Upcoming Events
Mental Health SIS Meeting
This meeting will include a brief SIS introduction, a review of our goals, and ...MiOTA Annual Conference
Save the date!
The Michigan Occupational Therapy Association welcomes all therapists, assistants, students, and educators in the profession of occupational therapy to explore and enjoy this website.
Patients and their family members and advocates will find information about how the OT practitioners across the state can help them to participate fully and perform at the highest level within their personal life roles...truly living life to it's fullest!
As you use this site you will note that some areas are for members only. We wish to thank those members who have demonstrated their support for their profession and this association, which is the Voice of OT within the state of Michigan.
We hope that those who have not yet joined will take this opportunity to become a member of MiOTA. MiOTA is a voluntary professional association of occupational therapy practitioners who are dedicated to supporting the profession through advocacy and communication.
Welcome
MiOTA Member Spotlight
Emily Lupton, Occupational Therapy Student
I am in the last eight weeks of my Masters of Occupational Therapy program at Eastern Michigan University. I am currently completing my second Level II fieldwork placement at Life After Incarceration: Transition and Reentry which provides occupational therapy services for those who are currently or formerly incarcerated (https://www.lifeafterincarceration.com/)
I truly love occupational therapy. EMU’s OT program has pushed me to expand my comfort zone and explore new passions. In 2022, I was accepted to speak at MiOTA’s Annual Conference on sex/sexuality as an ADL. At the MiOTA Annual Conference in 2023, I presented my research on the benefits of the clubhouse model and the development of work skills for those with chronic TBI with my research team under Nichole Garcia, OTR/L (https://www.marctherapies.com/). We also presented this work at the EMU OT’s Spelbring Lectureship and Conference and The Brain Injury Association of MI’s Annual Conference. If you would like more information on either of these topics, please reach out at elupton@emich.edu.
To be cliché, I pursued occupational therapy because I like to work with people and help them. Honestly, I didn't have a good grasp of what OT was until completing my first semester of graduate school. Now I spend most of my time explaining what it is to others. I remember reading a Slagle lecture my first week of school and feeling the excitement warm my body as I realized I had made the right decision to switch from pursuing engineering to pursuing OT. In her 1993 lecture, Florence Clark said Occupational therapy practitioners help people live life to its fullest-no matter what. This foundational idea drives me.
Outside of my life as a developing OT, I work as a river day camp and programs director for the parks department in the city of Ann Arbor. I thoroughly enjoy all things kayaking, kids, and sunshine and have the opportunity to teach river programs including adaptive and senior kayaking trips. I am a huge board game enthusiast and frequently gather friends and family to share a good time.
As a final note, I would like to express the importance of being an MiOTA member. As all practitioners know, there is always work to be done with regards to advocating for our profession. Connections through MiOTA provide us not only with community and resources but also with information on how policy is affecting our practice and how to make a difference. If we want to continue to grow as the powerful and necessary profession we all know to be occupational therapy, we must continue to advocate like the wellbeing of those we serve depends on it because it does.
If you would like to be highlighted or would like to nominate a MiOTA member, please email us at website@miota.org.