Christina Connors, OTR/L
Christina is the Owner and Founder of Child Inspired, LLC. Christina is an Occupational Therapist with close to 20 years of clinical experience. She has worked to enhance the function and independence of children and adults with various physical, cognitive, and developmental disabilities in acute inpatient rehabilitation, home health, outpatient, educational, and most recently, private practice settings. Christina is passionate about providing family-centered and family-integrated care, within the natural contexts that her clients and families function. Christina has implemented various multi-sensory, therapeutic strategies to aid in the learning and functioning of children with autism and developmental delays. She has helped to optimize the recoveries of children, adolescents, and adults with brain injury or other traumatic experiences in inpatient rehabilitation, school, and outpatient clinic settings. Christina takes pride in creative problem-solving, and her ability to consider the big picture and think outside-the-box when addressing various challenges. She enjoys identifying the meaningful activities and goals in the lives of her clients and working with them to enhance their ability to reach their greatest potentials. Christina graduated from Towson University in 2002 Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Occupational Therapy.
Sarah Walker, MSLP, CCC-SLP
Sarah received an undergraduate degree from Duquesne University in 2000 in the field of health sciences, then continued on at Duquesne to receive a Master of Speech Language Pathology in 2001. Since that time, she has worked with children across a variety of settings including: clinic, hospital and home/daycare. A love for providing early intervention and family centered services in the home began in 2004 and remains ongoing.
With over 20 years of experience, she has previously worked as part of the inpatient and outpatient multi-disciplinary feeding team performing evaluations, treatment, and Modified Barium Swallow Studies (MBSS) at A.I.dupont Hospital for Children.
She has experience with a multitude of disabilities including: Down Syndrome, oral motor/feeding delays, cleft lip/palate, Apraxia of Speech, as well as articulation and language delays, and hearing impairment, which may require the use of basic sign language. Sarah is also very comfortable with children who have complex medical needs and may require nursing in their home, specifically ng/g-tube dependency and/or tracheotomy.
Sarah is passionate about offering children services that support them within their daily routine as well as allows them to achieve their greatest potential alongside their family, caregivers, and peers.
Tristan Engle, COTA/L
Tristan joined Child Inspired in early 2021 as a licensed Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. She graduated from Delaware Technical Community College’s Occupational Therapy Assistant program in 2016 and spent 5 years working in both Kent and Sussex Counties in a variety of settings, including acute and subacute rehabilitation. Her responsibilities included providing post-surgical and neurological rehabilitation services to patients with a variety of physical, cognitive & psychosocial conditions, and in-home support using adaptive tools & equipment to promote function during daily living routines. Tristan’s professional role shifted from adults to children when she joined Child Inspired, where she has spent the last year serving children ranging in age from Pre-K to 21 in both the home and in Sussex County school programs. She collaborates with families and teachers to provide child/student support with fine and gross motor coordination, sensory regulation, and daily living skills such as self-care and independent living skills. Tristan is especially passionate about empowering individuals of all ages to communicate and advocate for their personal and family needs. In her role at Child Inspired, Tristan strives to find out what makes every child smile, and provide families with the care, tools, and community resources necessary to make every day successful.
Katie Burris, M.Ed
Katie is the newest member of the Child Inspired team, joining the practice in July 2021. Katie received an undergraduate degree in American Studies from Rutgers College, Rutgers University in 2003, followed by a Master's degree in Early Childhood/Elementary Education from the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers College in 2004. Katie's passion for serving children and families throughout the state of Delaware has led her in a variety of directions over the past 15 years, including private preschool and public elementary special education classroom teaching in Sussex County, reading intervention nonprofit work in Kent/Sussex Counties, and early intervention family service coordination for the birth to three population throughout Kent and Sussex Counties most recently. Entrepreneurial-minded, Katie also developed an engaging children's cooking program "Sprouting Chefs" and partnered with "Lewes in Bloom" to inspire many local children to actively participate in healthy, locally-sourced food preparation activities. Katie is especially fond of working with younger children, offering education on developmentally-appropriate play and developmental milestones, as well as support and resources for children with developmental delays and special needs. Katie has built strong relationships with community agencies such as Child Development Watch and Autism Delaware, receiving the Margaret Henry Rose Award in October 2020 for outstanding public service in Southern Delaware's autism community. Katie's responsibilities within Child Inspired include child- and family-centered care coordination, family education, and program development to expand Child Inspired's ability to serve children and families with innovative, flexible and comprehensive therapy options in Southern Delaware.
Sarah O’Hagen, MS, OTR/L
Sarah is an Occupational Therapist who recently completed her master’s degree in Occupational Therapy at Ithaca College. She received her BS in Psychology from SUNY Cortland in 2018 and joined Child Inspired, following completion of her pediatric clinical fieldwork rotation. Sarah currently provides clinical care, administrative support, and assists in the development and implementation of evidence-based therapeutic interventions for Child Inspired Therapy. She has worked as a research assistant for several labs during her academic career and her research has been accepted and presented at the 2019 & 2020 AOTA Conference. Sarah was an integral part of a study funded by the National Science Foundation entitled “Tots on Bots” and completed her master’s research in March 2020 with “Impact of a Transgender Health Educational Workshop on Occupational Therapy Students”. Sarah is so inspired to have the opportunity to serve children and families as a pediatric Occupational Therapist in Southern Delaware!