Profile

My job involves evaluating and treating children ages 0-21 who have decreased functioning in one or more areas of their lives, i.e. school, home, or play. As the lead therapist, I also manage four staff therapists, which involves performance reviews and managing parent concerns.

A typical day is 8:30am – 5:30pm with a one-hour break for lunch. I typically see children in one-hour increments (50 minutes for treatment and 10 minutes to speak with the parent/complete documentation). I can see up to seven children/day with one hour of administration time/day.

Foundational skills are developed through school and continuing education; however, all that knowledge goes even further when you develop a good rapport with the child and their family.

Technical skills are important, which include time management and efficient documentation skills.

It is also important to be flexible and creative: “thinking outside the box.”

I work in a business building and our facility has two integrated gyms. The equipment for sensory integration is suspended on a large mental frame and includes swings, a zip line and other types of physical equipment.

I primarily work with other women therapists. Unlike physical therapy, occupational therapy is a female-dominated profession. It is easy to do this job part-time and it can be very flexible.

Most of my patients are preschool boys who have a variety of developmental delays and learning disabilities including autism.

Our clinic has two locations, one in Austin and one in Cedar Park. I work from the Austin location; however, I have to travel to Cedar Park occasionally. There are no other obligations to travel for work. However, I do travel to complete continuing education courses to maintain licensure.

I love working with children and getting to “play” all day! I also love the flexibility of being an occupational therapist. You can meet two different occupational therapists who work with different populations, whose roles are very different. There is never any burnout because there are many areas in the field to explore. There are also many areas to choose to specialize in within the field of pediatrics.

Currently, the management aspect has been the hardest to step into. It definitely makes me appreciate the efforts of all of my previous managers! As a therapist, it is hard to have treatment dictated by insurances companies.

I am most inspired by the families I work with—their pride and pleasure in every gain their child makes— and their dedication to make it to treatment outside of their other everyday activities.

My biggest influence was probably my undergraduate biology professor who said I would never be an occupational therapist. I like challenges.

1. Explore many areas of interest
2. Step outside of your comfort zone. That is the only way you know you are learning something new!!!

I would have made the most of the time when I was in college (undergraduate/graduate) to complete courses abroad. I would have also taken the opportunity to go out of state for school and my internships. There is less opportunity for these once you are working.

I went to Baylor University, and like most students there, I was pre-med. I knew I wanted to work with children and planned to be a pediatrician. Once I realized I was not very competitive, did not like that many science courses and needed more sleep, I decided to be a physical therapist. I joined a school organization for students interested in physical and occupational therapy. I had never heard of occupational therapy before. They had guest speakers come to speak to the group and one time an occupational therapist from Early Childhood Intervention came to talk. I was very interested in what she did and started volunteering with her. From there I was hooked!

I completed my under-graduate degree in Health Sciences. I took one semester off after graduation to work and then started occupational therapy school in the spring. I completed two years of school and six months of internships in Austin, where I live and work now.

I had to overcome a very hard fieldwork placement in which I did not like my clinical instructor. After completing my pediatric fieldwork placement, I decided that I was not going to do pediatrics anymore. I started a career in hand therapy, one of my other interests, and after six months missed pediatrics. Luckily, the owner of the company was interested in adding pediatrics, so within six months I was back on track and have been doing pediatrics since.

I was born in Port Arthur Texas. I am an only child. My family moved to Houston Texas where I grew up. I went to a middle school, which integrated children with special needs, specifically the deaf, which is where I learned sign language. In high school, I majored in French.

In my 7 years of working I have worked in hand therapy for 6 months and 6 1/2years I have worked in private clinics with children both in Houston and in Austin. I have lived in Austin for a total of 4 years. I have a dog, Blaise, and enjoy biking, traveling and anything active.