Laurens Institute for Education

Lauren’s Institute for Education (L.I.F.E.) is a pediatric therapy center that serves children and adults with developmental disabilities throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area. It was established in 2007 from the collaborative efforts of Margaret Travillion and Carrie Reed. Carrie, who is a mother of a child with special needs, and Margaret, a former habilitation provider, identified a need for an agency that could provide quality services to children in need without placing additional burdens on an already overwhelmed family. Their desire to help families and children in need manifested a center that provides music therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, a private academy, and an adult day program working with over four hundred families throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area.

The staff at L.I.F.E. are dedicated to not only nurturing clients’s overall growth but also improving their quality of life and that of their family. Our philosophy addresses the whole individual, not just traditional areas of need. Through our eclectic approach we believe that a person’s emotional well-being, social/emotional awareness and self expression are as equally important to a person’s growth as is cognitive and physical functioning. We recognize and celebrate the unique characteristics of every individual.

By using evidence based practices, L.I.F.E. strives to provide effective techniques which generalize outside of the therapeutic environment and ultimately contribute to life quality. We recognize there are many valid therapeutic approaches when working with children or adults with developmental disabilities; however, we believe that blending these approaches is most effective in meeting the unique needs of each individual person.