While many clinics focus on children with disabilities, parents with disabilities are often overlooked. The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences’ (USAHS) San Marcos-based pro bono clinic works to close this gap by centering care on parents with disabilities, helping them navigate daily life, parenting and supporting their families. Parents with disabilities historically have had limited access to occupational and physical therapy services. Most traditional care models and insurance plans do not have a way to cover or provide the support these parents need. This clinic is designed to meet parents where they are, focusing on wellness, daily function and confidence.
Overview of the Clinic and How it Works
The clinic was developed through a partnership between USAHS and the Adaptive Parent Project, a San Diego-based nonprofit founded by Alesha Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, to empower parents with disabilities and educate healthcare providers. Led by Amy Lyons-Brown, MS, OTD, OTR/L, Doctoral Capstone Coordinator and Assistant Professor at USAHS, the clinic primarily operates through telehealth, serving parents across California and Arizona. By operating virtually, the clinic is more accessible, especially for those with mobility restrictions. Given the flexibility of the clinic’s sessions, patients receive highly individualized care, ensuring recommendations are realistic, affordable and attainable for each parent.
A Collaborative Team and Patient-Centered Model of Care
The clinic operates through a fully collaborative model in which faculty, students and parents work together as equals. The clinic’s approach to care recognizes parents with disabilities as experts in their own lived experience. Many parents who come to the clinic have lived with disabilities for part or all of their lives and have developed a strong understanding of their own needs and self-care. The clinic’s role is not to replace that knowledge, but to support parents in building it as they adapt to the new roles and responsibilities of parenthood. Because every family’s circumstances are unique, it is essential to create space for parents to serve as their own advocates. By doing so, students and faculty can collaborate with families to identify practical, individualized support rather than relying on one-size-fits-all solutions. The clinic grows with its patients, using their experiences and feedback to inform them how services are developed and delivered to best meet each person’s needs. Occupational and physical therapy are integrated to support both functional daily tasks, such as caregiving and household tasks, and physical goals, such as mobility, strength and pain management. The clinic also emphasizes emotional safety, creating a trusted space where parents can ask questions, share concerns and seek support without fear of judgment. In addition to telehealth sessions, the clinic will be holding its first hybrid in-person and virtual community event, allowing parents and children to connect with other families who share similar experiences, reinforcing a sense of belonging and visibility. In our society, parents with disabilities are often stigmatized or misrepresented. For children growing up with disabilities, it may be difficult for them to see themselves as a parental figure in the future. This event allows them to connect with other parents and children, creating a built-in support system.
Preparing Future Clinicians
The clinic also supports future clinicians as fieldwork and learning experience, an opportunity unique to USAHS students. Occupational and physical therapy students participate in the clinic, working under the supervision of licensed, practicing clinician-educators. Students gain hands-on experience with real patients, apply evidence-based treatment strategies, receive regular faculty feedback and collaborate across disciplines. Through this experience, students learn to deliver comprehensive care that improves mobility, manages pain and enhances physical function. They are also immersed in disability-informed care, an area that receives little formal attention in most healthcare education programs. Through hands-on experience, students learn to see patients as whole people, not just diagnoses or treatment plans. This exposure helps shape future clinicians who are empathetic, adaptable and better prepared to tackle evolving needs of the healthcare industry.
Community Impact
Practitioner shortages continue to rise nationwide, making innovative educational healthcare programs more critical than ever. By combining community service with immersive student training, the USAHS pro bono clinic reflects the university’s leadership in health sciences education while directly addressing unmet community needs. Although anchored in San Marcos, the clinic’s telehealth model allows it to reach families far beyond campus, and interest continues to grow among families in other states. As the program evolves, USAHS hopes it will not only expand its reach to more families but also influence how healthcare systems and educational institutions think about inclusive, family-centered care for parents with disabilities.
