Beverly W. Burnett, OTR/L

As a registered and licensed occupational therapist (OTR/L), I started my career 31 years ago in Indianapolis, Indiana shortly after receiving a BS in Occupational Therapy from Indiana University. In October 2005, I opened Play and Learn Pediatric Occupational Therapy, with the goal of helping the children I work with achieve their highest potential. I continue to find great satisfaction in my work with children and in helping families overcome the everyday challenges of parenting children with special needs.

My first job was working with adults patients in rehabilitation unit of Winona Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. The patients with whom I worked had various diagnoses, ranging from cerebral vascular accidents to diabetes. While working at Winona Memorial Hospital I discovered that my true passion lied in working with children. Soon thereafter, I took a therapy position on the children's ward of Larue D. Carter Memorial Hospital, the mental health hospital of the state of Indiana. In my new position, I had the opportunity to practice occupational therapy using newly developed sensory integrative techniques. About four years later, I moved to San Francisco, California, where I began working as an occupational therapist for the San Francisco Unified School District. In San Francisco, I obtained my certification in the Southern California Sensory Integration Tests. After practicing occupational therapy in San Francisco for roughly five years, I moved to Las Vegas and became certified to administer and interpret the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests. Over the last twenty years, I have worked in private practice in Las Vegas in a variety of settings. Some of my contracted work has included providing services for Clark County School District, Nevada Early Intervention Services, and the Easter Seals Society. Additionally, during this time I established my own private practice clinic, outfitted with fun, therapeutic equipment, and also taught human development to therapy students at the College of Southern Nevada.

As one of the few therapists in the state who is certified to administer and interpret the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests, my field of expertise is the evaluation and treatment of children, especially those with sensory processing problems. I have taken every opportunity to advance my knowledge of pediatric disorders and my clinical skills. This has included training in the following: pediatric myofascial release, therapeutic listening (through both Integrated Listening Systems and Vital Links Therapeutic Listening), handwriting (Handwriting Without Tears/ M. Benbow approach), neurodevelopmental treatment, oral motor treatment (Beckman Oral Motor Training), and dyspraxia. In addition to my occupational therapy work, I was trained in the Lovaas model of discrete trial Applied Behavioral Analysis and volunteered, for about one year, as an ABA tutor with a three year old autistic child. I also traveled to Quito, Ecuador a couple of years ago, with my son, and volunteered at a school and orphanage for poor and disabled children, providing occupational therapy services through a national program called Global Volunteers. This past May 2009, I attended an advanced mentorship with Dr. Lucy Jane Miller director of the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation and STAR Center in Denver, Colorado.

I continue to be passionate about discovering new occupational therapy treatment techniques that will help improve the quality of life of the children with whom I work. My hope is to provide you and your child with quality care in a fun, therapeutic, clean, and safe environment.