Nurturing Water Therapies’ mission is to nurture the human body and spirit of those who are health challenged. Our services complement your existing therapies and treatment.
We help people of all ages with sensory, developmental, neurological, physical or other health challenges.
We know what it’s like to have loved ones who require life-long care and we are impassioned to help you.
Sandy Karlek, owner of Nurturing Water Therapies, has a BA in Communication/Recreation and is certified in Aquatic Therapy, Exercise Therapy and Ai Chi. She has over 30 years of experience in aquatics working with a diverse group of clients, across all ages, with various congenital or acquired health challenges. With a child of her own with special needs, she also has firsthand experience in behavioral, sensory and developmental challenges. Sandy’s innovative water-based therapy, water safety techniques, and exercise programs are individually created to best fit the needs of each individual. For more about how Sandy got started and more, please read her blog.
Jackie is the Office Coordinator for Nurturing Water Therapies. Her education and initial career path was a paralegal, and she worked for numerous family law and criminal defense attorneys in Tacoma; but life and her special needs kids took her into a different direction in 2012. In her spare time she is a PTSA President, HOA President, and manager of her son’s soccer team. Jackie lives in Renton and loves spending time with her husband and two boys, and she is a huge Seahawks and Sounders fan!
Berlin Klettke grew up in Hawaii and has been swimming without help since they were 2 years old. Swimming and being in the water has been their safe space forever. Due to raising and taking care of their siblings/younger relatives, they love being around children, working with them, and helping children grow! Berlin has a passion for art and physical activity. As a teenager with ASD and ADHD who has grown up with neurodivergent siblings, they have lots of knowledge and experience working with people who have behavioral, sensory, and developmental challenges.
Angie Hobby grew up living near the ocean most of her life. Before marriage and kids she was on her way to being a marine biologist. She has years of experience working with kids of all abilities. She spends every summer at a camp with her family and is either cooking or teaching beginner swimming to young campers. She and her husband are licensed foster parents. In her spare time she hangs out with her husband and 3 daughters and works at her families catering company.
Kira has trained and worked in the fields of both behavior therapy and early childhood development. She particularly enjoys working in the neurodiverse community as she herself has both ASD and ADHD. Kira discovered the therapeutic benefits of the water from a very young age, and from eight years old through high school, she swam competitively and continues to swim recreationally whenever she gets a chance. Kira is a Washington native, and her passions are swimming, music, the outdoors and teaching kids.
Emily is currently a 1:1 teacher at a local private school where she provides a supportive and encouraging environment to each different and neurodiverse student. She has a passion for equitable education and creating nurturing environments. In the past, she taught at a low-income school in Kentucky through Americorps. This is where she discovered the pressing need for differentiated learning and individualized teaching and began to understand the expansive scope of unique care needed for each student. She was recently given the opportunity to research and propose diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, as well as teaches indigenous youths. For Emily, each student is more than just a student, they are complex individuals with distinct characters, passions, dreams, challenges and setbacks, and are constantly growing. Emily is thrilled to be part of a community such as Nurturing Water Therapies that values nurturing the human body and spirit, despite any sensory, developmental, neurological, physical, or other health challenges.
Olivia is an experienced swimmer who swam in college as a Paralympic athlete. Born with a mild form of cerebral palsy, she began swimming very young on able-bodied teams. This experience competing and training as a Paralympic athlete helped her learn how to adapt strokes and training for herself, and has increased her experience making adaptations for a variety of ability levels and challenges. She also has experience working with special needs throughout high school as a TA. In her spare time she likes to cook, bake, and spend time outdoors. She likes to spend time with her German Shepard, Cayenne.
Megan is a special educator for an after school/ summer program, as well as an in-home caregiver. Her passion for helping others has guided her through life. There is nothing she enjoys more than making someone smile. In her free time she runs her small business and creates digital art. She also spends her evenings at home with her cat listening to Lofi and drinking tea. She loves swimming and swam competitively in high school. Her favorite stroke is butterfly.
Ashley Thompson is a West Seattle native that has a strong background in early childhood development. She has worked in childcare for many years and has done volunteer work for the Red Cross disaster relief program. She has a passion for physical movement and is currently a dance teacher to pre-k students focusing on motion, rhythm and building confidence through creative expression with an emphasis in movement. Aside from her training in adaptive swimming, Ashley has experience working with different levels of children on the spectrum and has family and close friends with disabilities. Ashley has always had a strong connection to water and enjoys sharing that connection with others.
Carlie Vasquez began working with Nurturing Water Therapies in 2018. She has coached high school swim teams for over ten years, Special Olympics teams for three years, and assisted in creating adaptive swim programs for high school athletes, and dry land/kinesiology exercises for a local synchronized swim team. She has worked with kids of all ages and abilities. She is currently completing her degree in Kinesiology to enhance to expanse background in sports and fitness therapy, swimming and nutrition. Carlie enjoys working on improving biomechanical deficiencies in water to increase proper technique and time drops, and is great at meeting her clients where they are, setting goals and progressing their swim skills.
KiRe (pronounced Kee-Ray) recently moved to Washington State from Oahu with her mom and three siblings. Growing up in Hawaii, she spent most of her life in the ocean and found the water to be freeing and soothing. She loves sharing this experience with others and wishes that all children, especially those with sensory challenges, can experience all the incredible benefits of aquatic therapy. KiRe was a summer camp counselor in high school and has a wide range of experience working with neurodiverse kids as well as adults. KiRe now has a beautiful daughter of her own, and loves sharing her passion of swimming with her.
Bekah Sweeney has been swimming as long as she can remember, growing up she practically spent her entire summers in the pool. As Bekah got older, this didn’t change much as she stayed busy in the water participating on swim-team, working shifts as a lifeguard, and teaching lessons to all levels. She enjoys sharing her passion for swimming with others and being able to help others excel. She has experience working with all sorts of children with various needs including ASD and ADHD. She is currently enrolled as a student at WGU and hopes to graduate with a certification in elementary and special education within the next few years.
Anne was born in Fresno, CA and literally lived in the water all summer to escape 100+ degree summers. Some of the best memories of her early childhood are of her swim teacher, Kitty. Most of her teen/adult life has been spent living as close to the water as possible, including all along the west coast ocean beaches, and in Oahu where she did body surfing, boogie boarding, and open ocean swimming and diving. She went to UCSC and UCSB to study Chemistry and Art mainly because of their location near water.
She has been teaching since 1997 in many different roles: Restaurant Manager, Chemistry College Lab Instructor, Family Advocate, preschool-12 teacher in most subjects, private tutor, Special Education Teacher, and baby/toddler group swim instructor. The last 8 years she has chosen to work with students that are hardest to reach, who are her greatest passion and keep her thriving in this difficult and rewarding field. Her specialty is working with kids who are emotionally disturbed, have ODD, PTSD, Autism, and ADHD.
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