Bartlett Regional | HouseCalls | Winter 2018

www.bartletthospital.org 7 PEDIATRIC OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY Q & A : Bartlett’s Social Skills Program Pediatric occupational therapists (OTs) and speech therapists at Bartlett Regional Hospital also work with older children, helping them prepare for growing up, succeeding at school and getting a job. We asked Suzanne Peschier, OT, about the Social Skills Program. Q. Who’s in the Social Skills Program? A. Many of the kids are preteens or teenagers with high-functioning autism (formerly called Asperger’s). They do well in many areas of their life but have a hard time making friends, carrying on a conversation, or understanding how to act in a group of people or at a job. We meet in groups to help kids learn the skills they need for interacting with others. Q. What determines eligibility? A. Usually we get referrals from their doctors. We try tomake a group of four kids that we think will work well together. Q. Where are the groups held? A. We progress them from the Pediatric Gym to doing field trips in the hospital to field trips in the community. We’ve gone to the Rock Dump, out for Chinese food or pizza, and to the Zach Gordon Youth Center. We’ve also done field trips downtown and attended different community events. Q. Do they role-playwith eachother? A. We do some role-playing, but most of our time is spent learning about “social thinking.” All our groups are based on the curriculumof Michelle GarciaWinner, who has done a lot of work in this area. Social thinking is based on the idea that to have effective social skills, you have to understand other people’s perspectives. We teach kids to think about other people and care about their thoughts and feelings. They learn concepts they can use at school, at home and in the community. Sensory integration theory The number of children diagnosed with autism has more than doubled over the past two decades, largely due to greater awareness of the condition and changes in diagnosis. Due to the prevalence of young patients on the autism spectrum, Bartlett pediatric therapy is largely based on sensory integration theory. “Kids with autism spectrum disorder have nervous systems that have developed differently, and they often respond to sensory input differently,” says Peschier. “They may not tolerate touching Play-Doh or shaving cream with their hands. They may need a lot of deep pressure input— like jumping or having a big therapy ball rolled on their body—to help them stay calm.” Work and play You could say Peschier also gets to play on the job. For example, Ray is a fun- loving and inquisitive six-year-old. He is also on the autism spectrum. He has been mostly playing and working with Peschier since he was four. In a 45-minute session, Ray might climb on the climbing wall, jump on a huge air-filled bag and walk on a series of colorful river rocks. Ray also works with a Bartlett speech therapist and is on the waiting list for physical therapy. That’s OK with his mother, Mistee, who is amazed at the caliber of Bartlett’s services for her son “for a town of this size.” REACHING NEW HEIGHTS: Ray makes his way up the climbing wall in the Pediatric Gym with the assistance of Suzanne Peschier, OT. IN THE SWING OF THINGS: Jayden tries out the swing, with Ashley Ross, certified occupational therapy assistant.