3. OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN
SCHOOLS
“An occupational therapist considers the child's
occupations of play and school. If a child is
unable to fully participate in play or school, the
occupational therapist provides services to
increase the child's function and success. A
student must be in special education, with an
identified disability, in order to receive
occupational therapy services in the school
system”.
(http://www.lisd.net/speced/otweb/index.htm)
4. HOW CAN OCCUPATIONAL
THERAPY HELP?
Areas of treatment
Visual Motor Integration
Visual Perceptual Motor
Visual Spatial Awareness
Motor coordination
Motor planning
Postural stability
Sensory Processing
5. VISUAL MOTOR SKILLS
“The ability to draw or reproduce what one sees.”
(Handy Learning Susan Thompson, OTR, 2004)
6. VISUAL PERCEPTION
“The ability to see, discern and recognize shapes
visually.”
(Handy Learning Susan Thompson, OTR, 2004)
7. MOTOR COORDINATION AND
MOTOR PLANNING
“The ability to move through a novel motor task
without difficulties and transfer learned
movement patterns to new tasks.”
(Handy Learning Susan Thompson, OTR, 2004)
8. PROXIMAL STABILITY
“The ability to maintain a fixed posture without
external support”.
(Handy Learning Susan Thompson, OTR, 2004)
9. SENSORY PROCESSING
“Sensory Processing involves the ability to take in
information about our environment through the
senses and use the information in a meaningful
and functional manner.”
(http://www.lisd.net/speced/otweb/sensoryProcessing.htm)
10. SIGNIFICANT DELAY
For a student to qualify for occupational therapy
as a related service they must present with a
significant delay that impacts their ability to
access their school curriculum.
So what can we do for those students who may
not qualify for occupational therapy intervention
but have a difficult time with their writing
skills???
11. HIERARCHY OF THE REFERRAL
PROCESS WITHIN THE
WALLENPAUPACK SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Teacher identifies a need
Teacher contacts school guidance counselor
Trouble shooting ideas and support interventions
are given to the teacher
Teacher trials interventions for 6 weeks
If no progress is being made, the student is
referred to the SAP team.
Team will determine necessity for an
Occupational therapy screen
Occupational therapist will screen and make
determination as to whether or not the student
will require an OT evaluation.
12. HOW THE OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST
CAN HELP IN THE RESPONSE TO
INTERVENTION PROCESS!!!
Trouble Shooting Ideas…………………….
Guide the SAP team in the determination of
appropriate intervention strategies.
13. REFERENCES
Case-Smith, J., (2001) Occupational therapy for Children 4th
edition.
St. Louis, MI: Mosby Inc.
Thompson, S., (2004) Handy Learning Activities for Hand Developmental and Curriculum
Enhancement. Retrieved from www.handylearning.com
Clark Brack, J. ( 2006) Sensory Processing Disorder Kit: Simulations and Solutions
for Parents, Teachers and Therapists. Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger Publishing
Company.
Notas del editor
This presentation will cover:
Definition of occupational therapy
Role of occupational therapist in the school
What occupational therapist work on (illegible print vs. occupational therapy need)
Heirarchy of referral process for OT at Wallenpaupack school district
Response to intervention
Trouble shooting ideas for teachers to assist with remedial suggestions to assist with illegible print
In the next slide I will discuss how an OT assesses performance skills to enable the student to participate in their occupational therapy role of:
WORK and PLAY
Occupational therapist assess the students in these performance areas to determine if they are impacting the students ability to particpate in their daily occupational role as a student.
WOLD Sentence Copy test with random copy letters.
After task is complete, ASK TEACHERS why they thought the group with the symbols took so much longer….
Then discuss or highlight key OT areas that could have affected it.
Key points- Group that received the random letters were affected in which ways?
Scanning and tracking skills may be affected-Slow speed, difficult time find next spot.
Visual memory/sequencing skills may be affected-Had to refer to each letter stroke as opposed to a sequence or chain of letters
Visual perception for letter formation and placement may be affected-Had to reference the shape or symbol again to ensure it was correct (letter placement student may be unsure)
Give them the mirror activity.
Key points!
How students may misinterpret visual information
May see letters or numbers reversed
Important for writing and legibility (sizing and placement of letters) (spacing between words)
Ask them to copy a sentence in cursive with their left hand.
Key points:
Example of the physical effort that is put forth with learning a new task
Some students have difficulty learning all new motor tasks and have to put forth this much effort for each task.
Example of sitting on a therapy ball.
Trial sitting on a ball without feet supported on the ground and place a pen in a cup!
Key points:
Control moves proximal to distal in development-strong core assists with fine motor development
Need proximal control to sit upright and use hands bilaterally.
Give them How Does Your Engine Run Checklist
After they have completed the checklist have them discuss number four on the list!
Discuss how we regulate our systems vs. how a student experiences a heightened need or intense frequency of these things in an attempt to regulate their system…..
1. Not controlled
2. Usually so intense that they are missing instruction
3. require consistency throughout their day (sensory diet)
Speak about standard deviations and norms briefly. 77.8 standard score or 25% delay in respect to typical students performance.
1. Hand out trouble shooting ideas to staff.
2. Go over trouble shooting guidelines with staff.