MS, OT/L
Sharla has a Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from UNC-Chapel Hill and has over 30 years of experience in pediatric occupational therapy. She has practiced OT in a variety of settings including early intervention programs; a university-based, statewide multidisciplinary developmental evaluation clinic; a private practice clinic dedicated to sensory integration therapy; an inpatient psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents and its associated in-house school; and public schools in MA, NM and VA.
Sharla is licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia. She has certification or advanced training in the following areas/programs: SIPT (Sensory Integration and Praxis Test), Therapeutic Listening®, The Alert Program for Self-Regulation®, The Wilbarger Deep Pressure Protocol®, Brain Gym®, and Handwriting without Tears®. Sharla has worked for Pediatric Therapies, Inc. since 2002.
Sharla enjoys consulting and teaching and has supervised occupational therapy fieldwork students in the school environment. Over the course of Sharla’s tenure, she has provided multiple teacher in-service trainings geared toward the specific needs of the staff. Sharla loves helping children succeed in their everyday environments and loves sharing her knowledge of OT with teachers, administrators and parents.
When she is not at school, Sharla enjoys sewing and community theatre projects. She lives in Chesterfield with her husband, Brian, a clinical psychologist and administrator at the McGuire VA Hospital. They have been married for 28 years and have three children, David (age 24), Rachel (age 21), and Jessica (age 15).