Dr. Raymond-Tolan is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy. She received her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and her Doctor of Occupational Therapy from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in Provo, Utah. At NYU, some of the courses she teaches are Foundations of Occupational Therapy, Performance and Development Across the Lifespan, and Pediatrics. Her research interests revolve around fostering engagement and participation in valued occupations for both children and OT graduate students. Current projects include: evaluating the impact of teaching children directly about executive function skills in elementary school, exploring the experiences of graduate students after participating in innovative teaching approaches, such as creating social media content as learning tools and OT students observing children playing at adventure playgrounds; and how fostering cognitive flexibility may help OT students reach educational, fieldwork, and board certification success.
Dr. Raymond-Tolan presented her project, Beyond Scrolling: Students creating social media and podcast content as learning tools, as part of AOTA's Education Summit in November 2023, NYSOTA’s Continuing Education Webinar series in March 2023, and the upcoming Lilly Austin Conference on Teaching and Learning in May 2024. She is presenting three posters at the 2024 AOTA Annual Conference and facilitated several Conversations that Matter sessions at the 2023 AOTA Annual Conference, with topics including social media as learning tools, academic advising, directly teaching executive functioning skills to children, and interprofessional education. She has spent 16 years at Community Roots Charter School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, a K-8 school devoted to racial justice work and inclusive practices, where she continues to consult on screenings and interventions for at-risk students.
Prior to joining NYU, Dr. Raymond-Tolan was a Clinical Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy at Pace University, where she taught coursework in Pediatrics, Mental Health, Theory & Analysis, Professionalism, and more. Dr. Raymond-Tolan received the Pace University College of Health Profession’s Scholarly Research Award for a mixed-methods study of the impact of an executive function curriculum on the skills and experiences of second graders and the Pace University Classroom-Based Research Experiences Award for her study focusing on student-generated podcast episodes as tools to support engagement and learning outcomes.