Childhood experiences shaped her determination to help others through occupational therapy

When it comes to key interpersonal qualities that make a good occupational therapist professional, words like compassionate, patient, caring, creative and adaptable easily come to mind. These characteristics, plus many more, describe occupational therapist Laurie Tison, one of 18 practicing OTs who will receive their doctorate degrees on May 17 from MUSC’s College of Health Professions’ Division of Occupational Therapy program. 

 

Tison’s journey toward a career in occupational therapy has been a long one – one that originated more than 7,700 miles away in China, where she was born. At age 5, she was adopted by Allen and Paula Tison, a farmer and a schoolteacher, and later moved to Warwick, Georgia, where her path to helping others started to take shape.

 

A good student, Tison adjusted well to school learning English along the way. Growing up, she considered pursuing adoption law as a career, because of her own personal story, veterinary medicine or zoology but wasn’t keen on the long years of school required. 

 

It wasn’t until middle school that she experienced a life-changing opportunity – helping to care for her late aunt, Susan Williford, who, in her 40s, was recovering from a stroke. Tison would assist her aunt with small tasks, like helping her dress, to bathe and write. With the stroke affecting her aunt’s left, dominant side, she learned to write using her less dominant right hand. 

 

“I can recall seeing a spark in my aunt’s eyes whenever she achieved a task – even something as simple as writing words on a paper. I realized later that is what occupational therapy is all about – helping others live their lives,” she said.  

 

 

Tison attended college and earned her bachelor’s degree in education from Georgia Southwestern State University in 2017. She went on to earn her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (OT) from Brenau University in 2021 and began working full-time with pediatric patients at an outpatient clinic in Loganville, Georgia. She also began a part-time OT role, screening, treating and assessing students with the Habersham County School System.

“In starting my OT journey and in my own experiences, my first intention was to work strictly with adults, but I later found my passion working with children and their needs. Working in pediatrics gave me a great start to my OT career,” she said, although she hopes to work with adult and senior patients in the future.

 

 

In 2023, she was drawn, she said, to apply to MUSC’s Occupational Therapy doctorate program, which is currently ranked #15 in Best Graduate Schools by U.S. News & World Report. She applied to the OT post-professional online doctoral program, which is open to working professionals, and met with Associate Professor Cristina Reyes Smith, OTD, an instructor for the “Visionary Leadership” course in the OTD core curriculum.

Reyes Smith was assigned as Tison’s faculty mentor for the doctoral capstone project, a comprehensive faculty-guided experience for students that challenges them to create a scholarly project to benefit a target population. Through this, students can use their knowledge, skills and research abilities to improve health care delivery, quality of care, and/or outcomes.

 

“I loved working with Laurie. I was able to see her form ideas, witness her work ethic and other qualities, potential and passion – all the things that we value in the profession. As we began working on her capstone project, she shared how passionate she was about working with families, patients with autism, and others. She wanted to choose a project that would provide the greatest impact,” said Reyes Smith.

 

Together they discussed some capstone project ideas, such as creating an OT toolkit, a website, a program manual, a video library or an app. Tison was most excited about the app idea. Reyes Smith, who had previous experience working with students on app development in the entry level OTD program, in addition to running an occupational therapy and physical therapy pediatric company for almost a decade, encouraged Tison to think about it and consider all options connected to the effort, including the time commitment and costs involved.

 

“Developing a mobile app is not easy for anyone to do,” said Reyes Smith. “It requires a very specific skill set that’s not just technical but also the right emotional intelligence because one can run into roadblocks, so you have to be tenacious, innovative, possess tech savvy and aptitude in addition to the knowledge needed to adapt to real world challenges. I saw all that in Laurie as a post-professional student. I recommend to all my mentees during Capstone idea development to pick a big and bold project that we can break down into phases so you can see yourself continuing on with the project post-graduation. For Laurie, this is what she passionately wanted to do, and she had that entrepreneurial spirit.”

 

In summer 2024, Tison began gathering data, reviewing literature and conducting a needs assessment. She developed a RedCap survey and distributed it to an audience of parents and caregivers of children diagnosed with autism. She also included OT practitioners to provide feedback. Respondents identified a need for an app that could support parents and caregivers.

 

To complete the capstone project prior to graduation, Tison met three of the five content components to demonstrate success – she developed a project proposal and presented it, gathered and reviewed feedback and made improvements, according to Reyes Smith.

 

In October, she shared ideas and early processes about her concept of “Otto the OTter Autism” app with a focus group of OT practitioners and also with Brenau University alumni while attending the Georgia OT Association conference. This past March, Tison gave a debut presentation on the app titled, “Utilization of a mobile app for parents, caregivers of children with autism,” at the South Carolina OT Association conference in Greenville. 

 

 

To advance her project, she was awarded funding from the MUSC Office of Humanities’ Scholars of Humanities and Arts Research Education (SHARE) Grant program, which provides up to $1,000 per year for recipients. The grant helped to cover expenses from publishing the app for downloads and distribution through the Apple App and Google Play stores to purchasing gift cards for services provided by content experts and focus group participants in exchange for their time and user feedback, and promotional stickers.

 

“We live today in an age where technology dominates. I noticed parents sitting in clinical waiting areas surfing through their phones for information. I thought the idea of creating an app would be an opportunity to provide valuable resources to these parents and caregivers. The app provides the tools and strategies for these audiences, interactive resources for children with autism, related resources and links and a chat room to connect people in this community for support and shared ideas,” Tison said.

She and Reyes Smith see the flexibility and potential this app can provide to wider audiences, including patients with other spectrum disorders and beyond. For Phase 2 of the app, Tison hopes to collaborate with other OTD students to create an improved version, plus generate a Spanish version for other audiences. 

 

“I’m so proud of her. It has been a privilege to be part of her learning and growth,” said Reyes Smith. “The app idea was already within her. She just needed the help providing the structure, support and confidence to bring it out so the rest of us in the world can benefit from it.”

 

Reflecting back at the MUSC stop on her journey, Tison is beyond pleased. She credits the program with helping her to build meaningful relationships, both with her cohort and with OT professionals, and said it played a powerful role in her own personal growth. Through supportive faculty, collaborative learning and hands-on experiences, she gained self-confidence, leadership skills and a sense of purpose in the field.

 

“I never thought I’d enjoy this experience as much as I have especially for this program to be 100% online. I really enjoyed my time getting to know my professors and classmates. The professors were so understanding, flexible to our needs and most importantly, they treated us like colleagues, which helped us bond and push through the challenges we experienced. I couldn’t have accomplished this without my cohort class. It’s amazing how this program brought all of us together, and that we plan to continue our long-lasting relationships. It has been amazing,” she said.