Using Neuroscience to Optimize Recovery

Amy Jennings OTD, OTR/L, BCPR

Biography

Amy Jennings has been practicing occupational therapy for 10+ years in North Central Washington with a focus in outpatient neurorehabilitation. She helped develop a robust driving safety program, LSVT BIG Parkinsons program, and multidisciplinary wheelchair clinic. In 2020, Amy earned her Board Certification in Physical Rehabilitation and was awarded AOTA’s Choosing Wisely Champion for her dedication to meaningful and purposeful occupation-based intervention. She serves on the Roster of Accreditation Evaluators for ACOTE. Amy’s passion is living the role of occupational therapist and educator, but also wife and mother of three adventurous boys.

Session Description:

Understanding the neuroscience behind why humans operate the way they do can give insight into guiding patients through difficult and chaotic recoveries. This session will evaluate motor learning principles and methods to enhance neural circuitry for optimal physical rehabilitation. Interactive clinical reasoning through patient-specific cases will provide participants with tangible treatment ideas to apply to their own practice.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will articulate the neuroscience supporting purposeful occupations.
2. Participants will identify methods to strengthen neural circuitry for optimal recovery after injury.
3. Participants will apply learned concepts to patient-specific cases.

Content level: Beginner

Practice Setting(s): Inpatient and outpatient

Orientation to Occupational Science and 2020 Updates to the Occupational Practice Framework 4th Edition

Josephine Jarvis PP-OTD, MA-OTR/L, BA, BS

Biography

Dr. Josie Jarvis, PP-OTD, MA-OTR/L, BA, BS. Has been practicing throughout WA state as a generalist lifespan OT since 2016 in Acute/Post-Acute/Memory Care/School-Based/Adult Transition/and Outpatient Pediatric Settings. Feeling discouraged by limitations to holistic occupation-based practice in traditional practice settings in 2019 she returned to academia to pursue a post-professional clinical doctorate with the University of Utah where she completed her degree in January 2023. There she re-discovered the field of Occupational Science and her passion for OT practice with OS’s transformative potential in empowering dynamic and innovative OT practice worldwide. She found her calling in finding ways to bring the developments of OS to field clinicians, clients, and community stakeholders so OTPs and our clients can experience increased empowerment and well-being in these times of rapid change. If you are looking to rekindle your passion for occupation and need more confidence, excitement, and empowerment in your setting I highly recommend getting exposed to occupational science and its relationship to the OTPF4. You can find more information on OS-empowered OT practice here: swiy.co/engagingoslinktree and on Josie’s Podcast Engaging Occupational Science.

Session Description

This session will provide OTPs an orientation to the field of Occupational Science and it’s recent formal incorporation into the 2020 release of the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework 4th Edition. This session will be a great fit for OTPs that would like an overview of the key updates and changes made to the most recent practice framework that defines our national scope, domain, and process in the US. This presentation will also explore exciting new developments in the field of Occupational Science (OS) with a guidebook provided of key OS terms/researchers/and connections to international OT professional documents and commitments. Participants will be provided tangible examples of how to incorporate occupational science and practice framework into their own traditional settings in how it can support your clients and your practice from a distinctly occupational perspective backed by our own unique international science base that few OTPs have gotten exposure to since it’s founding in 1989.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will develop familiarity with foundational Occupational Science concepts embedded in the 2020 release of the OTPF4.
2. Participants will connect foundational occupational science concepts to their own life as an occupational being and practice as an OTP
3. Participants will identify key updates to the 2020 OTPF4 and opportunities to enhance occupation based/centered/focused practice in their current/future practice settings across the lifespan.

Content level: Beginner

Practice Setting(s): All traditional and emerging

Mindfulness in Pediatrics

Nikky Jost COTA/L

Biography 

Nikky Jost has been actively working as a COTA for 4 1/2 years! Her favorite part of her job is being able to meet so many people and help them gain their independence! She has worked in home health, skilled nursing, private and now public schools. In her free time she loves to be creative including painting, drawing and crafts! She also loves to bring her crafting abilities to work to teach her students!

Session Description 

This session will teach you about the basics of mindfulness. It will go over an overview of what mindfulness is, who it is beneficial for it, and how it has been a benefit to my practice as a pediatric, occupational therapy assistant.by the end of this session you will be able to having practical interventions that you can use with your students/patients.

Learning Objectives

1. learning the impacts on stress to our students/ pediatric population
2. the benefits of using mindfulness in the pediatric population
3. specific interventions that are used and backed by evidenced based research

Content level: Beginner

Practice Setting(s): Pediatrics

IRLEN SYNDROME – WHAT OTS NEED TO KNOW

Lucia Lara OTR/L ; Certified Senior Irlen Screener

Theresa Carlson Masters Degree

Biography 

Lucia Lara, OTR/L has over 30 years’ experience as an Occupational Therapist.  Her career spans many different practice areas, with specialized focus in Pediatrics and Sensory Health in Wellness for all ages.  Lucia has advanced training in multiple therapeutic approaches that address the sensory processing basis to self-regulation and development.  She completed an intensive mentorship with Dr. Lucy Miller at the STAR Center in CO in 2018 and participated in the standardization of the SP3D assessment with Western Psychological Services Publishing in 2019.

Lucia earned Certification as an Irlen Screener in April 2017, after hearing about Irlen Syndrome while completing a course in Reflex Integration.  She values Irlen as a tool to address challenges with the visual sensory system, and its role in supporting Sensory Wellness for individuals with a variety of diagnoses. 

Lucia is based in Kitsap County, WA. She is the owner of LPL Consultation, LLC, offering private consultative services, to include Irlen Screening.  Lucia has given virtual presentations on topics including Irlen Syndrome, Sensory Tools to access Virtual Schooling (during the Covid pandemic) and Sensory Informed Care.  She presented “Irlen Syndrome, What OTs need to know” at the WOTA MiniCon in April 2023.

Terry Carlson, owner of Irlen® Services Northwest, LLC, has a Masters in Special Education/Endorsement in Reading and had been teaching in the public school systems; in secondary Special Education Literacy Programs; for over 20 years. While teaching in the public school system, Terry was introduced to Irlen® overlays by the literacy coach while searching for specific interventions when student’s progress had stalled. She noticed an immediate improvement with reading comprehension. Students often told her, “the words don’t move anymore, I can see the words clearly now.”

Encouraged by the results with her students and realizing their potential once this barrier was removed, Terry elected to be trained as an Irlen® Screener in 2008. In 2011, she trained as an Irlen® Diagnostician, which enabled her to administer Irlen® Spectral Filters, as well as train other educators and care givers as Irlen® Screeners. Terry has since retired from the public school system to dedicate her work to identifying and supporting clients who will benefit from the Irlen® Method. Her passion for learning and teaching continues to serve her in this new chapter of her career.

Session Description 

Irlen Syndrome is a problem with the brain’s ability to process visual information.  This disorder affects approximately 15% of the general population, 50% of individuals with reading and learning difficulties, 30% of individuals with ADHD and autism, and a significant portion of individuals with brain injury, chronic headaches, and migraines. These are the individuals seeking our support as Occupational Therapists!  This presentation will cover what Irlen Syndrome is, how symptoms may manifest in in Occupational Therapy settings, and steps to take if Irlen Syndrome is suspected.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand What Irlen Syndrome is
2. Understand Functional impact of Irlen Syndrome
3. What to do / Strategies to help if Irlen Syndrome is suspected

Content level: Beginner

Practice Setting(s): All 

Improving your cognitive assessment tool kit for hospital and step down settings

Sabine Kaul-Connolly MEd, OTR/L

Biography

I have been an OT for 16 years, working in intensive and acute care settings, subacute rehabilitation, and outpatient. In these settings I have focused on the functional impacts of cognitive impairments and how we can improve our treatment for this population as a team as patients heal from critical illness. With a focus on improving team communications, I co-created with nurses a tool to help better understand and treat hospitalized patients with cognitive impairments. It is my goal to share this tool with OTs who have struggled with translating their knowledge to their team members.

Session Description

Occupational therapists in acute care and in step down settings have a unique skill set to aid in a team’s recognition of a patient’s changes in functional cognitive status. However, cognitive changes are frequently under addressed, or go unrecognized in the first place in these settings which can have detrimental impacts on the patient. The Cognitive Pyramid, a standardized cognitive assessment, helps describe your patient’s presentation and guide interventions for the whole team. In this session you will learn how to integrate functional cognitive assessment data in treatment planning and interdisciplinary team communication for increasing safety of your patients. Research will be presented on the importance of interdisciplinary rounding, delirium mitigation, and OT’s unique position to champion patients with cognitive changes who are hospitalized. 

Learning Objectives

1. Learn about a cognitive assessment tool called the Cognitive Pyramid – an evidence based cognitive assessment and intervention tool
2. Empower OTPs to assess cognitive function with every patient encounter.
3. Provide tools for improved cognitive assessment selection for hospitalized and rehabilitation patients

Content level: Intermediate

Practice Setting(s): Acute Care and rehabilitation