Congratulations Dr. Anderson!

The American Occupational Therapy Foundation has awarded Dr. Kelly Anderson the AOTF Intervention Research Grant for her project, The Role of Success and Failure in the “Just Right Challenge”.

This grant will fund a student run constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) camp for children with cerebral palsy which will investigate how varying levels of error and success in performance influence the learning process. Specifically this study will evaluation how altering the challenge level within a treatment session impacts engagement in therapy and changes in functional motor outcomes for children with cerebral palsy.

Dr. Anderson’s research centers around the application of learning theory to the design of neurorehabilitation treatment planning. Her research specifically focuses on the topic of challenge and how therapists know when to increase the difficulty of treatment to facilitate optimal motor recovery while also accounting for patient confidence and motivation.