The Sensory Friendly Classroom: Facilitating Children’s Performance

Presented by: Teresa May-Benson, ScD, OTR/L, FAOTA
originally recorded August 18, 2014

Webinars are video presentations and include the recorded PowerPoint and lecture and a .pdf copy of the PowerPoint notes.

Description: Schools are a whirlwind of sensory information, often making them one of the most challenging settings for children with sensory processing difficulties to succeed in. But that doesn’t need to be the case. This webinar will discuss ways to develop a “sensory-friendly” classroom and integrate sensory principles into the classroom. Participants will learn the principles of being “sensory-friendly” and how to set up the optimal sensory environment for learning, as well specific curriculum activities for promoting arousal, modulation, sensory processing and sensori-motor development and organization.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this webinar viewers will be able to:

1. List components of a sensory-friendly classroom.
2. Identify classroom activities for promoting sensory processing and sensori-motor development.
3. Recognize ways of integrating sensory principles into the classroom environment.

 Course Level: Intermediate. There are no prerequisites for this course.

Suitable For: Occupational therapists, OT assistants, physical therapists, PT assistants and students, speech and language therapists, teachers, and educators.

AOTA
Domain: Performance Skills
Process: Assessment

Contact Hours: This course is worth 2.0 contact hour or 0.2 AOTA CEUs.

Completion Requirements: To receive contact hours for this course you must listen to the recorded webinar in its entirety and complete the accompanying assessment.

About the Speaker: Teresa A. May-Benson, ScD, OTR/L, FAOTA is the Executive Director of the Spiral Foundation as well as a practicing occupational therapist at OTA The Koomar Center. She is active in conducting research related to sensory integration through the Spiral Foundation’s Sensory Processing Research Center and Laboratory. She is a well-known lecturer and researcher on sensory integration theory and intervention, has authored book chapters and articles on praxis and sensory integration, and completed her doctoral dissertation on ideational praxis. Dr. May-Benson received her bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University and her master’s degree from Boston University with a concentration in sensory integration and school system therapy. She was a Maternal and Child Health Fellow in the Doctoral Program in Therapeutic Studies at Boston University. She has received the Virginia Scardinia Award of Excellence from AOTA for her work in ideational praxis.

ADA/Section 504: If you require special accommodations, please contact the Spiral Foundation at admin@thespiralfoundation.org or (617) 969 – 4410 ext. 231.

Continuing Education:

Occupational Therapy Practitioners/ Occupational Therapy Assistants:  The Spiral Foundation is an Approved Provider of Continuing Education for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants by the American Occupational Therapy Association.  The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.