David Bishop is a registered Occupational Therapist, working in the caregiving and health field for over 10 years. David realized his passion for caregiving and progression-focused support early on in his career, working as the primary caregiver for several clients with varying degrees of dependency all throughout undergrad and grad school. He has worked as a therapist at Emory Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital, with a range of adult patients from rehabbing strokes to car accidents. He worked in a pediatric sensory integration therapy clinic for several years before moving into a position of Director of Student Support at a school in Atlanta, where he coordinates support with SLPs on his team, provides OT sessions, and evaluations. His passion for parent and caregiver education as the first intervention to regulating children was cemented in his years of pediatric OT experience.

David holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Georgia, and a Masters of Health Science in Occupational Therapy from Augusta University. He is Orton Gillingham trained, modality certified, infant reflex trained, an executive functioning coach, and trained in sensory integration under an SI certified therapist. David’s areas of expertise include social emotional regulation, sensory regulation, and caregiver education.

David's Story

I LOVE life and of course, that has always been the case…. I wish! The journey to finding love of life and joy in the everyday has been filled with challenges and obstacles and has been anything but a linear path for me. This journey has guided my passion for helping others love life themselves and helping the children in their care shoot for the target of joy. 

I spent most of my childhood in North Georgia, living an extremely simple and joyful life. I played outside constantly. I played sports. I played video games.. So… where were the challenges exactly? 

Without being too transparent, since I’m currently a random man to you, life began getting really hard when I was 12. Between personal mental health struggles, some big transitions, and family dynamics, I began to lose my joy. I waded through high school, college, and grad school, still highly functional, productive, and by all marks, successful, but I did not have joy. A tale as old as time, I waited until I was a parent to begin processing life’s challenges and trying to find a better way. 

Prior to becoming a father, my community always reassured me that I was going to be a great dad. I believed them. After all, I was a unicorn-a male Occupational Therapist! How lucky for my wife! When we found out we were expecting our daughter and throughout my wife’s pregnancy, I maintained my confidence in my fatherhood skills. After all, I’ve changed countless adult diapers- how hard could it be when the diaper is wrapped around an 8 lb baby? And boy, was I good at the diaper changes right out of the gate. Again, how lucky for my wife! 

But then 24 hours after my child was born, we found out she would require A LOT of medical support to begin her life. So, with all my medical expertise and practical caregiving know-how, I quickly stepped up and was the super hero dad my child and my wife needed. 

If only…I was a very mediocre dad on my best days. In reality, I coped the way I knew how from years of hard life and very little processing up until that point. I shut down. While I was still able to help with a lot of daily tasks for my new born child, I was struggling. I had little to no joy, even with my family and even as my daughter stabilized medically and we got to leave the hospital with her. I was stuck grieving the life I thought I would have with my child and, as a lot of dads do, grieving the life that I left behind before someone depended on me for survival.

Now, though, years later, I am so joyful living a simple life. I like to workout, go on runs, play video games (still), draw cartoon animals, play sports, talk to my wife about life, and play with my child. Even with my daughter’s continuing medical conditions and needs, I no longer shut down in the face of life’s obstacles, but instead actually step up the way I wish I could have right from the beginning. 

So what changed? A lot, for sure, but, like I said, not linearly and not quickly.  Believe it or not, how I play with my child in particular has shaped my perspective on life dramatically. 

So, what makes children happy in play? What’s the secret to mind-shaping play for both caregiver and child? New toys, exciting (expensive) trips, elaborate ____________? I strongly disagree. Children want a safe, stable environment, where they find peace (or regulation) in their daily lives. Children want challenges with a cheerleader- they want deep relationships with their caregivers where play is full of encouragement and guidance. Once I started seeing simple play with my child as a joy, I saw the fruits of contentment in both myself and my daughter.

My pediatric OT experience, caregiver experience, and formal education holds hands with my personal experience as a mediocre and growing dad to grow my passion for supporting other parents and caregivers who long to raise joyful kids into joyful adults. My passion is to support family structures with developing realistic, doable routines that bring sanity, contentment, and joy in the midst of busy schedules.