Meet the Team
PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
JD, OT/L, FAOTA
PhD, OTR/L
PhD, MS, OTR/L
Dr. Jirikowic is the Project Lead. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington. She is an occupational therapist and has worked with children and youth and their families in early intervention, school, and transition programs. She has partnered with Master of Occupational Therapy and PhD students and Seattle area community organizations on cultural arts and physical activity access initiatives and programs. Her research projects broadly focus on early intervention and ways to support community participation for children and youth with disabilities and their families. Email
Roger Ideishi works to improve community access and opportunities for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. He advises community organizations on building meaningful learning experiences for children and their families. The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC), Flint Institute of Arts (Flint, MI), Michigan Council of Arts & Cultural Affairs (Lansing, MI), Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra & Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh, PA), Pennsylvania Ballet and Philadelphia Orchestra (Philadelphia, PA) are some of the community organizations where he advises. He is currently an investigator on funded projects examining factors impacting cultural and linguistic diversity, and engagement.
Roxanna Bendixen is a co-leader of this project. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt). Roxanna has been working with children with chronic illness and disability and their families for 20 years as an occupational therapist and more than 12 years as a researcher. Her outreach into the community has connected numerous students from Pitt with community organizations, cultural arts/museums, and child development centers to support families of children and youth with disability and their participation in society. Her belief is that everyone should have the opportunity to come together and engage with the community. Website | Email
Teal Benevides is an occupational therapist, researcher, wife, and mother. Currently, she serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Augusta University (AU), and maintains a joint appointment in the Institute of Public and Preventive Health. Dr. Benevides is committed to fostering access to services and supports for individuals on the autism spectrum, and working to achieve better health outcomes and participation in meaningful life activities in alignment with priorities identified by autistic people. In 2019 she was awarded the Barbara E. Grant Award of Merit from the Georgia Occupational Therapy Association and the Emerging Research Scientist Award from Augusta University. Email
Regional Engagement Coordinator
MOTR/L
Regional Engagement Coordinator
Lead Engagement Coordinator
Gina Gibson is an occupational therapist and the Sensory Inclusion Specialist at Fraser in Minneapolis, MN. She has been practicing occupational therapy for 5 years in outpatient pediatrics along with providing consultation, training, and ongoing partnership to support organizations in the Twin Cities metro area in creating more inclusive experiences for individuals with disabilities and their families. These partnerships include arts organizations, sports teams, youth and recreation programs, and organizations that provide experiences that are currently challenging for the disability community to access such as hair salons and dental offices.
Jessica Greaves has been an occupational therapist in Albuquerque, NM for the last eight years. I have specialized in burn rehabilitation at our Level I Trauma center in NM. Over the last two years my interests have shifted to community based practice, such as the organization of a support group for burn survivors, and co-founder of the consulting firm, mOTivating access, for accessibility using an inclusion framework. Prior to becoming an occupational therapist, I was very active in the Albuquerque dance and theater community and was a founding member of the Ecotone Physical Theater company, founding member of PutAttention Dance Collective, and was a member of the Blythe Eden Dance Company
Robert Smythe is the Community Engagement Coordinator for the project. He is a 58-year old autistic man who has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He has won 5 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre in Philadelphia, where he founded Mum Puppettheatre, a company that toured the world performing with masks and puppets, and without words. For the past two years, he has helped a consortium of Philadelphia theaters create relaxed performances for audiences with sensitivities.