Supporting People with Anxiety, Using Sensory Integration and Other Strategies

Submitted by Guest authour Jane OT As I read the recent article “14 Phrases Kids Said That Were Code Words for ‘I’m Anxious“ from The Mighty, It felt familiar – like I had met every one of these responses to anxiety and not just from children.  “What’s wrong with me?”… “I’m tired.” … “Can’t we stay […]

Occupational Therapy and Trauma 3: A Tool for considering the physical environment in children’s residential homes to address sensory processing issues in trauma-affected children

This article by Clinical Psychologists Christopher Robinson and Alicia Madeleine Brown in the Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care includes a lovely environmental checklist (adapted from Simpson 2009) used in considering the physical environment in three children’s residential homes. Abstract: Sensory processing issues are generally considered to be clinically significant in children who have suffered […]

What is Ayres’ Sensory Integration Therapy all about?

Today I was chatting to another therapist, who remarked on how people think it’s the room and equipment that make the therapy. Ayres’ Sensory Integration is about how the therapist mindfully uses knowledge gained through thorough assessment to carefully plan and create an environment so interesting, motivating and exciting to their individual client that they […]

Ayres’ Sensory Integration and ADHD; what do we know?

In 2004 Aviva Yochman, Shula Parush and Asher Ornoy summarised a lot of history about ADHD and Sensory Integration in a journal article; Responses of Preschool Children With and Without ADHD to Sensory Events in Daily Life In 2010 Shelley Lane published a study that concluded that 54% of children with ADHD have sensory over-responsivity.  In […]

Resources for parents and families about Occupational Therapy

It’s the Easter break, after all the fun, reality often sets in and parents start to think about back to school. The summer term with SAT’s and exams can often be a time of worry and anxiety for older primary and secondary school-aged young people.This week we will be featuring a range of resources, including from […]

Ayres’ Sensory Integration and the great outdoors

The “just right challenge: for this plucky young lady. She clearly likes the sensory input these activities are providing to her body and brain. These are exactly the outdoor sensory system challenging opportunities afforded by climbing trees and jumping streams that  Jean Ayres’ wanted to recreate in her therapy spaces. For those of us lucky enough to […]