Patricia LaVesser, PhD, OTR, received her Bachelor of Science degree in occupational therapy from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, her master of arts in teaching from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, and her doctorate in social work from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2009, Dr. LaVesser has been an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, JFK Partners, at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. 

Dr. LaVesser currently serves as occupational therapy discipline director on the Leadership in Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities program under a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. She also serves as a clinician case reviewer for the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network and as an evaluator for the Study to Explore Early Development. Clinically, Dr. LaVesser coordinates service provision for the Family Driven Autism Services and Learning project, serves on two of the interdisciplinary clinical assessment teams at the Child Development Unit of The Children’s Hospital Denver, and provides early intervention services through the ENRICH program. 

Prior to joining the faculty at JFK Partners, Dr. LaVesser was a faculty member at the occupational therapy program at Washington University in St. Louis for 25 years. She has a wide range of clinical pediatric experience that includes early intervention and school-based and hospital-based practice. [Text Wrapping Break]Her current research interests include the study of adaptive skills intervention models and outcomes [Text Wrapping Break]for children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental difficulties.