Diane Knoll, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist who works as the founder and director of Vibrant Palette Arts Center, a non-profit visual arts day program for adults with disabilities in the city of Seattle. With 15 years of experience working in both school settings and pediatric therapy clinics, delivering quality care to clients ages three through adulthood, Diane enjoys working with clients who have self-regulation challenges, sensory processing differences, fine motor delays, and dysgraphia. She specializes in the use of creative approaches to encourage engagement and increased independence with clients.
 
Diane is currently the only therapist with a specialty certification in the Size Matters Handwriting Program in Washington State. She recently started a consulting company that specializes in providing sensory support for all ages in clients' natural environments, Cascadia Therapy Services. 

Connect with Diane:

• Via email
• On her Facebook Page
• Through her website  
• On LinkedIn
• Via Instagram​ 

Kokeb Girma McDonald, OTR/L, is a pediatric occupational therapist, the founder of Polaris Therapy, an online parent and service provider coach, and a best-seller author to Integrating Primitive Reflexes Through Play and Exercise: An Interactive Guide to the Moro Reflex for Parents, Teachers, and Service Providers. She has 15+ years hands-on experience working with children from diverse background and with various diagnoses. Kokeb recently created an online course and wrote a book to teach parents and service providers a step-by-step home and classroom playful exercises, which can be implemented in less than 10 minutes a day to help improve a child's development. The book is available on Amazon.com and also through Kokeb's website; it includes 30 exercises that can be done to facilitate the integration of the Moro reflex. Kokeb's plan is to make this book be the first in a series of books all centered on primitive reflexes. 

Connect with Kokeb:

• Email - kokeb@polaristherapy.com
• FB Page - https://www.facebook.com/integratingreflexes/
• Blog - https://www.polaristherapy.com/blog

Resources to Share:
A story about the program in which Michelle and Julia are participating - https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-newsct-uconn-moving-20190822-ykmksd4fjzdvnpuh274zslorkm-story.html

Connect with Michelle and Julia:
Via email - michelle.zubko@qu.edu and juliagkowal@quinnipiac.edu
Instagram - @michellezubs and @juliagkowal

Kathryn Ellis, OTR, OTD, is the CEO and founder of the Institute for Sex, Intimacy and Occupational Therapy, which offers continuing education services for occupational therapy professionals and client services for sexuality counseling. Kathryn is a Doctor of Occupational Therapy and an AASECT certified sexuality counselor. Her mission is to dismantle restrictive norms related to sexuality and intimacy which limit occupational therapists and clients so that all individuals can thrive as sexual beings. On this episode, we talk about the role of occupational therapy in addressing sex and intimacy. 

Connect with Kathryn:

• Email - kathrynellis@sexintimacyot.com
• Instagram - @sexintimacyot
• Twitter - @sexintimacyot
• Facebook Page - Sex Intimacy OT
• Website - Sex Intimacy OT
• LinkedIn - Kathryn Ellis

Resources & Recommendations:

• American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists 
• AOTA handout - Sexuality and the Role of OT 
• OT After Dark podcast
• Kathryn Ellis Consulting - materials on Social Responsibility 
• The PLISSIT Model 
  
• Website: https://www.sexintimacyot.com/  

 

• Guided Self-reflection and discussion of sexuality values, beliefs, attitudes, and bias, live CEU webinar, offered monthly - next offering is on 2/25/20. Information HERE.
  
• Program Development Group Coaching: 6 one hour CEU sessions over 11 weeks - starting 3/3/20. Information HERE.
  
• OTPF Letter to Comment - Download material HERE.

Helen Valencia is an occupational therapist who was born in Colombia and migrated to the U.S. at age 7. Helen grew up in Queens, NY, and earned an undergraduate degree from Queens College. She worked in advertisement sales for A&E TV and then worked for the United Nations as a staff assistant in two different offices, the last one being the office of the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

Dissatisfied with what she calls "the office life," Helen began a journey of self-discovery to help her figure out what was next in her career path. After a year of self-reflection, she learned about OT and, as she says, the rest is history. 

Helen graduated from OT school at Stony Brook University. She co-founded a non-profit called Project InReach which funded self-development/leadership workshops given to adults in Colombia. She also worked as a translator in Suffolk county at IEP meetings during OT school. Helen recently moved with her husband to New Hampshire and is here in the studio today to talk about leading as an introvert, making a career switch as an adult, mindfulness and motivation. 

Connect with Helen:

• Via email
• On Instagram @my_otlife

Kripa Sundar, PhD, is an independent researcher and a learning detective. As a cognitive scientist and leader in the field of education and educational research, Kripa earned her doctorate in educational psychology with an emphasis on instructional strategies, with and without multimedia. She managed the Course of Mind project from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) as their Learning Science Specialist, following which she did a stint as an adjunct professor at Washington State University. Currently, her focus is geared towards getting her own initiative - Learning Incognito - up and going.

On this episode, Kripa discusses the research she and her colleagues have conducted as well as research done in the field of cognitive science over the past 30+ years. We talk about how the strategies uncovered in her work can be used by OT students, practitioners, and educators to aid in the teaching and learning process.

Connect with Kripa:

• Via email
• On Twitter @KripaSundar
• Via her website: www.learningincognito.com 

Meghan Fox, MS, OTR/L, is the lead occupational therapist in a school district in Southern California where she lives with her with husband, two sons, and dog.  A Midwest transplant, Meghan attended the University of Illinois-Champaign for her undergraduate educate where she earned a Bachelors of Science in kinesiology before moving to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California for her Masters in Occupational Therapy. Meghan and her family like parks and beaches and enjoy going to Disneyland, and she and her husband have aspirations for their sons to see the world. 

On this episode, Meghan introduces her product WooTape which she developed as a result of her work as an OT. She discusses her drive for achievement that led to her quest for entrepreneurship and shares tips for people interested in following a similar path. 

Connect with Meghan:

• ​Email address: wootherapy@gmail.com
• Facebook & Insta: WooTherapy - same for Instagram and Pinterest
• Website: www.wootherapy.com

Sara Mae Welsh, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist specializing in forensics, recovery, and trauma. Sara graduated with a M.S. in occupational therapy from Spalding University in Louisville, KY. She works with individuals who are incarcerated, fighting addiction, and learning to cope with trauma. Her goal is to provide coping skills and aid in rational thought through meaningful occupations to assist in forgiveness, self-acceptance, and courage needed to live day-by-day. Sara says, "Breaking stigma and reintegrating this population back into society will benefit us all by making functional adults who want to live independent lives yet just do not know how." To find out more about occupational therapy or to see how to connect with Sara, visit the podcast website at www.ontheair.us

Connect with Sara:

• Email sara.welsh2016@gmail.com
• Website: www.believeinchances.com

Resources to check out:

• Guide to Forensic OT [video]
• Forensic Occupational Therapy [Facebook Page]

Nicole Julia, OTR/L, OTD - the mastermind behind the social media sensation, the Able Fables - holds a clinical doctorate in occupational therapy from Belmont Univ. in Nashville, TN. In addition to being an OT, Nicole is a self-described lover of people and a believer in a more inclusive, universally designed world - and now she's a book author as well. 

She has started an inclusive movement and a children’s picture book series telling stories, through fables, of love and ability. Through the series she named The Able Fables, she embarked on a beautiful, non-traditional OT journey that highlights the benefits of the community-based practice aspect of occupational therapy! Nicole currently live in Nashville with her husband, Jordan - she just got married last week! 

On this episode, Nicole discusses how and why she started The Able Fables and how she gives back through her work. She talks about the first book in the series, Gary's Gigantic Dream, shares about her own gigantic dreams! Nicole's website and her book both launched on Nov. 24, 2019. 

Connect with Nicole:

• ​The Able Fables (website)
• Via email - hello@theablefables.com
• Twitter @theablefables
• Facebook: The Able Fables
• Instagram: The Able Fables

Hoang ("Wong") Tran  - a Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) and the owner of Hands-on Therapy Services and the online community of practice CHT Secrets - has been practicing as an OT for about 20 years. She started Hands-on Therapy Services about 6 years ago in an effort to help more people with hand and arm injuries be more active and pain free while avoiding pills, injections, and surgery. As a CHT, she also helps a lot of people after surgery get the best possible outcome.
 
Hoang has always been in education in one form or another; when she started her private practice, she saw a need to create a community for OT's that want to specialize in hand therapy. Through the community she has established since through CHT Secrets, she seeks to provide coaching and mentorship for others who want to navigate the specialty practice area of hand therapy.