Occupational Therapy
Tammy Farello OTR/L – Clinical Director
Gina Prato OTR/L – Director of Early Intervention Program
Stephanie Frost OTR/L
Heather Clare OTR/L - Director of Specialized Programs
Carole Martin COTA
Amada Orozco COTA
At Carousel, we empower and support our students to develop the skills necessary for daily activities. Our team of occupational therapists provide individual, consultative, clinic and classroom based services tailored to fit the individual needs of the child and family. We teach and support skill development from the time they hang up their coat in the morning to when they put it back on at the end of the day. With our team, the school environment provides many developmental learning opportunities focused on each child’s skill development. We also provide the family with resources for including these opportunities or others, at home. Our occupational therapists collaborate with the classroom teachers and parents to design the most therapeutically effective programs for clinic, school and home.
Sensory Integration
Sensory Integration is the “neurological process that organizes sensation from one’s own body and from the environment and makes it possible to use the body effectively within the environment.” Some children experience either a hyposensitive (decreased) or a hypersensitive (heightened) reaction to daily sensory experiences than their peers. These children may have difficulty attending to tasks if their ability to screen out, or inhibit, nonessential sensory information, background noises, or visual information is impaired. Behavior problems can be the first indications that the child is experiencing adverse sensory triggers.
Sensory integration therapy focuses on vestibular (movement), proprioceptive (pushing, pulling and jumping), and tactile (touch) skills. Our team integrates children’s vestibular and proprioceptive activities with their upper extremity and trunk strengthening, and coordination activities. Children engage in tactilely focused activities that can include playdough, soap foam, salt and other substances.
Our transdisciplinary team provides ongoing support and training for all staff on the best techniques and equipment for each child. Using specialized sensory equipment in each classroom, our educational staff can better prevent behavioral outbursts. The children are offered opportunities to release their anxiety and stress through activities such as bouncing on a ball or using suspension equipment. Children are always encouraged to suggest activities that can help them; some children ride a bicycle before attending a long lesson, while others listen to classical music after taking spelling tests.
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