In Klamath County, access to pediatric therapy can be difficult to find—and harder to afford. Until recently, families regularly had to travel to Portland (a five-hour, one-way drive) for diagnosis and treatment. This is a barrier that stressed overburdened families and often delayed critical early intervention. Fortunately, families are now finding local services in a therapeutic nonprofit.
In 2022, Kylan and Kayla Taylor co-founded Tater Tots Pediatric Therapy, a nonprofit clinic providing speech, physical, and occupational therapy in Klamath Falls. They also run clubs and camps for the kids and support groups for parents to support families’ social needs in their rural community as well. The Taylors both grew up in the area and knew there was a real need. “It’s important to be here and advocate for these families,” said Kylan.
Early intervention can make a notable difference for children who have delays or other issues with speech and mobility. Kylan’s specialty is speech therapy, and he’s seen many patients whose families previously had issues with their child acting out. “A lot of the time it’s because they’re having such a hard time communicating and the only way they can communicate is by getting upset and frustrated,” he explained. Kylan remembers the day one of his clients, a patient with autism whom he’s worked with for years, said her first word. Her mother started crying because she hadn’t been sure she’d ever hear her daughter speak. “Now she’s talking all the time and telling us all sorts of things,” Kylan said.
Klamath County has one of the highest poverty rates in Oregon, and 68% of Tater Tots’ patients are on Medicaid, also known as the Oregon Health Plan. For a multitude of reasons, areas with higher rates of poverty often have higher disability rates. Unfortunately, both poverty and childhood disability rates are growing in both Klamath County and throughout the United States, leading to an increased demand for the clinic’s services. The clinic would not be able to serve its community as a for-profit business, many of which cap the number of Medicaid patients they take.
Demand for Tater Tots’ services was initially high and has only grown. Since they opened, they’ve provided over 14,000 appointments to families in the area with only four therapists. With the number of people on their waitlist, the only way they could meet the demand would be to move to a larger location and bring on more staff. However, the long wait for Medicaid reimbursement, coupled with the thin margins of their non-profit model, would have made it impossible for Tater Tots to expand. A grant from the Roundhouse Foundation will bridge this gap and enable them to move to a new location and bring on two additional therapists.
Tater Tots goes beyond their clinical work with patients. They also host a summer bike camp for riders of all skill levels—therapeutic support and specialized equipment are on hand for kids who need it—as well as a gaming club. “It’s important to have those spaces where kiddos are with their peers,” Kylan said. “It doesn’t matter if they have a disability or don’t have a disability. They’re all there with the same goal and interacting with each other.”
Tater Tots’ therapists work with children but get to know the families of their patients well. “We’re definitely not licensed counselors, but when you spend 45 minutes or more a week with somebody, you’re a listening ear.” They’ve seen how stressed and isolated parents often feel. Tater Tots also runs a support group for parents, so families can get together with members of the community experiencing similar struggles. Tater Tots is also working on developing a course for new parents who want information on typical child development and safety.
Taylor explained that none of these additional programs would be feasible for them to run without their nonprofit designation. Their programs have connected them with high school students who volunteer at the bike camp and Oregon Technical Institute students studying to become physical therapists who get credit for helping with programs. “The patients get a benefit, volunteers get a benefit, college students get a benefit, and the community gets another benefit because we have students who might want to stick around,” Kylan said. “It’s really cool to see that come full circle.”
