An occupational therapist with 17 years experience, Achenbach is board-certified in pediatrics by the American Occupational Therapy Association and has been SIPT-certified since 1996. She has operated a private pediatric occupational therapy practice since 2000.

Achenbach and several colleagues created the Sensory Integration Education and Resource Foundation (www.sierf.org), whose mission is to be the prime resource for education, research and treatment of Dysfunction of Sensory Integration (DSI).DSI is a complex neurological disorder that is manifested by difficulty in processing sensations.