Often we will speak with you by phone prior to the initial visit to prepare for your child's evaluation or screening. If there are previous reports or written information available, please send them for our review when you return the New Patient Information Packet. We request that you complete and return the detailed parent information packet and online Sensory Profile at least 3 days prior to the initial evaluation, screening or treatment session. By taking the time to complete this material before the initial visit, your therapist’s understanding of your child during the first visit will be greatly enhanced. It will also help you formulate thoughts regarding your concerns about your child's strengths and weaknesses.

On the day of the appointed first visit, you and your child will enter our parent and child- friendly waiting area. Please make yourself comfortable until your therapist greets you. You will then go to a private room where the therapist will begin getting to know you and your child. If your child is school age, you may opt to remain in the waiting area while the therapist is meeting with your child.

Assessment with children often looks like play. Young children often do not realize that they are being evaluated and many leave the session asking when they can come back and play. The first sessions(s) are designed to assess your child's level of functioning and to determine factors that may interfere with age appropriate skill acquisition. Generally the sessions are about 1-2 hours and combine structured and unstructured activities. At the end of the session the therapist will make recommendations, and if therapy is indicated, you can set goals that reflect your priorities for your child.

Depending on the reason your child was referred, we might evaluate:

• Postural control and core strength

• Eye-hand coordination

• Visual perception

• Fine motor skills including dexterity, grasp, coloring, and cutting

• Handwriting

• Gross motor skills, strength, endurance, and coordination

• Motor planning

• Self-help skills, such as dressing, grooming, toileting and feeding

• Sensory processing (how your child processes sound, sight, touch, movement, and other sensations, and responds to them)

• Self regulation

• Activities of Daily living

• Speech, language and oral motor skills

A screening is conducted over 1-1½ hours depending on your child’s age, directly targets your areas of concern, and includes limited standardized testing. Specific tests are selected to meet your child’s unique needs. The follow-up consists of a phone call or in-person meeting to discuss our recommendations and establish goals, but does not include a written report.

An evaluation is more comprehensive. It requires two hours and examines your child’s postural control, gross and fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination and sensory processing. Specific tests are selected to meet your child’s individual needs. In approximately 6 weeks, you will receive a comprehensive report that summarizes the information gathered, an analysis of the testing data, recommendations for home and/or school and goals for occupational therapy, if recommended.

You are the parent, and you know best how your child will function in a testing situation. You are always welcome to accompany your child into the testing rooms. With younger children we encourage you to sit in to minimize separation issues. We are especially happy to have you in the testing room if your child will pay full attention to the examiner and follow his/her instructions. We ask that you sit as quietly as possible so the examiner can develop rapport with your child and begin building a therapeutic relationship. You can leave the room at your discretion, if you feel you are a distraction to your child.

Many rooms have one-way mirrors, so that you can observe the assessment if that is your preference, or you can relax in the waiting room. In either case, we will leave a few minutes to spend with you after the session. We do not like to discuss children in front of them, so if the situation or timing does not permit a full discussion, please make a phone appointment before you leave the office and we will discuss the results of testing with you as soon as possible.

Our goal is to help you and your child feel as comfortable and playful as possible. While we understand that the process is stressful for all, we do our best to minimize stress and maintain open communication.

The ability to respond actively and purposefully to a new environmental challenge. Adaptive responses are required for promoting sensory integration

Everyday routines generally involving personal care and functional mobility such as eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, and meal preparation. Challenges in ADL interfere with independence. A major goal of occupational therapy is facilitate performance of ADL skills.

The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) is the “gold standard” for assessment and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

ABA is a behavioral methodology that systematically applies interventions based upon principles of learning theory and operant conditioning to develop adaptive, prosocial behavior and reduce maladaptive behavior. In ABA targeted behaviors are rewarded with positive reinforcement in order to strengthen/increase the frequency of those behaviors. Treatment techniques include: Discrete Trial Training (DTT), Natural Environment Training (NET); Pivotal Response Training (PRT) and Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS).

Asperger syndrome is considered a high functioning form of autism and is no longer a separate entity under the DSM 5. AS is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, nonverbal communication, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development. Although not required for diagnosis, physical clumsiness and atypical use of language are frequently reported. For more information, please click here.

Refers to the use of a specific tool in an evaluation process. The terms assessment and evaluation are often used interchangeably.

A clinical condition in which a child is highly sensitive to sound.

The ability to take in sound and make sense of what one hears

The ability to differentiate between sounds, such as animal noises, vehicles noises; critical for making sense of language

The ability to differentiate foreground sounds from extraneous background noises, for example, to tune into the teacher’s voice in a busy classroom,with chatting children, a hissing radiator, and traffic noises.

Autism is an umbrella term for a complex developmental disability also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Three core features of autism are: a) social and communication deficits, including difficulty with verbal and non-verbal communication, socialization, and play/leisure skills, b) fixated interests and repetitive or sgterotypical behaviors, such as stacking, lining up or spinning toys, and hand flapping, and c) sensory procesing irregularities, including poor motor planning. Children on the autism spectrum have a wide range of behaviors and abilities. There’s a saying that goes, “If you’ve met one kid with autism, you’ve met one kid with autism.”

Often we will speak with you by phone prior to the initial visit to prepare for your child's evaluation or screening. If there are previous reports or written information available, please send them for our review when you return the New Patient Information Packet. We request that you complete and return the detailed parent information packet and online Sensory Profile at least 3 days prior to the initial evaluation, screening or treatment session. By taking the time to complete this material before the initial visit, your therapist’s understanding of your child during the first visit will be greatly enhanced. It will also help you formulate thoughts regarding your concerns about your child's strengths and weaknesses.

THE POTS PROCESS BEGINNING TO END

1. The first step in helping your child is gathering information about your concerns and your child’s medical and developmental history through written intake forms. We are also happy to review any prior reports that are relevant.
   

2. Before your first appointment, please have your pediatrician, neurologist or other physician provide a prescription for occupational, physical, speech or feeding evaluation and treatment, with the appropriate diagnostic code. We will make a copy for you for your records.
   

3. A pre-evaluation phone interview to review your paperwork so we can maximize our face-to-face time with your child.
   

4. An initial evaluation or screening in-person or remotely will take between 45 minutes and an hour and 15 minutes depending on your child’s age and the complexity of the presenting problems. A comprehensive evaluation my require a second evaluation session.
   

5. Informing conference: Within 3 days we will meet with you on the phone or through video-conferencing to review the results of the evaluation, make recommendations, prioritize goals and schedule therapy, if warranted.
   

6. Re-evaluation: A re-evaluation will be scheduled a minimum of every 6 months to review your child’s progress and update his/her goals. If your child has not been at POTS for 3+ months an initial evaluation or re-evaluation will be required.
   

7. Discharge: When your child has met his/her goals we will celebrate the hard work and success and make recommendations for community and home based activities to keep up his/her skills After discharge: The POTS team is always here for you to consult with

On the day of the appointed first visit, you and your child will enter our parent and child- friendly waiting area. Please make yourself comfortable until your therapist greets you. You will then go to a private room where the therapist will begin getting to know you and your child. If your child is school age, you may opt to remain in the waiting area while the therapist is meeting with your child.

Assessment with children often looks like play. Young children often do not realize that they are being evaluated and many leave the session asking when they can come back and play. The first sessions(s) are designed to assess your child's level of functioning and to determine factors that may interfere with age appropriate skill acquisition. Generally the sessions are about 1-2 hours and combine structured and unstructured activities. At the end of the session the therapist will make recommendations, and if therapy is indicated, you can set goals that reflect your priorities for your child.

Depending on the reason your child was referred, we might evaluate:

• Postural control and core strength

• Eye-hand coordination

• Visual perception

• Fine motor skills including dexterity, grasp, coloring, and cutting

• Handwriting

• Gross motor skills, strength, endurance, and coordination

• Motor planning

• Self-help skills, such as dressing, grooming, toileting and feeding

• Sensory processing (how your child processes sound, sight, touch, movement, and other sensations, and responds to them)

• Self regulation

• Activities of Daily living

• Speech, language and oral motor skills

A screening is conducted over 1-1½ hours depending on your child’s age, directly targets your areas of concern, and includes limited standardized testing. Specific tests are selected to meet your child’s unique needs. The follow-up consists of a phone call or in-person meeting to discuss our recommendations and establish goals, but does not include a written report.

An evaluation is more comprehensive. It requires two hours and examines your child’s postural control, gross and fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination and sensory processing. Specific tests are selected to meet your child’s individual needs. In approximately 6 weeks, you will receive a comprehensive report that summarizes the information gathered, an analysis of the testing data, recommendations for home and/or school and goals for occupational therapy, if recommended.

You are the parent, and you know best how your child will function in a testing situation. You are always welcome to accompany your child into the testing rooms. With younger children we encourage you to sit in to minimize separation issues. We are especially happy to have you in the testing room if your child will pay full attention to the examiner and follow his/her instructions. We ask that you sit as quietly as possible so the examiner can develop rapport with your child and begin building a therapeutic relationship. You can leave the room at your discretion, if you feel you are a distraction to your child.

Many rooms have one-way mirrors, so that you can observe the assessment if that is your preference, or you can relax in the waiting room. In either case, we will leave a few minutes to spend with you after the session. We do not like to discuss children in front of them, so if the situation or timing does not permit a full discussion, please make a phone appointment before you leave the office and we will discuss the results of testing with you as soon as possible.

Our goal is to help you and your child feel as comfortable and playful as possible. While we understand that the process is stressful for all, we do our best to minimize stress and maintain open communication.

All of our therapists are licensed by the State of New Jersey and do not require written physician's prescription for assessment and treatment, but we DO prefer a written prescription prior to your first visit. A written prescription may be helpful to assist you in collecting reimbursement from your insurance carrier. We suggest that you make a copy of the prescription to save the copy for your records. A prescription does not guarantee reimbursement.

Yes, under certain circumstances. We reserve the right to accept or reject these requests depending on our availability and timing requirements.

We are certified to administer the SIPT. We do so upon request, when we judge that the results of testing will be critical to guide your child’s therapy.

An internal "MAP" of one's body parts and how they relate to each other. It enables you to know where your arms, fingers and feet are without looking, how close you are to objects and people and how much force to exert.

Teaching a skill by working backward from the goal.

The ability to use the two sides of the body together in a smoothly coordinated fashion. Movements may be symmetrical, such as in jumping jacks, or asymmetrical, such as holding a paper with one hand while writing with the other.

The sense of where one’s body is in relationship to gravity and to other objects in the environment. Necessary to solidly sit on a chair, maintain one’s space at circle time and follow directions related to the body such as, “stand behind the line.”

Shorthand term for the Wilbarger deep-touch-pressure protocol used by occupational therapists to decrease tactile defensiveness and facilitate calming and organization.

Typically children come once or twice a week for 45 minutes, but more or less may be recommended based on the results of the evaluation or screening.

We wish we could answer that question! Length of treatment depends on numerous variables including the child’s age, the child’s strengths, scope and complexity of the problem, and frequency of attendance, to name a few. In my experience I have found that when therapy is indicated twice a week, children who come twice a week generally improve more than twice as fast as children who have therapy once a week. We can not predict in advance how rapidly an individual child will respond to treatment, but as a rule of thumb, when the child is improving rapidly, that is the time to provide more therapy, rather than back off.

There is high demand for therapy after school hours. Children with flexibility in their schedules can usually be accommodated more rapidly. Contact us (and leave your email and daytime phone number and our office manager will work with you to find an available time slot(s).

At POTS, to ensure our standard of care, we do most of our therapies on a one-to-one basis with highly skilled and experienced therapists. We are committed to providing the best treatment for your child's specific needs. Scheduling is based on the time of day the child is available, child's needs, family schedule, therapist's schedule and therapist's areas of specialization.

Monday through Thursday: 7:45 am - 6:30 pm

Fridays: 7:45 am-3:00 pm in the winter and 6:00 pm in the summer.

Saturdays: Closed

Sundays, 9:00 am- 12:30 pm

POTS is open 12 months a year. Summer schedules are sometimes altered to accommodate children’s camp schedules, vacation schedules and therapist vacations

All appointments must be cancelled 24 hours prior to your scheduled appointment time or you will be charged a cancellation fee. If you do not show up for an appointment you will be billed in full for the session.

Effective care requires a commitment from the child's family and therapist. Regular attendance is crucial for therapy sessions to be meaningful and effective. Working together as a team, we can accomplish the best outcomes for your child and family.

Reasons for absence should therefore be limited to parent or child illness or other family emergencies. If you or your child is ill, we prefer that you cancel rather than spread illness. Exposure to upper respiratory, flu, chicken pox and other infectious diseases is potentially dangerous to other children and therapists. Cancellations should be made as far in advance as possible, and a minimum of 24 hours prior to your child's designated therapy time. If you have any questions about whether or not you should bring your child for therapy, please call and ask your child’s OT. While it is often difficult for your therapist to find other openings each week, missed sessions should be rescheduled whenever possible.

If your child is absent from therapy 25% of the time, or more, for two consecutive months, or there is an extended pattern of non-attendance, POTS may discontinue your appointed time. We encourage you to communicate frequently with your therapist in order to best accommodate your child's particular needs and to try to prevent disruptions in your child’s care.

A parent interested in attempting to get occupational therapy services covered by their school district will first have to contact their child’s case manager with their concerns. Upon approval, our office will then contact the special services department to obtain a purchase order. Once we receive the purchase order, you can schedule your child’s evaluation and/or treatment sessions.

We are an out-of-network provider and do not accept insurance. Payment in full is due at the time services are rendered, including but not limited to evaluations, screenings, treatment sessions, and school observations.

A fixed amount ($20, for example) you pay for a covered health care service after you've paid your deductible. Let's say your health insurance plan's allowable cost for a doctor's office visit is $100. Your copayment for a doctor visit is $20.

Yes. In order to be reimbursed, you would need to have out-of-network benefits and also have met your deductible if applicable.

You would obtain an insurance claim form directly from your insurance carrier and complete it as directed. You would then submit the claim form along with the PAID statement/s you receive from our office to your insurance carrier. The claims address will be located on the back of your insurance card.

No. Because we are an out-of-network provider we DO NOT submit insurance claims on behalf of our patients.

Cash, credit card or check. Credit cards issued by a health spending account are also accepted.

Payment needs to be made at the time of each session or at the beginning of the week, for all sessions that are scheduled for that week.

We bill each session individually, but you can remit payment at the beginning of the week or month for the following week or month.

Yes. If your child comes with someone other than a parent, payment can be submitted over the phone the same day as the session.

Yes. the information can be kept securely in encrypted software, but we prefer to swipe your card at each session.

The amount you pay for covered health care services before your insurance plan starts to pay. With a $2,000 deductible, for example, you pay the first $2,000 of covered services yourself. After you pay your deductible, you usually pay only a copayment or coinsurance for covered services.

Coinsurance is the percentage of costs you pay after you've met your deductible. A deductible is the set amount you pay for medical services and prescriptions before your coinsurance kicks in

Medical necessity is the concept that healthcare services and supplies must be necessary and appropriate for the evaluation and management of a given disease, condition, illness, or injury. The care must be considered reasonable when judged against current medical standards of care

Out-of-network” providers have not agreed to the discounted rates

A coverage gap exception is a waiver from a healthcare insurance company that allows a customer to receive medical services from an out of network provider at an in network rate.

A coverage gap exception is not the same as appealing a denied claim. A gap exception is a preemptive request for known benefits.

The ability of each hand and foot to function on other side of the body. It enables us to sit in a chair and color without leaning or falling to the side; to write left to right, and throw a ball like a baseball player, pulling the arm back and letting the ball go over the opposite foot."

Turning or rolling of an object with the finger pads between 180°-360°, such as twirling a pencil.

On the opposite side of the body.

The ability to use different parts of the body together smoothly and efficiently.

The surface pressure that is exerted in most types of firm touching, holding, stroking or swaddling. Examples are hugging, wrestling, sleeping under heavy blankets, and wearing a pressure garment or weighted vest. Deep pressure is calming.

An innate self-protective response that occurs when the sensory system alerts one to actual or perceived danger.

DIR is a developmental model posits that children with deficits in relating and communicating, including those with autism, have restrictions in the stages of functional emotional development. By mastering emotional milestones that were missed in early development and are critical to learning, children can achieve social, emotional, intellectual growth and learn to relate, love, communicate and think logically and creatively. Treatment addresses mitigating surface symptoms and behaviors. The DIR Model was pioneered by Dr. Stanley Greenspan. “Floortime” is the primary treatment approach.

The child with DCD (dyspraxia) has difficulty thinking of, planning, sequencing and/or executing skilled movements especially novel movement patterns, which limits the performance of motor skills. Children may present with repetitive behaviors or restrict themselves to a few simple movement paradigms such as lining up toys or throwing. They often have difficulty imitating (as in Simon Says) and/or following directions for movement and appear clumsy.

The ability to determine right and left on other people and objects. Directionality enables you to detect how words appear left to right on a page of text and distinguish between b/d and p/q.

The inability to attend to a particular stimulus. May be more prevalent in one sensory system (e.g., sound) than another (e.g., visual stimuli).

A specific learning difficulty which affects children’s ability to acquire math skills, limiting their ability to perform arithmetic operations, learn number facts and execute mathematical procedures. It can exist in children with normal or superior intellect, and does not imply low intelligence or poor educational potential.

Difficulty thinking of, planning,organizing, sequencing and/or executing skilled movements, especially novel movement patterns, which limits the performance of motor skills. Children may present with repetitive behaviors or restrict themselves to a few simple movement paradigms such as lining up toys or throwing. They often have difficulty imitating (as in Simon Says) and/or following directions for movement and appear clumsy. Dyspraxia is a sub-type of Sensory-Based Motor Disorder.

A statewide program that provides a variety of therapeutic services to meet the needs of infants and toddlers, from birth to 3 years old, who meet specific requirements. Occupational, physical and speech therapy are among the services provided.

Echolalia or scripted speech is immediate and constant repetition of words or phrases.

A systematic process of gathering and interpreting data in order to ascertain a child's developmental level; identify strengths and challenges and their impact on function; document current levels of function; and determine change in ability over time.

refers to the skills that allow us to organize, plan, problem solve, inhibit responses, transition between tasks, and monitor work and other behaviors.

The ability of eyes and hands to work together for a wide range of skills such as, swatting a mobile, catching a ball, drawing, cutting and using a ruler.

In the United States all qualified persons with disabilities within the jurisdiction of a school district are entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education. What constitutes FAPE, is open to discussion and debate.

An instinctive reaction to protect oneself in response to a real or perceived threat. The child may freeze on the spot, lash out seemingly aggressively, withdraw into himself or runaway.

The ability to focus on one specific piece of information in a busy background, such as picking out “hidden pictures” or Waldo, finding one’s place on a page and finding, or locating items in a messy backpack.

A method of teaching a skill in which the child repeats the beginning steps over and over until s/he becomes very proficient, then progressively adds the next step, until the whole skill is acquired.

The ability to recognize objects as they change size, shape, or orientation or are viewed from a different angle or in a different environment. This skill helps a child to realize that a letter remains the same no matter where it is seen!

Skilled use of all the small muscles of the hands, eyes and mouth. Fine motor coordination is necessary to manipulate small items such as windup-toys, pegs, buttons, snaps, coins, cards.

The ability to manipulate precise movements, such as handwriting, stringing beads and buttoning.

The cornerstone, or engine that drives the DIR model. It is 1. A specific technique where for 20 or more minutes mommy or daddy gets down on the floor with the child; 2. A general philosophy that characterizes all the interactions with the child, because all interactions have to incorporate the features of Floortime as well as the particular goals of that interaction, be it speech therapy or occupational therapy or a special set of educational goals. Floortime utilizes two primary techniques: 1. Following the child's lead; harnessing the child’s natural interests. 2. Joining the child's world and pulling him/her into a shared world in order to help him/her master each Functional Emotional Developmental Capacity.

Small objects with sensory appeal that a child can hold in his/her hands and fiddle with. Fidgeting has been shown to help some children focus.

The ability to use the right amount of pressure. A function of proprioception.

An extreme fear of having one’s feet off of the ground, or changing head position in space (such as when laying a baby down to change its diaper or attempting a somersault). Renders it difficult for a child to interact on playground and gym equipment. A function of the vestibular system.

Skilled use of the large muscles of the trunk, arms and legs, such as in dancing, running, jumping, hopping and playing sports.

The ability to move a large muscle group or segment of the anatomy, such as jumping, climbing or waving an arm.

Colloquially called hand "dominance" or "handedness." It reflects mature lateralization of the brain. Lack of hand preference, or confusion about hand preference, directly impacts fine motor skills. It is often associated with poor trunk rotation and bilateral incoordination

Resistive activities designed to provide proprioceptive input to increase body awareness and sense of body space.

Reduced tolerance and increased sensitivity to everyday sounds that most people hardly notice. Sufferers often complain of living in a world in which the volume is turned up too high.

A response to sensory input that seems excessive—usually characterized by withdrawal and avoidance, or craving of that sensation.

An intense fascination with letters and numbers and a precocious, self-taught advanced reading ability which appears before age 5, in contrast with significant difficulty understanding and developing spoken language.

Oversensitivity to sensory stimuli. A child may tune into noises, wind currents, etc. that do usually reach our level of consciousness.

An underreaction to sensation that normally elicits a response.

Under-sensitivity to sensory input. May result in craving that input, or not responding to it unless it is very intense.

The ability to conceive a novel idea; for example, different ways to use a particular toy or piece of equipment.

The ability to conceive of a novel idea, for example, different ways to use a particular toy or piece of equipment.

A written document that includes the child's’ current skill level; enumerates the related services they are entitled to, including occupational therapy; and the annual goals to meet the unique educational needs of the student with a disability.

A child's self-motivation to participate in experiences that promote sensory integration.

Organ that responds to vestibular input (the pull of gravity, balance and change in head position).

IM is an assessment and treatment tool administered to improve attention, coordination, motor planning, sequencing and timing, and language processing. It can benefit children with sensory processing disorders, coordination deficits, motor planning challenges, attentional deficits, aggression and impulsivity.

Interoceptors are internal sensors that provide a sense of what our internal organs are feeling, such as hunger or thirst.

The ability to move and position one or more objects within one hand without using the other hand to assist, including translation, shift and rotation.

On the same side of the body.

The conscious awareness of joint position and body position that enalbes us to interface with the environment, such as knowing where to place one’s feet to climb the stairs or how to get a spoon to the mouth without looking.

The ability to know right from left on oneself. Laterality enables you to know which hand to place over your heart when you recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

The process of establishing a preference of one side of the brain. Practically this results in hand preference, using the hands together skillfully and ability to cross the midline of the body.

Superficial stimulation of the skin, such as tickling, moving hairs on the skin, tags, or a bug on the skin. It activates receptors in the protective touch system. Over-responsiveness to light touch can result in tactile defensiveness.

Movement in a straight line, back and forth, side to side and up and down.

Lack of adequate tension in the resting muscle, often resulting in muscles that seem loose or floppy. Children may have poor posture, rapid fatigue, delayed motor skills, muscle weakness, and/or coordination problems.

Hands on techniques used to effect structural changes in body systems. Can help with orthopedic and posture problems, oral motor issues, digestive and other system problems. Examples are cranio-sacral therapy and myofascial release.

A therapeutic intervention for infants and young children with abnormal motor development that utilizes the influence of gravity and distal support to provoke spontaneous postural-functional reactions to improve gross motor development.

The process of sequencing and organizing a physical plan for action in response to a novel environmental demand.

The degree of tension normally present in a relaxed muscle.

The ability to use the brain to activate and coordinate the muscles and limbs to initiate and perform physical skills. Motor control is an integrated product of the muscles, bones, and the central nervous system. There are two subsets, gross motor control and fine motor control.

The ability of the brain to change its architecture as a result of experience in different environments and activities. This is a powerful premise for sensory integration treatment.

Neurodevelopmental Therapy is a hands-on treatment approach for individuals with central nervous system pathophysiology, such as hypotonia, hypertonia or ataxia. Direct handling, positioning and guidance of the child's movements are used to optimize function.

A health profession that helps children improve the functioning of their nervous system in order to develop skills that will enable them to function independently in their daily activities.

Therapy based on the premise that difficulty interpreting and acting on sensory information affects the ability to participate fully in everyday activities including eating, dressing, learning and play.

A systematic process of gathering and interpreting data in order to ascertain a child's developmental level, identify strengths and challenges, and determine their impact on current ability to meet the demands of every life.

Related to the sense of smell.

The act of being touched by someone else.

Engaging in an activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a practical purpose.

A floortime technique used to lengthen an interaction. When a child does not allow you to join in his/her play - you can playfully get in the child's way so that he/she has to deal with you to get what he/she wants.

The ability to have an idea; organize and sequence (motor plan) the actions and execute them in a coordinated fashion in response to a novel environmental demand.

Subtle spontaneous body adjustments that enable us to maintain our center of gravity and our shift weight, keeping the head and body in alignment. These movements enable us to sit up and stand straight, and prepare the motor system for isolated voluntary motor activity. If we can’t make the small movements extraneous do movement, become necessary.. For example, we need to stand a certain way to kick a ball effectively.

Children with this type of Sensory Based Motor Disorder (SBMD) demonstrate poor core strength, low endurance, poor balance and poor body awareness. They are often unwilling to move, sedentary and move slowly and cautiously.

A trunk strong enough to support the body for motor performance such as sitting and writing, running, jumping, climbing, etc. Requires core strength.

The pace at which you take in information, make sense of it and begin to respond. The information can be visual, such as letters and numbers or auditory, such as spoken language.

A cue or hint to induce the child to perform a desired behavior. A prompt is a temporary crutch that can be faded when it is no longer needed.

The "position sense;" the unconscious awareness of sensations coming from our joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments, that provide us with an internal map of how our body parts are related, and the effort used to move them.

The ability to assume, maintain and restore a state of balance during any posture or activity. It underlies a child’s ability to assume and maintain upright posture while seated without support. To learn more click here

A consequence of behavior that is used to increase its occurrence and promote learning. It is after the fact, as compared to a bribe, which is given BEFORE a behavior has occurred.

Movement around a single axis such as spinning or orbiting; a powerful form of vestibular input.

A motor challenge with an underlying sensory basis characterized by poor postural control and dyspraxia. Difficulty may emerge in balance, motor coordination, and motor planning.

A sub-type of Sensory Modulation Disorder (SMD), it is an almost insatiable drive to obtain sensory input. Sensory cravers tend to constantly move, crash, bump, jump, touch everything around them, seem overly affectionate and/or fail to understand personal space.

A schedule of activities that provides the sensory experiences a child needs to bolster his sensory processing and become more self-regulated.

Difficulty interpreting subtle qualities of objects, places, people or other environments. Subtypes are: Visual, Auditory, Tactile, Taste/smell, Position/movement, and Interoception Discrimination Disorders. SDD is a sub-type of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).

A “fight or flight” response to sensation, such as being touched unexpectedly or loud noise, frequently experienced by children with Sensory Over-Responsivity (SOR). Children who are sensory defensive attempt to avoid or minimize those noxious sensation, for example, withdrawing from touch and plugging their ears in a noisy place.

Children with SOR are more sensitive to sensory stimulation than most others children. Their bodies feel sensation too easily or too intensely, and they tend to react negatively or with alarm to sensory input which is generally experienced as harmless or non-irritating.Thus they often are “sensory defensive,” and try to avoid or minimize sensations, such as, withdrawing from being touched or covering their ears to avoid loud sounds.

A Specialized sensory-rich gym designed to help over- (or under-) sensitive kids, outfitted with specialized equipment such as swings, bolsters and climbing equipment designed to provide intense sensory input. For information click here

Activities of daily living, such as dressing, toileting, eating, bathing and grooming.

The ability to maintain the appropriate level of alertness for a given activity. A well-regulated child will go though most of the day in a quiet alert state, without being distracted and inattentive, and transition smoothly between daily activities. For more information click here

Sensorimotor skills involve the process of receiving sensory input and producing a motor response . Sensory information is culled from our bodies and the environment through our sensory systems (vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, vestibular, and proprioception), and is then organized and processed to enable us to produce an movement response to support success in daily tasks. Motor planning is a critical part of sensorimotor skills.

Also known as sensory overstimulation; it occurs when sensory experiences from the environment are too great for an individual’s nervous system to successfully process or make meaning from the sensory experience. A common example of this is a carnival/fair including the smell of barn animals and food, sound of other screaming children, amusement rides, and buzzers from games, car engines revving, touch stimuli from bumping into people within a crowd, the visual input of fast paced movement including blinking lights, fast moving rides, people and cars etc. In this example there is an abundance of sensory experiences entering the carnival goers nervous system all at once, which commonly leads to shut down, tantrums, or other negative behaviors that are associated by an overwhelmed nervous system (or sensory overload) that can not efficiently process the smell, sound, taste, touch, sight, and movement of the environment all at once.

The stimuli that are perceived by our senses, including smell, sight, touch, taste, hearing, movement and proprioception.

The process by which the brain organizes sensory information from the body and the environment to plan and execute (adaptive) responses to meet challenges, learn and succeed in daily life tasks.

Also known as Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD): A neurological disorder that results from the brain's misinterpretation of sensory information such as touch, sound and movement. Sufferers may be overwhelmed by sensation, crave it or fail to register it. SPD may result in challenges in motor skills, learning, social/emotional skills, attention and behavior.

An occupational therapy technique that utilizes meaningful activities to enhance registration, intake and integration of sensory information for adaptive functioning in daily life. It is best provided in a sensory gym that offers frequent intense sensory input that is not typically available elsewhere.

The ability to regulate incoming neural messages by facilitating or inhibiting responses to sensory stimuli. Filtering (dampening and heightening) the senses, such as sound, sight and touch, is essential for self regulation.

A subtype of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) in which children have difficulty regulating their responses to sensory stimuli. Subtypes include over-responding (SOR) or under-responding (SUR) to sensory stimuli, or craving sensation (SS).

A sub-type of Sensory Modulation Disorder (SMD), in which children respond too much, too soon, or for too long to sensory stimuli most people find benign. They commonly demonstrate sensory defensive behaviors, avoidance or “fight or flight” responses.

The process by which the nervous system receives messages from the senses, such as touch, sound and movement, registers, interprets and integrates them and turns them into functional responses.

A condition in which children misinterpret everyday sensory information, such as touch, sound and movement. Some feel bombarded and overwhelmed by sensory information; others don't tune into the sensory information (sounds, sights, etc,) around them. Some seek out intense sensory experiences, some avoid them and others ignore sensory input.

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Individuals who are under-responsive to sensory stimuli are often quiet and passive, disregarding or not responding to stimuli of the usual intensity available in their sensory environment. They may appear withdrawn, difficult to engage and or self absorbed because they do not detect the sensory input in their environment. Their under-responsivity to tactile and deep pressure input may lead to poor body awareness, clumsiness or movements that are not graded appropriately. These children may not perceive objects that are too hot or cold or they may not notice pain in response to bumps, falls, cuts, or scrapes.

Ordering movements, sounds, sights, objects, letters, thoughts, etc, in time and space.

Teaching a child a skill in increments, by reinforcing successful approximations of the behavior.

Any skills that facilitate interaction and communication with others. Social skills include: reading a social situation, social appropriateness, how to greet someone, turn-taking, maintaining a conversation and eye contact.

An isolated skill that can be developed by over-teaching and practice that does not generalize to other tasks.

The ability to perceive and recognize the form of an object by using tactile information from texture, size, spatial properties, and temperature, etc., in the absence of visual and auditory information. Also known as haptic perception.

Equipment that hangs from the ceiling, such as swings. It is used to provide enhanced, intense vestibular and proprioceptive input through rich, challenging movement activities, and promote the child’s active participation, thereby enhancing the level of the adaptive response.

Referring to the senses of touch and proprioception.

The linear movement of an object on the finger surface to allow repositioning of the object on the pads of the fingers, such as moving the fingers up and down the shaft of a pencil to position them at the tip of the pencil.

Turning or rolling of an object with the finger pads no more than approximately 90°, such as unscrewing a bottle cap or activating a wind-up toy.

The physiological reaction that occurs when a person is exposed to sensory stimuli.

Negative reaction to harmless light touch such as a tap on the shoulder, a clothing tag, gooey substances or close proximity.

The ability to distinguish different tactile properties of objects; the awareness of being touched.

The sensory system that receives the sensations of light touch, pressure, vibration, movement, pain and temperature through receptors in the skin.

The process of breaking a skill into its component parts.