Email: dawn@shiningstarstherapy.com
Dawn received her degree in Occupational Therapy in 1997 after attending Downstate Health Science Center at Brooklyn, NY. Her first position as an OT built her strength in NeuroRehabilitation and family training as she worked in adult acute care settings, outpatient settings and an inpatient Brain Injury/Coma recovery unit at a Hospital on Long Island, NY. For the past 12 years she has worked in the Pediatric setting. While continuing to work on Long Island, NY Dawn was employed at ACDS, The Association for Children with Down syndrome. This experience included providing home based and center based services in their preschool working with young infants and their caregivers. In addition to working at ACDS, Dawn provided services to school aged children in Suffolk and Nassau County school system. In 2005, Dawn moved to North Carolina with her family. For the past two years, she has been providing services though the Infant Toddler Program and a private practice in Wake County.
Dawn has extensive training in the Pediatric setting. She has completed all the course work for the Sensory Integration and Praxis Testing (SIPT) certification. Other certifications she has include Handwriting without Tears, Interactive Metronome (IM), The Wilbarger Deep Pressure Touch Protocol (DPPT), Therapeutic Listening, Astronaut Training a Sound-Activated Vestibular-Visual Protocol and the SOS Feeding Approach by Dr. Kay Toomey. Other areas of specialty include splinting and Constraint Therapy (CIMT).
Additional training includes Pediatric Vision Therapy, Pre-reading and Writing exercises, Oral/Motor and Feeding difficulties, and treatment strategies for children with Developmental Delays. Dawn has worked with a diverse population of infants and children with special needs including but not limited to children with Down syndrome, Autism, PDD, Developmental Delays, Cerebral Palsy, Sensory Integrative Dysfunction, Auditory Processing Disorders, ADD/ADHD, and Brain injury. She is an advocate for children and their families and enjoys helping parents help their children achieve their goals. Dawn is certified by the National Board of Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) and a member of the AOTA as well, as NCOTA. She has a current North Carolina Occupational Therapy License. Dawn spends her extra time performing lectures at North Carolina State University on the implementation of sensory integration in the classroom.