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Welcome to Abilities & Beyond!
Meet Our Staff
We are Committed to Help All Individuals To Communicate
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Riffat Rehman. MS CCC SLP

Owner of Main Step Therapy LLC

Riffat Rehman is a licensed speech and language pathologist and the owner of Main Step Therapy. She has a masters in Communication Disorders from East Carolina University. A multilingual and multiethnic competent, she is fluent in English, Urdu, Hindi, Potohari and Punjabi and thus can relate to parents and caregivers that makes up today’s diverse population of Metroplex cities. She has extensive experience in working with all age groups (birth to 3, school going, adults), in variety of settings (home health, clinic, daycare centers/ ABA centers, public and private schools, rehab/ hospitals). Most of her experience however comprises of evaluation and treatment of individuals learning English as a second language. 

Other than being able to relate to multiple cultures, she also brings to table the perspective of a mother of 24-year-old, special needs son, who is on spectrum. Prior to her training as a speech therapist, her career started in business industry after her first masters in Business. Shortly after that, her son was diagnosed with autism. She dedicated her time to run an in-home program to supplement school for her son. She got training in TEACCH, ABA and other techniques to understand and implement the program. In 2007, she got the funding approved for her son to go to a private autism school. Once he was on track to progress, she went back to graduate school to become a speech and language pathologist. She got great opportunity to work with bilingual population in low SES campuses of Glendale Elementary School District in Arizona. In 2016, she moved with her husband and three boys to Dallas, Texas where she started working for Frisco Independent School District (Early Childhood School). In 2018, she opened her private practice. 

The growing diversity in student body in district, and Metroplex in general is resulting in challenges and adjustments to service delivery strategies, both for general ed and special ed. The sensitivity of culture and language is an important factor when evaluating and treating students who speak two or more languages. Recognizing the need to provide support and work directly with these families became the impetus to opening a private practice and Main Step Therapy came into being. Initially Riffat ran the practice out of home and recently got a clinic to accommodate her caseload. 

Noreen Ahman, MA CCC-SLP

Speech Pathologist
 

Noreen has been in the field of Speech-Language Pathology for more than 12 years. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science (graduating with high honors) and then a Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology. Her experience has predominantly been in the school setting, along with a few years in the skilled nursing facility (SNF). She has worked with individuals ranging from pediatrics to geriatrics. Noreen has performed diagnosis and treatment in the areas of autism, articulation/phonological processing, receptive/expressive and pragmatic language, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), and fluency.
 
Noreen has worked with individuals of various socioeconomic status, bilingual students, and families from many cultures. Noreen is of Egyptian decent and speaks Arabic.  Being bilingual herself, she is able to relate to families in a holistic approach and enjoys treating an individual as a whole, as opposed to just their disorder. Her therapy approach utilizes interactive games to keep individuals stimulated, lessons that are research based, and incorporating classroom material to allow students to carryover learned strategies outside the therapy room. Noreen keeps herself up-to-date on recent advances for diagnosing and treating students by completing various courses through ASHA and Speech Pathology.com. This has allowed Noreen to be efficient and effective when treating individuals with speech and language disorders. She is a huge advocate for educating parents about their child’s disorder and providing them with activities to utilize in the home environment in order foster growth and independence. 

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Michelle Voung MS, CF-SLP

Speech Pathologist

Michelle Vuong has a masters in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Baylor University and an undergrad in Bachelor of Science in speech and language pathology from University of Texas, Dallas. During her various rotations at both the schools, she gained an extensive experience in the field of speech and language in variety of settings such as private practices, clinics, independent living facilities, and assisted living facilities. Throughout her time there, she gained the skills to work with both pediatric and geriatric clients, evaluating and treating them in order to identify the disorder and to improve their receptive/expressive language, articulation, cognition, swallowing, and voice/resonance. Michelle has also worked with pediatric clients who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices as their main form of communication.

 

The clinical rotations in pediatrics and adults have equipped Michelle to enter the work field with confidence as she embarks on her journey to complete her clinical fellowship. Her primary areas of interest include language disorders, articulation, and cognitive disorders. Outside of her professional interests, Michelle loves to go out with her friends and family, watch movies, and listen to all kinds of music.

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Aamna Khan B.S. SLP-A

Speech Pathologist Assistant

Aamna Khan holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication Disorders from the University of Texas at Dallas. During her time there, she was an active member of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA). While pursuing her degree, Aamna volunteered to assist clients in using AAC devices, demonstrating the appropriate use of prompts and cues to enhance their communication skills. She also fostered participation in play and interaction, modeling techniques to increase their awareness.

 

Aamna has hands-on experience working one-on-one with students in supervised, literacy-rich settings. These classes employed multi-sensory methods to teach phonemic awareness and decoding, focusing on individual sounds, letter patterns, digraphs, sight words, and comprehension. Aamna has always aspired to work with the pediatric population, driven by a deep interest in the challenges of communication and a desire to make a positive impact on individuals' lives. Fluent in English, Urdu, and Hindi, she is eager to gain more experience and refine her skills further.

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Mehak Altaf MS, CF-SLP

Speech Pathologist

 

Mehak Altaf has a Masters in Communication Disorders from Baylor University and is on the path to complete her clinical fellowship. She will be starting her CF position with Main Step Therapy in first week of July 2024. During her time at Baylor, she acquired diverse experience working with different diagnosis and age-groups on variety of sites. Her clinical experience during her time at Baylor for pediatrics include Language and Literacy clinic, ASD preschool and Pediatric feeding. She gained extensive skills working with adult population during her time in Voice-Neuro clinic and while her externship at Encompass hospital.

 

Mehak speaks English, Urdu and Hindi fluently. Her career in communication disorders started in Pakistan where she worked in variety of settings, providing speech therapy services for individuals with autism and other disabilities. During that time, she also served as a lecturer at Ziauddin University Hospital and taught courses in speech and audiology, along with supervising and mentoring students for their practicum. Besides her direct speech experience, she is a certified Oral Placement Therapist, has a diploma in Home Education and is a Registered Behavior Technician. Mehak is looking forward to work with both adults and pediatrics in the areas of speech, language, feeding and voice.  

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