AOTA

Authors:

Winnie Dunn, PhD, OTR, FAOTA

Earn: .1 AOTA CEU (1.25 NBCOT PDU; 1 contact hour)

Overview:

Sensory processing is a powerful body of knowledge that contributes to insights about a student’s and teacher’s behaviors. With these insights, occupational therapy practitioners can support the teacher and student to make adjustments that are respectful of sensory patterns and of the classroom routines. Research has flourished to show how sensory processing affects children’s lives; some studies have shown us the effectiveness of interventions that incorporate sensory knowledge into plans. More intervention research in authentic contexts, such as schools, will guide occupational therapy practices to support students and their teachers.

Learning Objectives:

1.      List the 4 basic patterns of sensory processing delineated in Dunn’s model.

2.      Describe how sensory processing challenges effect participation in school

3.      Describe the coaching method and how it can be used in occupational therapy to solve student problems at school.

4.      Discuss best practices for identifying sensory processing patterns at school.

5.      Describe evidence-based methods and interventions that may be used in occupational therapy to support participation in school.

 Key Terms and Concepts:

·         Coaching

·         Dunn’s model

·         Dunn’s Sensory Processing Framework

·         Goal attainment scaling

·         Self-regulation continuum

·         Sensory processing

·         Threshold