Autism Occupational Therapy: Maximizing OT Time

Occupational therapy for autism. Autistic children have individual needs and challenges that can be supported by occupational therapy. As a parent and occupational therapist, I’m sharing seven of the best ways to get the most out of your child’s occupational therapy sessions. 

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7 Ways to Maximize Autism Occupational Therapy

Below you’ll find seven tips to help you make the most out of your autistic child’s occupational therapy sessions.

1. Be Honest About Your Family’s Capacity

Know yourself, your autistic child, and your family. If your child’s therapist suggests an activity that will take 15 minutes every day, and you know you can’t be consistent, tell the therapist. 

If the week gets away from you and you can’t do the assigned occupational activities, be honest. Communicating with your child’s therapist is essential to your child’s progress. Why?

If your OT doesn’t have the correct information from you, they may change the course of treatment because they don’t see improvement. But, that may not be what your child needs. Knowing your child needs more time to practice new skills is valuable information for the therapist. 

If you’re worried they’re judging you, remind yourself that they don’t know what goes on in your life and that you’re doing the best you can.

2. Step Out, But Check-In

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Many parents notice that their child acts differently when they aren’t around. If possible, help your child’s occupational therapist get to know your autistic child without you there. Remove the audience.

Maybe your child tries harder when you’re not in the room. Sometimes, the therapist struggles to establish rapport with your child if your kiddo is looking to you. Maybe not, if possible, give your child the chance to try things without your presence. 

That said, check-in at the end of every treatment session. You should feel empowered to come back to the treatment area in the last few minutes of a session or knock on a closed door.

When you do, do so with an open mind. There should be a reason that the therapist can articulate for whatever activity the child is engaged in. This leads to my next suggestion.

3. Ask Questions

A great way to help your child reach their fullest potential in therapy is to ask questions.

  • What did the child work on today? 
  • How can your family encourage momentum after the session?
    • (If you feel you can—see the first suggestion)? 
  • What is the expected timeline for treatment? 
  • What is the goal we are looking for and how can we know we’ve achieved it? 

Ask questions to help you understand the physiology and neurology of the change the OT is trying to elicit from your child. Your child’s occupational therapist should tell you what successful therapy will look like and how long it will take to get there. 

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Duration of Therapy

Therapy is not meant to be ongoing throughout your autistic child’s entire youth. Even children with severe support needs NEED to have breaks from therapy. Autistic people like all people need chances to reset and grow before they challenge themselves anew.

Depending on support needs, a therapist’s job may be to coach your family on the best way to help your child with activities of daily living. Or it may be to offer your child specific opportunities for skills and sensory input that help them build new neural connections. 

But therapy should not go on forever, and it’s OK to ask for a timeline for success.

4. Autism Occupational Therapy Needs Auditory Therapy

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Auditory therapy is one of the most effective autism occupational therapy activities. In other words, it’s the shortest bridge to increased function.

While success looks different for every child, auditory therapy can stimulate advances in the following areas:

  • Speech and communication,
  • Behavior,
  • Understanding time,
  • Spatial awareness

I’m passionate about the value of auditory therapy for children. As such, when I ran my clinic, every child received auditory therapy. Both in their OT sessions and at home, free of charge. It was imperative to improve function, and I wanted every child to have it.

How The Auditory System Impacts Development

Our auditory sense contributes to speech, language skills, and social communication. That’s obvious. However, the auditory system plays a crucial role in other areas of our daily lives. Auditory functioning also impacts:

What if your child’s audiologist revealed that your child has perfect hearing?  

Here’s the deal. Auditory processing is not the same thing as intact hearing, and it can be rehabilitated. This type of treatment tends to be the purview of occupational therapists rather than an audiologist.

Because of this, I recommend finding a therapist who practices auditory therapy in addition to other occupational therapy interventions. 

Different programs go by different names and have slightly different ways of strengthening the auditory system. Here are a few auditory sensory integration therapy programs I recommend. When searching for a qualified occupational therapist, look for someone with experience in one of the following.

  • Therapeutic Listening, 
  • The Listening Program, 
  • EASe, 
  • Samonas 

Properly administered, adding auditory therapy to your child’s occupational therapy program can act like a “therapy accelerator”. 

5. Vestibular Autism Occupational Therapy Activities

Occupational therapists often focus on vestibular therapy. The vestibular system relates to head position and awareness of the body’s position in space.

In an occupational therapy clinic, you may notice a playground feel to your child’s therapy sessions. Your child’s clinic may include:

While these contraptions may help your autistic child look forward to therapy, they’re there for specific reasons. Each of these sensory tools can be used to provide vestibular inputs for those with sensory processing disorder or other sensory sensitivities. 

Know the Why Behind Vestibular Occupational Therapy Activities

Your child’s occupational therapist should tell you which piece of equipment they’re using and why they chose it. What specific goals does the OT have for your child when using vestibular sensory tools? Each should be used to support a specific skill or action.

  • Why is your child spinning, as opposed to swinging?
  • Climbing instead of jumping?

It’s important to know when progress has occurred and where to go next. This can only be properly assessed if your child’s OT has a logical explanation for each chosen occupational therapy activity.  

Asking your child’s therapist to explain their choices may be uncomfortable, but asking questions is within your rights as a parent. 

6. Understand Sensory Processing Difficulties in Autism

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Autistic people, tend to have very intense sensory experiences. The autistic brain receives sensory information so intensely that it frequently leads to sensory overload. Without proper support, these sensory processing difficulties can negatively impact daily life. 

Because of this, OTs treat sensory processing issues using different sensory integration techniques. The best treatment includes occupational therapy techniques that focus on the sensory needs specific to your child. Sensory therapy may target:

Proprioception

Proprioception relates to joint position and deep pressure input to the body. OT activities that provide proprioceptive inputs include:

  • Heavy work activities
    • Carrying a heavy backpack while climbing 
    • Wearing a weighted vest
    • Using a weighted lap pad
    • Push-ups

Vestibular Challenges

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Vestibular activities will focus on head position and body awareness in space. These activities may include:

  • Spinning, 
  • Swinging, 
  • Inverting the head

Auditory Issues

Auditory occupational therapy activities may support sound sensitivities, auditory processing, and more.

Tactile Issues

Tactile autism occupational therapy activities are related to the sense of touch and may include:

Visual Processing

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Visual activities used in occupational therapy address visual perception challenges common in autism.

Some of these visual activities include:

  • Eye tracking and convergence activities
    • Following an object with the eyes without moving the head
    • Catching a ball

7. Find Another Therapist

If you’re not confident in your child’s therapist, don’t hesitate to seek out another therapist. Your child enjoying time in therapy and liking their therapist is important, but so are progress and competence.

Because it is your family’s time and energy. You’re the leader of your child’s therapy team. Find a new pediatric occupational therapist if your OT isn’t a fit.

Recap: Autism Occupational Therapy

You try to be a good parent. You help your child with schoolwork, do your best to make bedtime consistent, and choose enriching activities. And you do what professionals suggest for your autistic child. 

  • Occupational therapy, 
  • Physical therapy, 
  • Speech therapy 

But when daily activities are consumed by appointments and treatment plans, exhaustion kicks in. Because of this, it’s important to know how to get the most out of your autistic child’s therapy time.

I hope the seven strategies listed above will help you and your child maximize your OT experiences.

Robin Abbott, MS, OTR/L.  A caucasian women with short light brown hair and blue eyes.  She's staring into the camera and wearing a blue and white shirt with diamond shapes throughout.

Robin Abbott, MS OTR/L is an occupational therapist with 15 years of experience in pediatrics, the former owner of Dovetail Pediatric Therapy. She’s the author of Sound Advice: How to Help Your Child with SPD, Autism, and ADHD from the Inside Out. Contact her at dovetail.robin@gmail.com.

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