Emily Dowell M.S. CCC-SLP

I found Stepping Stones on the NPN site. Im very happy with our decision. We get more attention here than we did when we interviewed other clinics. Its small, so the quality of service and the attention we get is much better and my therapist is extremely educated on our sons diagnosis. We are very happy here. Also, they are a little bit cheaper than other clinics which is always nice. Only downfall is that we have to drive from Lake Forest, so I wish they were a little closer! Pros: Very nice, takes time with you, great with kids, more

I just wanted to thank all of my dedicated and wonderful parents for supporting me like they have and continue to do, and as such, I have just opened a therapy clinic! I needed more space and time to fit in clients, so we have moved! We are located at 4866 W. Balmoral in Chicago. Its in Forest Glen in-between the Sauganash and Edgebrook areas, just off 94 at the Foster exit, or Peterson exit if coming from the north. Our website is www.steppingstoneschicago com . We will be serving both the Early Intervention and non-Early Intervention communities! We are in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Stepping Stones will provide free screenings for those of you that are not sure if your kiddo needs therapy. Please visit our website for more information, call us at 773-930-4500, or email info@steppingstoneschicago com Thanks again everyone for all your support and kind words... Emily Lucarz (recently married :o) ) more

I Got Emilys name from someone at a Physical Therapy clinic in the area. I am an MD at a hospital in the area but decided not to take my daughter there for therapy. I was told Emily was very knowledgeable at treating "Apraxia" Unfortunately, Emily, at this time, has a very long waiting list. She recently started her own company, "Stepping Stones Pediatrics" (I think) and we are set up to see one of the girls she has hired! Emily is going to come and evaluate my daughter, and Im thrilled. I had about an hour long conversation with her and I have not even met her yet (she was very patient with me and my worries). Even though Im an MD, I don't know much about Apraxia, which my 3yr old daughter was diagnosed with so it was nice to hear some encouraging words! Im glad people had commented on her because it made me follow through and call her.....there are not many comments on other speech therapists in the area...not sure why??? more

We actually found Emily from a parent at the speech therapy school in lakeview we have been attending! All the reviews were accurate. We had been going to a school in the city that is all speech therapists. We found the owner to be money hungry and decided to leave. We had tried to get out of the school but they gave us a really hard time! Emily is very fun, energetic and my son loves her. We have started working on things that were never even introduced at his old "school" that seem to be areas that should of been worked on from day one. We also had a private therapist coming to our home. He was having hard time paying attention because all he wanted to do was play with his things or watch tv! He is responding much better in Emilys home and away from all of his comforts....Im really glad we changed, Pros: Very energetic, highly intelligent more

I met Emily because one of my childs pediatricians from Northwestern recommended her. He told me that all of his clients loved her and thought she "knew her stuff" and made things fun. Like the other parents on this review site, I had been to 4 other places prior to Emily, One clinic, near her which I thought had therapists that were new to the field, and three other very experienced therapists who just didnt click with my child. My child was diagnosed with Apraxia of Speech and every therapist told me they knew how to treat it,, but after I saw how Emily was with my child, I realize no one really did. I have learned so much from her and Im so happy we insisted she fit us onto her schedule! She has lots of people trying to get her on her schedule, but did everything she could to get us on. We are so happy she did. She is always so happy and has a great demeanor, and has become part of our family,. my child looks forward to her visit every week! more

We were referred to Emily by a GI clinic in Chicago. My daughter had many problems with feeding and became failure to thrive. We were so scared as a family that we would never get her to eat. They finally put a G-tube in her since she had lost so much weight. Her feeding aversions were so bad because she had a G-tube and she was scared to put things in her mouth, and when she did, she had no idea what to do with the food! We went to 2 hospitals and saw speech therapists there. They were both really nice, but were unable to get my daughter to eat. We were finally referred to Emily, as I said by her GI doctor, and she has now started to accept foods. We can now sit as a family and all eat together without my daughter screaming or making herself sick. I often tell people that Emily in a way "saved my family." I was on this site looking up a new place to get my hair cut but ran across Emilys listing and had to write a review! ---Stephanie E., Chicago, IL Pros: Her! She has such a warm personality and is so great to have as part of our medical team. We really trust her. Cons: Nothing...she is great. more

My son went to 5 different therapists in the city until we found Emily. We took him to different clinics, and 2 different private therapists. No one knew what was wrong until we met Emily. She was so sweet about helping us and we have made more progress in a short amount of time than we did in the past 4 years of therapy. She was willing to do everything possible to help my son and I will always be greatfull for that. I wish I could tell everyone how great of an experience it has been to have Emily in mine and my sons life...she was there with us throughout all of my sons medical problems and speech diagnosis's and knew exactly what to do and how to do it. Highly recommended by my family!!! We would not trade her for anyone. more