Barbara is a pediatric occupational therapist (OT) with over 25 years of experience as a developmental practitioner, 17 years as a Montessori mom, and 6 years as a Board Member on the Board of Trustees at Maryland’s first Public Charter School, Monocacy Valley Montessori. Barbara recognizes the strong affinity between OT and Montessori education. After providing many workshops and consultations at Montessori schools, Barbara’s work became more focused in 2010 when she began collaborating with Catherine to advocate for more inclusion in Montessori education through integrated practice. Barbara has presented internationally to Montessorians at conferences and at the Montessori World Congress on a variety of topics including the role of the OT as a member of the team, the affinity between OT and Montessori practice, and addressing the needs of children with attention difficulties in Montessori communities.

She is a strong proponent of the benefits of proper preparation of the environment, the adults, and the materials of instruction along with a whole-child approach and multi-disciplinary collaboration as the best paths to full inclusion in Montessori environments. In addition to her work with MMPI, Barbara maintains her private practice clinic, Way to Grow, LLC, which provides speech and OT therapies to children and their families. She and her husband live on a farm in Maryland and has two grown children, 4 cats and a dog.