ABOUT

Elisa Smith, PT, DPT, NCS

Doctor of Physical Therapy & Board Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist 

Elisa Smith has a B.S. in biology from Seattle Pacific University (2002) and a clinical doctorate in physical therapy from Eastern Washington University (2005).  She is a Neurologic Clinical Specialist and and has been doing wheelchair seating since 2005, serving both children and adults with a wide range of disabilities. 

From 2005 to 2016, she worked on inpatient rehab as well as a rotation on outpatient neuro and seating clinic at Harborview Medical Center.  During that time, she did also short-term wheelchair seating trips in China, India, Ghana, Peru, and Jordan.  Since then she has done inpatient rehab at Seattle Children's Hospital, home health with Rehab Without Walls,  and school-based PT.  She and Holly Wakefield Miller founded Mobility Coaching and Outfitting, PLLC, in 2017.  Holly left the company in 2022 to focus on her job as a school district PT and on her growing family. 

From 2012 to 2021 she was on UW Medicine's Spinal Cord Injury Consumer Advisory Board. Between 2020 and 2026 she was a member of the International Standards Organization (ISO) committee revising wheelchair standard 7276-26.

Elisa enjoys teaching and mentoring others in the area of wheelchair seating and mobility. She was an adjunct faculty member of the University of Puget Sound Doctor of Physical Therapy Program from 2016 to 2024. She  created manual wheelchair and transfer skills videos for people with disabilities, students, and clinicians via the UW Medicine’s Spinal Cord Injury Empowerment Project.  She mentors other physical therapists in wheelchair seating around WA State and has presented at conferences and forums including with the NW Regional Spinal Cord Injury System,  Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals,  Spinal Cord Injury Model System's Therapy Leadership Team, and the Physical Therapy Association of Washington (PTWA).  

She is forever indebted to the physical therapists who have invested in her professionally, including Amy (Icarangal) Samora, Joshua Golden, Holly Wakefield Miller, and Jennifer Hastings, as well as a number of wheelchair supplier and manufacturing reps including Tracy Smith, Shannon Fouts, Joe Miller, Christy Natale, Doug Bakken, and David Greig. 

Elisa enjoys cycling, hiking, foraging, backpacking, and reading and looks forward to collaborating with you.