Kimberly Wilkinson
Ithaca College Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy
Ithaca
Dr. Wilkinson is an associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Ithaca College. Before completing her PhD in Occupational Science at the University of Southern California she worked for 15 years as a clinical occupational therapist specializing in working with kids with autism spectrum diagnoses, mental health diagnoses, and sensory challenges. Her teaching focuses on pediatric practice of occupational therapy and she runs the "Food and Fun" playgroup at Ithaca College for children with disabilities and their siblings. Dr. Wilkinson's recent academic research has been focused on exploring how children's outdoor play can be understood through an occupational therapy lens and advocating for play opportunities that are accessible to children with disabilities. She has worked collaboratively with the Just Play Organization to develop and carry-out research on the Reimagining Recess! project which brought loose parts play materials, sheds to store them in, and specialized adult training to the recess environments of local elementary schools. Dr. Wilkinson and her students have been developing tools to explore and measure the outcomes of this kind of recess intervention and working to spread the word about the importance of recess, loose parts play, and outdoor play for all children.
https://faculty.ithaca.edu/kwilkinson/
