When the phone rings in Gretchen Dahl Reeves' office, there's a good chance that the call is from a parent instead of a student. Not the over- involved parent that college professors dread. This parent's student is most likely a toddler or a preschooler, and the family is facing the diagnosis of a pediatric developmental disability, such as autism.
"There is no cure for autism, but I think there is a lot of hope," Reeves said. "There is so much we can do to support the families. The things we are calling autism, or autistic spectrum disorders, used to be called mental retardation or childhood schizophrenia."
Reeves, an assistant professor in the occupational therapy program in Associated Health Professions, is beginning her third year in the program. But, shehas been a practicing occupational therapist since 1974. Because her practice was in pediatrics, she spent a lot of time in special education settings, working with children with special needs.
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TINY BUBBLES: Gretchen Reeves,
assistant professor of
occupational therapy, blows soap
bubbles as a means to
communicate with an autistic
child. Reeves speaks about
autism to occupational therapists,
teachers and physicians at
conferences worldwide. |
"Most developmental disorders in children are a result of some variation in how the brain works," Reeves said. "I started to develop a strong interest in the neurosciences, in how the wiring of the brain affects development."
Reeves added a doctorate in biopsychology to her master's in occupational therapy and joined the staff of the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo. There, she did research into the effects of the hormone secretin on behavior and play, and was a member of their diagnostic team for autistic spectrum disorders.
A native of Oxford, Mich., Reeves was very familiar with EMU's program and the work of many of her current colleagues. When a teaching opportunity that fit her family needs became available, Reeves took it.
"I like the strong community focus here. A strong mission seems to be a thread I saw in a lot of the programs," Reeves said. "Lots of research takes people into the community and keeps us abreast of what is happening in our field."
Right now Reeves has four graduate students involved in a study of first graders in Willow Run Schools. The study, "The Effects of Occupational Therapy Intervention on Handwriting Performance in First Grade Students," encompasses an area of high concern.
"Research indicates that 70% of the school day is spent doing fine motor tasks, like handwriting," Reeves said. "It is an important skill. Children who lack eye-hand manipulation can't write as well, can't communicate as well, and then we see more problems (such as) poorer self-esteem, etc."
But it is autism, and its increasingly common diagnosis, that keeps Reeves the busiest.
"Autism used to be reported in one in 2,000 children, "said Reeves. "Now, cases are reported in 1 in 200 children."
For Reeves, that means a lot of phone calls, workshops, presentations and invitations to speak to occupational therapists, teachers and, sometimes, physicians, all over the world. She's spoken in Japan, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand. She presents a five-day seminar every summer at the Royal Free Hospital at the University of Edinborough, Scotland; was recently the keynote speaker at a pediatrics conference in Newcastle, England; and will again give the keynote at a U.S. pediatrics organization conference in Florida.
Since joining the EMU faculty, she has created a new course, "Neuroscience Foundations of Human Occupations." The course's focus is to help occupational therapy students understand the pathology of neurological disorders and understand how various mechanisms in the brain affect performance. She also teaches a course in how to create programs for children with special needs; co-teaches an online course in autism with a special education faculty member; and conducts a fieldwork seminar every semester.
Then, there is her curriculum committee work and the desire to find funding for an interdisciplinary Social Skills Clinic on campus for children with special needs.
"We now know that autism is a spectrum disorder," Reeves said. "One child may not be verbal at all and not be able to attend a regular school. Another, like a child with Asperger's Syndrome, may be high functioning, exceptionally intelligent in a regular classroom, but quite deficient in normal social skills. Their parents say that they have no friends, and that's heartbreaking. But, we can teach those skills."
