providing services to children aged birth-3 and their families within the home environment. She has experience practicing within a variety of settings including the schools, outpatient and early intervention.
Erin has two children, a large Great Dane and a quick-witted husband. She grew up in the Tri-Cities and loves raising her family here. She enjoys reading, traveling, speaking time outdoors, and be active through movement.
Education: Erin received her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences from Michigan State University and Master’s of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Grand Valley State University.
Meredith Block, CCC-SLP
Meet Meredith! She is joining the team at Sensational Steps Therapy as a pediatric speech-language pathologist. Meredith has over 9 years of experience working in an outpatient pediatric rehabilitation center. During her time there, she focused on individual and group sessions, as well as being an SLP in a preschool classroom.
Meredith has worked with children with a variety of speech and language difficulties, as well as with children who had medical diagnoses. She has experience treating receptive/expressive language, articulation, apraxia/motor speech, vocabulary, phonological issues, as well as social language and pragmatics.
Meredith is a believe that family involvement and carryover within a variety of settings is key to improving communication skills. She is looking forward to meeting new clients and families and helping improve their child's communication skills.
Education: Meredith recieved her Bachelors in Communication Disorders from Central Michigan University and her Masters is Speech Language Pathologist from Eastern Michigan University.
"Play is the most important occupation of childhood. The mission of Sensational Steps Therapy is to provide play-based pediatric therapy services, allowing each child to grow and develop to their full potential through meaningful activities."
Kaylie Stearns, OTR/L, SIPT