Kelly received a degree in Exercise Science from Florida State University and her Occupational Therapy Degree from Barry University, in Miami Beach, Florida. Attending a private Catholic College and learning from nuns was a calming experience. She is Certified in the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test and has specialized in working with Autism. Kelly is the developer of Shoe Tying Made Simple and Writing Made Simple products. She has spent most of her career working in the schools where she was responsible for staffing the schools with clinicians and she also owned her own clinic.
In 1998, Kelly started Junction of Function out of an entrepreneurial spirit and a definite flair for creativity. While working with Chapel-Hill Carrboro City Schools in North Carolina, Kelly came across a new way of teaching children called the TEACCH method. It uses structured visual-instruction, set up in a clear, concise format, so that children could look at pictures of each step that are broken down for the students. She was amazed how well this methodology called the TEACCH methodology, worked for the students.
During her work as an Occupational Therapist, Kelly encountered a challenging caseload. But, as any great Occupational Therapist would do, Kelly rose to the challenge. Kelly’s favorite instrument became a digital camera used to take photos of the task analyzed steps for her students in the realm of activities of daily living and handwriting. Kelly’s Father is also a Reading and Learning Disability Specialist who taught her how important multi-sensory teaching is for students. Kelly learned to break tasks down into manageable steps and incorporate multisensory analysis into her instruction.
Kelly was often asked by parents to teach their children to tie their shoes, so Kelly went on a mission to make this Activity of Daily Living skill a success! This is where Kelly came up with her method of teaching shoe tying called “Shoe Tying Made Simple”. It was so successful that Kelly was asked to write a book about the method. The book then lead to the unique design of the bicolored shoelaces. Later on, this evolved into the “Shoe Tying Made Simple” teaching sneakers, lacing sequences, hands on manipulatives, parent and therapist handouts, worksheets, and now the “Shoe Tying Made Simple” 2-hour CEU course.
Here at Junction of Function, we have also developed the “Writing Made Simple” letter formation i-Pad app, Writing Made Simple color and gray scale paper with the clear popsicle stick word spacer, and the (Writing Made Simple Tins for Upper Case and Number formations).
It is our mission here at Junction of Function to provide value, exceptional products and great courses that are developmentally appropriate with a “hands-on” experience that is fun both for the student and the teacher.,
