Who We Are

Julia Grover-Barrey OTR/L

My Story

When I was a little girl I was small; so small people were always surprised when I started talking. I had no trouble speaking, but I couldn’t always visually focus, print legibly or follow verbal instructions. I thought I was stupid. I hated school and found ways to avoid going. I socially isolated myself and was a stressed out kid.

I discovered through trial-error and taking a nontraditional path what I needed to make my brain work better. I learned movement was my way out of the restrictions placed on my body, brain and spirit. If I moved in a certain way and with the right effort I could hear better, see better and feel better. I was able to learn more easily, I became more social and confident. My personal experience motivated me to help other people and I’ve had a long successful career doing just that.

I graduated from Dalhousie University School of Occupational Therapy in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada in 1990. I have 35 years of experience evaluating occupational performance and helping adults and children achieve better function. I was the owner operator of a hand therapy clinic, outpatient pediatric and school-based practice in Tucson, AZ for most of my career. At this point I have worked with thousands of people and I plan on helping many more, because I love what I do. I am a keen observer and a life long learner. In 2024 I completed a Masters in Applied Neuroscience at King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. I bring my lived experience together with the art and science of being a therapist and being grounded in neuroscience into the neuroeducational space.

My family and I live in beautiful Tucson Arizona and the wild state of Maine. I enjoy a rural lifestyle with lots of animal friends.

Collaborators

Nancy J. Aguinaga, Ph.D.

Dr. Nancy Aguinaga is currently the Student Services Coordinator at BASIS Oro Valley Primary. She is also the founder and administrator at a small private school for students with learning differences in Tucson. She has been a Professor at Southeast Missouri State University for 12 years prior to going back to K-12 education. She was the coordinator of the Graduate Program in Exceptional Child Education at Southeast. In addition, she developed the Autism Certificate Program for teachers and related service providers at Southeast. Prior to Southeast, she taught at the University of Southern Indiana and the University of Central Florida. She attended and worked at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for three Summer Institutes, working with educators from around the world introducing UDL. She is a former teacher of high school students with varying exceptionalities, predominantly severe emotional challenges, and middle school students on the autism spectrum.

Chris Justesen

Chris Justesen attended Penn State University and earned her BA in Elementary Education, becoming certified as a K-6 teacher. After several years however, she found her true passion was in Early Childhood Education and founded an ECE school in 1996.  She has been an advocate for young children in her community ever since. Chris has always been fascinated with the concept of the mind-body connection and has intuitively created curricula that is both developmentally appropriate and utilizes best practices for brain growth and function.

Chris was awarded the ELEA National Director of the year award in 2017 and subsequently served on their Education Association’s Board for 5 years. During her years on the board, she was introduced to the concept of Universal Design for Learning, and has since transitioned her program to become a truly inclusive school where differently abled children are welcomed and given the tools they need to thrive.

Michael John Wiley

Although piano was his first musical instrument, by the time he was nine years old, he had taken to the acoustic guitar as his personal favorite and continued this passion into his college years and beyond.  After graduating with honors in 1996 from the University Of Arizona with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition, he became employed with the TUSD through an experimental “Imaginarium” program, designed to bring local working artists to elementary schools.  During this four-year period of service, he began work on two major personal projects: transcribing the Mayan Calendar into music and writing a comprehensive and interactive music theory manual based on his color-coded guitar, which he had developed while composing during his studies at the U of A in 1991.

Shortly after releasing his 2000 debut album OXLAHUN, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra honored Michael with a world premier performance of his composition Tzolkin in C Major (based on the sacred 260-day calendar), which took Third Prize at the prestigious Toru Takemistu Orchestral Competition in Japan, 2002.  Two years later, Michael embarked on a one-year international head-teacher position coordinated by local Tucsonan educators, at a brand new and exciting English speaking kindergarten school in Northern China.  As a head teacher, he further developed his color-coded music curriculum and upon returning home, channeled his creative efforts into Musical Colors, an educational company dedicated to music pedagogy and musical instrument appreciation using color-coded musical instrument stickers.

In 2007, Michael released his first edition Tzolkin DVD, which showcases his award winning music, presents his audio-visual calendar experience “Tzolkin Cultural Meditation”, and details his musical theories and projects to date.  It was by now that he had received a five year commission to write a requiem which has since then been produced for full orchestra, mariachi, grand choir and voice soloists and is titled Lamento De La Frontera.  Michael lives in Tucson, Arizona with his lovely wife and two young boys, and spearheaded International Premium Coffee Corporation, which worked directly with farmers to bring specialty coffee from Mexico to the US.  Michael continues to play and compose music and to inspire others to do the same for themselves in order to transform our world.

Serena Gabriel

Serena Gabriel is a multi-instrumentalist, performer, acupuncturist and sound therapist who weaves sound and movement into her sessions and creative projects to make use of their profound inspirational and healing potential.

For over 30 years, movement and sound have been and still are crucial components of Serena’s personal growth process. From an early age, she has found balance and a sense of universal connection through her dedication to various dance forms and therapeutic musical explorations, resulting in her work being richly influenced by her years of firsthand experience.

Ms. Gabriel’s work is an opportunity to journey along enchanting and rejuvenating sonic pathways guided by a combination of exotic world instruments and modern technologies. 

Sabrina Vincent

Sabrina Vincent is an illustrator animator.  She lives in Tucson, Arizona with her family. Sabrina's talent and empathy for children with sensory impairment is evident in the emotion she brings to her illustrations and animation.  Her work has strengthened the fabric of many In-Tuned(TM) projects.

Other works can be viewed at slovly.com