How Occupational Therapy Empowers Student Growth at Connections

Have you seen children with autism react strongly to a loud sound, appear to be in pain from clothing, not respond when their name is called, refuse to eat or constantly stay in motion? These are just a few of the behaviors that are common among children with autism that can be addressed through occupational therapy (OT).

Ms. Brittany (left) and Ms. Patrikka (right) apply proven strategies in the school's sensory room and beyond.

OT is a proven approach that helps children overcome barriers related to sensory processing, motor skills and coordination, self-regulation and social participation. Connections has an effective OT program with two full-time, board-certified OTs — Ms. Patrikka and Ms. Brittany — who work closely with students, teachers and families. Their goal is to help students develop the skills needed to participate in the classroom, build independence and engage socially. Ms. Patrikka says, “While our priority is looking at how children can succeed in the educational setting, we also look at the whole child and offer strategies and tools to address challenges that are interfering with the child’s ability to function well.” 

OT services at Connections include:

• Individualized plans tailored to each student’s sensory, motor and educational needs

• One-on-one therapy sessions to identify strategies that work for each child and help students build specific skills

• Push-in classroom support where OTs collaborate with teachers on strategies to address behaviors that interfere with learning and provide tools — such as a weighted vest, wiggle chair or fidget device — that teachers can provide to students when needed

• Pull-out sessions for students who need a break or targeted sensory input before returning to the classroom more regulated and focused

  
  

“Every child is different, and every day is different. We meet students where they are and adapt our strategies to help them learn.” — Ms. Patrikka

Our Sensory Room: A Space to Reset

Connections is fortunate to have a well-equipped sensory room — a carefully designed space where students can get the sensory input they need to regulate their bodies and refocus their energy. Our OTs or trained teachers guide students through purposeful activities in the room.

One corner of the Connections sensory room

The room features:

• A climb-up wall and crash pad for deep sensory input

• A calming bubble wall with changing colors

• Vibration seats and rocker chairs

• A fine motor area with a giant light bright board

• A handwriting wall with dry-erase surfaces

• A full-body steamroller

• Weighted devices to wear or lift

• Adjustable lighting and music

“I’m so grateful to work in a school that has a sensory room like this,” says Ms. Patrikka. “It’s very important to give students with autism a safe place to get the input they need so they can return to the classroom ready to learn.”

Real-Life Impact: Stories of Progress

One student, Annabel, arrived at Connections with difficulty focusing and sitting still. She was constantly in motion, seeking sensory input by spinning, running or moving in her chair. Her active state made it difficult for her to learn and could be distracting to other students, but Ms. Patrikka knew how to help. “Annabel is a sensory seeker who responds well to intensive sensory integration strategies,” explains Ms. Patrikka. “When she is overstimulated, we can take her to the sensory room and work on sensory input in low lighting with calm music. The specific input she needs vary from day to day, and she usually requires a blend of input — like falling on the crash pads, swinging and working with weighted tools. After about 20 minutes of sensory work, she is better able to regulate her body and can focus in the classroom.”

Ms. Patrikka helps Annabel obtain the sensory input she needs

Another student, Andrew, struggled with sensory sensitivity to the point that he would not wear pants or long-sleeve shirts, which appeared to cause him extreme discomfort. This became a particular challenge when his family prepared to travel to Colorado during the winter. His mom reached out to Ms. Brittany for help, and Ms. Brittany created a desensitization program for Andrew. “We needed to provide his sensory system with varying input to help him acclimate to various sensations,” explains Ms. Brittany. “We started with tactile exploration activities such as playing with ice or fake snow while we talked about the different sensations.” 

Ms. Brittany helped Andrew desensitize to warmer clothing

Next, Ms. Brittany introduced contrasting textures to him with soft and rough fabrics, letting him explore the differences with his hands. “When he was comfortable, I rubbed the fabrics on his hands and then his arms and legs, letting his body get used to the feeling of different materials,” she says. “Then we moved to a timed desensitizing task. I created a visual board that showed different clothing he would try wearing for a specified, short amount of time. The first week, he got to choose one of the clothing items to wear for 10 minutes. Each week, we’d up the time and he’d choose an additional item until the final week, when he was wearing all of the items he’d need to wear in Colorado. We wanted to tap into his intrinsic motivation so while wearing the clothing, we let him do a preferred activity. Andrew likes typing on a computer, so we let him do that while desensitizing to the clothing.”

Ms. Brittany further strengthened the strategy with a personalized social story about Andrew going to Colorado with his family. The story included pictures of Andrew and his family, showed the clothing he would wear on the trip and broke down the trip step-by-step. She and Andrew read the story together repeatedly as he desensitized to the ideas shown.

When the day of the trip arrived, Ms. Brittany was delighted to receive an email from Andrew’s mom with a photo of Andrew sitting in the car contently wearing the long-sleeve shirt, pants and hat that Ms. Brittany had helped him accept. 

How Occupational Therapy Helps Students with Autism

• Improves fine motor skills for tasks like handwriting, cutting and feeding

• Increases attention and focus in the classroom

• Builds sensory processing skills to desensitize to lights, sounds and textures

• Improves the ability to prioritize sounds, such as a teacher’s voice over the hum of lights

• Supports emotional regulation to manage anxiety 

• Improves body regulation with strategies to increase or decrease activity levels

• Encourages social interaction with social stories and with play-based learning

• Breaks down sensory barriers that lead to restrictive eating

• Boosts independence with daily tasks like dressing or using tools

The Long View: Progress Takes Time

OT can be highly effective, but it’s important for parents to approach it with realistic expectations. Ms. Patrikka explains, “Just like it takes months for a baby to learn to sit or crawl, progress in OT takes time, especially for students with developmental delays. We’re helping children build new neural pathways, and that doesn’t happen overnight.”

What does happen, day after day, is growth, she notes. Students become more confident, more independent and more able to participate in the world around them as they generalize skills learned in therapy to everyday life.

A Team Effort

Connections’ OT program is deeply collaborative. Therapists work side-by-side with teachers, paraprofessionals and families to ensure that strategies and accommodations are available across settings. “Every child is different, and every day is different,” says Ms. Patrikka. “We meet students where they are and adapt our strategies to help them learn.”