Meet the Team

With over 40 years of clinical practice as an OT, Jessica Presperin Pedersen has worked in all sectors of the wheelchair and seating industry as a master clinician, supplier, manufacturing consultant, design representative, and educator. Jessica started the first seating clinic in Chicago in the 1980s and continues to be involved in research, focusing on postural supports and power wheelchairs.

She is a RESNA and AOTA Fellow, serves on the Clinician Task Force, the seating and Wheeled Mobility Committee for AOTA, and has shared her experiences internationally through publications and presentations. Jessica loves to take advantage of what Chicago has to offer in food, sites, and entertainment, but also enjoys hikes through the local forest preserves and along the lake.

Karla Sonderland graduated with a master's degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Mary in North Dakota. She has 20 years of experience with a focus on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She brings to the team her knowledge and understanding of providing 24-hour care to individuals with multiple caregivers as well as helping individuals transition to alternate living arrangements with optimal assistive technology to ensure their safety and participation. Karla lives with her husband and three children in Iowa and manages the Midwest Clinical Education program.

Lindsey Veety is a Physical Therapist with over 20 years of experience specializing in pediatrics and adults with complex medical conditions. A RESNA certified ATP/SMS, she currently works as the Clinical Education Manager for Sunrise Medical in the Northeast. Lindsey specializes in custom seating, power mobility, and assistive technologies, with expertise in gait trainers, standers, and complex seating strategies. She collaborates with families and group homes to find both commercial and custom solutions, aiming to enhance independence, participation, and safety. Her experience includes complex rehabilitation equipment design, repair, and leadership in these areas, and she has shared her knowledge through international publications and presentations.

She currently lives at home with her family in the Hudson Valley in New York and in her free time enjoys quilting and the outdoors.

Erica Walling graduated with a master's degree in physical therapy from the Medical College of Georgia in 2002. Her background treating in an outpatient multidisciplinary neuro clinic led to her passion for seating and mobility. She has performed seating and mobility evaluations in a variety of settings throughout her career, with the past 10 years dedicated to managing a full-time seating and mobility clinic at an inpatient rehabilitation hospital. She has experience with both adult and pediatric patients in multiple settings and a variety of diagnoses. She is most passionate about custom manual wheelchair configuration for individuals with spinal cord injury, as well as alternative drive controls for both the SCI population as well as individuals with progressive neuromuscular disorders. Erica lives with her husband and son in Florida.

Christy Natale, DPT, ATP/SMS, CRTS has a dual background in the rehabilitation industry, starting her career as a Physical Therapist before transitioning to the role of Assistive Technology Professional for a supplier. She earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Pacific University in 2009 and has a combined 15 years of experience providing customized seating, positioning, and mobility solutions tailored to the needs and goals of her clients.

Christy specializes in enabling adults and children with complex disabilities to operate power wheelchairs through alternative drive controls and individualized programming, as well as the vital role of sleep positioning in 24-hour postural care. Beyond her clinical work, she is dedicated to educating fellow clinicians, enhancing their understanding of positioning and mobility principles to improve patient outcomes. Her enthusiasm for education and collaboration has established her as a respected resource among her peers.

Based in Seattle, Christy enjoys Crossfit, creating memories with her loved ones, and exploring the city's delicious food and wine scene.

Maya has been with Sunrise Medical since May of 2014. She is the primary contact and Clinical Educator for Latin America. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Therapy in 2006 from the University of Costa Rica. She worked five years for one of the biggest distributors of medical equipment Costa Rica ordering and delivering complex rehab products. This gave her the opportunity to position people of all ages, diagnose, and respond to their postural needs.

In 2011, Maya moved to the United States and obtained her ATP certification from RESNA and worked as an ATP before joining the team at Sunrise Medical. During her career with Sunrise, she has had the opportunity to deliver clinical sessions to physicians, PTs, and OTs in Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Colombia, Uruguay, and other countries in the region in their own language. She also trains dealers on Sunrise Medical products and systems as well as informs them when new products are launched.

When not busy improving people's lives with complex rehab technology, she is a mother of two adorable children. She likes to exercise and go for fun adventures with her husband and kids to the beautiful mountains of the Central Valley in California.

Kelly Honeycutt has worked in the Durable Medical Equipment and Complex Rehab Technology industries for 12 years. His background includes experience as a Senior DME Technician for multiple vendors in the greater Phoenix area, a Logistics Lead Technician for the largest hospital system in Arizona, and a Senior Field Technician for a national rehab technology vendor. Kelly's career has spanned a multitude of different DME/CRT products and manufacturers, and places a strong emphasis on customer service and quality of knowledge in the field technician space. Kelly brings years of real world field repair and service experience to Sunrise Medical to help develop the best, most durable equipment available on the market. He is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys exploring remote locations with his dog, as well as having fun with anything with a motor that goes fast.

Joseph Roebuck has worked in the Durable Medical Equipment and Complex Rehab Technology industries for 14 years. His background includes experience as a new rehab Seating Technician and Service Technician for multiple companies in New Mexico. Joseph specializes in manual and power wheelchairs, and places importance on customer service and quality. Joseph brings years of field repair and service experience to Sunrise Medical to assist in developing the best, most durable equipment available on the market. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his wife and son.

Trained as a Physical Therapist in the United States, Amy has over 20 years' experience working with the adult and pediatric neurologic populations, with specialties in the treatment of spinal cord injury & evaluation and provision of assistive technology for clients with physical challenges. She was the director of the Seating and Mobility Clinic in Boston, Massachusetts and provided consultation services to the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation.

Based in Sydney, Australia, Amy currently develops and implements national and international training programs on using Assistive Technology to enhance inclusion, health, and well-being in those with physical disabilities. She also serves a product improvement and development role for Sunrise Medical Australia.

Faith Brown is an HCPC-registered occupational therapist with over 20 years of international experience in the field of seating and mobility including the British National Health Service, as well as the private and NGO sectors. She has worked with all ages and levels of complexity, including leading an NHS special seating division.

She is a research champion for the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and has a history of lifelong professional development. Her post-qualification education includes a postgraduate certificate in Postural Management for People with Complex Disabilities from Oxford Brookes University, an MSc in Health Research Methods from the University of Birmingham (UK) and completion of an engineering module in wheelchair design at the University of San Francisco.

She enjoys integrating field experience and evidence-based information along with concepts from facilitation and design.

Laura has more than 20 years of experience in pediatric disability. After gaining a Master's and PhD in Clinical Engineering from Strathclyde University, she pursued a clinical career in the NHS as a Clinical Scientist specializing in adaptive equipment provision for children. Laura now enjoys the dual world of product development and pediatric therapy.

Laura's passion is in applying a biomechanical approach to the problem-solving of human-product interfaces with the ultimate goal of encouraging movement and restoring natural function.

Since completing her degree in Human Kinetic Engineering in 2005, Yvonne has been working in the wheelchair industry and has been with Sunrise Medical since 2011. Over the years, she has gained a lot of practical experience and further expanded her knowledge by attending seating symposia such as ESS and ISS.

She is currently working as a product manager and has gained a lot of product knowledge in that position. By combining her extensive product knowledge with physiological and practical knowledge, she is well placed to provide clear explanations for practical problems during training. The training sessions Yvonne gives are very clear, lively, and practice-oriented.

Yuting joined Sunrise Medical in 2020. She is the primary contact of the clinical education training program for China. She was trained as a Physical Therapist in Taiwan in 2006 and received her master degree of Rehabilitation Science and Technology at University of Pittsburgh in 2014. Currently based in Shanghai, Yuting has over 13 years of experience to serve people with disabilities, including complex rehab evaluation, implementation, equipment fitting, and outcome measurement in the United States, Taiwan, and China. She was also a trained equipment technician for a special education school for fitting, maintenance, and equipment repair. Yuting is a huge believer that assistive technology can improve people's lives and is a hands-on person willing to learn new things. She enjoys playing badminton and hiking with friends in her spare time.

James graduated from the University of Ulster in 2016 with a BSc in Occupational Therapy. Before joining Leckey in 2017, James worked in the NHS Pediatrics covering schools, the community, and clinics. As part of the Leckey Clinical Team, James works closely with the designers to create clinically innovative products. James's passion lies with specialized seating and upper limb therapies for children with Cerebral Palsy.

Hiroto is based in Japan, where he earned his bachelor's degree of Science in physical therapy. He has over 13 years of clinical experience working with neuromuscular disease and pediatric populations. He focused especially on utilizing assistive devices and modalities to improve mobility and function for his patients. He has a passionate drive to better people's lives and is currently running around Japan, training clinicians and dealers on seating intervention. Hiroto loves interacting and cooperating with dealers, clients, clinicians, and anyone related to seating and assistive technology to provide solutions to physical challenges. he has a balanced track record of integrating research and evidence to clinical practice and is both a research committee member within the International Organisation of Physiotherapists in Paediatrics, the Japan Society of Physical Therapy for Pediatrics, and is also a Japanese Duchenne muscular dystrophy physical therapy guideline member.

Previously being appointed to the medical team for the national and junior Paralympic Cerebral Palsy football team, he enjoys holding out and participating in enlightenment activities for adaptive sports and activities such as CP soccer and Frame football (for people who use walkers/crutches) outside of working hours.

Arnaud has been working at Sunrise Medical since 2008. After years of working as a product specialist, he now applies this acquired knowledge and experience in his role of product manager. From a young age, Arnaud has had a passion for everything technical. His background as a human kinetic engineer enables him to combine physiological knowledge with his technical insight.

Arnaud's trainings are characterized by a high degree of practical examples, bringing the subject matter to life in an enthusiastic way.

In his spare time, Arnaud likes to spend time with his family. The barbeque is often lit even in winter and he can regularly be found on the golf course.

As an occupational therapist specializing in the treatment of spinal cord injuries, Alexandre joined the Sunrise Medical France team as a product specialist before taking up his current position as Key Account Manager. His aim is to use the experience he has gained in his various roles and his vision as a therapist to offer quality advice and support to distributors, prescribers, and clients.

Rebekah graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2012 with a degree in Physiotherapy. She completed her junior rotations in both adult and children's physiotherapy in Nottinghamshire County before specializing as a Pediatric Physiotherapist in 2014.

Rebekah has a special interest in neuromuscular conditions and also the management of hip displacement in children with Cerebral Palsy.

Based in Italy, Federico graduated with a bachelor of Health Sciences (Occupational Therapy) degree from University of Pavia in 2017. He is the youngest Occupational Therapist that joins this Sunrise Medical Clinical Team, he is a talented and brilliant clinician despite his young age. He gained experience with a lot of internships in different facilities, being able to see different clinical realities, from spinal units to neurological rehab, working with blind or visually impaired patients always targeting independence in ADLs.

Federico is now one of the Product Specialists for Sunrise Medical Italy, his focus is manual wheelchairs, pediatric, and seating & posture. With his creativeness he supplies relative lack of experience, and thanks to his determination he keeps growing knowledge day by day, and is now ready to share his ideas with others to keep the learning process going.

Federico has lots of interests in his spare time, passing from skiing through steep mountains to surfing rolling waves under a sunset sky.

After finishing her Bachelor's of Occupational Therapy, Leonie has gained four years of experience within neurology and geriatric specializations. She has a further three years of experience in spinal cord injury early rehabilitation, supporting people in their first progression from bedridden to mobilizing independently, including advising on wheelchair choice and adjustments at home.

At Sunrise Medical, Leonie works with health insurers to understand how to justify their clients' wheelchair needs. She is also involved in building the clinical education portfolio for the German market.

Leonie lives in the Heidelberg area with her daughter and enjoys her passion for cooking and plants.