Hello! My name is Dana and I am an Occupational Therapist and Advanced Sensory Integration Practitioner at Brantridge School.

If you have any queries, I can be contacted at school on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

 

 

“Occupation” refers to practical and purposeful activities that allow people to live independently.
The Occupational Therapy Service at Brantridge School focuses on improving the pupils’:

• Fine motor skills including handwriting.
• Gross motor skills including balance, bilateral coordination and
  strength needed for postural control.
• Sensory Processing needs including self-regulation and programs such as the Zones of Regulation are used.
• Visual perceptual skills which is the ability to recognise, recall, discriminate and make sense of what we see.
• Functional independence to improve your ability to do everyday tasks such as being able to fasten buttons and being able to complete self-care activities for example.

The Learning Pyramid (see below), by Williams & Shellenberger (1996), demonstrates the way in which our bodies ‘organise’ input from the world in which we live. It offers an explanation for the way in which all of your child’s senses and skills are linked and essential for development and learning.

If your child’s nervous system and sensory processes do not work as they should this will have an effect on daily living activities, behaviour and academic learning at the top of the pyramid. Each block of the pyramid needs the ones underneath to be stable and functioning.
In occupational therapy we work on sensory integration which is the processing, integration, and organisation of sensory information from the body and the environment. We also use a motor approach to support everyday function.
Interventions include: use of equipment such as gym balls, peanut balls, resistance tunnel and thera-putty. We also use tools such as scissors to work on bilateral skills and using both sides of the body. Some interventions can be class based depending on the pupils’ needs and group sessions include sensory circuits for some pupils.
Occupational Therapy at Brantridge uses standardised and non-standardised assessments depending on engagement and need. Clinical observations are also used to assess pupils and education staff also receive advice on identifying and supporting occupational needs in the classroom. Interventions are based on what provision is stated in EHCPs and whether this is at a Specialist, Targeted or Universal level. If additional support is considered necessary by education staff, parents or the therapy team, then the Occupational Therapist or the Therapy Assistant can become involved through the referral system.