Maureen moved to Chicago in 1989 after living in Dallas, Texas for many years. Originally from the Midwest, Maureen received both her Bachelor's and Master's of Science degrees in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. In 1992 she started a company called Clinical Assist and began providing speech therapy services to Chicago area schools, hospitals, pediatric clinics and TBI programs. Clinical Assist staff provide speech therapy services in a variety of settings in the Chicagoland area. The concept of Black Bear was developed many years ago but was only recently established in 2003 in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. Maureen serves as the Executive Program Director and consults with families, schools and therapists regarding service provision for both Black Bear® Academy and Clinical Assist. During Maureen's clinical work, prior to establishing Black Bear, she worked primarily with brain injured children and adults. It became very clear, very fast, that many education programs lacked an awareness and understanding of how the neurological system develops and matures from birth through early childhood. While slowly changing in many programs, our primary goal for our preschoolers' and students at Black Bear® Academy is to facilitate development through a variety of play-based tasks that support optimal sensory exposure and opportunity to learn. When a child's brain is actively engaged in complex and multi-textured activities, the activation of neural synapses, traveling our neural pathways and processing centers that are required to encode and decode a variety of information then occurs. The importance of this engagement and the opportunity to be an active participant in learning is what achieves the strong neurological foundations which support our children through out their entire lives. By establishing strong language skills early, the ability to participate in activities that require a child to synthesize information, generate ideas, formulate language and present ideas in a clear and concise manner is greater. This participation not only supports neurological growth but greater cognitive intelligence. Our program is primarily play-based because we believe it to be true that, through richer and more complex play, children achieve greater conceptual language and cognitive skills. The Black Bear program has become Maureen's passion and the professional endeavor of which she is most proud.
1801 West Byron · Chicago, IL 60613 · 773-244-0700
