The Bottom Line
Pros
- Competently produced DVD
- Introduces a variety of useful techniques
- Provides alternatives and ideas for parents
Cons
- Does not provide enough intro to sensory integration theory
- Should provide more guidance for selecting activities
- Should offer additional resources for parents
Description
- DVD featuring OT Britt Collins
- Provides demonstrations of sensory integration techniques
- Chapters allow users to select appropriate techniques
- Produced by TRPYoga - not an autism agency
Guide Review - DVD: OT for Children with Autism
Sensory integration therapy is tricky. On the one hand, the actual treatment looks an awful lot like play, and it's not tough to implement. On the other hand, knowing when, how and why to implement specific treatment modalities -- and measure their outcomes -- can be difficult. It's not unusual for a trained occupational therapist to simply grab a few sensory integration "tricks" and implement them indiscriminately (using a swing and therapy ball, for example, with every child with autism). As a result, kids may not get what they really need, or they may receive a haphazard program that feels good but offers little therapeutic value.This particular DVD, OT For Children with Autism, Special Needs and Typical is actually a set of demonstrations of specific sensory integration techniques often used to help children with autism manage certain sensory issues. To use it, you need to have a basic understanding of what sensory integration therapy is and a grounding in the vocabulary of occupational therapy. You also need the ability to evaluate a child's specific sensory issues, and to assess the value of each therapeutic intervention.
The video features OT Britt Collins, who is personable and fun to watch. The treatments she demonstrates appear to be appropriate for the children presented in the video, and Collins does a nice job of explaining what she's doing and how she's doing it. The DVD itself is divided into chapters that allow viewers to select activities based on specific areas of need (visual motor, vestibular, etc.) This is wonderful if you actually know what the terms mean and how they relate to an individual child's profile.
I suspect that this DVD would be very useful for a parent or therapist with some experience with and knowledge of sensory integration therapy. For novices, however, it probably isn't the best place to start.
