Congratulations to Dr. Ashlea Cardin for her feature in the Mind’s Eye magazine. Cardin is an associate professor of occupational therapy at Missouri State University.

Her research dives into removing barriers that prevent and/or restrict people from engaging in meaningful daily activities they need to do, want to do or must do that occupy their time. When they cannot engage in these activities, it affects their health and quality of life. 

She focuses her work on two groups – babies (and their family members) in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the Amish community.

Congratulations Dr. Cardin!

The full story is now available online.

Excerpt:

As an infant, Dr. Ashlea Cardin came into the world with many limb differences. This meant undergoing plenty of surgeries, therapies and rehabilitation throughout her childhood.

While she received high-quality care, it was not geared toward kids or their families.

“My therapy looked very much like a younger version of adult therapy,” said Cardin, associate professor of occupational therapy at Missouri State University. “I loved my therapists, but my therapy wasn’t fun.”

Her parents also lacked the information and guidance to help her at home. This caused them to see her as fragile, afraid of what she could and could not do.

“They didn’t have that person or coach who came alongside them and said, ‘It’s OK she does cartwheels or push-ups or goes across the monkey bars. Her movements are going to look a little bit different. Here’s how we protect her body. Here’s how we adapt,’” Cardin said.

Their collective experiences — both positive and negative — led her to pursue a career in health care, as a pediatric occupational therapist (OT).