I was recently honored to present Grand Rounds at Solnit Children’s Center, the adolescent psychiatric hospital where I work. GrandRoundsOT Outline Our dynamic transdisciplinary team over the past 5 years was able to significantly reduce the use of restraint and seclusion.OT role in Restraint Reduction Solnit which was celebrated by making a bench for the hospital grounds […]
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FAB Strategies® are Functionally Alert Body Strategies that can be used by parents, teachers, as well as Occupational, Speech, Physical, and Mental Health therapists to improve youngster’s functional behavior. FAB Strategies® were developed to guide transdisciplinary intervention for individuals with developmental, mental health, post traumatic stress disorder, and sensory processing challenges. FAB Strategies® combines developmental,
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School occupational therapists emphasis on therapeutic relationships, mental health, sensory processing, attachment, development, purposeful activity and self-regulation offer a unique contribution for improving the behavior of students with developmental trauma disorder. School behavioral problems related to developmental trauma are seen in students who have experienced early chronic abuse. Many students with developmental trauma difficulties have
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Adolescents with PTSD and sensory processing challenges can benefit from sensory strategies to improve their behavior. Sensory strategies are particularly helpful for improving attention and decreasing aggression. While too seldom used for PTSD I have found that deep pressure touch sensory strategies can be particularly effective for reducing aggression and improving attention in teenagers with
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Mindfulness is the process of paying attention to what you are currently doing and feeling. Attention is a vital skill that is too often underemphasized, particularly when teaching young and developmentally challenged individuals. Movement strategies are useful for teaching mindfulness, self-control, and attention. Several useful movement strategies are listed below that can help young and developmentally challenged
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School occupational therapists and teachers can combine functional sensory and behavioral strategies to reduce student aggression, restraint, and seclusion. School aggression, seclusion and restraint have become a major concern, particularly with students who have complex behavioral, mental health, trauma history, family, and/or sensory processing challenges. Reducing-Restraint-and-Seclusion Combined sensory and behavioral strategies help decrease aggression in students
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A lot of occupational therapy referrals at my psychiatric hospital are for adolescents and young adults with mental health, trauma history, developmental, and/or sensory processing challenges who repeatedly injure themselves. Individuals with trauma history and developmental challenges have greater incidences of neurological, sensory processing, and self-injury challenges. Clients with these complex difficulties benefit from integrated
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Hearing voices that others don’t perceive is a challenging difficulty for a small but significant number of children, adolescents, and adults. While some people who hear voices do not experience functional problems, many do. Medications help some but not all people who have functional difficulties involving hearing voices, but do not always eliminate the problem.
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Occupational, Speech/Language, and mental health therapists can work in conjunction with teachers to integrate sensory integration and mindfulness activities with positive behavioral support preventive interventions. Sensory Integration can help enhance emotion regulation and behavior. Synthesizing sensory integration with positive behavioral support strategies comprehensively addresses the development of sensory seeking, novelty seeking, and impulsive behaviors associated
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Intervention strategies promoting body awareness can improve learning and behavior in children and adolescents with sensory processing, trauma history, sensory processing, developmental, and mental health challenges. Improving youngster’s body awareness is particularly important for children and adolescents because it provides the foundation for self-control and learning. Many children with internalizing behavioral challenges including depression and
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