Occupational Therapy Assistant students are involved in community outreach

Cincinnati State’s Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA) Club members learned how occupational therapy supports mental health and well-being across the lifespan during a July 10, 2026, meeting featuring guest speaker Breanna Lynch from Holding Space Collaborative, a Cincinnati-based mental health practice.

Club member Emma Taylor, a first-year student in the Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program, said, “It was eye opening to hear from someone who has worked in the field and forged their own path to provide services. Breanna highlighted the importance of mental health not only in her work with the pediatric population, but across all areas of practice.”

Emma added, “We spend a lot of time talking about advocating for the profession and all the ways occupational therapy can impact the community, and I really I really enjoyed learning about our guest speaker’s perspectives.”

Club member and first-year OTA student Lauren Stoutenburg said, “After listening to our speaker, I realized that my dream of working in a pediatric mental health setting is closer than I imagined. I feel privileged to be able to explore opportunities like this one during my first year, and I appreciate the support from our faculty and the occupational therapy practitioners in Greater Cincinnati.”

Kelly Albrinck, the club’s Professional Development Chair, organized the event with support from faculty member Tara Brock, the OTA Program Chair and SOTA Club Advisor. 

During Spring Semester 2026, students in the course OTA 121 (Therapeutic Media for Occupational Therapy: Pediatrics) and instructor Tara Brock participated in additional community outreach when they visited May We Help, a local nonprofit organization where volunteers work together to provide adaptive equipment and toys at no cost to patrons. 

The OTA students toured the facility to see projects including all-terrain wheelchairs for the beach and adapted musical instruments. The volunteers explained how May We Help thinks through the needs of their patrons and builds “just right” solutions, a foundational skill used by occupational therapy practitioners. 

The OTA students also gained hands-on practice modifying toys purchased by NGEN Property Solutions that will be given to children with accessibility needs.

The OTA students installed adapted switches for over 30 toys– including learning to strip wires and solder them to motherboards– while they discussed creative solutions to accessibility problems.

(Reporting and photos provided by Tara Brock)