Consuelo M Kreider, PhD, OTR/L

Consuelo Kreider, PhD, OTR/L is a Clinical Associate Professor. She teaches in the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program and supervises PhD students in the Rehabilitation Science Doctoral program. Her clinical expertise is in community-based occupational therapy working with individuals and families with neurodevelopmental and psychosocial challenges. Her research expertise is in qualitative methods, which enables in-depth understanding of both the individual’s experiences and the social environmental processes that support performance and participation of individuals with diverse experiences. Dr. Kreider has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health for investigation of the development of skills, strategies, and supports for fostering the social functioning and self-management of individuals with neurodiversity who are transitioning to new adult roles and social contexts. Her work extends to examination of access to supports and services for rural Veterans with disabilities through the Veterans Rural Health Resource Center – Gainesville. Supports developed through her research have been adopted by the University of Florida and have been judged as an Institute of Education What Works Clearinghouse intervention for post-secondary educational settings.

My research focus is on support development and access to needed care for vulnerable clinical populations such as rural Veterans with disabilities and young adults with neurodivergences such as learning, attention, and autism disorders.

I conduct application-oriented research (i.e., applied and use-inspired basic research; Stokes, 1997) with an overarching objective of understanding the interrelationships among individuals’ knowledge, diverse abilities and skills, and unique environmental contexts and supports – factors that impact performance and, ultimately, health outcome paths. My applied work uses this understanding to develop and test supports and interventions for fostering the self- and condition-management and social functioning (i.e., everyday life functioning) of individuals with disabilities.