Dr. Susan Spitzer is a licensed occupational therapist with over 10 years experience. She received her B.A. in psychology from Claremont McKenna College and both her M.A. in occupational therapy and her Ph.D. in occupational science from the University of Southern California. She is internationally published and has written papers on autism, sensory integration, learning disabilities and occupational therapy. She is adjunct clinical faculty at the University of Southern California. Susan is certified in sensory integration and assisted in developing and teaching a series of week-long clinical courses on sensory integration offered throughout the U.S. and abroad. She is also certified to use the Interactive Metronome®. Her practice focuses on children with various developmental concerns such as learning disorders, autism, ADHD, sensory processing/integration disorders, and fine motor/writing difficulties.

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS:
     Clark, F. (with Gordon, D., Mandel, D., McDannel, R., McDonald, A., Meltzer, P., Scroggins, B., Spitzer, S., & Young, B.) (1997). Occupational Science. In P. Crist & C. B. Royeen (Eds.) Infusing occupation into practice: Comparison of three clinical approaches in occupational therapy (Proceedings of the Education Special Interest Section of the American Occupational Therapy Association, 1996) (pp. 13-17, 30-34, 40-43, 51-52, 57-59, 101-11). Bethesda, MD: American Occupational Therapy Association.
     Kuhaneck, H.M., Spitzer, S. L., & Miller, E. (In Press). Activity Analysis, Creativity, and Playfulness in Pediatric Occupational Therapy: Making Play Just Right. Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC.
     Parham, L.D., Cohn, E.S., Spitzer, S., Koomar, J.A., Miller, L.J., Burke, J.P., Brett-Green, B., Mailloux, Z., May-Benson, T.A., Smith Roley, S., Schaaf, R.C., Schoen, S.A., & Summers, C.A. (2007). Fidelity in Sensory Integration Intervention Research. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61, 216-227.
     Spitzer, S. L. (1999, June). Dynamic systems theory: Relevance to the theory of sensory integration and the study of occupation. Sensory Integration Special Interest Section Quarterly, 22, 1-4.
     Spitzer, S. L. (2003). Using participant observation to study the occupations of young children with autism and other developmental disabilities. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57(1), 66-76.
     Spitzer, S. L. (2003). With and without words: Exploring occupation in relation to young children with autism. Journal of Occupational Science, 10 (2), 67-79. Common and Uncommon Daily Activities in Individuals with Autism: Challenges and Opportunities for Supporting Occupation. In H. Miller-Kuhaneck (Ed.), Autism: A Comprehensive Occupational Therapy Approach (2nd ed., pp. 83-106). Bethesda, MD: American Occupational Therapy Association.
     Spitzer, S. L. (2008). Play in children with autism: Structure and experience. In L. D. Parham & L. S. Fazio (Eds.), Play in Occupational Therapy for Children (2nd ed., pp. 351-374). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.
     Spitzer, S., Parham, L.D., Mailloux, Z., & Huecker, E.M. (1998). Statement: Occupational therapy for individuals with learning disabilities. Reference Manual of the Official Documents of the American Occupational Therapy Association (pp. 357-370). Bethesda, MD: American Occupational Therapy Association. {also published in American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 52, 874-880}
     Spitzer, S. L., & Smith, S.S. (2001). Sensory integration revisited: A philosophy of practice. In S. Smith Roley, E. I. Blanche, & R. Schaaf (Eds.), Understanding the nature of sensory integration with diverse populations (pp. 3-27). San Antonio, TX: Therapy Skill Builders.
     Spitzer, S., Smith Roley, S., Clark, F., & Parham, D. (1996). Sensory integration: Current trends in the United States. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 3, 123-138.

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS/HONORS:
• Cordelia Myers Writer’s Award.
Awarded by the American Occupational Therapy Association May 21, 2004, Minneapolis, MN

• Developmental Science Workshop, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, May 1998. Participant, competitive selection. Multidisciplinary research institute funded by the Office of Behavioral Research at NIH and the National Institute of Nursing Research to promote research with children.

LEGAL TESTIMONY