Meet Our Team
Christopher Dunstan, OTR/L
owner & founder
Christopher Dunstan, OTR/L is a Granite State native, occupational therapist, and the founder of Dunstan Pediatric Services. With over 25 years of clinical experience and 13 years as a business owner, Christopher has dedicated his career to empowering children and families across New Hampshire.
A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Christopher brings a strong foundation in pediatric occupational therapy and interdisciplinary collaboration, leading a skilled team that includes occupational, physical, and speech therapists, as well as a teacher for the visually impaired (TVI). He actively contributes to advancing the field through legislative efforts and professional engagement. In recent years, he co-presented on the process of updating the New Hampshire OT Practice Act at the AOTA conference in Orlando and shared research on the dual diagnosis of Autism and Developmental Coordination Disorder at the 14th International Developmental Coordination Disorder Conference in Toulouse, France. He has also co-authored legislation responsible for drafting key updates to the NH OT Practice Act, passed into law in 2023, as well as proposed rule edits to the NH DHHS associated with Medicaid to Schools.
Christopher is an active member of the New Hampshire Occupational Therapy Association (NHOTA) and a proud sponsor of the New Hampshire Association of Special Education Administrators (NHASEA), maintaining close ties with the school districts his practice supports.
In his free time, Christopher enjoys rejuvenating in his perennial gardens, playing guitar, and fly fishing in New England’s serene landscapes.
Tammy Butler
Office administrator
Tammy Butler set early roots in the seacoast region of NH, first as a Spaulding Red Raider and then as a community leader.
Tammy received her accounting degree from Penn Foster, and soon after completed a paralegal degree program from MacIntosh College. Tammy served as the Director of Administration and Finance at General Linen, and later worked in Business Services at Plymouth State University. Tammy assumed the DPS Office Administrator position nearly a decade ago and never looked back. From the accounting ledger to human resource support, Tammy supports a wide range of responsibilities at Dunstan Pediatric.
Tammy enjoys spending time with her family, seeing live music and theatre, and traveling the Holy Highway looking for adventure. Tammy also enjoys being part of the amazing team of professionals at DPS.
Alyssa Avery,MS, OTR/L
Related Services Manager
Alyssa graduated from the University of New England in 2008 with her Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy and has spent most of her professional career working with children from birth through age 21 and their families in school and community-based settings. Alyssa’s passion for working with children stems from her core belief that all individuals have a right to meaningful engagement and participation within their homes, schools and communities. She is a self-proclaimed life-long learner who enjoys learning about many topics, especially anything involving brain development.
Alyssa grew up in NH and is happy to now share adventures in the beauty of the Lakes Region and surrounding areas with her husband, two children and their dog. Together they enjoy being outdoors, exploring all that the area offers, while also traveling to new places for bigger adventures.
Alyssa is honored to be rejoining the Dunstan Pediatric Services team in the new position of Related Services Manager. In this role she aspires to support, energize, and facilitate connections among the fabulous team of DPS professionals in order to foster longevity and quality services within the communities they serve.
Brian Walsh, MOT, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
Brian has been on the DPS team since 2016. During that time, he has had the privilege to provide child-centered services to children in many districts. He also provided early intervention services from 2016-2020, working in homes with families, infants, and toddlers. Brian helped develop DPS’s trauma response protocol in preparation for the return to in-person learning in Fall 2020, and he is comfortable working within the trauma informed frame of reference in order to help reach children with more severe social emotional challenges. Recently Brian has transitioned into a new role at DPS coordinating fieldwork placements with local OT schools as well as training and educating incoming OTs for DPS. Brian loves music and plays keyboard in a local band in Plymouth. He also enjoys reading sci-fi novels and learning more about how the brain works.
Madison McCrorey, MSOT, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
Madison graduated from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences with her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. She grew up in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and loves all of what New England has to offer. Madison loves working within pediatrics and is passionate about the development of functional skills while interacting with nature. In her free time, Madison loves to hang out with family, her two cats Zesty and Dexter, as well as crochet.
Ariel Gosling, DSc., OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
Ariel graduated with a Doctorate of Science in Occupational Therapy from Baylor University of Texas and the U.S. Army in 2013 and a Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy from Dominican University of California in 2010. Ariel has worked in a broad range of settings including inpatient nursing facilities, hospital, outpatient upper extremity rehab, inpatient/outpatient behavioral health, home health, outpatient pediatrics and school-based OT. Through these experiences, Ariel discovered she loves working with kids the most. Ariel strongly believes in the benefits of childhood play for learning and developing skills, especially play and exploration in the outdoors. Ariel and her family finally settled to live in Plymouth, NH in 2019, after making several moves around the country. In her free time, she loves activities in the outdoors like biking, hiking and running, and she enjoys playing music, dancing, and doing art. Most importantly, she is a mom to two energetic kids and two energetic dogs.
Carolyn "Widge" Kent, MS, OT/L
Occupational Therapist
Carolyn “Widge” Kent, MS, OT/L,has been in practice for over 45 years and her career has centered on children with disabilities. Early in her clinical practice, she specialized in pediatric psychiatry and was an author of the chapter “Psychosocial Dysfunction” in the occupational therapy textbook, “The Developmental Therapist.” (2nd edition, 1979, Slack.) Later in her career as a certified special educator, as well as an occupational therapist, her focus was on preschoolers with educational disabilities. In addition to clinical practice, she has served as a Director of Special Education and as the chair of the committee that successfully lobbied for occupational therapy licensure in New Hampshire. She is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire (’65) and holds a graduate degree from Boston University (’68.)
Chloe Bettencourt, MS, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
Chloe graduated in 2021 from the University of New Hampshire with her Master of Science in occupational therapy. She is a New Hampshire native. Chloe’s passion for school-based occupational therapy grew throughout her three-month fieldwork experience at a school that included students from kindergarten through 8th grade. When not working, Chloe enjoys spending time with family and friends and staying active. Chloe is looking forward to beginning her OT career with DPS!
Mackenzie Ormiston, MOT, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
Mackenzie graduated from Quinnipiac University with her Master of Occupational Therapy. Since then, Mackenzie has been enjoying working in a variety of settings including skilled nursing and inpatient rehabilitation. She has recently relocated to New Hampshire from Montana where she spent much time exploring out West! In her free time, Mackenzie enjoys spending time with her dog Mosby, hiking, rock-climbing, and getting outside. She is very excited to be part of the Dunstan Pediatric team!
Natalie Compton, MS, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
Natalie graduated with a Masters in Occupational Therapy from the University of New Hampshire in 2021. She is a recent graduate with experience in providing OT services in the outpatient hand therapy setting and in the school setting. She always knew she wanted to work with children through her experiences working in preschools and various school settings.
Natalie grew up in the Lakes Region and wanted to stay in the area to be around her friends and family. She lives with her beloved cat, Sir Henry, and enjoys spending her free time with friends and family out on the boat or at her family’s cottages on the lake.
Rebecca Veltri, DPT
Physical Therapist
Rebecca has been practicing physical therapy since 2007. After graduating with a Doctor of Physical Therapy from Boston University, she has practiced primarily in pediatrics in Hawaii, Alaska, Virginia, Oregon and now New Hampshire! She has worked in many pediatric settings including early intervention, outpatient, community-based exercise groups and schools. Working in a variety of settings, and in diverse places (like the Alaska bush and remote Hawaiian Islands) has given Rebecca a unique perspective on the role of therapy in the lives of the families/students she serves. Working with diverse populations has strengthened Rebecca’s awareness and focus on making therapy as relevant and functional for each individual child/family. Rebecca has a special interest in complex rehabilitation equipment and seating/mobility as well.
Rebecca moved to New Hampshire in the fall of 2021 with her three young children and husband to be closer to family in Upstate NY and Rhode Island. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring the outdoors in this beautiful new place, participating in Cross Fit and running.
Amy Bickford, M.Ed., TVI
Teacher of the Visually Impaired
Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist
Amy Bickford, M.Ed., TVI earned her Master of Education TVI (Teacher of the Visually Impaired) from UMass Boston in 2018. Since that time Amy has accumulated over 7 years of teaching experience working with students across New Hampshire. Most recently, Amy returned to UMass Boston to complete further coursework for an Orientation and Mobility certification, culminating with a full-time summer internship with Miami Lighthouse for the Blind. Prior to becoming a TVI and O&M intern, Amy’s background is in teaching, earning teaching certification from Framingham State and then working to support students with disabilities in public school settings. Amy likes to be consistently challenged finding new and innovative ways for her students to become both independent learners and travelers!
Outside of work, Amy enjoys baking, travel and seasonal sports like hiking, kayaking, skiing, and snowshoeing. She lives with her husband, two dogs and two sons when they are home from college.
Jen Ernst, M.A., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Jen graduated from the University of Colorado in 2003 with her Master’s in Speech Pathology. She has practiced in a variety of public schools in Colorado, New Hampshire and Arizona. In addition to being a speech pathologist, Jen served as the Assistant Director and Special Education Director of a public charter school from 2017-2024. The most rewarding experiences for Jen are celebrating her students successes, no matter how small. She is excited to blend her administrative experience with her clinical knowledge to provide quality speech and language therapy for her students. When she is not working with students, Jen can most likely be found out on the trails hiking or trail running. She also enjoys spending time with her family and dog camping, and experiencing all that the outdoors has to offer.
Coni Dwinal, M.S., SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Coni received undergraduate and graduate degrees in Communication Disorders from the State University of New York at Fredonia, Northeastern University in Boston and UNH. She spent over 40 years working as a Speech Language Pathologist in NH public schools. She recently retired from Laconia School District doing one of the best jobs ever- giving kids a voice!
Coni has been active in the community for many years, she has been on the state board for best practices in education of children with Autism, but the most rewarding was teaching and directing the WHS signing chorus for 15 years. We learned sign language to modern songs and performed for the school, the community, and were invited to the state house to perform the Pledge of Allegiance.
After months of travel after retirement, Coni decided to come back to Speech Therapy part time with the Dunstan team!
Linda Riley, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Linda received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Communication Sciences/Speech-Language Pathology, from Loma Linda University in California.
She has worked in a variety of settings including schools, hospitals, clinics, and private practices, providing evaluations and therapeutic intervention to clients. An interdisciplinary team approach is an important aspect of her work as she provides guidance to assist in reaching maximum communication and language potential.
In her free time, Linda enjoys hiking with her pups, traveling, and playing in her pottery studio.
Lauren Saltalamacchia, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Kathleen Stevens, SLPA
Speech Language Pathology Assistant
Kathleen graduated from the University of Maine with a BA in Communication Disorders and BS a Elementary Education in 1997. Since then she has traveled extensively around the country working for various healthcare recruiting agencies and school districts with incredible K-12 students. She has a special interest in articulation remediation and loves helping children build their confidence and academic skills through improved communication.
Kathleen, along with her awesome husband and two fur baby kitties are thrilled to be living in New Hampshire and enjoying all the beauty that abounds. She enjoys spending time with loved ones, traveling, gardening, lake and beach adventures, and of course……skiing!
Amanda Robinson, COTA
Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant
Amanda is a compassionate and skilled Certified Occupational Therapy
Assistant with a diverse background in both pediatric and geriatric care. Since earning her
degree from River Valley Community College in 2017, Amanda has been dedicated to helping
individuals achieve and maintain their independence, whether through community-based
therapy, home health care, or her work with Dunstan Pediatric Services.
Amanda’s experience spans various settings, including rehabilitation centers and nursing
facilities, where she leads therapeutic activities designed to improve functional independence
and enhance quality of life. She brings a thorough understanding of medical terminology, first
aid, and therapeutic techniques to her role, and maintains active certifications in CPR, AED, and
Basic Life Support.
Amanda stays connected to her field through continuous learning
and professional engagement. Outside of work, Amanda lives in Wentworth, New Hampshire,
with her husband, Galen, and their two daughters, Lillian and Alice. She finds joy in spending
time with family, friends, and animals.