Play Based

Dawn Heino, OTR/L

Dawn has been passionately providing services to children and families for over 36 years after graduating from the University of Puget Sound. She is the owner of South Sound Pediatric OT in Puyallup, Washington. Over the years, she has developed expertise by working in a variety of settings, partnering with many amazing and professionally rich mentors, and attending and participating in many diverse activities and educational opportunities to improve her skills and knowledge base.

Dawn spent the first 8 years of her career at Sacred Heart Medical Center serving children with a variety of developmental challenges and their families in the following  settings: neonatal intensive care unit, pediatric intensive care unit, in-patient acute pediatrics, in-patient rehabilitation, in-patient child and adolescent psychology, and out-patient. She also worked with the local school district and several home health care agencies to provide OT services for medically fragile children in the home. She participated in the merger of Sacred Heart Medical Center and Deaconess Medical Center Rehabilitation Departments to establish St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute and worked there for another year and a half.  Areas of specialty included working with babies, working with infants and children with feeding challenges, and obtaining certification in the Neurodevelopmental Treatment Approach for Children with Cerebral Palsy.

Next, Dawn chose to expand her skills and abilities both professionally and personally with a new adventure. She took a job with Science Applications International Corporation, a company who had a contract to provide early intervention and school based services to children of military families stationed overseas. She worked 2 years in Germany and 3 1/2 years in Italy providing OT services within an early intervention program and in the department of defense schools. This is where her skills began to develop in providing transdisciplinary care within early intervention, using group models of treatment, and working with children on the autism spectrum.

When, Dawn was ready to return to the United States, she was blessed with the opportunity to join the team at Children’s Therapy Unit in Puyallup, Washington. At CTU, she provided occupational therapy intervention to children 0-18 years of age within an out-patient clinic. She continued to develop her skills especially in treating children on the autism spectrum and children with feeding challenges. Dawn also studied the DIRFloortime approach extensively and received DIRⓇ certification in December of 2009. Additionally, she completed certification in providing the  PLAY Project™ and offered this program at CTU for 5 years. 

At CTU, she also completed a research study looking at the effectiveness of the Play Project. This required writing a proposal, applying for grant funding through several organizations, managing the study, serving as the primary investigator, and writing a final report and manuscript submitted for publication.

Dawn also completed training in the SOS Approach to Feeding.

Dawn has taught a variety of classes at CTU and through other organizations and has mentored many other therapists. Dawn is a member of the following organizations: American Occupational Therapy Association, Washington Occupational Therapy Association, Play Project Organization, and the Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning.

In August of 2020, Dawn transitioned to working for University Place School District along with continuing to develop her private practice. Then in June of 2023, Dawn began working full-time in her private practice.

In her free time, Dawn enjoys many outdoor activities including: hiking, biking, skiing, snowshoeing, and sailing.

Mackenzie Zakharov MS OTR/L

Mackenzie graduated from the University of Washington in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, and earned a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (OT) from the University of Puget Sound in 2017. She worked at Children’s Therapy Center for several years where she learned from a wonderful team of OTs, speech and physical therapists. She has experience with traditional OT as well as feeding therapy, gymnastics and social skills groups, and aquatic OT. 

During her undergraduate schooling, Mackenzie volunteered with the YWCA Domestic Violence Shelter of Pierce County working with children who survived abusive situations. During her Master’s program she volunteered with Kids at Play Therapy providing aquatic OT, and was a mentor for Headstrong, an organization providing support to people with traumatic brain injuries and their families.  

Mackenzie began training as a PLAY Project Consultant in October of 2021 and joined South Sound Pediatric Occupational Therapy in January of 2022. 

Mackenzie grew up in the Pacific Northwest. She lives in Tacoma with her twin boys, her husband, and their dogs and cats. In her free time she can often be found playing outside with her kids, playing softball, camping, kayaking or skiing depending on the weather.

TIFFANY CUNNINGHAM

MS OTR/L

Tiffany Cunningham joined South Sound Pediatric Occupational Therapy in January of 2024. She has been a pediatric occupational therapist for 10 years, working in a variety of settings, including early intervention, medically based outpatient and private practice. She currently also works as a clinical instructor at the University of Puget Sound, guiding graduate students as they apply and expand upon the principles, techniques and values of the occupational therapy profession in both mental health and pediatric settings. Tiffany believes that all children and families require different supports and therapeutic approaches, but a core tenant of her practice is to hold the relationship between caregiver and child as the foundation for development. She has her level 1 DIR-FCD certification through Profectum Academy and has over 10 years of practice and mentorship using the DIR®/Floortime approach.
Tiffany grew up in West Seattle and completed her schooling at the University of Puget Sound in 2013. Tiffany and her husband lived in Washington DC for 5 years before moving back to Tacoma to be closer to family. When Tiffany is not treating, she is spending time with her husband and two daughters, exploring parks, riding bikes and eating at local restaurants.