Bryze

Occupational Therapy for Adults With Intellectual Disability provides occupational therapy practitioners and students with occupation-based solutions to serve and empower individuals with intellectual disabilities, as well as their families and caregivers, towards more self-determined, authentic lives.

There are few texts that exist within occupational therapy that support this population. Dr. Kimberly Bryze and the contributing authors are all occupational therapists who have or currently provide occupational therapy services to adults with intellectual disability in various settings. They bring their expertise in scholarship and offer thoughtful, evidence-based approaches for practitioners to create change for individuals, communities, organizations, and society.

This text presents an occupational perspective of individuals with intellectual disability given its focus on the following:

• quality of living
• social well-being
• role competence
• occupational identity
• self-advocacy
• occupational justice

Occupational Therapy for Adults with Intellectual Disability is ideal for occupational therapy educators who teach content related to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, occupational therapy practitioners who provide services to adults with intellectual disability in various clinical, community, and residential settings, and occupational therapy students.

Instructors in educational settings can visit www.efacultylounge.com for additional materials to be used in the classroom.

The intentional, occupational focus ensures that the content is consistent with recommended practice in current occupational therapy. Occupational therapy practitioners will look to this text to provide evidence-based interventions and when developing consultative programs for persons with intellectual disability across many different settings.

Kimberly Bryze, PhD, OTR/L is Program Director and Professor of Occupational Therapy at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Illinois. In her faculty role, she teaches courses focused on occupation, intellectual disability, and professional development. She mentors students through their qualitative research studies as well as their doctoral capstone projects. She earned a baccalaureate degree in Special Education from Bradley University in Peoria Illinois, bachelor and master of science degrees in Occupational Therapy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a doctor of philosophy degree in Special Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

In addition to her academic teaching in university settings, Dr. Bryze taught children with special education needs for several years before earning a second baccalaureate degree in Occupational Therapy. As an occupational therapist since 1982, she has worked with children, adolescents, and adults who have intellectual, developmental, and social-emotional disabilities in a variety of practice arenas, including public and therapeutic day schools, outpatient pediatric clinics, early intervention, home health, and residential settings. Her 1991 master’s thesis focused on functional assessment of adults with developmental disabilities, and her 2006 doctoral dissertation addressed collaboration between special educators and occupational therapists who serve students with autism.
Dr. Bryze began her service to adults with intellectual disability as a volunteer while still in high school and has never veered far from this first professional love. She now serves as a member of the Board of Directors for L’Arche Chicago. In addition to her academic life, she continues to consult to various agencies, teach workshops and seminars, and practice occupational therapy with adults with intellectual disability. In her personal life, she enjoys being a wife, mother, ＂cat mom,＂ gardener, and, especially, ＂Grammy＂ to three precious grandchildren.