Blanca Laura Vargas Narvaez M.S., CCC-SLP has been a Speech Language Pathologist for 16 years. She is a graduate of J.B Alexander High School, Texas Tech University and Texas State University. She enjoys being a therapist because "it's amazing to see a child develop his/her skills when given just a little extra help".

Magali Castaneda OTR, is a graduate of Zapata High School and The University of Texas Pan AM. She has been an occupational therapist for 19 years and says that the best part of being an OTR is "Helping people become independent in their daily life".

Irene Vera is our office manager. She is a graduate from Martin High School and has been our office manager for 12 years.

Rebekah Hughes is our patient care coordinator and she has been with 1st Choice Therapy for 12 years.

Patty Gamboa Bates is a graduate of Laredo Community College and has been an occupational therapist assistant for 13 years! She loves being an occupational therapist because she enjoys having the AWESOME "opportunity to see patients develop physically, mentally, and emotionally!"

Erika Penecale is a graduate of Martin High School (1997) and then went on to Laredo Community College. She has been an occupational therapist assistant for 9 years. Erika stated “I enjoy working in this field because I like helping individuals to become as independent as possible in areas/goals they are trying to reach.”

Leslie Marin is our physical therapy assistant and she is a graduate of Martin High School and Laredo Community College. She's been a therapist for 7 years, she loves being a PTA because she enjoys helping her "patients become more independent in their everyday lives".

​Amelie Bueno graduated from Martin High School in 2016 and received a Bachelors in Communication Disorders in May of 2021 at Texas A & M International University. "This profession has allowed me to help all types of children reach their communication goals while still having fun and smiling! I love to hear my kids say "I love speech therapy!". It brings me great joy seeing them progress each time I see them in my therapy room and hearing their parents express how they notice their children have begun to use more words at home. To teach, to guide, to encourage is who I am. It is my passion and my calling."

Rosa Irma Cadena, graduated from Martin High School and attended Texas A & M International University where she received a bachelors in Communication Disorders in 2021. Her passion for helping others is something she’s always enjoyed doing from the heart. She’s always dreamt about being able to assist children achieve their goals and helping them with their day to day challenges. Being an Assistant Speech Therapist has allowed her to see all of their progress from beginning to end and it brings so much joy and happiness to her when a parent comes up to her and tells her that their child is finally able to communicate and is now using more words on a daily basis.

Esmeralda Gudino is a graduate of United South High School. She then went on to receive a BS in Communication Disorders at TAMIU in 2019. She received her license after completing her training at 1st Choice Therapy. “I enjoy being an SLPA because I get to help others express their thoughts, wants and needs. I'm a firm believer that everyone deserves a voice and I'm extremely proud to be able to be a part of that.” On my free time, I enjoy working out, being creative and spending time with my family and friends!

Andrea Iglesias is a graduate of United High School class of 2016 and obtained her bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences & Disorders at Texas A&M International University in 2021. “I love my job as a speech-language pathologist assistant. It has given me the wonderful opportunity to take part in helping children reach their developmental milestones as well as improve their speech, language, & social communication skills. Seeing how much the kiddos progress and hearing how happy their parents are because of it makes this job so much more rewarding, and getting to be part of that process feels amazing.♥️”