Welcome! My name is Jamie Wilkerson and I am a student in the OTA program at Salt Lake Community College. I will graduate in 2025. I have a passion for occupational therapy that comes from my experiences with my son.  He had many mental health disorder diagnoses as a child and finally a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder at age 15. He attended a day treatment program four separate times from ages 10 to 15. He worked with the same occupational therapist each time, and she changed our lives. Because of the nature of OT, she was able to connect with him like no one else had. They did things that were important to him, she met him where he was, and it was fun! Because of this connection she was able to guide the other health professionals on his team in navigating challenges when working with him.  The occupational therapy process was important to every step of his treatment. She helped me understand my son and, more importantly, helped him understand himself. It was a life-changing gift that I will never forget, and I want to be a piece of giving that gift to others. My goal is to always be open to new ideas and continue learning. To me, the definition of occupational therapy is improving the lives of people using their occupations (the things that occupy their time). This makes it meaningful to each individual person.