How Occupational Therapy Helps with Sensory Integration Issues

Watch this Pathways.org video to learn how occupational therapy can be used as a treatment for children who struggle with sensory integration issues. This video shows occupational therapists and health professional experts, Susanne Smith Roley, Clare Giuffrida, Stefanie Bodison and Shay McAtee, discussing how occupational therapy works, and benefits that occupational therapy can provide. The video includes real-life scenes of a therapist providing occupational therapy with sensory integration approach for a young client.
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What is sensory integration? Sensory integration helps people "make sense" of the world around them. Sensory integration is the process of using our senses to take in and organize sensory information for success in everyday activities.
What is occupational therapy? Occupational therapy involves helping people with activities they need and want to do every day including self care skills (feeding, dressing, grooming, etc.) playing and communicating, and being part of their family. Occupational therapy goals include therapists enabling children to be able to do what they need and want to do: get dressed, ride a bike, make friends, perform tasks in class and learn at school. Occupational therapists are trained to assess how children use sensory integration, including any atypical sensory seeking or avoiding behaviors.
Many Pathways.org occupational therapists are certified in Sensory Integration Praxis Tests (SIPT) theory and test administration for assessing sensory integration development, as part of their occupational therapy practice. SIPT is group of tests that look closely at different sensory integration systems and help therapists to tease out a child's areas of concerns/strengths. Parents with concerns about any potential aspect of their child's sensory integration should seek an occupational therapy assessment.
What types of activities do therapists use during occupational therapy as a sensory integration approach?
Children may have sensory integration issues involving body position sense (proprioception) and (or) movement and (or) gravity sense (vestibular). Occupational therapists often engage them in physical activities, while slowing the world down a little bit. Occupational therapy also involves lots of fun sensory integration equipment. For example, therapists may use a trapeze during occupational therapy so children can move through space while developing a sense of their body weight, which is proprioceptive input. Other typical equipment used in occupational therapy with a sensory integration approach includes a ball pit, obstacle course setups, monkey bars, and also a frog swing where children jump to get input in their vestibular system. Research indicates that therapists providing sensory integration experiences during occupational therapy can also contribute to behavior, motor skill, social and emotional development. Sensory Integration therapy helps children with sensory processing disorder or SPD, ADD or ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder and other learning and behavior challenges.
What is the ultimate goal of occupational therapy for sensory integration? Occupational therapy strives to improve a child's confidence, self esteem and interaction with peers. At Pathways.org, we also educate and encourage therapists and health professionals worldwide to connect with families to help meet parents' goals for their children. For more information, resources and videos about occupational therapy, therapists, and sensory integration, please visit www.Pathways.org.
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