 |
|
| Esther M. Huecker |
Title: Assistant Professor
Email: ehuecker@llu.edu
Personal message
After spending more than 30 years in the practice of occupational therapy, I strongly feel that this is an exciting profession that offers a variety of directions to grow throughout one's career. As a health care profession, occupational therapy is well positioned to provide services to help persons at any age to create and live healthy, productive lives through daily activities we call "occupations." In particular, I am interested in the occupations of children and how they learn to negotiate their social worlds in places such as the school playground or in the classroom. I enjoy teaching and studying how children, families, and practitioners jointly improvise occupations to shape social and cultural worlds in which children and families can participate in activities that are important to them. It is an exciting time to be in this profession as we teach others in society of the relationship between occupation, health, and well being. If you enjoy being creative and interacting with people, we welcome you into this stimulating endeavor. Graduates from our program are leaders who understand how to explore and apply the uniqueness of occupation in everyday life, to develop programs and use research, and to meet the needs of a diverse population within the practice of occupational therapy.
- Esther
2005 PhD, University of Southern California, Occupational Science
1993 MA, University of Southern California, Department of Occupational Therapy.
1968 BS, Texas Woman's University, Department of Occupational Therapy
Board certified in pediatric occupational therapy
Certified in sensory integration & praxis test (SIPT)
School-based occupational therapy research
Social interactions of elementary school children on the playground.
2001-2007. Program director, entry-level MOT, Loma Linda University
1991-present. Instructor for OT, Loma Linda University, department of occupational therapy; assistant professor.
1993-1996 Coordinator of training for USC Transition Grant at Loara Elementary School (Anaheim, California).
1986-1993 Casa Colina Children's Services Center, OT and Consultant for Pediatric Rehabilitation Team (Pomona, California).
1981-1985 Consultant and coordinator of OT services, Children's Therapy Center (Sedalia, Missouri).
1985-1983 Thompson State School for the Severely Handicapped, Consultant (Sedalia, Missouri).
1977-1980 Delano Association for the Developmentally Disabled, program director, Infant Development Program (Delano, California).
1976-1980 Private practice (Shafter, California).
1969-1974 North Kern Orthopedic School, California Children's Service Therapist (Wasco, California).
1968-1969 Parkland Memorial Hospital, staff therapist (Dallas, Texas).
Huecker, E. (2005). Something's happening: Emergence of social worlds on the school playground. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. (Dr. Mary Lawlor, Committee Chair).
Frank, G., Huecker, E., Segal, R., Forwell, S., & Bagatell, N. (1991) Assessment and Treatment of Pediatric Patient in Chronic Care: Ethnographic Methods Applied to Occupational Therapy Practice. Amer Journal of Occupational Therapy, 45. 252-263.
Huecker, E. (1990) Child Behavior Checklist: An Evaluation Tool Reviewed. Sensory Integration Quarterly, 18, 8-9.
Huecker, E. & Snyder, C. (1998). Preparing children for the real world: Social skills in an elementary school program. In J. Case-Smith (Ed.) Occupational Therapy: Making a difference in School system practice. Bethesda, MD: AOTA (authors in alphabetical order).
Spitzer, S., Parham, L.D., Mailloux, Z. & Huecker, E. (1998). AOTA Statement Paper: Occupational therapy for individuals with learning disabilities. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 52, 874-880.
Billock, C. & Huecker, E. (2004, October) Elders Occupational experiences, spirituality, and religion. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Society for the Study of Occupation: USA, Warm Springs, OR.
Huecker, E. (2004, April). Social worlds and transitions to middle school. Paper presented at the Orange County School-Based OT and PT Workshop on Issues and Programming for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Costa Mesa, CA.
Valluzzi, J., Lou, J., Huecker, E., & Nashiro, N. (2001, April) Ambassadors to China: Portrayal of Life Using the ICIDH-2 AOTA Annual Conference, Philadelphia
Huecker, E. & Spitzer, S. (1997, October) Temporal Patterns of School Occupations in Children: Results from Two Pilot Studies. Paper presented at OTAC State Conference in Palm Springs, CA.
Huecker, E. & Synder, C. (1996, October). Elementary School-based Social Skills Training and Transitioning Program. Workshop presentation at AOTA Special Interest Section Practice Conf., St. Louis, Missouri.
Huecker, E. (1994, November). Sensory integrative dysfunction: Impact on play, work, and socialization in middle childhood. Paper presented at OTAC Annual Conference in Los Angeles, CA.
Last Revised: Sun, May 18, 2008
