Rachel Hudson

OTR/L

Occupational Therapist

Rachel is excited to join the All About Speech & Language team! As the daughter of a Speech Language Pathologist, she has had a desire to help people from a young age. She decided to become an occupational therapist because of her combined interests in anatomy and psychology. She loves finding meaningful and fun ways to help kids achieve their goals! 
Rachel grew up in the Chicago area and recently moved to the Tampa area. She attended Augustana College for her Bachelor of Psychology, and received her Master of Occupational Therapy from Carroll University. 
She has worked at various pediatric clinics and schools in her time as an OT. She has worked with children of all ages with diagnoses including developmental delay, Down syndrome, Autism, ADHD, Cerebral Palsy, and Rett syndrome. Rachel has also worked as an aquatic therapist and helped facilitate preschool readiness classes. 
 
Rachel is trained in Handwriting Without Tears, Therapeutic Listening, and Reflex Integration. She is a certified Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist. Additionally, she has taken courses in interoception, self-regulation, vision, executive functioning, DIR/Floortime, and trauma-informed care. 
 
In her spare time, Rachel enjoys exploring the outdoors with her husband and two dogs, Vera and Luna. She also enjoys exercising and baking. 
More about Rachel…

What is your favorite food?

Pizza

What is your favorite holiday and why?

Thanksgiving- I love food and spending time with my family!

What is a cool hobby of yours?

I love to bake and inspired by watching baking shows!

Favorite Halloween costume you wore as a child?

I had many “girly” costumes, one of them being Jasmine!

What did you want to be “when you grew up”?

A teacher or a nurse

Why did you become a therapist?

I worked as a kids’ swim instructor in high school and really liked helping them achieve their goals. This, along with
my interests in anatomy and psychology, led me to study OT!

What is the funniest thing one of your kiddos has said to you or done in therapy?

Many kids I have worked with love YouTube. I will tell them, “That was invented when I was your age and my friends and I used to post silly videos to our channel.” They either respond by calling me old, asking if my videos were famous, or they can’t believe I am “cool” enough to use YouTube!

Give one surprising/cool fact about you?

I was a classically trained vocalist for 10 years and toured in Sweden with my college choir.

What pets do you have and what are their names?

I have two dogs, a chihuahua/daschund mix named Vera and a cattle dog/pitbull mix named Luna.

What is your favorite movie and why?

I love the Inside Out movies, because it helps kids understand that all emotions are “okay” :).

Favorite song?

“Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley

Favorite book?

I love any book by Kristin Hannah.