Meet Our Team
Jana Newton, Occupational Therapist & Founder of Iron City OT
Jana earned her undergraduate degree from The University of Alabama and her Master’s of Occupational Therapy from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. She spent the first decade of her career in California, gaining diverse experience across various settings, including early intervention, acute care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation, and outpatient clinics. Upon returning to Alabama, she transitioned to school-based therapy before founding Iron City OT. This broad range of experience has given Jana a well-rounded understanding of how developmental foundations influence a child’s growth. While she has worked across the lifespan, she discovered her true passion in pediatrics.
Jana sees the potential in every child and believes that the neuroplasticity of a child's brain, when combined with skilled intervention, can transform the trajectory of their life. She is a strong advocate for the brain-body connection as the foundation of all aspects of daily living. Jana holds advanced certifications in multiple neurodevelopmental therapies, is highly trained in various bodywork and manual therapy techniques, and specializes in supporting infant feeding and development. Her comprehensive, whole-body approach is designed to achieve optimal functional outcomes.
Outside of work, Jana enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters. She also serves on the executive board of Libby's Friends, a nonprofit organization dedicated to easing the financial burden of living with a disability.
Iron City OT’s Story
In 2021, after returning to work following maternity leave for her second child, Jana made the pivotal decision to leave the corporate therapy world and create a practice that prioritized personalized care. Inspired by her own experiences as a new mother—facing challenges with breastfeeding, feeling hopeless, and struggling to find answers for her child—she envisioned a space where families would feel truly supported, a place she had wished for with her first child. Drawing on her extensive neurodevelopmental expertise, Jana sought to provide families with access to innovative therapy tailored to their unique needs. With this vision, Jana founded Iron City OT—a small, private practice where families receive the personalized care and attention they deserve. Having spent many years in school-based therapy, she found great joy in expanding her reach into the community through Iron City OT’s passionate team of occupational, physical, and speech therapists, who support local school therapy services. Jana is proud to continue empowering children and families, creating a lasting impact through compassionate and expert care alongside her dedicated team.
Karla Sasser,
Occupational Therapist
As the senior OT at Iron City, Karla has a wide range of experiences in early intervention, orthopedics, acute care, and rehab. She has always kept a pathway open to provide pediatric services to underserved urban and rural communities. Teaching is one of her passions, and she places a high priority on ensuring that the client and caregiver have a solid understanding of the challenge and what to expect from OT. She is a 1985 graduate of The Medical College of Georgia and has been working with school systems for sixteen years. She also provides professional development training for general education and special education teachers to provide classroom strategies that help identify fine and visual motor delays as well as teaching strategies that support learning and motor development.
Lauren Barry,
Occupational Therapist
Lauren is a licensed and registered Occupational Therapist. She is originally from Huntsville, AL, and attended Auburn University for her undergraduate studies where she received a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science. She then attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she received her Masters in Occupational Therapy in 2013. Lauren has spent her OT career working in pediatrics with children of all ages in outpatient and school settings. She has always had a passion for working with children and loves being a part of helping them develop new skills to function at their highest potential. She loves to see her students and clients grow in their confidence and independence as they achieve and overcome challenges to help them better engage in their daily routines. In her spare time, Lauren enjoys spending time with her husband and being a mom to their three very busy children!
Olivia Smitherman, Occupational Therapist
Olivia has been an Occupational Therapist for nearly fifteen years. Originally from Gulfport, MS, she earned her Master’s of Occupational Therapy from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 2010. Olivia has always been passionate about neurorehabilitation, spending12 years at UAB’s Spain Rehabilitation Center before transitioning to school-based therapy and, eventually, outpatient pediatrics. Her favorite aspect of being an occupational therapist is providing the "just right" challenge to help clients succeed. She loves witnessing the moment a client achieves a new skill or goal and seeing that lightbulb moment of understanding. In her free time, Olivia enjoys spending quality time with her husband and their two daughters, as well as playing tennis.
Maggie Cox, Speech Therapist
Maggie has worked as a speech-language pathologist for over ten years and has a passion for working with children and adolescents. Maggie completed her undergraduate studies at Florida State University; followed by her Master’s of Communication Disorders from Auburn University. Throughout her career, she has worked with pediatric clients from birth to young adulthood in both outpatient clinics and within school settings; she has a continued passion for working with children to help them better communicate with the world around them. She has a specialized interest in the area of literacy and has training in the Orton-Gillingham reading approach. Maggie likes to spend her free time with her husband and two children and all the activities her children are involved in.