Oak-Leyden Developmental Services is proud to announce the hiring of Melissa Ehmann as its new Director of Children’s Services. Ehmann will lead a team that serves almost 400 young children with developmental disabilities and delays each year, offering critical individual therapies and integrated group programming. She replaces longtime program director Rachel Wood, who retired this month.

Ehmann holds more than sixteen years of experience in the Early Intervention field, focused on securing needed therapies for children from birth to age three. She previously served as service coordinator, staff trainer, and assistant manager at Child and Family Connections/Suburban Access in Westchester, Illinois. In her roles she was deeply involved in coordinating services for families with children who have developmental disabilities and delays and forging connections with community partners.

Ehmann is a member of the Oak Park Collaboration for Early Childhood, parent representative of the Illinois Interagency Council on Early Intervention, and PTA President of Madison Early Childhood Education Center. She holds her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“Oak-Leyden welcomes Melissa’s expertise in Early Intervention and her strong personal stakeholder interest in the field,” says Bertha G. Magaña, Executive Director at Oak-Leyden. “Her connections to state-wide and local organizations focused on therapeutic services for disabled children will build on the legacy of our former director and promote our dreams for Oak-Leyden’s growth in the future.”

Oak-Leyden Children’s Services’ multi-disciplinary team approach involves collaboration among developmental, physical, speech-language and occupational therapists. Children from birth to five who are experiencing delays in development receive individualized therapy from Oak-Leyden specialists on-site and in their homes. Oak-Leyden also offers learning and playgroups that bring children with developmental disabilities together with their typically developing peers.