Natalie Jatulis Jatulis 1

Mrs. Walston
English III
17 November 2017

Benefits of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy is a beneficial treatment method for children with sensory processing

disorders. Sensory processing disorder (also known as SPD) is a condition in which the brain has

trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses. Occupational

therapists work with people of all ages who need specialized assistance. This helps lead to

independent, productive, and satisfying lives. I have been exposed to occupational therapy since a

very young age. My brother, Aidan, received occupational therapy as a treatment for his sensory

processing disorders when he was eight years old. Aidan received occupational therapy to improve

his issues with body coordination, oral, visual, and auditory sensory processing issues, along with

the ability to form plans. There is nothing you can do to prevent your child from having some form

of sensory processing disorders. In fact, Aidan met all his developmental milestones yet still

struggled with SPD. Overall, receiving occupational therapy helps improves the lives of

children with sensory disorders by improving their happiness by making them more

comfortable, creating a safe environment for these children, and lessening negative reactions

to everyday activities.

The forerunners of occupational therapy occurred as early as 100 BCE. OT was used for

treatment of patients with mental or emotional disorders. A Greek physician named Asclepiades

used therapeutic massages, exercises, baths, and music to heal stress and sooth people's minds. In

18th century, two Europeans, Philippe Pinel and Johann Christian Rell, adopted this method into

hospitals and began to improve it. It wasn't officially named occupational therapy until 1920.

Occupational Therapy emerged as a profession in the United States in 1971 when the National

society for Promotion of Occupational Therapy was founded. In 1975, employment in schools was

offered to thousands of therapists in order to enhance the abilities of disabled children for their
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active participation in regular school activities.

Sensory Processing Disorder is most commonly diagnosed in children, but people who

reach adulthood without treatment also may experience significant symptoms and continue to be

affected by their inability to accurately and appropriately interpret sensory messages. The most

recent approach in order to relieve symptoms is occupational therapy (also known as OT). OT

helps by working with a therapist on activities that help retrain the senses. This sensory integration

approach begins in a controlled and stimulating environment and focuses on making SPD easier

to manage in day-to-day life. Therapists use fun yet stimulating activities to challenge the patients

without overwhelming them or causing stimulation feelings of failure. Treatments include a

“sensory diet” where activities are introduced in a gentle, fun way in order to ease into a range of

sensations. In order for occupational therapy to be the most beneficial, these learned behaviors

need to be practiced not only during therapy but at home too. Treatments include a “sensory diet”

where activities are introduced in a gentle, fun way in order to ease into a range of sensations. SPD

can also be treated with medication. Ultimately, the goal is to make these new learned behaviors

instinctive reactions to daily tasks which will override their original reactions which is why OT is

better than medication.

Sensory processing disorders, originally called "sensory integration dysfunction" or SID),

have been treated for years and can be found in both children and adults. Cases can go unnoticed,

but are normally treated early on. SPD refers to the way the nervous system receives messages

from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses. According to

Star Institute, “Whether you are biting into a sandwich, riding a bicycle, or reading a book, your

successful completion of the activity requires accurate processing of sensation”(2017.) Some

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people with SPD are hypersensitive to normal activities and sounds in everyday environments.

Common sounds can be painful or overwhelming. Some people may be picky eaters based on the

texture of a food. The light touch of a shirt can leave an unsettling feeling. Some people with

SPD may be uncoordinated, bump into things, be unable to tell where their limbs are in a space,

and/ or have a hard time engaging in conversation or activities. They may also be fearful of

surprise touches and avoid hugs even with familiar people, seem fearful of crowds or avoid

standing in close proximity to others, or be extremely fearful of climbing and falling, even when

there is no real danger. Although these are all side effects and there are many more, someone

may only have one of these and still have SPD. Occupational therapy helps make the patient

more comfortable in these situations.

Occupational therapy helps with how you touch and are touched, how you move and are

moved, bilateral coordination, and eye motor skills. Psychotherapy, physical, vision, listening, and

speech therapy helps improving all of these. Physical therapy uses the sensory integration approach

(PT-SI). Vision therapy improves eye-motor skills for people who have trouble reading, writing,

etc. Listening therapy (LT) asks people with auditory issues to listen to a variety of sound

frequencies and patterns to stimulate the brain while doing other motor tasks like walking on a

balance beam. Psychotherapy is for people who have developed a mood disorder or anxiety

because of SPD which could be caused by waiting too long to begin treatment. Lastly, speech

therapy is used to improve communication techniques. All these different types of therapies are

used to some extent through occupational therapy.

Occupational therapists incorporate helping with fine motor skills, crossing midline, and

handwriting into fun activities in order to successfully benefit children. An example of this is by
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having the child make a “bean mosaic”. This is fun for the child meanwhile it is helping strengthen

their fingers and it has them focusing on picking one bean up at a time. This helps strengthen fine

motor skills, hand dexterity, visual motor skills, and more. Another beneficial activity is bouncing

on a trampoline. This helps with the physical side of OT by improving cardiovascular fitness,

strength building, and coordination. Stephanie Moyer from Educational Based Services Children’s

Therapy in West Chester also says that “Jumping on a trampoline benefits the senses by helping

children to calm down and make the body more alert after constant jumping. Children also learn

to interact well with others through trampolines therefore trampolines are a great way for children

to open up socially” (2017). In most cases, Occupational therapy has been proven to improve

children's fine motor skills.

Aidan received OT for approximately a year and a half which greatly improved his

symptoms. When he first began he had trouble with balancing, visual- motor control, joint laxity,

grasp, manual dexterity, overall body coordination, and sensory processing. Within SPD there are

many components which include auditory, visual, oral, vestibular, proprioceptive, tactile,

gustatory, and olfactory (Integration Therapy 2011). Aidan had difficulty with almost all of these

which was very hard for him as he is a very active kid who thoroughly enjoys playing sports like

basketball and football.

Auditory issues may include slow to respond to verbal commands, easily distracted in a

dynamic sensory environment, may have difficulty filtering auditory input, and/ or has difficulty

recalling multiple step directions (Integration Therapy 2011). All this together may be indicative

of deficiency in praxis, an acceptance of practice or custom, and can cause difficulty filtering

multiple types of auditory input. This definitely impacted his ability to focus on relevant auditory
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information such as directions, rules, or homework. Auditory Integration Therapy (AIT) is apart

of OT and helps by having the child listen to different frequencies of sounds amplifying some and

softening others. According to Dr. Erica Patino, “This can correct abnormal ear dominance and

help people hear, discriminate and remember speech sounds. This is similar to the way hearing

aids work for people with hearing loss” (2017).

Visual SPD can cause difficulty copying from the board, difficulty from tracking left to

right or up and down with fluid movements, and/ or difficulty stabilizing your eyes on a fixed

point. Difficulties in visual processing can impact a child’s ability to take notes from the board,

complete ball handling skills (such as throwing, catching, or dribbling), and reading (Integration

Therapy 2011). Some activities that are practiced in OT that help with visual SPD include

completing mazes and puzzles, drawing or painting pictures, playing “I spy”, completing dot to

dot puzzles, and more. Not only are these intriguing and fun for the child but they are very

beneficial in helping retrain themselves to be able to track different directions much more

smoothly.

Oral sensory processing refers to the ability to detect, experience, and adapt to a variety of

sensory experiences in and around the mouth (Integration Therapy 2011). Some people that have

oral SPD are picky eaters and refuse food due to temperature or texture and/ or avoid foods that

require lots of chewing. It is recommended that the child is involved in meal preparation process

to increase their exposure to non preferred foods. This is something that is able to be done in an

OT office, preparing and trying new foods, it is also recommended that a “family mealtime

routine” is established in order to see maximum results.

The vestibular system processes motion or change of head position. This has an influence
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on posture, balance, and bilateral motor coordination and one’s attentiveness level. The vestibular

system is also strongly linked with one’s oculomotor system influencing eye muscle movements.

Some signs of vestibular SPD includes one easily losing balance, being unable to adjust posture to

maintain an upright position on a moving surface, unable to sustain core stability when moving in

and out of midline, unable to hold the prone extension positions longer than 5 seconds, unable to

maintain an upright posture while seated on a therapy ball, unable to coordinate opposite sides of

the body, and many more. These issues can be resolved by activities such as jumping on a

trampoline or bounce house, sit and spinning in an office chair, bouncing on a therapy ball,

jumping rope, and other activities like that. By completing those enjoyable activities the child is

having fun and playing games while strengthening their core and their ability to coordinate their

body movements more smoothly.

The proprioceptive system processes input from the muscles and joints to provide the

individual with awareness of position in space and enable adjustments in strength, force, and

agility for successful completion of fine motor tasks. Proprioceptive input typically assists with

calming and organizing sensory information received. Some signs of proprioceptive SPD could be

holding a pencil too hard, unable to sustain the supine flexion ( lying on your back in a ball with

your arms crossed and knees flexed to 90 degrees), slouching at a table during standardized testing,

unable to disassociate shoulder and forearm movements during “hand flips”, and difficulty

completing finger opposition. Activities that strengthen this include going to a playground (or OT

gym), pushing a grocery cart or stroller, spinning as directed, playing with therapy putty,

encourage swinging, and participating in ball exercises as directed. This increases stimulation to

something they are not good at which improves their techniques as it makes it easier for them to

complete the activity.

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The tactile system registers and interprets touch information from the environment

including light, touch, pain, temperature, and pressure. Some signals of being affected by this that

Aidan was affected by include being irritated by clothing tags/ textures and hates haircuts and nail

trims. Tactile SPD can be one of the most difficult forms to live with. Playing in a sandbox, have

the child play locate marbles or coins inside therapy putty, and touching a brush to the child's arms/

legs can all be very beneficial. By exposing the child to something that they may not necessarily

enjoy helps them get used to it causing it to affect them less negatively.

Some people believe that occupational therapists are not actually experts and therefore are

not beneficial. That is incorrect. Although it does not matter what you major in when receiving

your bachelor's degree, after that you must earn your Master's degree for occupational therapy in

order to become a therapist. Some courses you must study include medical terminology, anatomy

and physiology, psychology, rehabilitation theory, and gerontology. During this time you complete

supervised work in clinics and/ or community organizations in order to gain hands on experience.

Following that you have to graduate from accredited OT or OTA program. Lastly, you must pass

the NBCOT Certification Examination and apply for your license and pay all the fees. Most states

allow practitioners to practice on a limited permit or temporary license while they are waiting to

take or receive the results of the certification exam but it is necessary to become licensed.

Essentially, occupational therapists are experts in this area and their effects on people with sensory

processing disorders are very beneficial.

In addition to the therapists, an important member of the health care team may be a doctor.

The doctor's role includes prescribing appropriate prescriptions to the patient. Some doctors

prescribe stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin to children diagnosed with both a sensory
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processing disorder and either ADHD or another autism spectrum disorder. These drugs can reduce

impulsiveness and hyperactivity, and may help some children concentrate better and remain on

task longer. While that is beneficial, there are very negative side effects of these medications

meanwhile there are not nearly as many from occupational therapy. Some side effects of these

drugs include headaches, weakness, dizziness, blurred vision, feeling restless, irritable, or agitated

and many more. Due to the negativity of those, occupational therapy is a much better, natural,

safer option for children.

All in all, there are a variety of treatments for sensory processing disorders but occupational

therapy is the most rewarding option. It is proven to have superior long term effects and is safer

when treating children. There is no medication required and there are helpful tasks that can be

practiced at home instead of in an office. Therefore, occupational therapy improves the daily lives

of children and their families causing overall happiness.

Works Cited

“About SPD.” Sensory Processing Disorder - STAR Institute,

www.spdstar.org/basic/about-spd.

“History of Occupational Therapy.” Top Occupational Therapy Schools,

www.topoccupationaltherapyschool.com/history-of-occupational-therapy/.

“How to Get a License.” Aota.org, www.aota.org/Practice/Manage/HowTo.aspx.

“How to Treat Sensory Processing Disorder.” ADDitude, 3 Aug. 2017,

www.additudemag.com/sensory-processing-disorder-treatment/.
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“Ithaca College.” What Is Occupational Therapy? - Occupational Therapy - School of

Health Sciences and Human Performance - Ithaca College,

www.ithaca.edu/hshp/depts/ot/faqs/whatisot/.

“Learn How to Become an Occupational Therapy Assistant.” All Allied Health Schools,

www.allalliedhealthschools.com/physical-therapy/become-an-occupational-therapy-

assistant/.

Michilea Patterson mpatterson@21st-centurymedia.com @MichileaP on Twitter.

“Benefits of Bouncing: Trampolines Good for the Body, the Mind and Learning.” Daily

Local News, Daily Local News, 19 May 2017,

www.dailylocal.com/article/DL/20170519/NEWS/170519746.

“Sensory Diet Activities.” Sensory Diet Activities - SensorySmarts,

www.sensorysmarts.com/sensory_diet_activities.html.

“Sensory Processing Disorder.” WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/children/sensory-

processing-disorder#1.

“Sensory Processing Disorder.” WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/children/sensory-

processing-disorder#1.

Understood.org, www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatments-

approaches/alternative-therapies/auditory-training-therapy-what-it-is-and-how-it-works.