Occupational therapists: Here are 5 occupational therapy approaches to use you’re your students who have autism spectrum disorder.

There is a common misperception that when working with students with autism spectrum 
 disorder, occupational therapists should focus primarily on sensory and motor skills 
 (<a href="https://research.aota.org/ajot/article/69/5/6905170010p1/6032/Occupational-Therapy-Meeting-the-Needs-of-Families" target="_blank">American Journal of Occupational Therapy</a>). 
 While sensory and <a href="https://www.crosscountry.com/blog/visual-motor-skills-activities-and-goals-for-occupational-therapy?" target="_blank">motor skills</a> 
 are critical for activities of daily living and should be a significant part of 
 occupational therapy interventions, OTs can offer so much more. Here's how occupational 
 therapists can work to provide comprehensive and effective services for children and 
 teens with ASD.


<h2>Occupational Therapy for Autism</h2>
Occupational therapy's domain encompasses activities of daily living or the "occupations" of individuals. For children, this includes play, social participation, sleep, family routines, self-care, school and more. To address these domains, occupational therapists can employ a range of approaches, including:

<ul>
 <li>	Sensory integration therapy </li>
 <li>	Play therapy </li>
 <li>	Modeling </li>
 <li>	Behavior strategies </li>
 <li>	Assistive technology </li>
</ul>
 
 Here, we’ll define these approaches, provide details on how they work and share some examples of how they can be used to help students with autism.

<h3>1. Sensory Integration Therapy for Students with Autism</h3>


 Sensory integration therapy (SIT), conceptualized by Jean Ayers, Ph.D., in the 1970s, 
 is intended to help students with <a href="https://www.crosscountry.com/blog/how-to-create-a-sensory-friendly-classroom?" target="_blank">sensory processing difficulties</a>. 
 An estimated 90-95% of 
 children with autism experience sensory processing issues (<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6371421/" target="_blank">Randell et al</a>). 
 Sensory 
 processing disorders can make life very difficult for children and their families. 
 A new study backs anecdotal reports from parents that SIT improves daily 
 functioning in their children 
 (<a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/10803" target="_blank">Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders</a>). 

How sensory integration therapy works: According to 
<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559155/" target="_blank">Guardado et al.,</a> 
"During play, 'the just-right challenge' is provided through sensory-motor activities. 
ASI is commonly used to help in children's developmental, behavioral, and learning 
issues such as ASD…SIT positively affects the child's response to sensation by 
reducing stress, increasing adequate adaptive responses to sensory stimuli, 
concentrations, and social interactions."

Examples of sensory integration therapy: SIT activities provide vestibular, 
 proprioceptive, auditory, and tactile stimuli during play and can include 
 (<a href="https://nationalautismresources.com/sensory-ot/" target="_blank">National Autism Resources</a>)
 :


<ul>
 <li> Balls </li>
 <li> Bean bags </li>
 <li> Bouncy bands </li>
 <li> Brushes </li>
 <li> Chewables </li>
 <li> Fidgets </li>
 <li> Hammocks </li>
 <li> Putty </li>
 <li> Swings </li>
 <li> Trampolines </li>
 <li> Weighted vests </li>
</ul>

<h3>2. Play Therapy for Students with Autism</h3>
Play therapy is an outstanding way to help children with ASD strengthen 
activities of daily living. According to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9850869/" target="_blank">Elbetagi et al.,</a> 
"Play is usually significantly 
impaired in children with autism. Play therapy is mainly intended to help children to 
honor their unique mental abilities and developmental levels."

 How play therapy works: "The main aim of play therapy is to prevent or solve 
 psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal child-healthy growth and development. 
 Play therapy helps children with autism engage in play activities of their interest 
 and choice to express themselves comfortably. It changes their way of self-expression 
 from unwanted behaviors to more non-injurious expressive behavior using toys or 
 activities of their choice as their words. Play therapy also helps those children 
 to experience feeling out various interaction styles" 
 <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9850869/" target="_blank">Elbetagi et al.</a>


 Examples of play therapy for children with autism: The occupational 
therapy community continually shares activities for <a href="https://www.crosscountry.com/blog/play-based-occupational-therapy?" target="_blank">play therapy</a> 
online. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLeTNnVr84c" target="_blank">OT Closet</a>, 
 for example, has a video demonstrating indoor play activities on a budget 
 that are great for OTs to use with pre-schoolers:

<ul>
 <li> Fine motor skills – Take toothpicks out of the dispenser and arrange them in play-doh </li>
 <li> Prewriting – place tape on colored paper and have students copy shapes with markers </li>
 <li> Use Q-tips dipped in paint to dot out names on pre-drawn lines </li>
 <li> Self-care – Have kids pull pop-out tubes over their feet to strengthen skills in putting on socks </li>
 <li> Numbers – Use dice and magic erase boards to circle target numbers </li>
 <li> Trace numbers on large cards with finders, then roll play-doh into the shapes of the numbers </li>
</ul>

<h3>3. Modeling for Students with Autism</h3>
Through modeling, the occupational therapist demonstrates to students 
step-by-step how to perform a skill. They both tell and show students how to complete 
activities. Videos can also be used in modeling.
 How modeling works: "In-vivo modeling, video modeling, and audio 
modeling are well-established teaching methods for individuals with autism. 
They have been shown to be effective in teaching social and play skills, 
self-help skills, communication skills, and skills 
used in perspective taking" 
(<a href="https://online.regiscollege.edu/blog/aba-therapy-examples/" target="_blank">Regis College</a>).

Examples of modeling for students with autism: Occupational therapists 
can model the following activities for students:


<ul>
 <li> Grooming </li>
 <li> Putting on socks and shoes </li>
 <li> Teeth brushing </li>
 <li> 	Playing </li>
 <li> Throwing </li>
 <li> Catching </li>
 <li> Eating </li>
 <li> Handwriting </li>
 <li> Meeting someone new </li>
 <li> Shaking hands </li>
 <li> Taking turns </li>
</ul>

<h3>4. Behavior Strategies for Students with Autism</h3>
 Behavior strategies help students with autism learn to better 
interact with their environment. Occupational therapists can adapt their own behaviors 
to help elicit desired <a href="https://www.crosscountry.com/blog/sensory-vs-behavior-disorders?" target="_blank">behaviors</a> 
from students.



How behavior strategies work: OTs implement various individualized 
strategies that help students deal with transitions, interact with others, follow rules 
and more.

 Examples of behavior strategies for students with autism: To help 
 students achieve desired behaviors, OTs can (<a href="https://ibcces.org/" target="_blank">IBCCES</a>):


<ul>
 <li> Prepare students for transitions </li>
 <li> Set expectations, be consistent and follow through </li>
 <li> Acknowledge compliance with your requests </li>
 <li> Give choices </li>
 <li> Use schedules </li>
 <li> Distract and redirect </li>
 <li> Role-play desired behaviors </li>
 <li> Teach turn-taking </li>
</ul>

<h3>5. Assistive Technology for Students with Autism</h3>
Assistive technology (AT) is "any item, piece of equipment, software program, or 
 product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional 
 capabilities of persons with disabilities" (<a href="https://www.atia.org/home/at-resources/what-is-at/" target="_blank">ATIA</a>).


How assistive technology works: OTs provide students with low-, mid- or 
high-tech equipment that helps them with speaking, typing, reading, writing, pointing, 
remembering, hearing, learning or other functions.


Examples of assistive technology for students with autism: 
Assistive technology for students with autism includes (Verywell, ATIA):

<ul>
 <li>Low-tech 
 <ul>
 <li> Sensory balls </li>
 <li> Picture boards </li>
 <li> Weighted vests </li>
 <li> Pencil holders </li>
 <li> Walkers </li>
 </ul>
 </li>
 <li> Mid-tech 
 <ul>
 <li> Visual timers </li>
 <li> Social skills videos </li>
 <li> Positioning devices</li>
 </ul>
 </li>
 <li> High-tech 
 <ul> 
 <li> Augmentative communication devices </li>
 <li> Digital technology </li>
 <li> Special switches </li>
 <li> Eye gaze </li>
 <li> Head trackers </li>
 </ul>
 </li>
</ul>
 
There are so many opportunities and approaches occupational therapists can use to help 
 students with autism spectrum disorder. We hope this resource proves to be a valuable 
 addition to your OT toolkit. Visit our educator resources for more helpful articles for 
 occupational therapists!


To learn where your specialized skills are needed helping kids in exciting locations 
 across the country, check out our <a href="https://www.crosscountry.com/education" target="_blank">school OT jobs</a> 
 now.

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