Sheri Martin Soosaar

Job Description

Many people experience challenges in their lives for a variety of reasons. In some cases the challenges are physical, like the ones resulting from an accident and you need to adapt your lifestyle to manage your new situation. An Occupational Therapist will help you understand your physical issues and then help you come up with new ways to meet your goals. It could be something as simple as learning how to use crutches to get up and down stairs or something more complex like managing ongoing side effects of a brain injury. Occupational Therapists also work with people that have challenges in school like those resulting from ADHD, Autism etc. While a Physical Therapist works with specific muscles and mechanical issues with our bodies, an Occupational Therapist helps people adapt their occupations, where an occupation could be a traditional job that one goes to or it could mean school/sports/hobbies for a child or leisure activities for a retired person.

Relevant School Subjects

• Health and Physical Education
• Social Sciences and Humanities

Areas of Expertise

• Childcare
• Healthcare
• Social Work/Counselling

Career Story

I had a strong science and music background in high school. In particular I was good at chemistry so I decided to start an Honours Co-op Chemistry degree at the University of Waterloo. While I enjoyed science and the job experiences were interesting I also realized that I was a bit clumsy in the lab and could not see myself as a chemist for a career. I had some experience volunteering during high school, working with children with fairly severe disabilities. While pondering whether to continue with chemistry or seek a different career I came to the realization that I enjoyed helping people adapt to their disabilities and was still intrigued by science. Occupational Therapy looked like it fit the bill for me so I got into the University of Toronto's School of Rehabilitation Medicine and got a degree in Occupational Therapy. After graduating I worked at a variety of companies learning how to apply my knowledge to many different types of scenarios. In 2010 I decided to start my own business and now have 5 employees and a fun clinic space for clients to come and see us. I am continuously learning, I am especially interested in brain function and how it interacts with the rest of our bodies. I have also become a Yoga instructor, incorporating various aspects of the Yoga practice in helping my clients.