On The Air

Jonathan Miller, OTD, OTR/L, holds a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies and Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Arkansas State University. Jonathan has practiced clinically for five years in a variety of setting to include outpatient hand therapy, long-term acute care, skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehab, and acute care. Jonathan began working as an adjunct professor in the Spring of 2023 to teach a clinical reasoning and skills course at his alma mater, which led to transitioning full-time into academics at Arkansas State University in the Fall of 2023. Jonathan considers himself a generalist as a clinician with a focus on the adult/older adult population. Jonathan’s research is currently focused on perceived stress and coping strategies of OT students in higher education and on the potential of burnout with clinical practitioners. Jonathan was recently elected as Vice-President of the Arkansas Occupational Therapy Association.On this episode of On The Air, Jonathan discusses strategies for use by OT

On this episode, occupational therapy practitioner Cindy Molnar, COTA/L, talks about the role of occupational therapy (OT) in working with people diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) - also referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Cindy has been a second career OT assistant for over 10 years, primarily working in a sub-acute rehabilitation hospital setting. Her previous career was in Human Resources as a Corporate Talent Acquisition. Recommended resourcesBooks: A Life Impossible by Steve GleasonEyes to the Wind by Ady BarkanTuesdays with Morrie by Mitch AlbomUntil I Say Goodbye: A Year of Living with Joy by Susan Spencer-WendelFilms:Transfatty lives For Love and Life: No Ordinary CampaignNot Going QuietlyTuesdays with MorrieWebsites and More:Team Gleason Foundation - teamgleason.orgI am ALS - iamals.orgBridging Voice - bridgingvoice.orgSynapticure - synapticure.comLiving While Dying [podcast]Limbroozkit with Brooke Eby [IG account]   

On this episode, occupational therapist Amberlynn Slavin and her husband Ben Slavin share information about SnapType, an app created based on an idea Amberlynn had on a Level I fieldwork clinical rotation while she was in occupational therapy school at Springfield College. The goal of SnapType is to help students complete their schoolwork even when their handwriting, literacy, or vision holds them back.Amberlynn is a pediatric OT who has practiced in California and New Hampshire. She has experience working in a sensory clinic with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Down’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, mental health disorders, and other developmental disorders. When she’s not working, you can find her coaching gymnastics, working on all sorts of creative projects, and spending time with her husband and their two young boys. Learn more about SnapType here: https://snaptypeapp.com or on Instagram @snaptypeotCheck out Amberlynn's Instagram account which is dedicated to OT activ

Liz Grace is the pen name of an occupational therapist living from southwestern Ontario, Canada. She lives and works with a mental illness called schizoaffective disorder. She navigates the OT world despite profound hearing loss and cochlear implants. Liz has been working in homecare since 2015 after graduating from school. Her primary clientele is older adults and adults with severe physical disabilities. Liz enjoys community activities and curling in the winter. She has a service dog from the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides in Oakville, Ontario.On this episode of the podcast, Liz talks about her experiences as a person with mental illness as well as profound hearing loss and shares about the autobiographical account she has written in a book entitled "Resilient: Surviving My Mental Illness," which is available on platforms such as Amazom and Audible. Connect with Liz via social media through the account @lizgraceauthor or via email at lizgraceauthor@gmail.com

On Episode 130, Sarah Zera, OTD, OTR/L, shares the story about how she discovered and fell in love with occupational therapy and discusses her work as a mobile- and community-based practitioner and insight about how to bring moxie to one's OT practice.Growing up, two of Sarah’s primary caregivers were people with disabilities. Her background has provided her with first-hand knowledge of what is possible when living with a disability. These experiences also showed her the many barriers people with disabilities face on a daily basis. Sarah has been working as an occupational therapist since 2002. Throughout her career she has been proud to support her clients in their rehabilitation journey. As Sarah has grown as an occupational therapist she has realized that we can do better. Traditional rehabilitation services are vitally important. However, many people “graduate” from rehabilitation but do not return to doing the things in life that matter to them most. In 2013 she returned to school to study the most effec

Occupational therapist Amy Coopersmith, MOT, OTR/L, MAEd, has worked as an educator and OT for more than 25 years. She currently works as a lecturer on topics related to children’s independence and positive mental health. For 17 years, she worked as an OT Supervisor, clinician and evaluator for the NYC Department of Education. Amy is passionate about promoting children’s self-determination through AOTA workshops as well as national/regional conferences and online learning communities. In 2020, she created Captain Me®, a video-based musical self-determination program for all children. Through the evidence-informed use of guided questioning, role play, music, puppets and video modeling, Amy helps practitioners learn how to best utilize their pediatric sessions to promote motivation, engagement and independence. Currently, she is pursuing her OT doctorate at Temple University. Previously, Amy taught Pediatric Assessment and Treatment at Mercy College and worked as a teacher in New York City. Her favorite hobby i

Occupational therapy assistant Amy Mahle is passionate about promoting the occupational therapist/occupational therapy assistant (OT/OTA) collaboration, uniting and motivating OT practitioners, advocating for occupational therapy, and finding solutions. She is the founding OTA Program Director at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in Salisbury, NC and co-author/co-editor of the comprehensive textbook, Adult Physical Conditions: Intervention Strategies for Occupational Therapy Assistants. Amy has been an active member of AOTA and the North Carolina Occupational Therapy Association for her entire career and has served in leadership roles in both, including President of NCOTA. She is currently pursuing her EdD in Community College Leadership at NC State University. Prior to her career as an OTA, she was a small business owner and worked in the social service sector. Connect with Amy: Via email at amy.mahle.cota@gmail.comVia her website - www.amymahle.comOn Instagram: @amyjanemahleOn Twitter @AmyMahleCOTAOn Faceboo

Vikram Pagpatan, MS, OTRL, ATP, CAS, BCTS, EdDc is a practicing Asian-American occupational therapist from New York City. He is a full time Assistant Professor and Admissions Coordinator at SUNY Downstate’s MSOT program as well as an adjunct lecturer at York College. Prior to beginning his work as an OT, Vikram served the city he loves as a paramedic and found the profession of OT on his graveyard shift through one of his patients. Vikram's clinical interests are in the areas of assistive technology and seating and mobility systems within pediatric practice. He presently serves on the AOTA DEI committee, as the social media chair of the Asian-Pacific Heritage Occupational Therapy Association, and as a cohort member of the 2021 AOTA Academic Leadership Institute. On this episode, Vik shares about the influence of diversity - and diversity of thought - within the OT profession- diversity of thought, his path into the profession, what OT has allowed him to do personally and professionally, and more - including h

Mike Jankowski has been an occupational therapist since 2011 and has spent the majority of his career working with the pediatric population in start-up therapy clinics. In November of 2020 Mike started working at the EMR company SimplePractice as their Occupational Therapy Clinical Specialist. At SimplePractice, Mike brings together his knowledge of OT and private practice and works with SimplePractice's product and marketing teams to continue to enhance SimplePractice for its OT users.Resources mentioned:•Entrepreneuership FB groups – oEntreneurship4OT - https://www.facebook.com/groups/otentrepreneurs oOT Entrenpreurs - https://www.facebook.com/groups/536469659833481 •AOTA Private Practice Essentials - https://www.aota.org/Conference-Events/summer-series/schedule.aspxConnect with Mike: •Email - mike@simplepractice.com•Twitter - @MikeTheOT1•LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-jankowski-otrl/ •Website/blog - https://www.simplepractice.com/mike-j/

Laura Simmons is the CEO and Founder of Theratrak, a company that offers a digital platform enabling allied health professionals including occupational therapy practitioners to more efficiently track participant progress in between treatment sessions. She is also a passionate pediatric occupational therapist working with families of children living with a range of disabilities in early intervention. Laura has worked in the private health sector in Australia for almost 10 years, and in this time she has noticed a distinct lack of innovative technology solutions targeting the ongoing care of clients outside of direct therapy and how this is impacting the client’s overall treatment. As a leader of a team of occupational therapists, Laura wants to improve the healthcare system from the inside out to support the growth of younger therapists everywhere. As mentioned in the interview, TheraTrak is looking for partners in the United States to pilot their HIPAA certified digital tracking system. On this episode, we ta

For this interview, I brought back the guest from Episode 119 so we could dig deeper into the topic of time management for clinicians and clinical practice owners and managers.Jamey Schrier, P.T. is an author, former practice owner and founder of Practice Freedom U. PFU solely focuses on helping practice owners work less, earn more, and reignite their passion for patient care. His book, The Practice Freedom Method, has been an Amazon best-seller. Jamey is on a mission to help ambitious practice owners achieve their dreams of what he refers to as Practice Freedom.Resources mentioned during this interview:*The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey - https://www.franklincovey.com/the-7-habits/*TEDs talk by Dr. Anne Zachry, PhD, OTR/L - "Be a Daydream Believer" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omGbKQIzoWY To connect with with Jamey:Email - jamey@practicefreedomu.comTwitter - https://twitter.com/jameyschrier Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/PracticeFreedomU Instagram - https://instagr

Lydia Cremer Kite is an occupational therapist who has experience in a variety of settings including skilled nursing facilities, subacute rehabilitation, outpatient rehabilitation, long term acute rehabilitation, community based, along with ergonomics, injury and prevention. She has a focus in work rehab and is a certified aging in place specialist. She has been teaching at University of St. Augustine for several years and also practices OT at an outpatient clinic with a focus on return to work. Lydia earned her Bachelor of Arts with a major in psychology from Georgia Southern University and a Master's of Occupational Therapy from University of St. Augustine in 2015. She also has experience in not-for-profit organizations, day programs, group homes for adults with varying intellectual and developmental abilities.Lydia's sister, Kaitlyn Cremer, is also an occupational therapist and was featured on Episode 120 of On The Air. On this episode, Lydia talks about OT and community partnerships.

On this episode, we talk about the importance of the support provided by therapists during rehab and the incredible power of hope.Cindy Kolbe has been a lifelong disability advocate—even before her youngest daughter’s spinal cord injury. In her memoir, Struggling with Serendipity, she shares about her battle with depression and guilt after her daughter's injury. Since the injury, Cindy and her daughter have shared many adventures which Cindy calls "unexpected," from during her daughter's time in rehab in their small town in Ohio to time they spent at Harvard, on Capitol Hill, and around the world. Cindy has now signed a movie contract with a producer/writer who is shopping Struggling with Serendipity to Hollywood movie studios. Her motto is: “If you never give up, hope wins.”To connect with Cindy:Email - cindy@strugglingwithserendipity.comTwitter - @cindy_kolbeFacebook Page - Struggling with SerendipityInstagram - @cindybkolbeWebsite/blog - www.strugglingwithserendipity.comYouTube Channel: Struggling with Se

Kimberly Kearney, COTA/L, has been an occupational therapy practitioner since 2003. She has worked in Skilled Nursing, Rehab, Memory Care, Acute Care, Home Health, Community Health, and Early Intervention settings. Most recently, Kim has been working in Home Health in Virginia. She has held licenses in Indiana, Florida, Colorado and now Virginia. Kim has been involved with AOTA serving on the Commission on Practice for over 5 years and assisted with the OTA Forum. She has also presented as a panel member at a few national conferences in these roles. She was involved with the topic of Driving and Community Mobility and worked with the ADED group in Colorado and presented at the Colorado OT Association Conference on the topic. Over the years, Kim has been happy to work with students in various aspects of their OT learning journey as a fieldwork educator. In addition, she views volunteering as a way of life after having worked with American Cancer Society, Girl Scouts, American Red Cross, the MS Society, Medical

Kaitlyn Cremer, OTD, MOT, OTR/L, has been an occupational therapist for over 10 years. She has worked in a variety of settings including geriatrics, pediatrics, acute-care, acute-rehabilitation and in low vision and workplace wellness and ergonomics. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Florida Southern College and Master of Occupational Therapy and then Doctorate of Occupational Therapy from The University of St. Augustine. She is an onsite prevention specialist. She was awarded AOTA's specialty certification in low vision (SCLV). She is an advocate for interprofessional teamwork having presented at national conferences to advocate for OT’s role in the interprofessional team. She is currently a consultant for a community-based long term support and service agency for adults with intellectual and developmental disability advocating for occupational therapy’s role as well as clients’ quality of life and employee support. Connect with Kaitlyn on Instagram -@OTsDoThat

Jamey Schrier, PT, is an author, former physical therapy practice owner, and founder of Practice Freedom U. PFU solely focuses on helping practice owners work less, earn more, and reignite their passion for patient care. His book, The Practice Freedom Method has been an Amazon best-seller. Jamey is on a mission to help ambitious practice owners achieve their dreams of what is commonly called Practice Freedom. On this episode, Jamey shares about how changing one's mindset can transform and in some cases even save a business including a private practice. Here's how to connect with Jamey:Email - jamey@practicefreedomu.comTwitter - https://twitter.com/jameyschrier Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/PracticeFreedomU Instagram - https://instagram.com/practicefreedomuLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameyschrier/

Hailey Scandin is a third-year student in the Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. She is currently in her final semester of OT school and is working on completing her Capstone project with Ability App. Hailey has always had an interest in advocating for individuals with disabilities and is looking forward to continuing to do so as she starts her professional career as an OT practitioner. When she is not in school, you can find her outdoors hiking, biking, or on the water with family and friends!To connect with Hailey and to learn more about Ability App:Instagram - @hailbail16Website - https://theabilityapp.com/

Susan Mahipaul is an occupational therapist, an educator, a researcher, and a disability and health naviagator and advocate who completed a PhD from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON in Rehabilitation Science (2015) and a clinical Master’s in Occupational Therapy from the University of Toronto (2004). She identifies as a disabled clinician and a critical disability scholar. Her doctoral work explored how her own reflections on living with spina bifida can be used to critique normative assumptions on disability within rehabilitation practices and society at large. Her research, teaching, and writing interests include advocating for equity, justice, and anti-oppressive practices within the rehabilitation sciences; academic ableism; how rehabilitation science programs often exclude disabled students; and using narrative research in teaching critical disability studies concepts within rehabilitation and disability studies programs. Susan teaches as an instructor within the undergraduate Disability Studies progr

Karen Park, OTD, OTR/L, BCP, SWC, CLE, is an occupational therapist with extensive experience in pediatric practice in a variety of service settings including early intervention, clinic, school, hospital and outpatient children’s mental health. Dr. Park is Board Certified in Pediatrics by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and holds Advanced Practice certification in Swallowing Assessment, Evaluation, and Intervention within the state of California. Prior to joining the faculty at University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in San Marcos, CA (USA), Dr. Park was an Assistant Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy and the Director of Academic Fieldwork Education at the University of Southern California, Chan Division of Occupational Science and Therapy. Her expertise in fieldwork education focuses on role emerging fieldwork experiences in children’s mental health settings; specifically mentoring OT students in identifying and establishing the role of OT in addressing the occupational n

Jennifer Renker, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist who works as a travel therapist, traveling across the U.S. to provide services to in clinics that are short staffed and in need of assistance. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy in 2017 from Utica College in Utica, NY. Jennifer has extensive experience working with people with a variety of disabilities and challenges in different settings that has helped inform her as a therapist. Prior to going to OT school, she earned an Associate’s degree in massage therapy from Suny Morrisville in Morrisville, NY. Jennifer was drawn to OT because of its holistic nature and ability to look at all of a client’s needs to better assist each person. The fluctuating and changing needs of clients in both of these past settings has allowed Jennifer to become more adaptable and creative with the ability to focus on her client’s immediate needs, while allowing her to excel in the changing environments of a travel therapist. She enjoys spending time on he