April Mazzarelli
Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, HPP Lakeland
"Finding the right tool to help a child succeed at something they'd been struggling with is one of the best parts of this job."
April has worked in pediatric occupational therapy for just over a year.
A moment that reminded her why she does this work
April recently worked with a young child who had significant motor delays. She was able to educate the family on simple exercises to do at home to help support the child's progress. "This moment helped me realize how much I love to incorporate parent education into my work, and how occupational therapy looks at the whole body to find reasons why children find certain tasks so challenging."
A win from this year
April had been working with a child who struggled with a specific fine motor goal on paper. During one session, she tried a different material and approach, and the child was able to succeed right away. "Changing the demands, materials, and orientation of the task helped her reach a milestone that was once difficult for her by just making a few simple changes to the activity."
What people outside the field don't understand
"OT is a very broad scope that utilizes a holistic approach and attempts to understand patients as a whole. For children, this looks like helping them improve their ability to complete daily tasks like getting dressed or brushing their teeth, reaching educational goals including handwriting practice, building fine and gross motor skills, and even building play skills."
What April would want for her own family
"If my child needed occupational, speech, or any form of therapy, I would want a proactive team that works collaboratively to improve my child's outcomes and is open and excited to share their knowledge to help me carry over their skills at home."