By Tylee Stauffer ’24, staff writer

Lebanon Valley College is preparing a psychology student for their dream career.

Grace Atkinson is a junior psychology major with an exercise science minor. Her career aspirations are to become an occupational therapist (OT) for young children.

“I wanted to do occupational therapy because I wanted to work with people, and I like seeing progress,” Atkinson said. “I know it helps a lot of people as I have spoken to parents with kids on the Autism spectrum, and they say that their occupational therapists really helped them.”

As Atkinson starts her fall semester, so has her internship with a local pediatric OT, Emily Maisto. Maisto works for Developmental and Disability Services, which is a non-profit organization based in Lebanon that provides free therapy services for children. She specializes in working with children who have difficulties eating.

“A typical session starts with me asking about how the family’s week went and what we can celebrate that the child did well,” Maisto said. “I then ask the family what they want to focus on for the next hour, and they will share their priorities. The family and I then design an activity to practice together with the child.”

Atkinson is required to log 45 hours of hands-on experience throughout the course of the fall semester. Her responsibilities are simply to observe, occasionally participate in exercises with the kids and ask tons of questions, as she is still learning the ins and outs of being an OT.

“I am not learning specific skills that I’ll have to directly apply as an OT, but I’m learning the process and the possibilities of what I could be doing,” she said.

Atkinson’s post-graduation plans are to complete an occupational therapist program before she enters the workforce as an OT.