I started my career as a physical therapist in acute care. I was trained in the medical model of care and worked within various hospital networks for more than a decade.  My first experiences in early childhood intervention were with my own children. Both received services including nutrition, speech therapy, developmental intervention. physical therapy, occupational therapy and vision support.  After age three, my children moved out of early intervention and went on to receive community-based therapies.  This journey has been a valuable learning experience to participate in early intervention as a family member, working to support my own children.  It gave me a personal perspective on what works well and what areas could be improved.

Both of my children have presented with different challenges along the way from sensory sensitivities, food aversions, anxiety, major meltdowns and visual challenges. We learned about neurodivergence and found ways to individually  support each child better.  It has been a learning experience filled with doctor visits, parent support through books, podcasts and learning from other professionals in multiple disciplines.  To better support my own children with my time and knowledge I left acute care and started my own company to independently contract as a PT in early intervention. 

The professional and personal learning paths converged to help me become a better mom to my kids and a better physical therapist for all the kids with neurodivergence.  I started to use my knowledge gained from helping to support my own neurodiverse children to build trust and improve interactions with the children on my caseload.  I have been working on creating a framework for neurodiversity affirming physical therapy, which has dramatically changed the way I approach my job and has improved the connection I have with the families I work with.

Two things became very clear along this journey.  First, physical therapy has room to improve with providing neurodiversity affirming care to children. Second, physical therapists are seeking resources to know more and do better to support their neurodiverse patient population. I am looking to improve my own understanding of neurodiversity from multiple perspectives.  I have created continuing educational content to provide a framework and specific strategies for physical therapists to provide neurodiversity affirming care.  I also work on quality improvement research to and build a body of work supporting neurodiversity affirming care to foster development through connection and joy.