Allison Mender received her Bachelors in Social Work from Indiana University. She has always been passionate about working with children, briefly working with the Department of Child Services. She was frequently making referrals for children on her caseload to receive occupational therapy and saw first-hand the direct change OT could make for the child and family. This led Allison to pursue her Masters in Occupational Therapy from Maryville University in St. Louis. Upon graduation, she moved to South Carolina for her husband’s job, where she gained experience with pediatrics of all ages with a hybrid role in clinics and natural environment.
Allison joined the PSA team when she moved back to Indiana in 2022. She loves working on all things related to feeding, sensory processing, play, and milestones that lead to function. She is a mom of two and struggled with feeding her older son when he was born. She understands the stress first hand and loves being able to step in to support families so they can feel more confident taking care of their little ones. Allison completed the FGRBI training in 2023-24 and enjoys guiding families to find solutions that work best for them.
In her free time, Allison’s favorite thing to do is spend time with her boys, becoming an expert on all the local play places through the lens of her own active, WILD toddler. She’s become an obstacle course master and loves trying (and failing) at new heavy work ideas at home before introducing them in therapy sessions. She successfully avoided Cocomelon in her home but had her guard down and now holds the record for most times a person can view Toy Story 3 (no, the others won’t do).