Our Staff

Michele Parkins MS, OTR

Michele Parkins is an occupational therapist, specializing in working with children with autism and sensory processing disorder.

Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR and faculty of Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation.  She educates therapists from all over the country on treatment for sensory processing disorder following the STAR model. She is also SIPT (Sensory Integration and Praxis Test) certified.

She has been using and learning the DIR model for over ten years in her work at Celebrate the Children school.  She is DIR certified and is faculty of Profectum Foundation where she educates therapists all over the world on social-emotional development and the DIR model.

Michele Parkins has advanced training in visual spatial capacities working closely with Serena Wieder, PhD, author of Visual Spatial Portals to Movement, Learning  and receiving extensive visual spatial training working with developmental optometrists.

She co-developed a unique handwriting program – Connect Experience Write® – that highlights the importance of affective engagement in learning as well as sensory integration using music and movement to teach letter formation and pre-writing skills.

Michele Parkins is passionate about working with families and other therapists and she continues to do so as a clinician and educator.  She also continues to provide consultation to schools as she has done for over 10 years.

Elizabeth Rice

Elizabeth Rice is an occupational therapist at Great Kids Place. She is a specialist in Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and social-emotional development. Liz has advanced training and certification from the Sensory Treatment And Research (STAR) Institute, developed by Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR. She is DIR/Floortime certified in social-emotional development through the Profectum Foundation. Liz is Interactive Metronome certified and trained in the use of Listening Programs including the Safe and Sound Protocol.

Liz has experience working in the New Jersey public school system with students living with developmental delays, behavioral challenges, physical disabilities, and autism spectrum disorder. She designed a sensory and occupational therapy treatment room for a school district. Liz also has experience working with adult orthopedic and neurological rehabilitation populations at the Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation and JDT Medical Rehabilitation Center. Prior to becoming an occupational therapist, Liz worked with children on the autism spectrum as a special education teacher’s assistant in the DIR/Floortime based inclusion preschool at the Ben Samuels Children’s Center at Montclair State University.

She is a graduate of Kean University where she earned a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy and graduated with honors. Liz obtained her Bachelor of Music from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford where she majored in vocal performance and has a strong background in theater and opera. Her time spent as a performer contributes to the creativity in her practice and therapeutic use of self.

Liz met Michele when her research group from Kean University helped conduct the pilot study for Connect Experience Write® (CEW), which Michele co-developed. The Kean research group sought to discover the efficacy of CEW, a handwriting program involving music and movement, with children who are non-writers. The research suggested that the CEW program improved the participants’ handwriting ability. Liz’s research group presented their data via poster presentation at the state and national levels for the New Jersey Occupational Therapy Association (NJOTA) and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA).