Presenter Bios
Susan Bazyk, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is an associate professor in the occupational therapy program at Cleveland State University, where she has taught for the past 24 years. Throughout her career, she has specialized in occupational therapy practice with children in home– and school–based settings. Her research has contributed to several areas of practice, and recent work has focused on addressing the mental health needs of children. Bazyk has also developed and implemented the Occupational Therapy Groups for HOPE (Healthy Occupations for Positive Emotions) program, a preventive occupation–based program to address the structured leisure and social–emotional needs of low–income urban youth attending after–school care.
Sharon Brandenburger Shasby, EdD, OTR, FAOTA, received her bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Florida, a master’s degree in clinical counseling from the Citadel, and a doctorate in early childhood education from the University of South Carolina. She is professor and graduate coordinator of the occupational therapy department at Eastern Kentucky University. Shasby has extensive experience in pediatric practice and more than 20 years of providing related services to students in educational settings and to youth in alternative school settings and psychiatric facilities. She has a sustained record of service to her professional national and state associations and is a Fellow of the AOTA.
Donna Downing, MS, OTR/L, is the former team leader of the PIER Program and serves as the deputy director of training for the Early Detection and Intervention for the Prevention of Psychosis Program (EDIPPP). She has spent her career in the field of psychiatry and has worked in a variety of settings, including an acute inpatient unit, a partial hospital program, an employment demonstration research project for people with persistent mental illness, and a program for the early detection of and intervention for psychosis. Downing also has taught at the university level.
Sandra Schefkind, MS, OTR/L, is the pediatric coordinator at AOTA. Over the past 25 years, she has held a variety of positions, including director of early childhood education at Imagination Stage, chief occupational therapist at Bryn Mawr Hospital, and senior occupational therapist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. She also has worked as a pediatric consultant to several private practices and schools. Schefkind received her undergraduate degree in occupational therapy from Tufts University and her master’s degree in occupational therapy from Temple University.
Jennifer Richman, OTR, is a senior occupational therapist at New York State Psychiatric Institute, a consultant for the New York City Department of Education, and a guest lecturer at Columbia and SUNY Downstate Universities. She specializes in rehabilitation of autism spectrum disorders and mental illness using music as a modality of treatment. Through musical intervention, Jennifer has helped nonverbal students with autism to speak and schizophrenic patients to self–regulate. She also incorporates music into her own life as a singer–songwriter and recording artist.