When working with children, the creative world of play and learning is endless. Mandi Mills, a recent graduate of Colorado State University, discovered this during her travels to Sydney, Australia where she completed her final fieldwork for her master's degree in occupational therapy.
During a ceremony held on February 27, the Department of Occupational Therapy welcomed one of its largest group of new members into Pi Theta Epsilon. PTE, a national honor society, recognizes outstanding students who demonstrate scholastic excellence and a commitment to contributing to the advancement of the occupational therapy profession.
Students, faculty and community members gathered in the Lory Student Center Theater on February 17 for the Student Occupational Therapy Association Fifth Annual Silent Auction. The auction is SOTA's largest fundraising event of the year. This year the silent auction raised over $3000 to support student professional development including sending students to the American Occupational Therapy Association's Annual Conference in Philadelphia.
Since receiving her master’s degree from the Department of Occupational Therapy, Yates has been a pediatric therapist at Children’s Therapy TEAM and has been involved in the non-profit organization TEAMworks that seeks to improve and enhance the lives of children with special needs both locally and internationally.
“Yoga has been something I have participated in for myself. I had hoped I could integrate my yoga training into my work as an occupational therapist, but I did not know what that would look like at the time, “said Stacey Nichols.
Tina Swearinger ventured into a road less traveled for her first occupational therapy level II fieldwork experience, working at a state funded mental and behavioral health facility with adult day programming.
The CSU Brainwaves Research Lab is looking for volunteers between the ages of 15 and 30 for a study titled, "Examining the Relationship between Sensory Processing and Attention in Neurotypical Individuals and Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders."
"You don't have to have a disability to benefit from occupational therapy," says occupational therapist and CSU Assistant Professor Lisa Fyffe. "Occupational therapists can support the playfulness, development and learning of all children in small and large ways."
Second-year occupational therapy students at CSU had the opportunity to apply classroom learning in real-life situations this past semester.