Deb Nikkila, MOT, OTR/L

Deb Nikkila completed a Master of Occupational Therapy at Loma Linda University in 2004. Deb advanced her clinical skills in pediatric therapy over eight years servicing children in early intervention, public school-based OT, and outpatient rehabilitation delivery models. In 2012 Deb seized the opportunity to branch into the blind and visually impaired therapy niche when she began working at the Maryland School for the Blind. Deb’s role at MSB is to provide instructional strategies or accommodation ideas that support the student in common daily activities, and train staff or caregivers to integrate those supports into the child’s learning program. You can find Deb in a classroom, cafeteria, learning kitchen, residential dorms, and at vocational activities or student leisure events to meet the demand of providing visually impaired learners the experiences they need to help them function as independently as possible in the world. The resiliency blind youth often display motivates Deb to continuously search for more innovative ways to support their development and reduce the social and environmental barriers they encounter. Deb’s objective is to help these learners be the best version of themselves they can achieve. Deb’s nine year journey at MSB has inspired her to pursue an occupational therapy specialty certification in low vision from the University of Alabama, Birmingham which she will complete in summer 2021.