Please take a moment to check it out on this website especially with Annual Reviews right around the corner. Select the SOTL button for an overview, a case study example of the tool, and access information.

It is a thrill to have received the following review from Charles Fox, a special education lawyer.

Contact Mary Block for information to meet your child’s special needs.

School: Occupational therapy is a Related Service to special education. OT’s coordinate with school teams to assure a child’s participation in educationally relevant activities by working directly or indirectly with the child, modifying a task, and/or changing some aspect of the environment. Interventions are designed to promote inclusion in the educational environment.

Clinical: Occupational therapy’s focus is on the child’s participation in the home and community. The therapist works with the child, family, and designated community members to assure that the child develops the skills needed to meet family, cultural, and social expectations. The child is gently challenged to meet demands through graded activities and play. Parent(s) are often encouraged to join. They work with the therapist to generalize their child’s developing skills to daily life.

Both: The professions’ current slogan reads, “Skills for the Job of Living”. Occupational therapy’s overreaching goal is to facilitate participation in all valued life experiences through remediation of human restrictions or modification of task or context.

Example 1: Adrian has always found transitions difficult. His mother recall’s “When I’d take Adrian shopping as a baby I’d give him a little snack, maybe some cheerio’s to crunch on. One day, an o fell on the floor beneath the grocery cart. Adrian wouldn’t stop crying until I secreted a an o in my hand and stooped down to the floor pretending to pick up the dropped o but substituting the clean one while I ground the other beneath my feet.”

Now, a few years later, Adrian is in first grade. He produces high-level work but he is a perfectionist. He tantrums and seems inconsolable if he hasn’t finished a project to his requirements when the teacher shifts to a new task.

School:
-Provide a visual calendar of the days activities.
-Provide warning when a transition is eminent.
-Provide reassurance that opportunities for further work will be provided.
-Provide a “break” so that Adrian can collect himself.
-Follow-up with teacher and team to assure generalization of skills.
-Follow-up with parents during conferences.

Clinical:
-Provide play activities with several embedded transitions.
-Provide structure to play with “rules” & behavior expectations for transitions.
-Provide a downgraded play with similar characteristics as a break if possible.
-Provide a contrasting experience for a “break” and rebuild into structured play.
-Include parent(s) during play if possible so that they personalize and use appealing strategies at home and in the community.
-Follow-up with parent(s) weekly. Consult between sessions to assure generalization of skills.

Other programs or topics may be suggested or developed to meet your individual needs.