PDA North America Level 2 Certified

Specialties

• ADHD

• Autism

• Dysgraphia

• Handwriting

• Interoception

• PDA, RDA

• Trauma

• IEEs

Welcome to The Learning Owl! I’m Caitlin Loyd, a Pediatric Occupational Therapist providing child-centered services both in-person locally within the greater Sacramento area, and virtually throughout all of California.

Throughout my early life, I learned to effectively mask and hide my differences that made me “weird”. However, in more recent years as a late-diagnosed autistic adult, with the support of the community I’ve built around myself, I’ve been able to embrace and love my weirdness, and find safety, acceptance and nurturing encouragement to live my life more authentically. I often experience anxiety, dysregulation and burnout, and have many sensory support needs. I’ve learned, and continue to learn, strategies to support and advocate for myself. And, in learning to accept, value and appreciate my own strengths and support needs, I’ve similarly become passionately involved in learning everything I can to further support the children and families I serve.

My pediatric practice experience started with an advanced post-graduate placement in Stanford Children’s Hospital, where I worked with medically complex, post-surgical and chronically ill children. I then worked with California Children’s Services serving children with orthopedic and neurologically complex diagnoses. Following the birth of my first child, and our family move to the Sacramento area, I started working with an Early Intervention practice supporting babies and toddlers with early development skill acquisition and building. 

I believe children intuitively know what they need to learn and grow. When we create safe spaces rooted in patience, validation, and trust while fostering confidence in their ability to succeed, we open up opportunities for them to flourish Success is not measured by a child’s ability to meet the expectations of standards set by someone else. Success is a child having the motivation to try, and try again, even when their goal is challenging. Success comes from having support, building confidence and experiencing wins that bring them joy and excitement about what they’re doing, and keeps them coming back for more.

I feel so privileged for all the opportunities I’ve had to work with children and their families, and I look forward to all the opportunities to come.