Dana-Lee Wechsler
Occupational Therapist
Guild Certified -
Feldenkrais Practitioner
Dana-Lee Wechsler
Dana-Lee is an Occupational Therapist, Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, and the Director and creator of the practice. She has two masters in OT, specializing in Pediatrics, graduated from Touro College with honors, and was the valedictorian of her class, with both SIPT certified and NDT trained. With decades of experience working with people with neurological, developmental (gross and fine motor), executive function deficits, sensory processing (regulatory and modulation), social-emotional disorders, and motor planning, activities of daily living, visual-perceptual issues, Dana can provide thoughtful and professional care to a spectrum of children.
Beyond helping people directly, Dana-Lee also has a long standing history of mentoring other therapists and providing vital community support. Her work with children is holistic and well-rounded, always keeping parents and schools involved in addressing major concerns and fostering growth. Her passion goes further than the obligations of her practice, volunteering with the Special Olympics and leading dynamic social groups that strengthen kids’ and teens’ communication and interaction skills. Dana-Lee is a single mom to a toddler, and in her spare time loves going on adventures with her son.
Andrea Brady Morris
Andrea Brady Morris OTR/L SIPT graduated from the University of Ulster, in Belfast, Ireland with high honors in Occupational Therapy. She began her career working in general medicine, neurology and orthopedics. She is certified in splinting for upper limb hyper tonicity (1997) cognitive and perceptual assessment and treatment (2001), physical rehabilitation of neurological disorders (2002) and facilitating upper limb function through normal movement (2002). Andrea is SIPT certified.
Upon completion of her general medicine post, she specialized in Pediatrics (infant, preschool and school age). Over the past seven years she has developed an acquired knowledge of providing Occupational Therapy services to children in numerous settings, with various developmental and learning difficulties. She has vast experience in assessment of functional ability in developmental milestones and in evaluating and treating sensory processing disorders. Andrea has been providing treatment to children with a wide range of developmental and learning difficulties in the areas of fine motor, gross motor, visual perceptual, cognitive and social skills.
Andrea has worked with many parents, caregivers, teachers, speech and language pathologists, social workers, psychologists, doctors and nurses over the tri-state area developing constructive individualized treatment plans tailored to meet the needs of each individual child.
Kayla Giunta
Kayla came to us after receiving her Master of Arts degree in Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy from the University of Southern California in 2015. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Family Studies and Human Development with minor studies in Psychology. Kayla is compassionate and attentive. The children love to play with her and her imagination. She continuously strives to learn from experience, continuing education coursework and learning ‘outside the box.’ She is certified as a Level I Tomatis practitioner, 200 hour yoga certified and in the processes of receiving her Sensory Integration and Praxis Test certification. She also has a background in competitive dance and competitive running. Kayla is passionate about fitness, health and wellness and strongly believes in leading a lifestyle that promotes physical, social and emotional health in a holistic manner.
Eva Hoffrichter
Eva is originally from a small town in central Illinois. She attended Emory University for her undergraduate studies, where she received her bachelor’s degree in nursing. She then gained clinical experience working at a private practice and as a pediatric chronic disease nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Eva later decided to further her professional growth by seeking a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Consistent with her longstanding passion for working with children, Eva sought out additional training in: effective neurological management of autism and sensory processing disorder, DIR/ Floortime, Foundational Capacities for Development Model, and using play to benefit self-regulation. Since moving to Manhattan, she has provided OT services in a number of different settings, but has predominantly worked with early intervention and school-aged children. Eva has experience working with children affected by developmental delays, autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing difficulties, attention deficits, learning disabilities, post-traumatic stress, and behavioral concerns. She particularly enjoys working with families to create visual schedules, sensory diets and behavioral plans. In her free time, Eva enjoys doing yoga and dance class, and will never turn down the opportunity for arts and crafts.
Lani Betting
Lani graduated with a Bachelor of the Sciences in Applied Psychology and Masters in Occupational Therapy from New York University. She has always loved working with children, and believes that her sessions should be child-led, playful and creative! She uses a strength-based approach throughout her sessions, and believes children should feel accomplished and build self-esteem, while simultaneously exercising their goals in therapy. Most of her experience is within CPSE services, providing center-based therapy. In addition to her time spent at this sensory gym, Lani works as an Occupational Therapist at the Aaron School, A private k-12 special education school whose mission is to serve students with learning disabilities in the areas of reading, writing and math in addition to attention, sensory and social challenges. Lani also conducts CPSE center-based evaluations in Manhattan. She has completed training in the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum, as well as numerous courses in Sensory Integration techniques. In her free time, Lani enjoys cooking and spending time with her family.
Allison Lindorff-Curmi
Allison graduated from Seton Hall University with a Masters in Occupational Therapy in 2013. She started her career at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey where she worked with patients with orthopedic, spinal cord, and brain injuries. She always wanted to work with the pediatric population, thus upon her move to New York City she began to work in a sensory gym and at a school on the Upper West Side exposing her to a wide variety of diagnoses, including autism, developmental delays, and social-emotional disorders. Allison has extensive training in the listening program, astronaut program, the alert program, how does your engine run, and continues to further her professional growth. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her husband.
Fiona Hauptman
Fiona is a child development specialist, sleep therapist, and is an Occupational Therapist. She treats families world wide and takes part in health conventions that focus on sleep and development of children.
Fiona graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Physiology from Oxford in 1994 and a Postgraduate in movement therapy ADMT and Occupational Therapy. She continues to follow the world of pediatric sleep, studying circadian disorders, sleep patterns, completing studies in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders in the pediatric population: insomnia in early childhood - AMA PRA category. She is a member of the British Sleep Society, The International Association of Child Sleep Consultants and The American Academy of Sleep
Fionas therapy programs are viewed not only from a health viewpoint, but with an objective eye treating any other issues such as diet, development or
As a trained professional she has many years of experience treating children with developmental delays or severe disabilities. and is honored to help hundreds of families worldwide. Fiona is a mother of three and lives in Israel with her husband and family. She runs many groups in and outdoors to further enhance children’s development
Office Administrator
Donna Walsh
Office Administrator
Donna Walsh
Donna Walsh is the billing manager for the practice. She has been a member of our office team since 2009 and brings a wealth of experience with her to this position. She holds an MBA from Rutgers University and has over 25 years experience in the areas of budget and financial management for a large telecommunications firm. She is a certified bookkeeper and currently uses leading accounting software to render billing to our clients and to manage the finances of our practice.
Melissa Putterman
Melissa received her Masters in Science in Occupational Therapy from Columbia University after completing her undergraduate work at the University of Florida with a specialization in Occupation Therapy. She has always had a love for children and has dedicated herself to providing the most current therapeutic treatment in an individualized manner. She combines a holistic and nurturing approach to help children achieve optimal functioning in the school and home environments. Melissa has worked for the New York StateEarly Intervention Program, various preschools and elementary schools throughout Manhattan, in the home environment, and in sensory integration clinics, treating children of all ages. She has furthered her career by taking continuing education courses that focus primarily on sensory integration, neurodevelopmental techniques and behavioral approaches. Her professional development has facilitated her skills in applying and utilizing therapeutic equipment in a beneficial and supportive manner to address a child’s goals and individual needs. She has experience with a wide variety of diagnoses, including autism and developmental delays, ranging from physical to cognitive to social-emotional disorders.
