Professor Tracy Jirikowic always knew she wanted to work in healthcare, particularly with children. So, when a family member needed occupational therapy (OT) around the time she was exploring career options, it just clicked. “Occupational therapy fit my thinking about health and rehabilitation best. It was really the idea of doing—activity as a modality—that drew me in,” she says. That interest in using everyday activities like cooking or knitting to help people overcome physical, mental, and emotional challenges has turned into an OT career spanning over 30 years, earning her the 2022 Washington Occupational Therapy Association Rosemary Funk Award for Lifetime Achievement.
She is director of the Division of Occupational Therapy and co-director of the PhD Program in Rehabilitation Science. As a researcher, she is about to begin an NIH funded grant project to test an early intervention program for young children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure, and their caregivers.
Jirikowic earned her bachelor’s degree in OT from the University of Wisconsin before coming to Seattle to pursue first a master’s degree and then a PhD. As she completed her MS in rehabilitation medicine, focusing on early childhood development, a mentor introduced her to a position in a new clinic that focused on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). At the time, OT was an emerging field in the clinic, made possible through grant funding. Jirikowic began her work there in 1995 and continues to this day. When she started, there was little research into how OT could help children with FASD, opening a world of scholarly inquiry for her. Today, she’s part of an active community of FASD researchers studying how fetal exposure to alcohol affects children’s development.
Her research specifically examines the relationship between how the brain processes sensory information and how sensory input impacts behavior. Armed with this scientific information, therapists can then design interventions to help their clients, whether it’s a change to the environment (like working in a quieter space) or helping the client develop coping mechanisms. This intersection of scientific understanding and practical solutions is where OT shines. These interventions extend beyond individuals, too. Thanks to Jirikowic and her colleagues’ pioneering work, community organizations such as museums, aquariums, and theaters increasingly offer different accessibility options for people with sensory differences, such as lower lighting, softer sounds, break areas other information and accommodations to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment.
“OTs are uniquely poised to take a holistic, lifestyle-type approach to people’s health and well-being.”
Jirikowic has been a part of the UW Division of Occupational Therapy since she joined the faculty in 2008 and has played a key role in the division’s growth. Looking ahead, she’s excited about the ways OT graduates are transforming the profession and promoting health and well-being in the U.S. While many OTs work in traditional medical settings, treating patients across the lifespan from infancy to old age, others are applying OT principles in new areas like health promotion and wellness. “OTs are uniquely poised to take a holistic, lifestyle-type approach to people’s health and well-being,” she says. As the UW Division of Occupational Therapy embarks on its next 65 years, it’s clear the profession’s growth shows no signs of slowing.