EDUCATION

BRIEF BIO / PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS

Izel Obermeyer was appointed Chief Clinical Officer at the Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD), in 2020. She previously served WIHD as the director of the assistive technology program since 2006. She is an occupational therapist (OT) who graduated from the University of Pretoria, Vona duToit OT school in 1987.  She was a LEND fellow at WIHD in 2006/2007.  She completed her post professional Master’s degree in 2008, and started working on her PhD in 2017.  She has worked in South Africa, Namibia, Brazil, Kenya and the USA.  In her current role, she oversees and manages the adult health services, the behavioral health program, the dental program,  the speech and hearing center, the early intervention program  and assistive technology and occupational therapy services for WIHD. She coordinates all graduate level assistive technology courses, which are being taught for masters programs in special education, for a number of colleges in the area.  She is involved in the development of smart technology initiatives within WIHD and is an active advocate for assistive technology inclusion in schools. Izel is the project leader for the Multimedia Technology Center at WIHD and has been working on developing and using multimedia for person-centered work as well as instruction for the past number of years.  She often presents papers at conferences, colleges and schools.  She recently co-authored a chapter on cognition and executive function in children, for the 3^rd edition of the book “Cognition across the life span”.  She was always actively involved in the professional associations for OT in all the countries she worked and lived in. She is the Past-President of the Namibian OT Association as well as the New York State Occupational Therapy Association (NYSOTA), and the 2006 NYSOTA conference at the United Nations was her brain-child. She is also a past Chairperson of state association presidents at the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). Izel was awarded her Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association in 2017.  She is currently involved in three research projects:  Executive Function for middle school students, fine motor enrichment in Kindergarten and First Grade as well as the development and evaluation of multimedia technology for individuals with cognitive impairment to promote person centered practice.

DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH INTERESTS/ACTIVITIES

She is currently involved in three research projects:  Executive Function for middle school students, fine motor enrichment in Kindergarten and First Grade as well as the development and evaluation of multimedia technology for individuals with cognitive impairment to promote person centered practice.