Pediatric Occupational Therapist • Founder & CEO • Educator • President of Illinois Occupational Therapy Association
Building stronger systems for children, families, and the professionals who serve them.
I’m Dr. Laura Mraz, OTD, OTR/L. My work brings together pediatric occupational therapy, multidisciplinary care, education, organizational leadership, and professional advocacy.
For nearly two decades, I have worked to turn evidence and ideas into practical systems that help children thrive, strengthen the professionals who support them, and create more connected approaches to care and education.
Whether you are looking for pediatric therapy services, education, a speaker, or a professional opportunity, your journey starts here.
Families & Referring Professionals
Connect with multidisciplinary programs supporting children with autism, sensory processing differences, developmental needs, and related challenges through neurodiversity-affirming, individualized care.
Our programs emphasize collaborative care across disciplines and support children not only in clinical settings, but also in the natural environments where they live, learn, play, and participate.
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Providers, Students & Educators
Explore evidence-informed education and resources in autism, neurodiversity-affirming practice, sensory processing and sensory integration, pediatric occupational therapy, collaborative care models, natural-environment intervention, and sensory-informed environmental design.
I also share perspectives on clinical reasoning, interdisciplinary collaboration, professional development, and preparing the next generation of clinicians and leaders.
EXPLORE INSIGHTS & RESOURCES →
Universities, Organizations & Community Groups
Invite me to speak on topics including autism and neurodiversity, sensory processing and sensory integration, neurodiversity-affirming practice, collaborative models of care, natural-environment intervention, sensory-informed environmental design, occupational therapy, and leadership development.
My speaking experience includes university guest lectures, community education and autism awareness events, professional programs, and presentations connected with my role as President of the Illinois Occupational Therapy Association.
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Professionals Looking for What’s Next
Explore opportunities to grow as a provider, educator, clinician, or leader within the Three Birds One Mission organizations.
Our teams emphasize neurodiversity-affirming practice, multidisciplinary collaboration, natural-environment care, professional education, mentorship, clinical development, and leadership growth throughout the career journey.
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Where evidence, environment, and collaboration come together.
I began my career as an occupational therapist with a deep interest in child development, sensory processing, and the ways a child’s environment can either support or limit participation.
That perspective has shaped nearly every part of my work.
Over time, my focus expanded from providing individual therapy to building systems of care that bring together autism and neurodiversity, sensory processing and sensory integration, collaborative multidisciplinary practice, natural environments, and thoughtful environmental design.
Today, I am the founder and CEO of Eyas Landing, Blue Bird Day, and Merlin Day Academy, three organizations connected through Three Birds One Mission. Each was developed to support children and families through different stages and settings, while sharing a common commitment to neurodiversity-affirming, individualized, and collaborative care.
I believe children are best supported when we look beyond a single diagnosis, discipline, or therapy room. Their success is influenced by the relationships around them, the environments in which they live and learn, the ways professionals collaborate, and whether the supports we provide translate into meaningful participation in everyday life.
My work now sits at the intersection of pediatric occupational therapy, autism, sensory processing and sensory integration, natural-environment practice, sensory-informed environmental design, multidisciplinary care, professional education, and leadership development.
I also serve as President of the Illinois Occupational Therapy Association, where my focus includes strengthening professional connection, education, leadership development, advocacy, and the systems that support occupational therapy practitioners and students across Illinois.
Through this site, I share what I have learned from clinical practice, organizational leadership, professional education, and nearly two decades of building programs for children, families, and clinicians—with the goal of helping others create care, environments, teams, and organizations that work better for the people within them.
LEARN MORE ABOUT MY STORY →
EXPLORE MY LEADERSHIP & ILOTA WORK →
EXPLORE PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION →
VISIT ILOTA.ORG →
THREE BIRDS. ONE MISSION.
Different environments. One connected philosophy of care.
I founded Eyas Landing, Blue Bird Day, and Merlin Day Academy to address a challenge I saw repeatedly in pediatric care: children do not experience their development one discipline, one therapy session, or one environment at a time.
They experience the world as a whole.
Across Three Birds One Mission, our programs are built around a shared commitment to neurodiversity-affirming practice, collaborative multidisciplinary care, sensory processing and sensory integration, and meaningful participation within the natural environments of childhood.
We consider not only the skills a child is developing, but also the people, relationships, routines, sensory experiences, and physical environments surrounding that child. Therapy and education become more meaningful when those pieces work together.
Eyas Landing
Multidisciplinary Pediatric Therapy in Everyday Life
Eyas Landing provides individualized pediatric therapy with an emphasis on understanding the whole child and translating intervention beyond the therapy session.
Our collaborative approach brings disciplines, caregivers, schools, and other members of a child’s team together while supporting participation across the home, school, daycare, community, clinic, and other natural environments where daily life happens.
For children with autism and sensory processing differences, this means considering regulation, sensory needs, relationships, routines, environment, and participation together rather than treating each challenge in isolation.
Blue Bird Day
Where Therapy, Learning, Play, and Environment Come Together
Blue Bird Day was created around the idea that young children learn and develop through participation in their everyday experiences—not by moving from one isolated therapy session to another.
Therapeutic and educational professionals collaborate throughout the child’s day, allowing support for communication, movement, sensory processing, regulation, social participation, learning, and independence to occur within meaningful routines and activities.
The physical and sensory environment is also intentionally considered as part of the intervention, creating spaces that can support engagement, regulation, exploration, and participation for neurodivergent children.
Merlin Day Academy
Collaborative Therapeutic Education for School-Age Children
Merlin Day Academy extends this integrated model into the school-age years, bringing education, therapeutic support, sensory-informed practice, and multidisciplinary collaboration together within the child’s learning environment.
Rather than separating educational and therapeutic needs, teams work collaboratively to understand how a child’s sensory processing, regulation, communication, motor skills, learning profile, environment, and relationships interact throughout the school day.
The goal is not simply to build isolated skills, but to create supports and environments that help students participate more meaningfully in learning, relationships, and everyday life.
