Play2Learn
Our Team of Occupational Therapists

Our team of occupational therapists at Play2Learn is excited to help both you and your child to learn and grow together. Although we work with your child as an individual clinician, our therapists love to be together, to encourage our students to play and interact with each other. We are constantly sharing information, teaching each other from our varied ranges of experience, and collaborating to foster our own clinical growth over time. Sometimes we will attend a session with another therapist to problem solve a challenging case. We meet together on a regular basis as a team. We are all active learners, seeking new modalities and state of the art methods in our interventions.

Julie Robinson, Owner, OT

Julie Robinson is an occupational therapist with over 30 years of experience as a clinician. The work Julie does is integral to human development, wellness and a solid family unit. She particularly enjoys supporting families through the process of adoption and in working with children who are victims of trauma. Julie has extensive experience working with children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or who have learning or emotional disabilities. She provides services that address Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and self-regulation challenges, as well as development of motor and executive functioning skills.

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Geraldine Rapela, OT
Clinical Supervisor,
Director of School Contracts
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Lindsey Rachielles, OT
Director of Parent
Support and Coaching
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Sarah Ervin, OT
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Abigael Yelensky, OT
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Ana Ghazi, OT
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Belle Copponi, OT
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Jessica Sherwood, OT
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Linda Tirella, OT
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Lois Denman, OT
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Melissa Feldman, OT
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Peg Ingolia , OT

Robin Thomas, OT
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Julie Robinson, Owner, OT

Julie Robinson is an occupational therapist with over 30 years of experience as a clinician. The work Julie does is integral to human development, wellness and a solid family unit. She particularly enjoys supporting families through the process of adoption and in working with children who are victims of trauma. Julie has extensive experience working with children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or who have learning or emotional disabilities. She provides services that address Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and self-regulation challenges, as well as development of motor and executive functioning skills.

Julie is certified in administration of both The Listening Program and The Safe and Sound Protocol to mitigate issues with auditory sensitivity. She is also certified in administration of the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests / SIPT and has extensive training and experience in the area of sensory integration.  Julie helped to develop the Mightier program for self-regulation.  She has training in Craniosacral Therapy and Myofascial Release.

Throughout her career, she has engaged in a variety of supervisory and administrative roles and the mentoring of interns and new clinicians, as well as consulting with and mentoring other clinicians on how to develop a private clinical practice. She has lectured both locally and internationally on the subject of sensory integration and processing.

Julie’s approach to working with children is holistic—looking at a child’s performance across all settings—to determine sensory diet needs and accommodations to classroom or home environments. She believes that education of caregivers is of the utmost importance to making progress. Her treatment style is play-based, with a preference to meet a child where they are, from the beginning of each session, and to collaborate with both caregivers and the student to ascertain the goals. She is comfortable working in a variety of settings, from those that are clinic-based, to providing her services virtually, out in the community, outdoors or in school-based settings.

In her free time, Julie loves to see her own child navigate college and the beginning of her adulthood, and chasing her dog through the woods on long walks.  She loves traveling, the outdoors, hiking, biking, skiing and yoga.  She used to dance with the School of American Ballet in New York, and has danced on stage with the New York City Ballet.

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Geraldine Rapela, OT

Clinical Supervisor, Director of School Contracts
Geraldine has been a therapist for over 30 years. Her experience spans across a variety of settings including public and private schools, home based intervention and rehab settings.

In 2002 she completed the comprehensive program in sensory integration and SIPT certification. She has also been trained in a wide range of treatment programs including clinical experience with Alert Program/How Does Your Engine Run, Brain Gym, Bal-A-Vis-X, Visual-Vestibular Treatment, Pediatric Myofascial Release techniques, First course in Integrated Listening System (ILS), Handwriting Without Tears program and Course 1 and 2 in Rhythmic Movement Training for the integration of reflexes.

Geraldine has a passion for working with parents, caregivers, therapists, and teachers to develop a holistic treatment approach. Her biggest joy comes from seeing children grow in all aspects of their life.

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Lindsey Rachielles, OT

Director of Parent Support and Coaching
Lindsey has been a practicing pediatric occupational therapist for nearly a decade with experiences in early intervention and private pediatric clinics. Her unique skill set combines a knowledge of child development, sensory integration and trauma-informed care. She is passionate about educating parents and making them a necessary part of the process of therapy.

Lindsey has experience with the FOCUS feeding program, Therapeutic Listening, and DIR/Floortime approaches. She is passionate about leading Being With: A Parenting Group for Children with Big, Baffling Behaviors, and also enjoys supervision of Fieldwork Interns who are completing their training as an OT. She has a playful, engaging, and incredibly creative nature, making her therapy sessions fun as well as incredibly goal oriented and productive.

Lindsey is committed to providing you and your child with the tools and support needed to help your child learn, grow, and play into the person they were created to be!

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Sarah Ervin, OT

Sarah is a skilled and compassionate pediatric occupational therapist with experience working in private practice, sensory integration clinics, schools, and rehabilitation hospitals. Prior to joining Play2Learn, Sarah worked for 5 years at a collaborative special education program serving complex learners from 3 to 21 years old.

Sarah enjoys working with individuals across the lifespan, however she has a special interest in providing services to young children and their families, as well as transition aged young-adults. She is passionate about using a strengths-based, client-centered, and neurodiversity-affirming treatment approach integrated with theoretical frameworks of sensory processing, self-regulation, motivation, play, and child development. She has completed the first training levels for certification in DIR/Floortime, Innate Rhythmic Movements and Reflex Integration, and Integrated Listening System(ILS). In addition Sarah has also continued her education by attending courses on sensory processing and sensory integration, motor learning, executive functioning, developmental hand skills, self-regulation, strengths-based goal writing, and trauma-informed care.

In her free time you can find Sarah listening to her favorite OT and mystery podcasts, spending time outdoors with her Pitbull, learning a new craft, visiting family in NJ and vacationing in Maine.

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Abigael Yelensky, MS, OTR/L

Abigael Yelensky, MS, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist in private practice focusing on neurorehabilitation, traumatic brain injury, autism spectrum disorders, developmental delays, and sensory integration difficulties. Abby received both her Bachelors in Therapeutic Studies and Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy from Boston University. She is certified as an Adaptive and Inclusive Trainer.

Abby works in multiple settings including early intervention, schools, residential programs, rehabilitation hospitals, and home care. Central to her practice is individualizing all therapy and using a multidisciplinary team approach working closely with the child’s doctors, educators, therapists, and most importantly, the family.

She currently resides in Newton, MA with her husband, three children, and Labradoodle. Abby is passionate about fitness, crafting, and cooking. She loves incorporating all three into her work.

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Ana Ghazi, OT

Ana graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst with a Bachelor of Science in Resource Economics. Driven by a passion for working with the pediatric population and developing her holistic skill set, she pursued a career in occupational therapy. She went on to earn her Master of Occupational Therapy from Worcester State University.

Ana has worked as a school-based OT and in outpatient pediatrics. She is passionate about providing occupational therapy services to children of all ages and diagnoses to foster their independence and engagement in meaningful occupations. She believes in using a strengths-based approach to empower children to succeed. Ana utilizes a creative, compassionate, and child-led approach to help her clients reach their goals.

Ana’s bucket is filled while paddle boarding, gardening, and discovering the beauty of our country’s national parks.

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Belle Copponi, OT

Belle graduated from Springfield College with a Bachelor of Science in Health Science with a concentration in Clinical Health. She furthered her education by earning her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Tufts University.

Belle’s goal is to advocate for individuals of all abilities, working collaboratively with her clients to enrich their lives through community-based practice. She is passionate about providing client-centered care to children and their families, employing evidence- and strengths-based approaches to address each unique need and foster full potential.

In addition, Belle completed her doctoral capstone, where she contributed to the creation and dissemination of an online adaptive swimming lesson training program. Through this work, she received specialized training in adaptive swimming and holds an adaptive swim instruction certification.

Outside of her professional endeavors, Belle enjoys exploring the city, skiing, crafting and spending quality time with her friends and family.

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Jessica Sherwood, OT

Jessica is originally from Minnesota, where she acquired her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Speech/Language/Hearing Science from Minnesota State University Moorhead. She attended graduate school at St. Catherine University and achieved her master’s degree in Occupational Therapy in 2006. Upon graduation, Jessica moved to Washington D.C., where she worked at The Floortime Center with children, working closely with Dr. Stanley Greenspan and his son. In 2011, Jessica moved to London, England, where she started her own OT business working with children. In 2014, her family moved to the Boston area, where Jessica began working at the Integrated Center for Child Development, under Julie Robinson. Jessica worked there part time through 2018 while covering maternity leaves at public schools, charter schools, and specialty schools, all over the Boston Metrowest area. In 2016, she began working at the LABBB Collaborative full-time in Lexington, MA, where she continues to work with students.

Jessica has a passion for working with children to achieve their full potential, and has five children with her husband. She is full of energy and has experience working with children of all ages, with a wide variety of diagnoses, and works hard to motivate kids to build skills. Jessica’s passions are in sensory integration, motor skills, and executive functioning skills.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, sewing, and gardening. Jessica is very excited to work alongside Julie Robinson again, at Play2Learn.

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Linda Tirella, OT

Linda is a pediatric occupational therapist with over forty years of successful experience in assessment and treatment of children from diverse backgrounds in the US and internationally. Recognized consistently for performance excellence and contributions to success in the field of pediatrics. Strengths in assessing sensory processing needs and social emotional challenges backed by training in occupational therapy, trauma informed care, and attachment therapy. Linda has experience with international adoption.

In her free time she likes to play pickleball and spend time with her children and grandchildren.

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Lois Denman, OT

Lois has been working as an occupational therapist since 1983.  Initially starting off her career working with adults in in-patient rehabilitation, she has been working with children in her practice since 1998.  She has worked with children as young as 3 and as old as 19 in public schools in Hopkinton and Framingham and at the Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham, as well as Children’s Integrated therapist in Hudson MA and Kids In Motion in Ashland MA. Lois is certified in such programs as Brain Gym which helps with full body coordination as well as focus of attention and regulation.  She has worked with children on the Autism Spectrum, with ADHD as well as those with genetic disorders and those that are slow to meet developmental milestones.  She utilizes principles from Kay Toomey’s SOS:Approach to Feeding Difficulties with difficult feeders for children with food sensitivities and aversions. Handwriting Without Tears is her prefered writing curriculum as it is multisensory and begins with basic building skills to create the letters in three dimensions before moving on to pencil and paper writing.  She is also experienced working with children with general anxiety.  If you child is sensory seeking, Lois works with you to create a “sensory diet” for your child to use throughout the day to help their bodies and minds function in the “just right” zone, whether the child tends to have a fast running “engine speed” or a slow running “engine speed”.  Lois is experienced assessing and treating unintegrated primitive reflexes which sometimes cause developmental delays.  Additionally, Lois provides family education and home exercises as frequent intervention throughout the week is important to make more rapid improvement with your child.  Lois loves working with children and in her free time  engages in many creative pursuits like quilt-making, cooking and being out in nature.

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Melissa Feldman, OT

Melissa Feldman is an experienced Occupational Therapist, spending over 20 years working directly with children, their caregivers, and educators across school, home and community settings. Utilizing a whole-child approach that integrates play with purpose, Melissa specializes in developing customized programs to improve a child’s participation at home and in community.

Melissa assists a child and family in working together to develop functional routines around emotional regulation and executive function by demonstrating how to integrate an array of tools and techniques into everyday activities. Additionally, Melissa provides training and child-centered program consultations to educators and parents on a variety of topics including: Sensory Processing and Regulation, Behavior Management at Home and School, Executive Function and Project Management, as well as Universal Design in Education.

Melissa received her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of New Hampshire in 1999. She obtained her Masters of Education Degree with a specialization in Assistive Technologies & Universal Design from Simmons College in 2009. Melissa lives in Milton, MA with her two sons.

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Robin Thomas, OT

Robin received her master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Tufts University in 1997. She has always had a love for working with children of all age groups from birth to young adults and their families.

Robin has worked in Early Intervention home-based therapy and has a specialty in school-based therapy. Robin has worked with a wide variety of medical and neurological diagnoses. Robin utilizes sensory integration, gross and fine motor skills, and visual perceptual treatment techniques to help children optimize their skills in school and home settings.

Robin has completed the coursework for the Handwriting Without Tears program and is trained in the Pretzel Kids yoga program which she commonly uses in treatment. Robin has a love for continuing education and has taken several courses in Autism, Sensory Integration and ADHD, Development of the pediatric brain, Working with children with severe impairments, Using Sensory Integration to improve Motor and Postural Learning, Brain Gym, and Development of Sensory Diets among many others!

In her free time, Robin enjoys traveling, volunteering and spending time with her 2 kids and pug Lila.

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