Dr. Lucy Jane Miller honored with 2021 Patricia Buehler Legacy Award for Clinical Innovation
October 7, 2021

The USC Chan Division is honored to announce the recipient of the 2021 Patricia Buehler Legacy Award for Clinical Innovation, Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, PhD, OTR/L. Dr. Miller prepared her 2021 Buehler Award lecture, titled “What A Long Strange Trip It Has Been: Making a Difference.” The lecture was presented on Zoom on Wednesday, October 6 by Dr. Miller’s close colleague, Lisa Porter, PhD, OTD, OTR/L.

Lucy Jane Miller founded the STAR Institute for Sensory Processing Disorder in Colorado in 2005, after 12 years on the faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado, Denver Medical School. STAR (Sensory Therapies And Research) is a renowned center for treatment, research, education and advocacy for Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Dr. Miller currently serves as Emeritus Executive Director and is widely known for fostering collaborative research projects.

For more than 45 years, Dr. Miller has been devoted to the study and treatment of SPD, and for 18 years, she spearheaded the effort to get SPD recognized as a diagnostic entity in the DSM-5. Her first book, Sensational Kids: Hope and Help for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder, has become a definitive resource on SPD. She directed the STAR PROCESS, a treatment model that incorporates elements of Ayres Sensory Integration and the Developmental, Individualized, Relationship-based approach. She has developed nine norm-referenced standardized assessments that are in use worldwide, including the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (1982; 1988) and the Goal-Oriented Assessment of Lifeskills (GOAL; 2013). Her 10th scale, the Sensory Processing Three Dimensions (SP3D) Scale, is currently being standardized nationwide.

Dr. Lisa Porter is an assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Tennessee State University, and the owner of the Sensory KIDS pediatric clinic in Portland, Oregon. She is an occupational therapist with more than 25 years of clinical experience, and was mentored closely by Dr. Miller while completing a fellowship at the STAR Institute.

⋯