Meet Vicky.

Vicky completed her undergraduate studies in psychology and sociology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) prior to her continued Masters studies in Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE). This led to her former career as a Developmental Specialist (DS) within early intervention (EI), where she worked with children and their families from birth to 3 years old with developmental delays and various diagnoses. Vicky discovered the profession of OT through her work as a DS, which ultimately paved her decision to return to graduate school to pursue a career in occupational therapy. For her doctoral capstone community-based project, Vicky created a 6-week parent education and readiness program called “Family First” to bridge the gap of presently available services, supports, while validating the lived-experiences of families with a child with special needs. This program was created to improve the transition planning experience and process for their children with special needs or developmental delays into school and community-based services. Parent readiness and advocacy skills were central to this program and assisting families feel ready to navigate uncharted territories of their medical and education rights, locating appropriate community-based services and supports, and decreasing caregiver burnout.

Vicky is passionate about cultivating the growth and development of young children, through facilitating functional independence and creating access to equitable life experiences and opportunities for all individuals across the lifespan. Vicky is a firm believer in EI and adopts a preventative and proactive care approach, while offering holistic, client-centered therapeutic support at its earliest availability. Client and family education, with an emphasis on self-advocacy skills, are valued and embedded principles within Vicky’s therapeutic and educational practice philosophy.

In her free time, Vicky is passionate about poverty alleviation in our local community and hopes to open a mobile-shower clinic to promote basic self-care activities for the homeless community in the near future. Vicky provides hot meals, winter and summer hygiene kits, and donated clothes to the local homeless every month with her outreach group, Helping Hands LV. She also enjoys hiking with her dog, traveling, eating/cooking, and learning about new cultures.