The views expressed in the following presentation are those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect those of STAR Institute.

Level: Introductory

Length: 1.5 hour

Timeframe for access: Once you first choose to "Launch" this course, you will have45 days to access the content as often as you like. Your 45-day window for access will not begin until you first click the "Launch" button.

Presenters:

Virginia Spielmann, PhD, OTR/L (she/her)
Executive Director
STAR Institute

Virginia is a well-travelled speaker, coach and educator on topics including sensory integration, DIR/Floortime, child development and infant mental health. She has conducted trainings in Kenya, Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and the USA and leads workshops at international conferences.

Virginia is a founder and former Clinical Director of SPOT (Speech, Physical, and Occupational Therapy) Interdisciplinary Children's Therapy Center in Hong Kong, where she led a large and widely respected inter-disciplinary team.

Virginia obtained her BSc in Occupational Therapy in Oxford England (2002) and her master's in occupational therapy from Mount Mary University, Milwaukee (2018). She is a DIR/Floortime Training Leader and Expert and clinical consultant for the Interdisciplinary Council for Development and Learning (ICDL). Her extensive pediatric experience includes children on the autism spectrum, those with Sensory Processing Disorder, infant mental health issues, adoption, and developmental trauma.

Virginia has considerable post-graduate training, certified on the SIPT and currently completing her Ph.D. in Infant and Early Childhood Development emphasizing mental health, with Fielding Graduate University, in Santa Barbara. She is a published author and contributed to the STAR Frame of Reference as part of the 4th Edition of Frames of Reference for Pediatric Occupational Therapy, alongside Dr. Miller and Dr. Schoen.

Presenter Disclosures:

• Virginia Spielmann is the Executive Director of STAR Institute

• There are no other relevant financial or nonfinancial relationships to disclose.

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Sarah Sawyer, MA, OTR/L
President of the Board | Spiral Foundation

Sarah is an occupational therapist with over 25 years of clinical experience working with children, families, adolescents, and adults. As the Clinical Director at OTA TheKoomar Center, she oversees all therapeutic activities. Sarah began her career in the United Kingdom. In 2003 Sarah was awarded the Elizabeth Casson Trust Scholarship from Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK, to attend Tufts University to complete her post-professional masters. Her thesis focused on therapists' clinical reasoning. Sarah has broad experience evaluating and treating individuals with Sensory Processing differences and has specialized training in listening therapies, feeding therapies and visual vestibular difficulties and DIR® Floortime Approach. Sarah has a particular interest in working with and supporting the families of neurodiverse individuals. Sarah is also passionate in supporting individuals and families that have experienced trauma and has collaborated with a number of colleagues to support the development of the role of OT in mental health and specifically the intersection of sensory processing, trauma and attachment. Sarah regularly shares her experiences through mentoring and presentations to educational facilities and other professionals broadening understanding of sensory processing and sensory integration therapy. In conjunction with her role at OTA, Sarah is also the president of the board of the SPIRAL Foundation - The Sensory Processing Institute of Research and Learning is a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by Dr. Jane Koomar and Anne Trecker whose mission is to conduct research and provide professional and community education about sensory integration and sensory processing.

Presenter Disclosures:

• Sarah Sawyer does not receive monetary compensation for the presentation.

• There are no other relevant financial or nonfinancial relationships to disclose.

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Tracy Murnan Stackhouse, MA, OTR
Executive Director
Developmental FX (DFX)

Tracy Murnan Stackhouse, MA, OTR is the Executive Director of Developmental FX (DFX) in Denver, Colorado, a non-profit organization providing clinical and training services to engage and elevate pediatric therapeutic practice. She is a leading pediatric occupational therapist (OT) involved in clinical treatment, research, mentoring, and training regarding OT intervention for persons with neurodevelopmental disorders, especially Fragile X Syndrome and autism. Tracy has a master’s degree in developmental psychology/neuroscience. She received her NDT training with Lois Bly. She is SIPT Certified and was the clinical specialist in sensory integration at The Children’s Hospital in Denver as well as the OT for the Fragile X Research and Treatment Center. Tracy continued her clinical and research work with Dr. Randi Hagerman at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute during its start-up year prior to starting Developmental FX. Tracy has written several book chapters on sensory integration and neurodevelopmental disorders and teaches nationally and internationally on sensory integration, autism, fragile X, and related topics. She is the lead author for the SpIRiT & S.T.E.P.S.I. Clinical Reasoning Tools, which are leading-edge evidence-based models in pediatric OT. These models are utilized in OT practices around the globe and included in the model at Camp Jabiru in Australia. The tools are shared through the “Spirited Conversations’ Podcast as well as through DFX’s training platform, Learning Journeys. Tracy has ongoing courses offered through Medbridge and iLs/Untyte (remote training use of the Safe and Sound Protocol). Tracy is a member of the National Fragile X Foundation Clinical Research Consortium, the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Committee, and the NFXF Advisory Council, and an expert advisor to the CDC and RTI Fragile X Priorities Panel.

Presenter Disclosures:

• Tracy Murnan Stackhouse does not receive monetary compensation for the presentation.

• There are no other relevant financial or nonfinancial relationships to disclose.

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Grace Baranek, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Associate Dean
University of Southern California

Dr. Grace Baranek, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is Associate Dean, Chair, and the Mrs. T.H. Chan Professor of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of Southern California. She received her bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Illinois at the Medical Center, and both her master’s and PhD degrees in psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Baranek is a prolific scholar and expert on sensory features of children with autism and their longitudinal impacts on child and family outcomes. She is the author of the Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ), widely used by researchers to characterize sensory features for children ages 2-12 years. She is also the lead author on the First Years Inventory (FYI), a screening tool for infants 6-16 months of age with elevated likelihood of autism in the community. As director of the USC Chan insp!re lab, she leads an interdisciplinary research team focused on the early identification of social-communication and sensory-regulatory risk markers of autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions, and on the development of parent-infant interventions. Dr. Baranek has been PI or Co-PI on many grants funded by agencies such as the NICHD, DoD, AOTA, Autism Speaks, and IES. As MPI of a study entitled “Parents and Infants Engaged (PIE): Evaluation of a Novel Intervention for Infants at Risk for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (R21 funded by NICHD), she is testing mechanisms of change in a novel parent coaching intervention, incorporating both sensory reactivity and prelinguistic communication domains to facilitate dyadic engagement in the context of daily activities and routines, based on the Optimal Engagement Band Model. She is also Executive Director for the Sensory Processing and Autism Network (SPAN), a clinical-research partnership to grow evidence-based occupational therapy practices and knowledge mobilization. Dr. Baranek has been recognized internationally for her autism research and named AOTA Fellow, AOTF Academy of Research Member, and International Society of Autism Research Fellow.

Presenter Disclosures:

• Dr. Grace Baranek does not receive monetary compensation for the presentation.

• There are no other relevant financial or nonfinancial relationships to disclose.

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Emily Campi, PhD, OTR/L
Postdoctoral Fellow
Chapman University

Emily Campi, PhD, OTR/L is a postdoctoral fellow at Chapman University. She completed her master’s and PhD degrees in occupational therapy and occupational science, respectively, at the University of Southern California Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. She has two years’ part-time experience in school-based occupational therapy, and her research interests include parent-infant engagement and the impact of infant sensory reactivity and regulation differences on family interactions. Emily’s dissertation focused on developing a multidimensional, observational measure of parent responsiveness to sensory reactivity and regulation in infants ages 6-18 months in various developmental contexts.

Presenter Disclosures:

• Emily Campi does not receive monetary compensation for the presentation.

• There are no other relevant financial or nonfinancial relationships to disclose.

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Sharon Cermak, Ed.D, OTR/L, FAOTA
Professor
University of Southern California

Sharon Cermak is Professor at the Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California (USC) and Professor of Pediatrics at the USC Keck School of Medicine. She is an internationally renowned scholar, researcher, and clinician with more than 200 publications. She is a charter member of the AOTF Academy of Research and, in 2018, she was voted as one of the 100 most influential occupational therapists in the US. Her research focuses on autism spectrum disorder (ASD), dyspraxia/Developmental Coordination Disorder and sensory processing in different populations. Dr. Cermak is especially interested in the daily activities of families and children. She has completed studies of food selectivity and mealtime behaviors, oral care in children with ASD, and the relationship of physical activity, participation, and obesity in children with motor coordination disorders. Dr. Cermak recently completed a 3.7 million dollar randomized controlled trial funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to examine the benefits of adapting the sensory environment at the dentist to enhance oral care for children with ASD. She was a Co-investigator on NIH grants directed by Dr. Lisa Aziz-Zadeh to examine the neurobiological basis of social and motor deficits in ASD and dyspraxia.

Dr. Cermak has four grown children and seven grandchildren ranging in age from 1-12 and living in Boston, Atlanta, Hawaii, and Los Angeles making for great travel.

Presenter Disclosures:

• Sharon Cermak does not receive monetary compensation for the presentation.

• There are no other relevant financial or nonfinancial relationships to disclose.

Learning Objectives:

After participating in this session, attendees should be able to:

• Provide an overview on the intersection of the sensory integration process and trauma.

• State the importance of relationships as part of sensory integration therapy (as conceptualized by Ayres).

• Recognize how posture and praxis are included in sensory integration theory (as conceptualized by Ayres).

• Summarize the key concepts of clinical reasoning and fidelity models, emphasizing their pivotal role in supporting best practices within occupational therapy informed by sensory integrative processing.

• Identify and articulate the foundational principles underlying the STEPPSI process, showcasing a deep grasp of its essential components and alignment with AyresSI.

• Summarize the core underpinnings encompassed within the SpIRiT process and the need for a model that connects sensory integrative processing to related neurodevelopmental capacities that support human occupational engagement.

• List the 5 neurodevelopmental domains addressed within the SpIRiT.

• Provide precise definitions of the S-A-M elements within the SpIRiT process, showcasing a mastery of the terminology and its implications within the context of the clinical practice using sensory integrative processing approaches.

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Who should attend:

Occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, physical therapists, speech language pathologists, educators, child development specialists, mental health professionals, and other allied health professionals. All are welcome, although the event is geared towards human service professionals seeking a better understanding of the sensory integration process and sensory integration therapy as conceptualized by Ayres.

Instructional Methods:

PowerPoint Lecture

Cancellation Policy:

Because this program is recorded and accessible at your convenience, cancellations are not typically accepted. Please contact education@sensoryheatlh.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Do you have a disability that would require special accommodation?

Please contact us at education@sensoryhealth.org and describe how we can help accommodate your needs.

The views expressed in the following presentation are those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect those of STAR Institute.