The first time Kaori Nakamura \u201993 met a 27-year-old client at New York Presbyterian Hospital\u2019s Center for Autism and the Developing Brain in White Plains, N.Y., he could barely make eye contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHis mother did most of the talking,\u201d Nakamura recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She started working with this young man, who\u2019d been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as his occupational therapist \u2014 a role she describes as \u201chelping people with what\u2019s hard for them,\u201d so they can reach their highest level of independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A key component of occupational therapy is being able to analyze a person\u2019s needs on-the-fly and adapt their treatment accordingly. \u201cEvery session is an evaluation,\u201d Nakamura says. Occupational therapists are specialists in assessing the cognitive, visual perceptual, motor, sensory, and psychosocial components of a task and then creating a treatment plan that can improve a person\u2019s ability to function and perform those tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As she interacted with this client, she picked up on his areas of readiness \u2014 where she could sense an opportunity for him to gain comfort and confidence. And as they spent more time together, he opened up to Nakamura and shared his interest in exercising more, dating someone, living alone, and finding a job. These were all big leaps from where he was at the time \u2014 living with his family, being unemployed, and lacking the social skills to interact with anyone outside of close family and a few friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018I\u2019d like to get married someday. Is that even an option for me?\u2019\u201d she remembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, this is exactly where Nakamura thrives as an occupational therapist. She told him what she tells many clients she works with: \u201cYou have goals and you can identify where you\u2019re struggling, and I\u2019m here to help you see what you\u2019re capable of doing and what we can work on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She started small, helping him build confidence to leave his safe spaces and navigate new situations. They took a trip to the hospital gift shop to buy his mother a scarf. Next was helping him plan an outing to the grocery store and then the mall. And, after some time, he took a solo train trip to New York City for a course. Nakamura helped him develop the social and professional skills he needed to tackle each of his goals, which empowered him to radically change his life in just a few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I met him for the first time, he could barely talk to me,\u201d she says. \u201cThree years later, he has a full-time job in a hospital. He supports himself. He has found an apartment. He fell in love. And he\u2019s married.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the center, Nakamura is the sole occupational therapist and works with the full lifespan, from early childhood to older adults. She embeds treatment into play, self-care, and daily activities to help facilitate progress toward each individual\u2019s needs and goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although Nakamura (who was an Asian studies and art & art history major at Colgate) says she never expected to become an occupational therapist, now she can\u2019t imagine doing anything else. When she first heard about the profession, she thought of her cousin in Japan who has autism and how much occupational therapy would have helped him. It inspired her to go back to school and change careers from being a research editor. After 25 years in the field, she still considers her work a blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI find all people fascinating. I learn what\u2019s most important to each person I work with,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I have the opportunity and responsibility to help them function at their optimal level and with dignity.\u201d She likes to tell her patients and patients\u2019 families, \u201cAlthough I love working with you, the ultimate goal is for you to not need me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also working at the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain is Tali Filstein \u201921, who is a psychology technician. She administers the cognitive and diagnostic testing for young patients who are being evaluated or reevaluated for ASD. Filstein also assists in the Early Intervention classroom, where she works alongside Nakamura to treat children between 12\u201436 months of age.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As an occupational therapist, Kaori Nakamura \u201993 helps people reach their highest level of independence. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1272,"featured_media":10995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[354,523,1068,482,1154],"coauthors":[1155],"class_list":["post-10433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni-spotlights","category-alumni-updates","tag-alumni","tag-art-history","tag-asian-studies","tag-autism","tag-occupational-therapy"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-2Ih","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/11\/Colgate-Magazine-photo-1-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10433"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10493,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10433\/revisions\/10493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10433"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=10433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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