Colorado State University’s concentration in health promotion within the health and exercise science major focuses on teaching students the science and art of helping people evaluate their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health. 

Carli Collopy, a graduating senior in the program, is using her health and exercise science knowledge, along with an American Sign Language minor at her internship with Integrated Pediatric Therapy Associates, to assist children throughout several types of therapies. 

Integrated Pediatric Therapy Associates works with children with disabilities from around Northern, Colorado. Through her work at her internship, Collopy helps the team achieve their goal of ensuring their patients are successful with all aspects of daily life. 

 Collopy’s background 

Collopy, who is originally from Northern California, was attracted to the Department of Health and Exercise Science because of Colorado’s four-season climate and the program’s welcoming environment. 

“I love the cold, so that was something that originally put Colorado schools on my radar,” Collopy said. “When I was looking into schools here, I found CSU’s health and exercise science major, and after taking a tour of the department on a visit, I knew this was going to be the right place for me!” 

After Collopy found CSU, she initially planned on entering with a concentration in sports medicine as she was considering a career in pediatric physical therapy. 

“I have always known I wanted to have a job where I wasn’t sitting all day and something where I was helping people,” Collopy said. “Health and exercise science offered me just that! After doing a little more research, I learned that occupational therapy was the career I actually wanted to do and that I would be better suited for grad school through the health promotion concentration.” 

 Multiple methods of therapy 

Collopy’s summer internship is taking place at Integrated Pediatric Therapy Associates, a pediatric clinic that offers occupational, physical, speech, and music therapy options for its patients. In addition, Integrated Pediatric Therapy Associates also offers hippotherapy or equine movement through a partnership with Iron Horse Therapeutic Farm. 

“Children can choose to have hippotherapy or farm therapy as another option of therapy,” Collopy said. 

According to Iron Horse Therapeutic Farm’s website, hippotherapy is the process of using the movement of the horse as a therapeutic intervention. Music therapy using equine movement combines horseback riding with music-based interventions to create a highly motivating sensory environment. Although the two therapies are designed to target different goals of the patients, both work on improving social skills, reducing anxiety, and benefiting physical, emotional, and sensory skills. 

Collopy works primarily with the occupational therapy department at her internship but gets to see parts of other therapies if there is co-treatment. Her typical day consists of two different segments. 

“It’s very interesting to see how the other therapies work and how the departments work together,” Collopy said. “I start my morning at the farm working as a side walker. I walk alongside the horse to make sure the child doesn’t fall off. I also aid the therapist in different therapies such as reaching or crossing midline, something that would be hard for the therapist to do alone.” 

The second half of Collopy’s day is spent in a clinic setting. 

“A large portion of my time in the clinic is shadowing the therapists,” Collopy said. “I get to sit in on sessions and learn from the occupational therapists as well as get to know the kids who are coming in.” 

Collopy typically gets to see three sessions a day and then performs other duties during her clinic time. 

“I have a list of responsibilities that I need to complete each day, such as cleaning and organizing, and therapist requests, like laminating,” she said. 

 Applying skills learned through CSU’s curriculum 

Throughout her time with Integrated Pediatric Therapy Associates, Collopy has been able to apply what she’s learned in her practicum experiences to make sure she can provide the best support possible. Students in health and exercise science major participate in the department’s Adult Fitness program. 

“With Adult Fitness, I learned how to work with a population I hadn’t before,” Collopy said. “I learned how to communicate with community members and create exercise workouts for them. I also got a lot more comfortable with speaking and teaching in front of people.” 

Collopy performed her second practicum with Adaptive Recreation Opportunities.  

“I got the opportunity to work with people of all ages with intellectual disabilities,” Collopy said. “This practice showed me how to take everyday recreation and make it adaptative. I think my favorite thing I learned there was how to make rock climbing adaptive for people in wheelchairs!” 

In addition, Collopy has been able to use her American Sign Language minor during her internship. One of the therapists Collopy shadows is also fluent in ASL and works with a boy who is deaf. Collopy gets to sit in on the boy’s sessions and have full conversations with him, all in ASL. 

“It’s fascinating to see a session taught in a different language and really cool that I can be a part of it,” Collopy said. “This little boy gets to learn in his own language from his therapist without an interpreter, which is so beneficial to him!” 

Collopy also uses sign language with other kids as well. 

“For other kids, it’s usually smaller signs, such as ‘more,’ ‘please,’ ‘stop,’ and ‘wait,’” Collopy said. “I love that I am a source of information, and therapists can ask me how to sign something to help their kids.” 

Overall, through her time at Integrated Pediatric Therapy Associates, Collopy has gained valuable experience and knowledge to assist her in her future career. Her favorite part, however, comes from getting to know the kids she works with.  

“It’s awesome to see the progression that they make each time they come to therapy,” Collopy said. “I love making genuine connections with each kid. It’s so heartwarming to have a child run up to you and jump into your arms asking for a hug.” 

Collopy will be taking a gap year while she is applying to occupational therapy graduate programs. She’s hoping to start graduate school next summer.  

The Department of Health and Exercise Science is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.