Executive Function and Real-life Skills Program Manager

Dr. Lyndsay Wood is an occupational therapist, transition specialist and executive function coach who focuses on evaluating and helping students and young adults with a wide range of abilities to build meaningful skills in order to reach their personal goals. She takes a holistic approach to working with each client and has special expertise working with students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as well as students contending with mental health issues.

Dr. Wood graduated from the MGH Institute of Health Professions with a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy. She holds state certification as an occupational therapist in Massachusetts, as well as Vermont, and is nationally certified through the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. She has additionally completed certification courses in cognitive behavioral treatment and dialectical behavioral treatment for emotional regulation.

While completing her doctoral degree, Dr. Wood worked with the Boston Center for Independent Living to evaluate transition age services. She uses the results from her research to deliver services in a way that is most beneficial for clients. Specifically, she focuses on hands-on, occupation-based learning that is tailored to the client’s goals and interests.

Dr. Wood has also spent time working at Mount Auburn Hospital in an inpatient mental health setting where she conducted occupational therapy evaluations, assessing cognitive functioning, psychosocial factors, sensory preferences, functional performance, and mental health status. In that setting, she provided both individual and group-based intervention services focused on building coping strategies, self-esteem, cognitive functioning, attention and sensory regulation, social engagement, and personal goal development.

More recently, Dr. Wood worked for several years at League School of Greater Boston. In this private day and residential school for students between the ages of 3 and 21 with ASD, Dr. Wood provided school-based occupational therapy services and participated in evaluation and IEP processes for a wide range of students. She importantly became adept at providing clinically relevant remote services to students when needed.

Dr. Wood currently works as part of NESCA’s transition team and offers transition assessment, as well as remote-, community-, and home-based individual coaching aimed at supporting executive function skills and functional life skill development. In addition, she offers educational occupational therapy assessment and consultation. Dr. Wood uses occupation-based interventions and strategies to develop life skills, executive functioning, emotional regulation, and other key transition-related skills. Dr. Wood currently accepts Vermont- and Massachusetts-based transition and occupational therapy assessments. As she is currently residing in Vermont, her in-home and community-based coaching services are limited to the greater Burlington, Vermont area. Dr. Wood can accept virtual coaching clients from both Massachusetts and Vermont.