Faculty Bio
Occupational Therapy in School-Based Practice: Contemporary Issues and Trends
Editor and Author
Yvonne Swinth, PhD, OTR/L, is an associate professor in the School of Occupational and Physical Therapy at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. She works one day a week as a school-based occupational therapist in the University Place School District. With more than 18 years of experience working with children from birth to age 21, Dr. Swinth is especially interested in ways therapists can effectively implement collaborative processes in the schools, use assistive technology, and apply occupational therapy expertise across school environments.
Dr. Swinth is the immediate past chairperson of AOTA's Early Intervention & School Special Interest Section (EISSIS) and served as the education and research liaison to the EISSIS prior to that. She is also an AOTA representative on the National IDEA Resource Cadre of the federally funded IDEA Partnership Projects, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and is currently co-chair of the Washington State Occupational Therapy School Based Standing Committee.
Dr. Swinth has presented internationally and nationally on topics related to school-based practice, has authored several book chapters and articles specific to service delivery in the schools, and contributed to the AOTA self-study course Occupational Therapy: Making a Difference in School System Practice. Currently she is working on a, 2-year national research project addressing efficacy and efficiency in school-based occupational therapy.
Author
Brenda M. George Brodbeck, MS, OTR/L, is an independent provider of services to children in their homes and communities in rural southeastern Ohio. Ms. Brodbeck has served children and families for 27 years in school-based settings, early intervention centers, and in-home services. She also provides consultation and training to school systems regarding the delivery of related services, personnel development, and practice guidelines.
Ms. Brodbeck edited the 1982 Ohio Occupational Therapy Association (OOTA) publication Occupational Therapy in the Schools: A Handbook for School Based Therapists Practicing in Ohio's Schools and speaks to practitioner groups and parents regarding school-based services, state and federal policies, and early intervention. She has served OOTA as a past liaison for school therapists and as vice president from 1997 to 2001 and is currently the pediatric member support coordinator. In addition, Ms. Brodbeck currently sits on several committees representing the interests of practitioners, including the Ohio Department of Health, Part C committee for training and credentialing and the Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities. She also is an AOTA representative on the National IDEA Resource Cadre of the federally funded IDEA Partnership Projects, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
Author
Gloria Frolek Clark, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, has over 25 years of experience working in a variety of settings in Iowa, specializing in occupational therapy services for pediatric clients in home, community, and school settings. Currently she works for the Heartland Area Education Agency 11 in Johnston, Iowa; is a consultant for the Iowa Department of Education in Des Moines; and is in private practice.
Since 1998 she has been a member of AOTA's Commission on Practice (COP). As a member of the COP she contributed to of the development of Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process, many other official AOTA documents, and the AOTA self-study series related to school-based practice. Ms. Frolek Clark has presented nationally on school-based practice and methods of monitoring student performance. She also is an AOTA representative on the National IDEA Resource Cadre of the federally funded IDEA Partnership Projects, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.
Author
Dorothy "Dottie" Handley-More, MS, OTR/L, has more than 17 years of experience in school-based practice and is currently an occupational therapist in the Highline School District in Burien, Washington. She is also a clinical faculty member at the University of Washington and an AOTA representative on the National IDEA Resource Cadre of the federally funded IDEA Partnership Projects, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.
Ms. Handley-More has written articles on school-based practice and has presented on a variety of topics including leadership, understanding and use of state and federal laws, use of AOTA guidelines to advocate for appropriate services in school-based practice, consultation and collaboration, and supervision of occupational therapy assistants.
Author
Heather Miller Kuhaneck, MS, OTR/L, BCP, is an instructor in Sacred Heart University's occupational therapy program in Fairfield, CT. Ms. Kuhaneck is currently developing an assessment tool for the schools called the School Assessment of Sensory Integration and has written about school-based practice and sensory integration in AOTA's Occupational Therapy: Making a Difference in School System Practice. Ms. Kuhaneck is also the editor of Autism: A Comprehensive Occupational Therapy Approach.
Author
Mary Muhlenhaupt, OTR/L, FAOTA is a research coordinator at the Child and Family Studies Research Programs at Thomas Jefferson University, where she contributes to the development, implementation, and evaluation of professional development to improve the practices of providers in the Philadelphia Birth to Three Early Intervention System. She is also an adjunct instructor in the Occupational Therapy Program at Thomas Jefferson University, where she teaches coursework in pediatrics and consultation approaches in occupational therapy practice. An occupational therapist for more than 30 years, Muhlenhaupt has worked with school-aged children and school staff as well as with families and their infants and toddlers. Her particular interests have included collaborative teamwork between schools and families and the participation of children with disabilities in all aspects of home, school, and community life. Muhlenhaupt has published in professional journals, textbooks, and newsletters and is the Evidence-Based Practice Column editor for the Journal of Occupational Therapy in Schools and Early Intervention. She is completing the OTD program at Thomas Jefferson University.
Author
Jean E. Polichino, MS, OTR, has 15 years of experience in public schools and is currently a manager at the Special Education Division at Harris County Department of Education in Houston, Texas. Ms. Polichino is actively involved in both the Texas and American Occupational Therapy Associations (TOTA and AOTA, respectively). She is the presiding officer of the Texas Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners and serves on the Executive Council of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Examiners for the state of Texas. Additionally, Ms. Polichino is the current chair of the AOTA Early Intervention & School Special Interest Section and is an AOTA representative on the National IDEA Resource Cadre of the federally funded IDEA Partnership Projects, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.
She also serves on the Related Services Task Group and the Comprehensive System of Personnel Development Leadership Council for the Texas Education Agency. Ms. Polichino is the author of An Education-Based Reasoning Model to Support Best Practices for School-Based OT Under IDEA 97, published in the AOTA Early Intervention & School Special Interest Section Newsletter in June 2001 and is a contributing author of AOTA's Occupational Therapy Services for Children and Youth Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2nd ed., 1998).
Author
Winifred Schultz-Krohn, PhD, OTR/L, BCP, FAOTA, has over 25 years experience working as an occupational therapist in pediatrics in a variety of settings. Dr. Schultz-Krohn has provided numerous presentations addressing issues pertinent to school-based practice. As an AOTA representative on the National IDEA Resource Cadre of the federally funded IDEA Partnership Projects, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, she has been very active in disseminating current information regarding IDEA. Dr. Schultz-Krohn currently teaches in the occupational therapy department at San Jose State University and consults on a regular basis for a group of school-based occupational therapists.
Author
Jayne Shepherd, MS, OTR/L, is currently associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, in the department of occupational therapy, where she teaches content related to pediatrics with emphasis on school-based practice, assistive technology, fieldwork Level I, and clinical reasoning. Ms. Shepherd taught special education for 3 years and worked as a therapist in a variety of settings for children and adults. For over 17 years she has consulted with school system therapists. She directed a 5-year pre-service and in-service grant entitled Interdisciplinary School-Based Training for Occupational and Physical Therapists and currently serves on two interdisciplinary grants for children with disabilities. The transition from school to adult occupations has been a focus of Ms. Shepherd's presentations and writings since the early 1990s. She is currently working with an alternative school in developing transition portfolios.
Ms. Shepherd is an AOTA representative on the National IDEA Resource Cadre of the federally funded IDEA Partnership Projects, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.
Author
Kari Couch Tanta, PhD, OTR/L, has 12 years of experience in a variety of pediatric settings, including school systems, home health, hospitals, and early intervention. She is currently the program coordinator of the Children's Therapy Program at Valley Medical Center in Renton, Washington, and a clinical assistant professor at the University of Washington, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Dr. Tanta is active at both the local and state levels regarding children's issues. She is the president of the Early Childhood Development Association of Washington and serves on the King County Interagency Coordinating Council, which addresses coordinating services for children with special needs and their families. Dr. Tanta's research interests are related to play and children with special needs. She has published research papers in peer-reviewed journals and lectured internationally on topics related to pediatric practice.