Our Team
Meet the TheraPlayers
Kris Dickinson, M.S., OTR/L Owner, Occupational Therapist
Originally from Wichita, Kris got her bachelor's from the University of Kansas and her master's in Occupational Therapy from Western Michigan University (WMU) in 1993. After many years of being away from Kansas, she returned to Wichita in 2010 and opened TheraPlay Spot in June 2012. TheraPlay Spot started as a one-therapist practice in a charming little house with only 10 children. Incredibly, TheraPlay Spot has now helped over 2200 children in 10 years! Kris still enjoys treating by covering for other therapists on occasion, as well as mentoring new therapists. She is humbled by the responsibility of her evolving leadership role.
Her passion and daily goal is to create a fun and productive work culture where therapists and staff love coming to work, so that they can help our children and their families succeed where they would otherwise struggle.
Our Occupational Therapists
Brandee Young
Brandee joined us in April 2016 and has been an OTR since graduating from Newman in 1997. She has extensive training in reflex integration, including both the MNRI and RMT programs. One of the reasons why she went into this field is to help people in all stages and aspects of life. "I enjoy working at TheraPlay Spot because it allows me to fill-in-the-gap for children who do not qualify for school therapy, or need additional support. I am able to be in better touch with the parents, be a link in the chain of hope and progress." She likes spending time with family and being involved as a parent in her children's activities.
Paula Theisen
Paula joined TheraPlay Spot in June 2021 after working many years as an OT in the schools. She brings with her expertise in fine motor skills including prewriting and handwriting development. She also works well with teens and finds ways for them to succeed in areas they’ve struggled with for years. When not at work, she enjoys traveling.
Sarah Rivers
Sarah joined TPS in April 2020. She has been an occupational therapist since graduating from Newman in 2005. Sarah has worked with all ages, from infants and toddlers to adults. Her therapy interests include feeding, sensory processing, and motor skills. Sarah enjoys seeing the children and families she works with make progress and being a small part of their story! At TPS, she likes working with a varied team. When not working, Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband and three girls. She enjoys reading, baking, and volunteering in her girls' classrooms, at church, or with the Down Syndrome Society of Wichita.
Dusty Cox
Dusty graduated from Brenau University in Gainesville, GA. She has been an OT for 18 years and has worked with children ages birth to 21 with varying diagnoses. She provided OT services through Babies Can't Wait in GA (Early Intervention Program), Missouri First Steps, Playabilities for Sensational Kids, and a variety of school districts in the state of Missouri. Due to COVID-19 plus living 3 hours away from Wichita, Dusty was hired as TheraPlay Spot's first telehealth-only OT in June 2020. "I love working for TheraPlay Spot because it is a wonderful atmosphere and the staff and therapist see every child's potential." We just wish she lived closer and could work onsite!
Rachel Knight Friesen
Rachel joined us in June 2021 and has 6 years of experience in the field. She went into occupational therapy to help people learn to help themselves. Rachel grew up on a farm in Kansas, lived in Colorado for 4 years doing pediatric OT and recently moved back to Kansas. She enjoys making and listening to music, being outdoors, landscaping with flowers, watching “Friends,” and being a big kid with husband.
Hailee Schooler
Hailee initially started with TheraPlay Spot as an OTA student, and we found her to be such an amazing fit with the team that we offered her a position! She came onboard in January 2022.
Paige Jordan
Paige joined the TheraPlayer Team in June 2018. She loves kids and being able to see them learn, grow and overcome obstacles! She went to Newman University where she graduated. She has been in the field for 7 years. When she isn't here with us, she enjoys gardening, traveling, playing sports, and spending time with her son. She is a wonderful addition to our team!
Katie Leigh Wieser
Katie became a TheraPlayer in August 2019. She went to school at Casper College in Casper, WY and grew up in Sidney, NE. She worked at Sidney Regional Medical Center as an occupational therapy assistant before moving to Wichita. "I work at TPS because I absolutely love working with children and their families. I feel that my purpose is to help make a difference in whatever struggles they may be facing so that our children are more independent and successful human beings!" When she's not at work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and son, watching Husker football (Go Big Red!), and going on walks with her fur-baby, Leo.
Our Physical Therapists
Andrea Veenis
Andrea has been a pediatric PT since 1987 when she graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. She joined TheraPlay Spot in 2015 and has extensive pediatric experience working in acute care, NICU, schools, home visits, and outpatient. When not at work, she enjoys time with her husband, family, and dogs. She also enjoys running, yoga, reading, or volunteering with Family Promise.
Our Speech-Language Pathologists
Britni Paul
Britni joined TPS in January 2020. She works with children who have delays with articulation, expressive and receptive language, alternative communication devices, and also has been trained to work on feeding issues. She went to school at the University of Nebraska Kearney. Her first four years as an SLP were working in the schools in Indiana before joining TPS. She loves working with kids and is passionate about giving them a way to communicate. When not at work, she loves spending time with her husband, two dogs, family, playing tennis, or cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs!
Angelica Mujica
Angelica joined our speech team in August 2022. She is our first speech therapist to spend her Clinical Fellowship Year with us. She went into this field to work with children and their families to promote effective communication skills. She is originally from Miami, FL, came to Wichita to attend WSU, and liked it so much here that she decided to stay! Her bilingual skills have already been put to good use at TheraPlay Spot. Her dog’s name is Harley, she enjoys watching Netflix and exploring Wichita.
Angela Clark
Angela has been a speech language pathologist for 28 years with all ages and many diagnoses. She joined TheraPlay Spot in the spring of 2023 part-time and will join us full time this summer. Language and communication have been a passion for her, and she considers it essential in all aspects of life. In pediatrics, she specializes in articulation disorders, expressive and receptive language disorders, and has experience with feeding and swallowing issues. She and her husband have two daughters. Personal interests include spending time with family, traveling, golfing, and reading. She is active with Special Olympics and the Down Syndrome Society of Wichita.
Our Office and Admin Staff
Christy Lawrence
Christy joined us in October 2021 as our first Director of Operations. She has a degree in Business Administration, Marketing and Management from Friends University. She has a passion for—and personal experience with—children who have special needs and understands the challenges that many caregivers encounter. Her diverse work experience includes finance, HR, employee and customer relations, and management, among others. Since joining TheraPlay Spot, she has improved communications, enhanced our team culture and significantly lightened the load of the owner. In her off time, she enjoys cooking, traveling and spending time with friends and family - either in the outdoors camping and fishing or at home with a new board game or card game.
Jenn Leyva Rudkin
Since joining the TheraPlayer team in July 2022, Jenn has been a dynamic force for making improvements around the clinic. Although she grew up in Peru, she moved to the United States many years ago. Her degree in Business Administration is from Cleveland State University in Ohio. She has been in leadership and management positions for many years and has a passion and a strong commitment to serve. In addition to being trilingual (Spanish, Italian and English)—with English being her third language—she also has experience in medical billing and coding. She is crafty and creative, loves to tease her teammates, sew, embroider, and knit. When she is not out shopping you can find her with her husband cheering on their four very active kids.
Beth Liddy
Beth joined the TheraPlayer team in January 2021 as our medical billing and accounts specialist. She has many years of related billing experience in the counseling world and now joins the pediatric therapy world. She is able to navigate the complex and, at times frustrating, world of billing insurance and fighting denials. As an advocate for our children, she will help parents maximize their insurance benefits. She loves spending quality time with her family and grandchildren. She also enjoys reading, taking walks, and caring for her 3 fur babies.
Wendi Johnson
Wendy came to TheraPlay Spot in September 2022. She’s been working in administration since 2015. She is a positive, outgoing person who enjoys working with others and has a passion for helping people. She attended WSU and enjoys spending time with her kids, their dog, and is a huge fan of football and basketball. Her favorite place is the beach.
Becca Vail
Becca originally was a volunteer-shadower at TheraPlay Spot, and we were so impressed with her work ethic, that we hired her part time in July 2022, then full time in January 2023! She graduated from K-State, and has aspirations to become an occupational therapist in the not-so-distant future. She likes hanging out with her siblings and her dog Molly Mae. In her spare time, she loves cooking, reading and relaxing.
Allen Jones
Allen joined the TheraPlayer Team in March 2023, and enjoys being a person that the rest of the team relies on to keep thing running in the background while they accomplish their major responsibilities and goals. He is married with 2 dogs and a cat. He and his wife spend time relaxing on the couch watching their favorite shows for the 300th time. One of his main hobbies is Dungeons & Dragons. He plays video games a lot and can easily engage in conversation about them with our children in the clinic.
Becky Deschene
Becky started very part-time, when we were much smaller, in November 2015 helping us stay clean and organized. Over the past 5 years, her hours have doubled and she notices how much we have grown by the ever-increasing need to order toilet paper! Ask any member of the TheraPlayer team, and they will tell you that Becky has the most generous and kind heart, and it's a common occurrence for her to leave thoughtful and unexpected surprises for people. She is appreciated beyond measure. Her job is unfortunately one that goes unnoticed if it's done well, and very much noticed during the rare times she has had to miss a time or two. This means that she does her job quite well, especially with all of the extra pandemic sanitizing she does!
David Dickinson
Since we moved into the large clinic in November 2015, David has spent most days around the clinic in his overalls while making dramatic changes and improvements to the building. He has had various roles, including interim office manager, HR manager, and bookkeeper. He brings to the table years of expertise from being both a small business owner and an efficiency expert in the engineering world. He continues to wear many hats, including maintenance guy, computer repairman, IT dude, construction worker, electrician, carpenter, painter, plumber, carpet cleaner, dog walker, equipment purchaser, leaf blower, snow shoveler, landlord to the Office Spots tenants, and confidant (and loving husband) to the owner.
Heidi
Heidi is a mini Australian shepherd and joined the TheraPlayer team when she was a wee pup in April 2016. She enjoys greeting the children, chasing balls and lasers, following people around when they have food, and stealing food out of the trash. You may have heard her full name: "Heidi Get-Out-of-the-Trash!"
