Alycia Arroya, COTA/L, CCPAM – Occupational Therapy Assistant
Location: Boise & Meridian Offices, Emmett Schools
Alycia graduated with her Associates in Occupational Therapy in May of 2016 from Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell. After graduating, she moved from New Mexico to Idaho for her first job. Alycia has worked in all areas of occupational therapy: geriatrics, schools, outpatient, inpatient, and pediatrics. Her passion has always been working with children and assisting in helping them become the best version of themselves. Alycia really enjoys working with kids that need aid in self regulation and fine motor deficits. When she’s not working, Alycia enjoys doing home projects, working out at the gym, hiking, and being with friends.

Burgundi Bateman – Occupational Therapy Assistant (PRN)

Elisa Bovenzi – Occupational Therapist

Georgia Drygas – Occupational Therapy Assistant
Location: Nampa Office & Emmett schools
Georgia grew up in a small town in Montana and obtained her degree in Applied Psychology from Montana State University in 2011. She did a fieldwork placement working with children and ignited a passion for working with kids. She worked as a direct service provider for personal care, residential habilitative, and respite services for many years before returning to school to obtain her OTA degree from Brown Mackie-Boise in 2017. Like many Montana natives, she enjoys spending time outdoors: hiking, camping, fishing, and playing with her dog. She is also an avid sports fan and closely follows the Pittsburgh Steelers (football) and Penguins (hockey).

Nancy Grundl, OTR/L – Occupational Therapist
Location: Boise Office

Kylie Hohwieler, OTD, OTR/L – Occupational Therapist/Twin Falls Team Lead
Location: Twin Falls Office
Kylie completed her doctorate in occupational therapy at Creighton University which is located in Omaha, Nebraska. She moved to Twin Falls after completing her education to fulfill her dream of working with children and exploring the outdoors. Kylie has worked with children of all abilities for 10 years and has continued her passion for children through OT. Kylie specifically enjoys helping children with sensory processing needs, social emotional/ emotional regulation needs, and helping children reach those important milestones through creative activities. When Kylie is not in the office, she is found hiking in the mountains, kayaking/boating/swimming at the lake, golfing at the course, or skiing on the slopes.

Kandice Johnson, COTA/L – Occupational Therapy Assistant
Location: Twin Falls Office
Kandice grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho and received her education from Brown Mackie College – Boise. Kandice enjoys exploring the great outdoors, skiing, fly fishing, rock climbing, and hiking the Sawtooth’s!

Megan Koyle, OTR/L – Occupational Therapist
Location: Treasure Valley Schools
Originally from Declo, Idaho, Megan received her education from Idaho State University. In her free time, she enjoys games, walks, hiking, reading, audiobooks, and learning new activities and information about the world around her!

Jeramy McMillan, OTD, OTR/L – Occupational Therapist/Meridian & Nampa Team Lead
Location: Nampa Office
Jeramy received his Bachelor Degree in Respiratory Therapy at Weber State University in Ogden Utah and went on to get my Doctorate of Occupational Therapy from Kettering College in Kettering Ohio. Jeramy has been trained in Therapeutic Listening and Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach to Feeding. In his free time, Jeramy enjoys playing the guitar, bird watching, and spending time with his family.

Fred Neiwert, MOT, OTR/L – Occupational Therapy Therapist/Boise Team Lead
Location: Boise Office
Fred grew up in Eagle Idaho and attended Boise State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology. After working for several years with children as a behavioral specialist, Fred attended Eastern Washington University where he completed a Master of Occupational Therapy. Fred has a passion for helping children with various needs to reach their full potential. As a kid, Fred liked to play in the Boise foothills and river, pretending he was an adventurous explorer discovering new frontiers. As an adult, he now enjoy backpacking in the beautiful wilderness areas of the northwest or floating the Boise river on a hot summer day

Tara Parsons, COTA/L – Occupational Therapy Assistant
Location: Twin Falls Office
Tara has been a COTA for 23 years!  She graduated from Twin Falls High School in 1992, College of Southern Idaho 1994, and American Institute of Health Technology with an AAS in Occupational Therapy 1997. Tara has worked in the Boise, Meridian, Nampa area for 12 years and then moved back home to Twin Falls for the last 11 years.  Her favorite areas of therapy are birth to 5 year olds, she loves to do aquatic therapy and especially horse therapy (aka Hippotherapy).  In her spare time since her kids are older, Tara has found a love for kayaking and going to her family’s cabin to chill and read books.

Kenidee Robinson, COTA/L – Occupational Therapy Assistant
Location: Boise Office
Kenidee is originally from Pocatello Idaho and received her education from Idaho State University. In her free time, she loves to spend time outside, whether that be boating, jet-skiing, or side-by-siding, with her family. She also loves crafting and being creative, baseball and spend many evenings watching the San Francisco Giants.

Stephanie Schoenfeld, COTA/L – Occupational Therapy Assistant/COTA Team Lead
Location: Boise Office

Gabriella Thalin, MSOT, OTR/L – Occupational Therapist
Location: Meridian & Nampa Offices
Originally from Westchester, California, Gabriella received her education from California State University, Dominguez Hills. In her free time, she enjoys writing, reading, homemaking, and discovering new ways to be creative-like teaching herself how to sew! She loves sharing a meal and quality time with loved ones.

Erica Watkins, MS, OTR/L – Occupational Therapist
Location: Meridian Office
Erica grew up in San Diego, CA and moved to the Bay Area of Northern California to attend college. She graduated from San Jose State University with her Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy in 2014, and Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy in 2015. Shortly after, she moved to Idaho with her husband to enjoy the slower pace of life! As an OT, she has worked in subacute rehab, home health, acute rehab, and most recently, pediatrics. She loves helping children achieve their goals through play! Erica feels fortunate she is able to work part-time and spend so much time raising her two young daughters. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her family, traveling, and enjoying activities her kids love!

• Sequential Oral Sensory (S.O.S.) Approach to Feeding– Children’s Therapy Place now offers feeding therapy using Dr. Kay Toomey’s Ph.D. Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach to Feeding, a systematic desensitization program respected and used worldwide to treat feeding issues. It can also be used to treat oral motor delays. We offer individual and group feeding sessions.

Some of the red flags that may indicate a child is in need of feeding therapy include:

• • • Ongoing poor weight gain
    • Weight loss
    • Ongoing choking/gagging
    • Coughing during meals
    • Inability to transition to baby food purees or solids
    • Family is fighting about food with child
    • Parent repeatedly reports the child as difficult for everyone to feed

• Astronaut Training– A specially designed program which addresses 3 different and very important sensory systems: the vestibular, visual, and auditory systems.  Functional improvements in the child are seen with spatial awareness, general movement coordination, sensory regulation, attention, visual tracking, and locating and perceiving sound in their environment.  

The program uses a rotary board to test a child’s responsiveness to rotary movements. When a child is positioned in sitting and lying, the head is positioned to activate the inner ear hair cells while the eyes are closed to create a post rotary nystagmus (flickering of the eyes). The rotary board is rotated in counterclockwise and clockwise directions for up to 10 seconds with directional music input provided. Post rotary, the nystagmus of the eyes is assessed to determine the child’s response to the input. Most children’s response should last up to approximately 7 seconds. When it is determined that a child has an atypical response, various treatment protocols are implemented to assist the child in integrating their vestibular, visual, and auditory processing.