MindWorks Collaborative is starting off it’s month of highlighting Occupational Therapists of Color with our Founding Board Secretary Dr. Yaritza Croussett-Gonzalez. She is a long time Occupational Therapist (OT), mentor and leader. She currently runs a private occupational therapy practice while living abroad and was previously the Manager, Occupational and Physical Therapy Programs for DC Public Schools.
As Manager, she supervised the implementation of the overall program strategy and ensured that related service providers were appropriately evaluating students, participated in quality service initiatives, and stayed compliant with federal law and DCPS policies. She has also presented lectures worldwide on topics related to providing appropriate evaluation and services to diverse children and is also very active in her community as a women’s faith leader.
As one of the only 6% of doctoral level certified occupational therapist of LatinX background, Dr. Yaritza understands the importance of diversifying the field. She says “Being an Afro-Latina in the OT field is a rarity. We have many projects lined up that require Spanish speaking therapists and they are almost impossible to find. Like most professions who work with children of color in our schools today, you can imagine the relief on the face of a Latinx parent when they realize they will be able to be understood because it is so rare. There is so much research regarding the impact of disruption of an individual’s occupation by a disability that needs to be done. However, who will make this a priority in the Latinx, Afro-Latinx, and all communities of color if not the OTs in those very same communities. We need more OTs of color to join the ranks.
AOTA’s Advisory Opinion on Cultural Competency and Ethical Practice backs her up. They state that “cultural competence is key to effective therapeutic interactions and outcomes.” Diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential for growth and sustainability of all specialized service fields and their capacity to recruit and retain highly effective and responsive professionals which increases the satisfaction and engagement of students and their families with their therapy services.
Please join us in celebrating Dr. Yaritza’s hard work in supporting culturally proficient practitioners and dedication to her diverse clients and being a linguistic asset to the OT field! Read more about her below:
Name:
Dr. Yaritza Croussett, OTR/L
Title and Organization:
Contract Occupational Therapist for Frankfurt International School. Founder and Owner of MotorVi, LLC
Hobbies/Interests:
Reading and Traveling
When did you start working in OT?
I began working as an Occupational Therapy Assistant in 2002 and as an Occupational Therapist in the fall of 2004
Why did you choose to become an Occupational Therapist?
My grandmother had suffered a stroke while I was in college. She received Physical Therapy but had no access to Occupational Therapy in our country (Dominican Republic). Not having access to OT had a profound impact on her independence and quality of life. The same summer I went on a humanitarian trip to Mexico with a group of volunteers. One of which had partial arms and no legs. She was as independent any other person. I learned later in the trip, that this was due to her years of training with an occupational therapist. These two experiences made a huge impact in not only my career choice, but also my career path.
Can you share a bit about what makes your job so rewarding?
Everyday I get to give someone back a bit of control over their life. I get to help individuals gain access to the world, as they want it, regardless of their ability level.
How would you describe a good day at work?
I work with children, mostly of preschool and elementary age. Most of my work consists not only of training students to maximize their strengths and to attack their challenges but also providing strategies and troubleshooting tools to the parents and teachers who work with them too. A good day of work would consist of students who felt they conquered their challenges that day and parent/teachers who felt empowered by our collaboration.
Anything else you would like to share about your job/experience of working in OT?
The OT profession is very unique. Not only do we stand out as one of the only school-based professions who has an explicit goal to bridge the gap between environmental demand and ability but we also get to be one of the best professions who can bring awareness to every other field’s collective responsibility to level the playing field of “access” for all students and all abilities. We need more OT’s in the world!
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