About

Hello!

My name is Dawn Klausmeier.

I am a Certified Child Life Specialist and mom of two young kids.

Child life specialists provide play, emotional support, education and advocacy to help kids and families cope with a child's illness, injury or hospitalization. I have supported children of all ages and medical needs, from making a bedside doctor exam less scary for a toddler to empowering a teen through education and preparation for their solid organ transplant. In my 10 years of experience, a majority of my clinical support was provided to children with chronic and/or serious illness and injuries. I completed critical-incident stress management (CISM) training and participated for 2 years on the hospital’s CISM team, co-facilitating debriefings for hospital employees.

I launched Dose of Play to fulfill a long-time dream of mine to help support parents, caregivers and kids beyond the hospital walls. I hope to shine a continuous spotlight on the important work of child life specialists, and other partnering health care professionals, who work from the heart every day to support the well-being of children in our communities.  

Dose of play was created to share play ideas, coping strategies, medical education, and resources with parents, caregivers, and healthcare professionals to support children facing challenges associated with both typical development and medical experiences.