Occupational therapy uses specific child-directed sensory activities to achieve adaptive behavioral responses. To achieve adaptive responses specific support is provided to assure that the behavioral demands are challenging but not too difficult to achieve. Sensory coping strategies and sensory coping areas can be used to obtain the right combination of challenges and supports for adaptive behavioral responses.
While occupational therapy sensory activities are often criticized as being “fun but too frivolous for school”, students must be willing to actively participate in activities in order to learn from them. Discovering students’ interests is crucial for developing activities they will actively engage in to improve their adaptive behavioral responses. Once students are willingly engaging in activities the tasks can be gradually modified to promote their goal-directed adaptive behavioral responses (e.g., frustration tolerance, attention, seated attention, direction following, keeping safe hands). An individualized program of sensory copying strategies that promote self-control can be developed using the FAB STRATEGIES Form COLOR
Once therapists and teachers find engaging activities it is important to continuously modify the tasks so they are at a level that is not too hard or easy for the student. Students with behavioral, developmental, trauma history, and/or sensory processing challenges frequently show poor motivation and school behavioral problems because their developmental level and interests do not match the classroom curriculum. A preschooler at a six month developmental level obviously needs modifications in the typical preschool curriculum developed for four to five year olds. A more complicated challenge is the student with behavioral, developmental, trauma history, and/or sensory processing challenges who functions at significantly different levels in various developmental areas, requiring diverse challenges in different developmental areas (e.g., two year old social and six year old reading skills).
Because of delayed behavioral skills many children benefit from a sensory coping area they can use when they begin reacting negatively to environmental triggers (e.g., “being told what to do, being told no”) or showing body triggers (e.g., “acting hyper, hand fisting”). Sensory coping areas can vary from a special desk in the back of the class where the student can take a break to a designated room where the child can go with a teacher to do their self-calming activities. It is helpful to record the activities used and affects of the sensory coping room using the FAB Sensory Coping Area Log Occupational therapy directed sensory coping strategies and sensory coping areas are helpful ways of promoting child-directed sensory activities that promote students’ adaptive behavioral responses.
Reference:
Stackhouse, T. M. (2014). The adaptive response to the just-right challenge: Essential components of sensory integration intervention. Sensory Integration Special Interest Section Quarterly, 37(2).
