Hi, I’m Ashlee—The ColorfullyEnthused* OT! I’m a licensed, school-based occupational therapist (OT) in Columbus, Ohio. I am a vibrant, authentic, enthusiastic, joyful, and driven woman of God—a daughter of The King. My mission in life is to encourage, motivate, and uplift others with my words, my work, and my smile. I live with my two (AWESOME) boys—one human, one furry—my husband Jordan and our dog Tate. I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Science (Occupational Science) in 2011 and proceeded to earn my degree as a Master of Occupational Therapy from The Ohio State University in 2013. I started my career at Ohio State’s Harding Hospital, a psychiatric facility, where my long-growing passion for the profession of occupational therapy was officially affirmed. I am currently employed through the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio and work in one of its largest public school districts. I also recently became a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Over the last eight years, I have worked with school children of all ages—from little ones just starting preschool to high school students getting ready to graduate. In my very first year, I was assigned to six buildings at once! I love to help kids with a range of abilities build the skills they need to be successful in school. Currently, I serve elementary students across two buildings. I work with two general populations of students: those who spend the majority of their school day in their general education classroom, and those who have daily access to their general education classroom but are also assigned to a specialized learning center (SLC) due to the amount of the modifications and environmental adaptations required for their success.
Each of my students join me in my therapy room for a weekly (or biweekly, etc.) therapy session. The goal of a school-based OT is to maximize school performance and participation. Some common diagnoses that affect my students’ success at school include: dyslexia, dysgraphia, developmental coordination disorder, low vision, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and cognitive impairment. While many of the goals I address focus on the development of students’ visual and fine motor skills in the context of handwriting, I also work on things like self-regulation, attention, sensory processing, and executive functioning in my day-to-day work.
I’m lucky to be able to exclaim “I love my job!” with such frequency. The environment of the schools is bright, and working with children every day is an absolute blessing. Their innocence, their humor, their questions, their effort, their progress . . . I hope to touch their lives in at least a fraction of the way they’ve touched mine. But if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that between collecting data, completing evaluations, writing IEPS, attending meetings, documenting and planning therapy sessions, providing suggestions to teachers, and packing bags of resources to take to-and-from multiple buildings, there is never enough time in the daily school schedule to do what needs done—let alone to do the things I want to do—in order to be the best and most impactful therapist I can be. Which leads us to how this whole endeavor got started . . .
I really love the challenge of creating school-based interventions for my students that are as fun and as meaningful as possible. Over the years, I’ve made hundreds of individualized materials—I have four tubs of worksheets that I made during the two years that I worked primarily with preschoolers! Unfortunately, they were initially created with much pounding in my chest—and during many long evenings after school!—when I was a new grad navigating my new career in a large school system. If you’re a fellow OT, I hope that sharing my experiences, strategies, and materials will empower you to be the kind of therapist that you’ve imagined was possible. If you’re a teacher or a parent, I can provide you with solutions that you might not have even known you were looking for!
Purpose: Here at the ColorfullyEnthused*LLC website, you’ll find occupational therapy-related content, products, and services to support participation and performance in both school and life. I’d love to be your at-home, on-call ColorfullyEnthused* OT—providing tips and tricks that can be used to supplement educational instruction through worksheets, video tutorials, and other tools that you’ll see me post here. Learning should be fun, and I’m here to help make that a reality for your students and children.
I want to lighten your load. Creating and using activities through trial-and-error takes a ton of time and energy. Instead, let me provide you with the tools, activities, and strategies that I know work. My products are easy and fun to use, and I’m confident that therapists, teachers, and parents will enjoy being more fully present with their students/children while they guide them to success!
ColorfullyEnthused* LLC exists to build the skills that kids need for school and life while empowering the adults in their lives to be the leaders they need them to be.
And, let’s also talk about life together. You’ll find colorful encouragement and life musings from the occupations of my life from time to time. Connecting with you through sharing my experiences in my roles as a Columbus fire wife, dog mom of a tricky pup, United States naval officer, and Jesus lover is just as important to me as providing you tools for classroom success. What can I say? I’m an occupational therapist, through and through!
Meaning: ColorfullyEnthused* was coined from a combination of ideas. It is based on my belief in the power of color and my growing understanding that each one of us is a complicated, precisely created, intertwining masterpiece of various shades of color—light and dark. ColorfullyEnthused* is also based on my value in putting enthusiasm into whatever I do, as something done for the Lord and not for men (Col. 3:23). I pray He finds joy in all that happens here.
Want to learn more about me, my journey, and my favorite occupations? Click here!
I can’t wait to start connecting with everyone here! Thank you for joining me in this journey that I’ve dreamed about for quite awhile.
Find me by searching “ColorfullyEnthused*” on Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Etsy— or by clicking on one of the links below. I’d love to get to know you!
Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube
You can also contact me at colorfullyenthused@gmail.com