Conquering Trails and a New OT Practice
The Camino de Santiago is a 500-mile trail dotted by arid hillsides and steep ocean cliffs that runs through Spain, Portugal, and France. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree, Evan Hunter, MA ’21, hiked this challenging terrain with a group of friends, experiencing ailments like heat rash, muscle aches, and food poisoning along the way. It was the first time her body did not, could not, perform like she wanted it to – and that feeling stuck with her.
What happens when your body cannot perform a necessary or desired task? How does this impact your goals, emotions, and relationships? What resources are available to people facing physical and mental health challenges? Hunter’s hike through Southern Europe and subsequent reflection and questioning ultimately led her to pursue an MS in Occupational Therapy at Tufts.
Today, she owns and operates Blume Kids Therapy, a pediatric occupational therapy practice in Boulder, Colorado. She works with children ages two to fourteen who have been diagnosed with conditions such as autism, ADHD, developmental delays, cerebral palsy, and post traumatic stress disorder. Hunter supports their growth and development by working with them on emotional regulation, self-advocacy, and mastering a variety of skills, including fine motor skills, gross motor skills, visual motor skills, school readiness skills, and executive functioning skills.
Hunter practices a neurodiversity-affirming approach to care, which she was first introduced to at Tufts. “Peggy Morris, a senior lecturer in the OT Department, explained the approach to me as being centered around a client’s strengths instead of their deficits,” Hunter says. “It’s asking how can I tailor my approach to build upon the child’s interests and achievements, and honor their unique needs in the moment? It’s the approach that allows me to create the most supportive, trusted space to practice therapy.”
Hunter provides highly individualized care to her clients and incorporates creativity, play, and fun into her sessions. “OT gives you the opportunity to be creative,” she says. “And forming a bond with someone who believes in you is so impactful. When I was young, I had a piano teacher who really cared about me and that relationship was so meaningful as I was growing up. For kids that have additional obstacles to overcome in daily life, having someone who believes in them and helps them to do the things they want to do is so important.”
She credits the Tufts OT program with introducing her to many different specializations within occupational therapy, helping her to find the population and healthcare setting best suited to her interests. During her time at Tufts, Hunter completed fieldwork placements at a domestic violence shelter, a spinal cord injury rehabilitation facility, an inpatient psychiatric hospital, a senior living facility for veterans, a research lab studying end of life planning, a hospital, and a daycare.
“I took my first job as an occupational therapist in a pediatric setting and I immediately loved it,” she recalls. “Working with kids is such a joy and seeing them grow and learn is so rewarding. I also enjoy supporting their parents and sharing my neurodiversity affirming approach with them. Because Tufts exposed me to so many different opportunities, I was able to discover my passions within OT.”
Hunter remains connected to the Tufts community and keeps in touch with many of her former classmates and professors. “I am so grateful for the relationships I built while at Tufts. The faculty really encouraged us to find what motivated us. I felt very supported during my time at Tufts and continue to experience that support today.”