Document Type
Report
College
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Department
Occupational Therapy
Degree
Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD)
Report Date
2022
Faculty Mentor
Burton, Amy
Doctoral Experiential Coordinator
Latour, Debra
Abstract
"Self-regulation is a person’s ability to establish and maintain an optimal state with their emotions, thoughts, attention, and behavior to meet the needs of the environment. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may have difficulties with communication, social interactions, or engage in repetitive patterns of behavior that influence their ability to self-regulate (Watling & Spitzer, 2018). In most elementary schools, special education teachers and paraprofessionals do not receive evidence-based training on self-regulation strategies. The goal of this DEx capstone project was to determine if occupational therapy (OT) could support special education staff to improve confidence with implementation in the area of self-regulation. Through creative and evidence-based strategies, the OT DEx student was able to support, train, demonstrate, and provide a toolkit on self-regulation strategies to the staff. This quantitative study was conducted using a methodology that consisted of a pre-survey, thirty minutes of training on the self- regulation toolkit, followed by a post-survey. Findings from this study reveal confidence improved with implementation, identification, and modification of self-regulation strategies."
Recommended Citation
O'Brien, Sinead, "The Role of Occupational Therapy in Supporting Special Education Staff in Self-Regulation for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder" (2022). OTD DEx Reports - College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. 59.
https://digitalcommons.law.wne.edu/otd/59
