Hi, I’m Allison Atwood.
I’m a Pediatric Occupational Therapist living and working in San Francisco, California.
I have been practicing occupational therapy with a focus in pediatrics since 2003. I started my higher education at the University of Oregon and I received a degree in Psychology with a minor in Fine Arts. I discovered that my interest in the human brain and behavior merged with my interest in the arts when discovering the field of occupational therapy. After moving to the Bay Area from Oregon, I completed my post-graduate work at San Jose State University with a Master’s in Science for Occupational therapy.
My post-graduate studies include certification in the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test (SIPT), certification in Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT), Advanced Practice Certification through the California Board of Occupational Therapy in Swallowing Assessment, and completion of the STAR institute for Sensory Processing Disorder Level I Intensive Mentorship. I am also trained in the Perceptual Enrichment Program (PEP), Integrated Listening Systems, Handwriting Without Tears, Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach to Feeding, Masgutova Neurosensorimotor Reflex Integration (MNRI Method), and Kinesiotape for pediatrics, and the Balance-Auditory-Visual Exercise Program.
I love my job because every day is completely different from the next. Not only is working with kids fun and exciting but I enjoy observing and learning how every child is different in how they respond to the world around them. I currently work at PlayWrite Therapy clinic in the Inner Richmond district in San Francisco.
// on what it’s like working with allison
“
We worked with Allison for nearly a year in support of our 6-year old daughter who had begun to exhibit some sensory sensitivity and unusual difficulty regulating her emotions. During that time, Allison made amazing progress with our daughter - introducing tools and awareness for the entire family and practical ways for our then-kindergartener to communicate her big feelings and to better self-regulate. Allison's style of therapy and deep understanding of sensory considerations was instrumental in helping our daughter feel more confident and comfortable in her body, particularly when she felt stressed. We have nothing but praises for Allison - her warm and engaging style, coupled with calm expertise, meant that our daughter was alway excited to show up and participate in her therapy sessions. Working with Allison was such a positive experience and resulted in emotional growth for our daughter and the entire family alike.”
– Andrew & Eleanor
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We had a wonderful experience working with Allison Atwood at Playwrite Therapy. She made occupational therapy fun for my son and provided helpful resources for us to use at home as well. We could really see the improvement in his fine motor skills, as well as hand eye coordination. She provided quantifiable goals that enabled us to see the progress as we went along. I would highly recommend Allison.”
– Melissa
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My son was diagnosed when he was 4 years old with a sensory processing disorder. By working with Allison early and often, my son developed tools to understand how to regulate his body's sensory input needs. Allison's style is firm, but gentle. She was able to balance the need to encourage my son to try new things, with his need for playfulness and release -- not an easy task with a child who did not want to try new or hard things! She also provided valuable explanations and strategies to transition the therapy into our everyday life. Because of this work, my son developed confidence in his ability to help himself, and I developed tools to help him continue to succeed. He is very aware of his needs, and openly advocates for himself in his new school environment. Allison has also continued to provide support by writing recommendations and summaries while we transitioned to public school and set up support services. Therapy with Allison increased my son's self-confidence, self-awareness, and self-esteem. I am very grateful for Allison's therapy and on-going support, and highly recommend her.”
– Julie
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Our son had an OT screening with Allison at his preschool. At the time, he was a sensitive kid (still is!) particularly around new grown-ups. He liked spending time with Allison and he was able to quickly relax and play with her. As his parents, we had been watching his fine motor skill development closely, noticing it was a bit behind but we were not sure if it would just take time or if there were other things we could be doing to help. While he will always have a beautiful and sensitive soul, we wondered if there were things we could be doing to support his coping skills so that he did not get overwhelmed and be able to feel more carefree. We followed up quickly with a full assessment and enrolled him with Allison for weekly sessions. After a few weeks, our son started to LOVE going to see Allison. She helped build a home program for him which was fun to implement with crab walking, wheelbarrow walks, and much more. After our son completed his therapy with Allison his development continued to grow rapidly. The ultimate success was in our son's confidence in his own skills. He was ready when it was time for Kindergarten assessments and (though mom was really nervous) he marched off happily to each one and performed very well. He remains a wonderfully sensitive kid but with the confidence needed to excel at sports, have strong writing skills, and sustained coping skills.”
– Matthew & Abigail
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My son worked with Allison for almost 4 years when he was ages 3-7. Allison built a wonderful rapport with him. She was compassionate and supportive with our family. She was a great resource, always giving us ideas for what we could do to work with him outside the clinic as well as support resources other than OT. She was also a great partner with our preschool and elementary school to ensure his needs were being appropriately met in all environments. We are so glad he got the early intervention he needed working with Allison!”
– Molli
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Our 4 year old son worked with Allison Atwood at PlayWrite to help with his core strength and bilateral movement. I appreciated how after his initial assessment Allison set specific goals and a timeline for him to achieve those goals. Going once a week to therapy was wonderful, but even better was the empowerment we got as parents to work with our child every day. We learned, with Allison's help, how to incorporate various exercises into our son's everyday play. We were able to make the work fun for him. I had many questions along the way, as we also ended up doing some auditory processing work. Allison clearly is an expert in this field and was a great resource to us. We still think about the things we learned from our sessions today, almost a year later. In addition to meeting the goals we set together, Allison also helped coach us through some social challenges our son was exhibiting. We absolutely believe all children can benefit from Occupational Therapy and for those lucky enough, working with Allison is time and money very well invested in your child. “
– Nina
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