Occupational Therapy
Alisa Alexander
I am a COTA/L or Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant/Licensed and have worked with the Morgan County Schools since 1995, primarily at Central Elementary. I have a deep love for children, especially those with Special Needs. My job consists of many things such as working on fine motor skills (grasp patterns, hand strength, scissor skills), self-help skills (Dressing), Sensory Regulation (Auditory / Tactile / Vestibular / Proprioception), and Visual perception which is the brain's ability to receive, interpret, and act upon visual stimuli. This greatly impacts handwriting skills such as sizing, spacing, line placement of letters, copying from the board, reading, etc.) I love assisting teachers with adaptive equipment to help the children in their classroom succeed with things such as adaptive seating, headphones, pencil grips, special paper, fidgets, oral motor necklaces, etc. The OT room is set up for a calming/sensory regulating experience and has swings, rocking chairs, a rice box, a trampoline, adaptive lighting such as Fish and jellyfish tanks, etc. In 2022, we were blessed at CES with a grant, and with Administrative help in finding a room, I had the privilege of purchasing and setting up a "Sensory Calming Room" for ALL THE CHILDREN OF CES TO USE. This was a highlight in my career. We know as demand increases on administration, teachers. and children that sometimes we ALL can get overwhelmed. I love knowing that I had a part at CES in providing a space for staff and children to regulate themselves on those overwhelming days. My extended role is assisting the Morgan County Schools with the paperwork for billing Tenncare, for eligible students and putting money back into special education so we can purchase things our children need. My friend, OT Supervisor, and Testing Therapist is Karie Scott, OTD. She has her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Belmont University in Nashville. She does all the OT evaluations for the Morgan County Schools.