We employ experienced occupational therapists, speech/language therapists, and psychologists. Our clinical directors are:

Catherine Bridgers, M.S., CCC-SLP                                                                                   

Ms. Bridgers is a certified speech-language pathologist with a Masters degree in Communication Science and Disorders.  Currently, she is one of the owners of TDS, and she serves on a multidisciplinary team that evaluates preschool age children.  She also provides private speech therapy services. She has worked in a number of clinical settings. Ms. Bridgers worked in a public school setting with preschool and elementary school aged students while employed by Mountain Brook City Schools in Alabama.  Since moving to North Carolina seventeen years ago, she has worked for HealthSouth Pediatric Therapy (now Pediatric Therapy Associates) where she assessed and treated children within the private clinic, Learning Together, Hilltop Home, and the Governor Morehead Preschool Program. In addition, Ms. Bridgers provided speech-language services at the Jordan Center, completed evaluations for Wake County Preschool Services, and served as a member of multidisciplinary teams at the Raleigh Children’s Developmental Services Agency through Shigley Family Services. Ms. Bridgers has extensive experience assessing and treating children with a wide range of disabilities including Phonological and Articulation impairments, Apraxia, Developmental Delays, Autism, Hearing Impairments, Visual Impairments, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and Learning Disabilities.

Catherine Jones, Ph.D.

Dr. Jones is a licensed Child Clinical Psychologist.  She has extensive experience in multidisciplinary evaluations, particularly of preschool aged children. She is one of the owners of TDS and she serves on a multidisciplinary team that evaluates preschool age children. Dr. Jones received training at two University Centers of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, including the Center for Development and Learning (CDL) at UNC-Chapel Hill.  Dr. Jones completed her internship, postdoctoral fellowship, and was on faculty at the CDL.  During these years, she provided consultation to teachers and other staff at Chapel Hill/Carrboro Head Start as well as to staff at Orange, Person, and Chatham County Early Intervention Centers. Additionally, Dr. Jones trained at Division TEACCH in Chapel Hill during her internship, where she became proficient with the ADOS and gained invaluable experience in assessing and treating children with autism.  Dr. Jones conducted private psychoeducational and autism evaluations, completed contract evaluations for Wake County Preschool Services, and provided behavioral therapy and parent training for young children and their parents at Shigley Family Services for five years.

Teresa Fortner, MOT, OTR/L

Ms. Fortner has a Masters degree in Occupational Therapy.  She has extensive experience working with children of all ages and their families.  She has training and direct therapy experience in sensory integrative therapy, Therapeutic Listening Program, multi-sensory approaches to handwriting, as well as many years developing and implementing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) with children of all ages. Her clinical experience includes collaboration on a variety of multidisciplinary evaluation teams focused primarily on assessment of preschool and early school-age children. Specifically, Ms. Fortner has evaluated children through the Raleigh Developmental Evaluation Center (now the CDSA). She also conducted team evaluations for Wake County Preschool Services through Shigley Family Services and for Durham County Preschool Services through The Cheshire Center.  Additionally, Ms. Fortner served as the Occupational Therapist for the Autism Project at Raleigh’s Jordan Center, served children and families with NC Easter Seals Disability Services, provided early intervention services at Learning Together Developmental Day Center, as well as the lead therapist at PreEminent Charter and Research Triangle Charter Academies.  Currently, Ms. Fortner is one of the owners of TDS and she serves on a multidisciplinary team that evaluates preschool age children.