Ability Plus Therapy Inc. 4450 W. EauGallie Blvd. suite 180
Melbourne, Florida 32934
phone - 321-255-6627 / fax - 321-253-9777
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
Ability Plus Therapy was founded by Laura Joslin in 2004. Roberta Neves joined
Laura in 2006. Our mission is to provide the best quality of care through the use of innovative equipment, skills of highly trained therapists, and a friendly and caring environment. We have touched children from all over the world, including Canada, South Africa, Ireland, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. Laura serves as a strong advocate to our parents as she has had many years of experience in raising two children with cerebral palsy. Roberta is an intensive physical therapist, as well as our clinic director. She serves as a consultant to our therapists to ensure optimal care. Laura and Roberta are fully active participants in the daily operations of Ability Plus Therapy. This ensures quality of care from the moment children and their families walk in the door.Laura Joslin, Ability Plus Therapy - Founder
Laura and Lane Joslin have two children with Spastic Quadriparesis Cerebral Palsy. The journey of their life with their children has been the best experience and the toughest education you could ever have. It lead them to adopt another child with disabilities and created opportunities to help other children and families that are on similar journeys. Below is a small snap shot of our experience.
As parents, to be told that your child will never walk on their own, and that the brain damage on the MRI is severe enough to damage all of the motor function in all four limbs of the body and they could not tell us if it would affect Cheyne’s ability to learn or speak. “Just to take him home and love him and be glad he is alive” one physician stated to us. So after we proceeded to let him know if he had a crystal ball that could predict my child’s future or the potential of one human on earth I might listen. Otherwise he had no business, even as a physician, to tell me the life potential of our child at the age of fifteen months. Find out what happened to Cheyne! (Link to Cheyne’s story)
As I said in the beginning, we had two sons with cerebral palsy. Cheyne is our biological son, but Matthew was born in our heart. Matthew Joslin was adopted by my husband and I when he was three years old. We knew Matthew was diagnosed with Spastic Quadriparesis Cerebral Palsy, we also knew he did not have the care that Cheyne had and his disability would be worse without it. We had no idea how severe Matthew’s condition was until we got him home. Matthew, who was three years old at the time could not eat solid food, could not lift his head off the ground, could not speak and he had so many other sensory issues there are too many to list. Matthew is now thirteen years old.
I believe fully in Intensive Physical Therapy and TheraSuit. We credit the complete rehabilitation of our son Cheyne to this method. As you can see in Matthew’s story, it is also a huge part of his rehabilitation and will be the key to getting him to walk. The Intensive Method utilizes repetitive movement to close the neurological loop of understanding between muscle and brain, along with strength training and followed up with corrected body positions, allowing the brain injured child to reconnect the pathways and create progress.
Roberta Neves, MPT, C/NDT- Physical Therapist, Co-Owner
Roberta Neves was born and raised in Brazil. She moved to the United States in 1990. Roberta attended Florida International University and graduated with a Master's degree in Physical Therapy in 2002. Since then, she has specialized in pediatric care and rehabilitation. She is certified in Pediatric Intensive Therapy and highly skilled in the TheraSuit method. Roberta became certified in Pediatric Neuro-Developmental Treatment in March 2011. Roberta's skills as a pediatric physical therapist have brought her respect among her peers, and her passion for helping children has brought patients back from all over the world again and again. As co-owner and clinic director of Ability Plus Therapy Inc. She is in charge of overseeing nine therapists along with managing the largest pediatric clinic in Melbourne. She is fluent in Portuguese and also has some knowledge of Spanish. Roberta believes that with God, all things are possible.