Instructors & Trainers

Debra Widmer Graduated University of Southern California 1978 with BS in Pyschology and MS in Physical Therapy.My focus during my education and research years was pediatrics. After internships at Children's Health Services of Greater Los Angeles, San Diego Children's Hospital, and Robert Breck Brigham Hospital-Pediatrics, I accepted a position at Newington Children's Hospital in Connecticut. From Newington, I established a private practice in Connecticut servicing children in school systems and in home settings. Currently, I am contracted to one public school system-Stonington Public Schools, Connecticut. I continue to provide services for children at their homes to install and promote function and fitness using TAAP: Treadmill for children with Autism and Apraxia Protocol. Early in my practice, I certified in NDT, Sensory Integration and many motor learning and manual techniques as well as vestibular training protocols. My inner goal was to continue the search for techniques/programs to synergize athletic training with therapy to increase effective and enduring results. I yearned to bring the “bigger, stronger, faster" to children who avoided movement and play. And, then…I wanted to link that effective technique/program as a foundation for classroom learning. I developed TAAP in 2004-5 and completed several action research projects verifying performance in 2006-8. Stonington Public Schools has been incorporating TAAP into grades preschool through 12. We have compiled data on 328 student cases where improved learning has been linked to treadmill training using the TAAP protocol.