Joseph Pellerito
- Program Director
- jpellerito@samuelmerritt.edu
- Office
- Oakland
- Department
- Master Occupational Therapy
Colleges and programs
What they teach
I am new to SMU and thrilled to be here. My teaching begins this year. For twenty-five years I have taught occupational therapy from introductory courses through doctoral capstones, always grounded in real clinical cases from my years in rehabilitation practice.
Clinical practice area
My clinical expertise is in adapted driving and community mobility, assistive technology, and adult physical rehabilitation. For sixteen years I helped people regain independence after stroke, spinal cord injury, and other conditions. Driving is often the occupation people fear losing most, and restoring it changes everything.
Community involvement
I work with book publishers and periodicals as an author, editor, and reviewer, and I review grants and manuscripts for national organizations. I also co-host a podcast on higher education issues. I bring students into this work so they see how scholarship reaches people beyond the classroom, gatekeepers, and paywalls.
Notable affiliations
I am a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association. I also serve as senior editor for Landon Elsemere Publishing House, work with Harmony Publishing, and serve as a reviewer for several academic journals and publishers.
Selected scholarly highlights
My work centers on driving, community mobility, and assistive technology as pathways to independence for people with disabilities and older adults. I have edited textbooks used in occupational therapy programs nationally, with a new edition forthcoming, and secured several million dollars in grants and gifts supporting research, laboratories, and student scholarships.
