we exist for you
“When you change the BEGINNING, you change the END.”
“When you change the BEGINNING, you change the END.”
Our Founder
Dana Carroll began with an ordinary career that grew into an extraordinary mission. She earned her Masters degree in Occupational Therapy in 1998 from Nova Southeastern University, and has since worked in a variety of pediatric settings. Dana established Play To Grow in 2009 out of her love for helping families and her understanding that providing intervention early not only benefits the child, but it benefits the entire family. After all when you change the BEGINNING, you change the END.”
Supporting, serving and advocating for families of children with special needs—it’s her life’s mission and greatest joy!
When Dana is not working alongside her Play To Grow families and team, she loves serving in her church and community, as well as spending time with her husband and two amazing children—which involves a lot of fun and laughter!
Our Approach
We empower your family by using a coaching model, which means we share with you new ways to maximize your child’s potential for growth and incorporate our secret for success: PLAY!
Play is one of the biggest building blocks of child development and learning, so this is the foundation of our approach.
- We bring therapy to your family’s natural environment and establish your role—parent or caretaker—as a key part of the process. You are then able to help your child gain the skills they need to succeed. The best part? You are partnering WITH them to make it happen in their natural environment: your home.
- We keep it fun! Traditional Pediatric Occupational therapy supports children and families in whatever way possible to ensure families thrive. Play To Grow takes it a step further—ensuring that FUN and PLAY remain at the core of everything we do, which results in a positive experience for the whole family.
- We partner with you. The goal of Early Intervention is to observe how your child is functioning at the moment, and then create a plan and path to get them where they need to be. We accomplish this using a full team approach! The child’s primary caregivers join us on this journey, because it’s truly the family who will make the ultimate difference.
- We coach you all the way. We are here to help you through every step. Our team will share the necessary skills, coach you along the way, and celebrate each new milestone with you.
Meet the Team
Andrea Breckner PT
physical therapist
about andrea
Andrea graduated from Daemen College, in Buffalo, NY in 1992, and has specialty training in Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT) which lets her enjoy and treat the whole child since we believe that everything is connected. She makes sure to always remember that family involvement in daily play and routine is crucial! She LOVES what she’s able to do in Early Intervention, as this model of service delivery and with Play to Grow – we PULL IT ALL TOGETHER!!
Andrea loves living her faith-based life out loud, serving the community, and helping others on their healthy living and home journey! She is also happy to be a mom to her two children, and married to her high school crush! She enjoys swimming, boating, traveling, shopping, and DIY too!
Tara Cherry M. Ed.
developmental specialist
PLAY PROJECT® CONSULTANT
about tara
Tara received her BA in Special Education from Clemson University and her M. Ed. in Special Education with an emphasis in Early Intervention from Vanderbilt University. Tara is a certified PLAY Project® Consultant. She has over 20 years of experience in the field of early childhood education. To her, the most rewarding part of Early Intervention is working closely with parents in their home to benefit not only their child, but the whole family!
When not playing babies, Tara enjoys the mountains and beach with her husband, 2 teenage daughters and her two dogs. She can spend hours reading (when she has the time!), and usually can be found driving one of her kids somewhere while singing show tunes in the car.
Andrea Hayden BS, OTR/L
Occupational therapist
about andrea
Andrea Hayden graduated from James Madison University in 2003 with a BS in Health Sciences, and a Concentration in Occupational Therapy. She is SIPT-certified, and has specialized training in the Beckman Oral Motor Protocol, Talk Tools, Therapeutic Listening, and the Interactive Metronome.
She has worked in Pediatrics for 17 years and loves the incredible impact she can make in the birth – 3 year old population.
In her free time she loves to be outdoors with her husband and two boys – all of whom keep her on forever her toes, on the go, and always laughing!
Tiffany Rhodes MS Ed., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
about tiffany
Tiffany Rhodes graduated from Old Dominion University in 2010 with a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology. Her undergraduate degree was in early childhood education. She is certified in the Sequential-Oral-Sensory Approach to Feeding, completed training to administer ADOS testing, and continues to educate herself on neurodiversity affirming practices.
Tiffany has worked in pediatrics her whole career- schools, local children’s hospital outpatient clinic, private practice, and early intervention. Early intervention is her passion. She loves helping families connect with their children and empower littles in their communication style.
When she is not working, Tiffany enjoys coaching/watching her boys play soccer, running, and teaching classes at the Y.
Kim Stimeling CCC-SLP
Audiology + Speech Pathology
about kim
Kim grew up as a Navy brat on the East Coast. She graduated from The University of Tennessee in 1990 with BA and 1992 with MA in Audiology and Speech Pathology. She completed her Certificate of Clinical Competency (CCC) in the great state of Texas, and has been practicing for 28 years. The best part of her job is seeing the joy on the parents’ faces when they finally hear true words like “Mama”, “more”. and “eat”
When she’s not working, Kim enjoys spending time out in nature and visiting her two adult daughters. She loves hiking and kayaking, and hopes to one day get to travel to Australia and New Zealand.
Dana Blair Carroll MOT, OTR/L
occupational therapist
about dana
Dana earned her Masters degree in Occupational Therapy in 1998 from Nova Southeastern University, and has since worked in a variety of pediatric settings. Dana established Play To Grow in 2009 out of her love for helping families and her understanding that providing intervention early not only benefits the child, but it benefits the entire family.
When Dana is not working alongside her Play To Grow families and team, she loves serving in her church and community, as well as spending time with her husband and two amazing children—which involves a lot of fun and laughter!
Learn More
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