Welcome back to the final part of Eadie’s story. I enjoyed hearing from so many teachers across the globe regarding part 3 of her story. I will share an update from her parents at the end. But first, let’s take a look at Eadie’s experience with OT and talk about future plans to support her regulation.
Outdoor OT
Even though her school performance discrepancy was new to Eadie’s family, her sensory regulation needs weren’t. So they already had her attending weekly nature-based outdoor OT sessions. Never heard of that? Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like: occupational therapy, outside in nature [Listen to this podcast episode with me and an outdoor OT].
Usually done somewhere in the forest or woods, pediatric OTs can lead nature based groups or provide 1:1 therapy with the natural sensory experience of mother nature. Nature based therapists encourage running, climbing, skipping, building, digging and so much more, while embedding social emotional, fine motor, gross motor or sensory goals informed by their clinical reasoning. If you have nature based occupational therapy near you, I highly recommend looking into it!
In Eadie’s outdoor OT sessions, she worked on:
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Recognizing her own internal body signals (and what they were signaling to her)
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Problem solving and ideation by coming up with ideas for games and things to build with limited resources
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Confidence to join in group play with other kids
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Flexibility with trying new things
