Faculty Bios
Susanne Smith Roley MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, has more than 30 years of experience in pediatric occupational therapy. She obtained her BS in occupational therapy at Indiana University and her MS in allied health sciences at Boston University. Smith Roley is on staff at the University of Southern California, Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, as the project director for the USC/WPS Comprehensive Program in Sensory Integration; is the director of education and research at the Pediatric Therapy Network; and is in private practice in Orange County, California. She is a past chair of the AOTA Commission on Practice and of the AOTA Sensory Integration Special Interest Section and is a contributing author of the first and second editions of the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process.
Smith Roley is an internationally recognized author and lecturer on the theory and application of sensory integration. She is co-editor of the books Understanding the Nature of Sensory Integration With Diverse Populations and Sensory Integration: Applying Clinical Reasoning to Diverse Populations. She is a fellow of the AOTA and recipient of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF) Virginia Scardina Award of Excellence and the AOTF A. Jean Ayres Award.
Janet V. DeLany DEd, OTR/L, FAOTA, earned her doctoral degree in adult education from The Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree in health administration from the University of Notre Dame, a postbaccalaureate certificate degree in occupational therapy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in psychology from Immaculata University. For 30 years, she has practiced as an occupational therapist with a focus on children and adolescents. For the past 20 years, she also has been an occupational therapy educator teaching at the associate, baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral levels. DeLany is a professor at Towson University, where she serves as the director of the doctor of science in occupational science program and of the interdisciplinary postbaccalaureate Autism Studies program.
DeLany is the 2008–2011 chair of the AOTA Commission on Practice and a contributing author to the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, 2nd Edition. She has been honored as a Fellow of AOTA. Her research interests include understanding the leadership and learning paths of women in health care professions, occupational challenges of teen mothers, and autism. She is co-author of Working With Children and Adolescents: A Guide for the Occupational Therapy Assistant.