Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Glass
Hi Brittany, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I always knew that I wanted to do something in the medical/health profession field and since I was young I have just loved working with children. When I was introduced to occupational therapy during college, that was it. I fell in love with OT. “You mean my job is to play? Where do I sign up?”
I attended the University of Southern California to obtain my Masters in Occupational Therapy and graduated in 2013. My final internship was at a pediatric hospital in Orange County in the subacute and rehab units which sparked a passion for supporting individuals with neurological involvement.
My first job as a new graduate was at an outpatient pediatric clinic in Huntington Beach. I am forever grateful for the incredible mentorship I received during my time there. I took my first infant NDT course (neurodevelopmental treatment) in 2014 and took every opportunity to train with the clinic owner at the time, an amazing NDT-certified physical therapist, to harness my infant handling skills. I loved getting to work with infants and educating parents in the early months to support their baby’s play skills and progression towards hitting their milestones.
I started to take an interest in feeding therapy and began to see more patients with complex feeding needs with the support of incredible mentors. Once I had my son in 2018, helping families achieve successful mealtimes resonated with me that much more. I saw how important it was for me to be able to experience joy in eating together with my family and so I continued to further my education and obtained my advanced practice certification in feeding and swallowing assessment and intervention.
When I had my daughter towards the start of the pandemic, I struggled with breastfeeding. I felt alone and sad that I couldn’t do what I identified as “my most important job”. I stuck with it and was able to nurse her past her first birthday, but following that experience I just knew that I needed more information to help others struggling with breast and bottle-feeding. I later obtained certification as a lactation counselor (CLC) through The Academy of Lactation Policy and Practices (ALPP) which I now use to guide my practice as an occupational therapist working with infants to feed successfully. I also continue to collaborate with wonderful IBCLC’s in my community for more complex lactation/breastfeeding issues.
In my 10+ years as an OT, I have worked in hospital, school-based, clinic and in-home settings and have gleaned and grown so much from each experience. With that said, I am so grateful that my winding path has led me to starting my own private practice, where I have been able to help families in such a unique way.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Well, the road has definitely had many twists and turns and I’m sure there will be plenty more obstacles to navigate in the years ahead. I think the biggest challenge for me has been learning the ins and outs of running a business when there really is no instruction manual on which steps to take and what order to do them in. I imagine that most therapists go into their field because of a desire to help people, but most of us don’t feel totally at home in the world of business. It’s foreign territory and can initially feel uncomfortable taking on the additional role of “entrepreneur”. It has been a learning curve, but as time has passed, I have started to embrace both my OT and business owner roles and look forward to what the future holds for my private practice.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Pediatric Occupational Therapist specializing in feeding and swallowing and offer in-home services across Orange County through my private practice, Eat Play Love.
For infants in need of support with breast or bottle-feeding, I may evaluate and address things like oral motor, positioning, strength, body tension, reflexes, swallowing, pacing, bottle/nipple selection and flow rate considerations. As infants approach 6 months of age and are beginning to exhibit solids readiness signs, I love offering starting solids sessions for parents wanting a little bit more hands on education for starting to introduce solids to their baby.
Although I work primarily with infants and toddlers, I see children from birth to teens. With toddlers and older children, things that I would evaluate and treat include, oral motor, positioning, swallowing, transitioning from tube to oral feeds, selective eating tendencies, mealtime behaviors and mealtime structure. I also work with appropriate medical professionals if oral ties, enlarged tonsils or other factors are suspected to be impacting feeding and require further assessment.
Offering feeding therapy in the home is something I have always wanted to do and am so glad that I am now able to provide services this way. Bringing feeding therapy into the home offers convenience for busy parents as well as an environment that is natural and comfortable for breastfeeding, bottle-feeding and solid meals.
As parents we give so much of ourselves for our children and while we would do it ten times over, sometimes there’s no one to take care of us. Making it a point to check in on my families and be readily available to troubleshoot on a weekly basis, sometimes daily is the way I always envisioned running my own practice and is an absolute top priority for me. There is so much that goes on outside of a 60-minute session and I want parents to feel comfortable involving me in all of it, whether it’s a phone call during dinner time struggles, texting throughout the day to answer questions and problem solve, or designing an individualized home program.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I am a firm believer that in business and in life, you have to be willing to risk in order to gain or grow. When I decided to start my business, it felt like a BIG decision. I left a steady job and took a leap of faith that my passion and determination would guide me to do whatever it took to make my dream a reality. It was a risk for sure, but one well worth it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eatplayloveoc.com/
- Instagram: eatplayloveoc
