No Longer a Secret: Unique Common Sense Strategies for Children with Sensory or Motor Challenges

As founder of the first comprehensive Sensory Processing Disorder research program nationwide and author of groundbreaking Sensational Kids: Hope and Help for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), Dr. Lucy Jane Miller's name is synonymous with sensory research, education, and treatment.

 

Dr. Miller has been investigating, analyzing, and explaining SPD to other scientists, professionals, and parents since she studied under sensory integration pioneer A. Jean Ayres, Ph.D., more than thirty years ago. Since then, studies by Dr. Miller and her colleagues have helped bring SPD widespread recognition, and her work with families has improved countless lives. Thanks specifically to Dr. Miller's mobilization of the research community, SPD now appears in two diagnostic manuals: the ICDL's Diagnostic Manual for Infancy and Early Childhood and The Diagnostic Classification: Zero to Three. Her application has led to consideration of SPD for inclusion in the 2013 revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V). Dr. Miller has also developed seven nationally standardized tests for use worldwide to assess and diagnose SPD and other developmental disorders and delays.

 

Dr. Miller has been featured on NBC's Today Show and ABC's 20/20, in The New York Times and numerous other popular and professional publications. She is the author of more than sixty articles and/or chapters in scientific and professional journals, magazines, and textbooks and is a frequent presenter or speaker at conferences and workshops worldwide. She has received more than thirty funded awards and grants to further research on SPD and other childhood disabilities.

 

In 2004, Dr. Miller received the Award of Merit from the American Occupational Therapy Association, the profession's highest honor. In 2005, she was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian award by the state of Colorado.

 

Doreit S. Bialer, MA, OT R/L is a nationally recognized occupational therapist with over 20 years of experience working with SPD in children and adolescents. She is certified in Neurodevelopmental Therapy in Pediatrics and in the administration and interpretation of the Sensory Integration and Praxis tests. Ms. Bialer is an independent contractor in multiple public schools and has a large private practice and sensory integration clinic with a focus on pre-school and school-age children. She was the director of one of Long Island’s first sensory integration gyms, has been a consultant to school districts, and developed a Vestibular Rehabilitation Clinic in association with New York University Hospital. Ms. Bialer served as a National consultant to HealthSouth mentoring other health professionals to develop pediatric practices across the country.

She has published articles on Fragile X Syndrome and Vestibular Rehabilitation, is the author of Current, Best Strategies to Help Occupational Therapists Support Students and Become Integral School Team Members, and has lectured and provided numerous clinical workshops on Sensory Integration, Handwriting, and on School Based Therapy.

Ms. Bialer received an Advanced Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy from New York University and has been an adjunct instructor in Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology at New York University and at York College.