2024 ATRA Annual Conference - Together We Thrive, Together We Rise

MS, CTRS

Brandon Snead is an instructor for Temple University's Recreational Therapy program. He has a background working in mental healthcare. Before coming to Temple, Brandon spent 10 years working in special events and volunteer management. All of these roles required engagement with large groups of people. He has used social media as a way to connect with people, highlight successes and to recruit for events.

MS, CTRS

Aurora Verlin, MS, CTRS is the Undergraduate Program Director and Instructor of recreational therapy at Temple University. After practicing recreational therapy with older adults in a variety of settings, and serving as a personal care home administrator, she now focuses on teaching students about older adult care, professionalism, administrative issues, and the clinical process. She is one of the creators of the Engagement in Preferred Activities Scale, and the co-creator of the EPASS Online Toolkit. Aurora also serves as the Past President of the Recreational Therapy Foundation, and is the co-founder of the RT Student Summit, a conference for recreational therapy students. She is committed to involving students in this profession

Ph.D., LRT, CTRS

Lindsey R. Oakes, Ph.D., LRT, CTRS is currently an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in the Recreational Therapy program of study in the Department of Recreation Sciences at East Carolina University. Dr. Oakes also currently serves as a Senior Associate within a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, InFocus Advocacy (https://www.infocusadvocacy.org/). She has previously served as the Recreational Therapy Program Director and an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Temple University. Prior to her time at Temple University, Dr. Oakes served as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) of Therapeutic Recreation in the Department of Health and Human Performance at Texas State University. She received her Ph.D. in Public Health Education at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and served as the Student Support Coordinator at the University of North Carolina Greensboro's inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) program, Integrative Community Studies, for four years where she supported college students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) and started the provision of recreational therapy services to enrolled students with IDD. Dr. Oakes' research interests include the overall health/wellness and community inclusion of individuals and college students with IDD, inclusion of individuals and college students with IDD in community recreation and campus recreation, best practices for inclusive service delivery within community-based and campus-based recreation, use of virtual reality among individuals with IDD, recreational therapy within IPSE programs, and use of photovoice with individuals with disabilities to increase community inclusion. Her research has included qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, and community-based participatory action research methodologies.