See our NBC News Segment!

Mission Statement –

To provide a structured learning environment, by using the best, developmentally appropriate teaching strategies. This is accomplished through small group settings of
2-3 children per group with each group containing at least 1 instructional assistant and one educational specialist such as a special education teacher or speech and language therapist.

Philosophy –

If every child is given the tools and opportunity they can achieve success. Pieceful Solutions respects the individuality of every child and uses each child’s strengths to build self-confidence and create success with an individual program.

Vision -

Pieceful Solutions will provide:

Support for every student and their family
Opportunities for all students to enhance their lives
Language enriched curriculums
Unique programs based on specific needs
Therapeutic strategies including sensory, fine motor, music, language, and play
Independent learning to promote independent living
Open communication among school, therapists, parents and others involved in the lives of the student
Nurturing environment with skilled, trained and loving staff
Social skills training using innovative techniques

History -

Pieceful Solutions was created by Kami Cothrun, M. Ed. in 2008. As a former public school elementary special education teacher, habilitation provider/consultant and business owner, Kami still had dreams of creating a school that would be created with children with autism in mind. With a masters in special education and 10 years experience with children with autism (5 years owning a state funded habilitation and respite agency) Kami felt she had much more to offer children with autism and their families. Kami noticed that the children needed to be able to generalize their skills through different modalities and environments.

Photos -

Staff

Pieceful Solutions will have a minimum of one instructional assisitant for every 3 children, a speech therapist, full time special education certified teacher, and weekly OT consults. To learn more about how our staff will be best used for your child's learning, see Programs.
All staff are trained prior to working with Pieceful Solutions students. In addition they are required to continue to attend autism trainings and seminars. Staff are observed by administration once a month and rewarded for outstanding performance. Pieceful Solutions strives to hire quality and dedicated staff. Staff must have their fingerprint clearance card, CPR and First Aid.

Kami Cothrun, M.Ed - Director/Owner:

Kami is a former public school elementary special education teacher, habilitation provider/consultant and business owner. She has her bachelor’s degree in Speech and Hearing Science and a master’s degree in Special Education. With 5 years teaching experience including lesson planning, IEPs and data collection and 10 years experience with children with autism (5 years owning a state funded habilitation and respite agency) it has always been her goal to create a school designed specifically for children with autism. By using her degrees and experience, all curriculum will be created for, and focused on the special individualized learning needs of each child as well as a language component in each lesson. Kami can’t wait for the exciting journey ahead as she owns and operates Pieceful Solutions. Helping children affected by autism and their families is her passion. Kami lives in east Mesa with her husband, two girls and 3 dogs.
Click here for a letter about Kami.

Kym Wilbur - Office Coordinator and Parent Liaison

Kym is a devoted mother of a ten year old boy with autism. Kym has experience with special education in the schools (IEPs etc.), DDD services, medical doctors and insurances. She is the “been there, done that” mother of a child on the spectrum and is always willing to share her research, resources and insight to other families and especially those who are new to the autism community. In addition to being an advocate for her son, Kym has participated in and observed MANY therapists and is amazing at applying all that she has observed to other children she is working with.

Jennifer Miller OTR/L - Occupational consultant

Jennifer has been working as a school based occupational therapist for the past eleven years. She has experience working with children with a variety of diagnosis, including children with autism, ages preschool to high school. She has serviced specialized programs as well as mainstream classrooms in both district and charter schools in the greater Phoenix area. Jennifer is married and lives in Gilbert with her husband and two children. She and her husband own an outpatient physical therapy clinic in Queen Creek.

Jeanette Runnings, OTR/L, KKY, RCYP1-2

Jeanette Runnings has been a Pediatric Occupational therapist for over 20 years. She has worked in schools, clinics and home health. Her therapeutic approach has been considered “eclectic” taking from many theories and approaches to get the greatest benefit for her kids. After taking yoga classes for several years, she began adding yoga to her therapy practice and teaching children’s yoga in 2005 after attending children’s yoga trainings. She created the Yoga-Yingo game series to help kids and families learn yoga in a fun game format. The benefits of yoga for children are many, and include things like reduced stress, self calming skills, greater coordination, balance, self confidence and focus. You can learn more about Jeanette, her classes and games by visiting her website: www.yoga-yingo.com

Karen Goetsch--Instructional Assistant

Karen is a dedicated care-giver who has been working with special needs children for many years---and one, in particular, for nearly four years now. Karen has experience working with children, in a classroom setting but especially enjoys a one one one approach for more individualized attention. She understands that each child has his/her own characteristics, learning styles and temperaments and adjusts her instruction accordingly. Karen has two grown children, one grandson and has lived in Mesa for ten years.

Katy Blessum, M.S. CCC-SLP

Katy received her Masters Degree in Communication Disorders from ASU in 2001. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from ASHA as well as a Department of Health License. Katy has been a Speech Language Pathologist for 7 years, 6 for Mesa Public Schools and 1 in a private clinic setting. She has worked with preschool through high school aged children, with the majority of her experience with preschool through elementary aged students. She currently works at Stevenson Elementary School four days a week providing articulation, language and functional communication therapy to students.
She has worked with kids with moderate cognitive delays and has had many children on the Autism spectrum as well as developmental delays.

Parent Testimonials

I would like to express how much we appreciate the enormous positive contributions that Pieceful Solutions has made for (our daughter). We have seen a change in (her) physical and cognitive development. Pieceful Solutions created an individualized curriculum to meet my daughter's needs whereas the Public School has a one size fits all curriculum.

~Meg

My grandson, who has autism, tried the public school option for 2 years of preschool and 1 year in a self contained classroom. I can’t tell you how disappointed we were with the public school. My Grandson literally cried and sat in a corner unengaged most of the day, everyday. Sadly the teachers are untrained, unqualified, and uneducated on the how to teach these children with autism. The teachers themselves are not totally to blame. The districts are either unwilling or unable to give these teachers the training, tools, and facilities that are so vitally important to teach these children. They seemed to be deaf and dumb to our constant efforts to try to get more help from them. In the private school, Pieceful Solutions, where my grandson attends he is actually blossoming, he’s proud of himself and his daily achievements. Something I thought I would never see! He’s reading, he can do simple math problems he is even learning about the human body and he is interested in learning. It’s like a miracle! He receives everything he needs to fulfill his academic needs and requirements, and is also able to learn self help skills, fulfill his sensory input needs, learn how to communicate with others, improve his speech and so many things I can’t think of them all. He has his own individual learning plan geared just to him and he is thriving.

~Barb “Gramma”

Please allow me the opportunity to share a bit about my daughter. We adopted her 7 years ago from a middle eastern country where she was a victim of a 7.4 earthquake and orphaned because of the quake. She was trapped beneath her apartment complex for several days until a foreign rescue dog found her body alive in the rubble. Our family traveled to this country to offer relief work and met her at the orphanage where she was admitted and would have been sentenced for the rest of her life. After two and a half years of miracles, we were allowed to adopt her and offer her a chance for love and a family for life.
She developed severe brain damage caused by the quake. When she was newly adopted she was unable to walk, sit up, eat solid foods, talk or communicate in anyway. The miracles have not stopped since she has been on this side of the world. Because of many caring therapist and doctors she is now walking with assistance and has a 20 word vocabulary.
As you can imagine schools have played a huge part of her development and progress. I am sad to say that she has been to quite a number of schools in our hunt to find the right place for her to learn and climb the academic mountain that is before her. She has been in several of our local public schools where she has been neglected and not let out of her wheelchair all day because she is a sweet quiet child, and the higher demanding children get the teachers attention. In our opinion, in this kind of environment, she might as well be back in the orphanage. In my most recent search thru our public school system the best ratio I was able to find was 12 to 1. Again in my opinion, it is barely humanly possible for 1 teacher to babysit 12 special needs children, let alone attend to all their academic needs. It was not uncommon to find the ratios 20 or 30 to 1. I could not see submitting my daughter to that kind of situation, so I continued the school hunt.
Another miracle for our daughter has been the opportunity for her to attend “Pieceful Solutions School”. Here she will get caring one on one attention and all the therapies and rehabilitation that is so desperately needed for her development.