Free Sensory Integration Webinars

I recently came across a company, Sensational Teaching, that will be offering free webinars on sensory integration. The first one is January 5, 2012 (tomorrow!). I asked the occupational therapist from Sensational Teaching, Katie Ryzhikov, some questions about the upcoming webinars.

1. Who is the target audience for the webinars - therapists, parents, teachers or all three?
- The webinars are aimed at teachers, parents and any therapist or youth worker who works with children who have sensory processing disorders, ADHD or Autistic Spectrum Disorder

2. How long are the webinars?
- The webinars are approximately an hour long

3. What is your background?
- I am an occupational therapist. I have worked with the pediatric population my whole career, both within the school system and privately, but my area of interest is sensory integration.

4. What motivated you to start the free webinars?
- Working in a private outpatient clinic I had the leisure of working on whatever goal the family and I chose. If the child's main goal was to pump a swing or ride a bike, that's what we would work on. Most of the kids we saw were struggling at home and at school, they were being labeled 'difficult' kids because of their sensory processing issues. Sensory integration therapy was really helpful on both social and academic levels. So when I started working within the school system I noticed that often the root of the child's issues was sensory based and many kids would not receive OT services for this. These kids would begin to 'fall through the gap'. I started working with teachers, explaining sensory integration and giving them ideas to build into their lessons to help these kids become more successful. Research was also suggesting that our ADHD kids would also benefit from some sensory strategies. Parents too were struggling, not only to get homework done but to get other daily activities done too, like brushing teeth or just getting dressed. I decided to launch a free webinar series, primarily for parents and teachers to help their 'tougher' kids become successful both at home and at school.

5. Will the webinars be archived online following the live webinar?
- Yes, the webinars will be available online following the webinar.

6. Tell us more about Sensational Teaching.
- Sensational Teaching is based in the Washington DC area. We bring practical, applicable and fun workshops to schools and parent groups. We combine Sensory Integration theory with dynamic teaching strategies in a format that enables parents, teachers and related service providers, to create rich and responsive learning environments. Our current workshops include
APPLYING SENSORY INTEGRATION PRINCIPLES IN THE CLASSROOM
- How to improve attention spans!
APPLYING SENSORY INTEGRATION STRATEGIES AT HOME
- How to get homework and other stuff done!
APPLYING SENSORY INTEGRATION PRINCIPLES FOR HANDWRITING DEVELOPMENT

To register for the webinars you can go to Sensational Teaching.