OT alum has big plans for building program that supports young adults

Danielle Howerton had a really big idea.

For the past five or six years, the Texas Woman’s alumna and occupational therapist mulled over starting a transitional program that supports young adults who have intellectual disabilities or are neurodivergent, a condition in which the brain processes information atypically.

“The desire started out based on an observation made when I was working within the public school system and realizing that there is a need for ongoing support services for young adults after high school,” Howerton said.

Howerton knows how to grow a business. She is the clinical director for Synaptic Pediatric Therapies, a group of pediatric speech and occupational therapy clinics in the DFW area. She also franchised and is a managing partner of the Royse City location. But she wanted to have a good outline of where to start with her big idea.

“When creating a program of this scale, I really want it to be something that is sustainable and not something that I create and then isn’t able to survive and serve the populations,” Howerton said. “Out here where I live, it’s not just my community, it’s the surrounding communities that could really benefit from this.”

Howerton lives and works in rural Rockwall County. And, thanks to a mentorship program with TWU’s Empowering Women for Rural Healthcare Leadership lecture series, she is currently exploring potential models to support the implementation of a sustainable program.

The lecture series is part of a collaborative effort from the College of Health Sciences, the College of Nursing and the Jane Nelson Institute for Women's Leadership to develop women leaders in rural health care. Speakers from the lecture series are paired with healthcare practitioners or graduate students who are interested in developing a project specific to women’s leadership and rural healthcare.

After applying, Howerton was selected and paired with Stacey L. Schepens Niemiec, PhD, an associate professor of research at the University of Southern California Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, and a licensed occupational therapist.

Niemiec will give a lecture on community-based participatory research to develop a lifestyle intervention for aging rural-dwelling Latino patients. The lecture takes place Tuesday, Oct. 22 on the Denton campus. Register in advance for in-person or webstream attendance.

Howerton says the mentoring program came along at the right time for her.

“My goal hasn’t changed but this has been a catalyst to take active steps to move toward the thing that I envision,” Howerton said. “I think, had I not done this program that gave that structure and support, I don’t think I would be as ready to move forward in taking active steps.”

Niemiec introduced Howerton to asset mapping, a tool that could help Howerton identify visually her community’s resources that could support her.

“She (Niemiec) is helping me to see what’s a place to start looking at how to fund and source this project and how to do it in a way that can grow,” Howerton said. “She definitely has that lens of being very practical and also looking logistically at your resources and how you can gather more.”

Howerton added to her already-full plate by enrolling in TWU’s OT PhD program this fall.

“I really thought it was the right time because I really enjoy teaching,” Howerton said. “I have had a lot of clinical students from different universities, including TWU, and I really learned that I enjoy passing down what I know and what knowledge I have gained and what experiences I have had to new therapists.”

While Texas Woman’s offers the only PhD OT program in Texas, Howerton probably still would have picked TWU in a crowded field. Both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees came from Texas Woman’s.

“You truly feel like you are cared for and that you can form relationships with not only your mentors but your classmates,” Howerton said. “It is a community of lifetime learning and really promoting that sense of belonging. There is a lot of pride — at least I have a lot of pride — associated with being an alumna of TWU. I love TWU.”