Work and Education
Amers started their OT career at the University of Southern California. She found her true passion for mental health informed work with complex clients during a LEND fellowship at the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at USC and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. There, Amers was first introduced to DIR/Floortime principles and started using a client led, neurodevelopmentally informed approach to intervention.
From 2014-2021, Amers served as the Director of Occupational Therapy at Villa Esperanza Services. In this setting she gained experience with elementary, middle and high school students with moderate to severe developmental disability as well as dual developmental and mental health diagnoses. She developed an early integration program, including the building of an EI-specific sensory gym space, and also lead DIR-FCD training initiatives both within the OT department and organization wide. They developed a campus wide yoga program and a student-led coffee cart business to help students learn life skills in a functional setting
In 2021, Amers took a job with the Glendale School department, where they remained unitl the spring of 2023. Working within the school district system taught Amers a great deal about working within different practice frameworks and models of service delivery. They worked with elementary aged clients on academically oriented skills, and supported high school aged students in developing self-regulation skills through building sensory spaces into the school environment and teaching creative self-regulation strategies. They also ran cooking and life skill training groups.
During the summer of 2022, Amers started teaching private swimming lessons at the request of a friend. They discovered that there is a great need for swim teachers who are able to safely work with clients who may have physical or behavioral limitations. Teaching these lessons became a hobby that brought great joy, and eventually, the demand for lessons became great enough that Amers quit their job to pursue a private practice. The heart of this practice is adaptive swimming lessons, but it also includes community and home based OT work. Amers loves having the freedom to tailor their services to the specific needs and passions of each family she serves.
Amers currently has pool time several days per week at the West San Gabriel YMCA. They have supported clients in joining the Sea Gulls swim team in West San Gabriel and the Rays Adaptive swim team at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. Amers is also a USA Masters swimmer and competes with the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena.
Certification and Expertise
Amers holds an Educator’s Certificate in the DIR-FCD model, an acronym which stands for Development, Individual Differences, and Relationship - Functional Capacities for Development. She has been a key part of designing DIR-based training for paraprofessional and professional staff at Villa Esperanza Services.
Amers is trained in ProAct Nonviolent Crisis Intervention as well as Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NCI). These trainings teache strategies designed to calm a situation before aggression occurs, and teaches individuals how to remain safe if a crisis does become physical.
Amers is First Aid and CPR certified.
Presentations
Amers has completed the following professional presentations:
Profectum Educator’s Conference November 2019
Celebrate the Children School; Denville, NJ;
“The DIR-FCD Goal Bank for Elementary, Middle, and High School Aged Students”The Power of Play Profectum Conference March, 2019
Huntington Library; Pasadena, CA
“The DIR-FCD IEP Goal Bank for Early Intervention, Home Programs, Private and Public School Students”Occupational Therapy Association of California Annual Conference October, 2018
Pasadena Convention Center; Pasadena, CA
“Utilizing DIR-FCD Principles in a School Setting”Occupational Therapy Association of California Annual Conference; October, 2013
Pasadena Convention Center; Pasadena, CA
“The Role of the Disabled Artist in the Professional Art World”