Sensory Integration Education

Kate Broughton is an independent occupational therapist at a specialist school for children with Autism in Norfolk and is an Advanced Sensory Integration Practitioner. Kate received the Elizabeth Stephenson Award for the Postgraduate Diploma in Sensory Integration Outstanding Student of the Year 2021. Here, Kate shares her reflections about her key learning points, the professional development she gained, the skills she has acquired since completing SI training and how her practice has been influenced by her postgraduate training through Sensory Integration Education.

My initial interest in SI started several years ago when I was working as an Occupational Therapist in a Community Paediatric team in Surrey. At this stage, I had little professional or personal experience of working with children but my supervisor was a brilliant role model and keen SI enthusiast and she encouraged me to attend the Foundation Module, which at the time was a live course. Due to my lack of paediatric experience, I remember feeling completely overwhelmed and daunted by all the theory, but it must have had an impact on me, as from then on I knew that this was a journey that I was keen to continue!

Following various life changes, including getting married, relocation to Norfolk and having my own children, I restarted my SI studies in earnest in 2015, and have continued to slowly work my way through the SI Modules, finally gaining Advanced Practitioner Status in 2021.

Working With Children With Autism

I completed the SI Module 1 course when I was working in a residential school for children with complex Autism. This was my first experience of engaging in online learning and, although I had some initial reservations (mostly around finding time to study amid a busy family and work life), I did enjoy the variety of ways the course was delivered and the opportunity to study at your own pace.

I have completed SI Modules 2, 3 and 4 whilst working part time as an independent Occupational Therapist at a specialist school for children with Autism in Norfolk. For me, this has been part of the motivation and the attraction to study remotely, as I have been able to apply my new knowledge and learning directly to practice. Within the school, my specific occupational therapy role is to provide direct Ayres Sensory Integration (ASI) Therapy with the focus on developing children’s function and participation for improved occupational performance during the school day; improving active engagement in learning opportunities and meaningful occupations; and developing skills for self-regulation and positive social behaviour during the school day.

I have benefitted from an enormous amount of learning, reflection and skill development across all of the SI training modules. By reading, critiquing and reflecting on the recommended theory and literature, I have updated and improved my understanding of current Sensory Integration theory and practice implications, particularly in relation to the field of Autism in which I work.

Some of the key development points during my SI training have been:

• I have enhanced my clinical reasoning skills in relation to working with a range of diverse populations. I feel my practice has advanced particularly in applying ASI theory to working with children with ASD and identifying specific strengths and participation challenges for children within the school setting.
• I have a much deeper understanding of the related neuroscience literature for children with ASD and theory-practice links considering both neuroscience and SI theory. This has developed my clinical reasoning skills in considering functional impact and related behavioural and emotional presentations. 
• I have had the opportunity to revisit, expand, deepen and broaden my knowledge base. I have particularly benefited from the structure and the level of detail provided in the many SI Education tools that were shared during the various modules, such as the SI Education Assessment Interpretation Tool (based on the Bundy and Lane Model, 2020). I feel that this has helped me to more effectively analyse presenting information and thereby more effectively formulate tighter, evidence based, working hypotheses for children. 
• I have further explored models of practice, and I have had many in-depth reflective discussions with my clinical mentor about the application of models to practice. I feel that this is an area where my knowledge will continue to develop, as my clinical confidence and experience grows.
• I have found it extremely beneficial to explore best practice tools such as the Ayres Sensory Integration® Fidelity Measure© (ASIFM) (Parham et al. 2007, 2011) and reflect on my practice development using this tool to “measure” and ensure treatment fidelity. This has enhanced my knowledge of practice procedures as well as enabling me to set up my therapy space to ensure that my treatment delivery meets the core principles of ASI.
• Having completed various literature searches and reviews across the modules, I have a much clearer understanding of the evidence base for SI in relation to working with children with Autism. I feel more confident in sharing this knowledge with parents, teaching staff and stakeholders and I am more able to effectively reason the evidence base and provide justification for ASI therapy. 

The magnitude of learning throughout the modules has also influenced and developed my professional skills and my clinical confidence has grown. This has positively impacted my direct practice skills as well as my professional skills in articulating my reasoning clearly and communicating the value of ASI therapy with other colleagues.I feel that I am more effective and efficient in the completion of related documentation such as assessment reports and clinical notes and I can demonstrate increased adherence to the core principles of ASI when providing intervention. 

Take the Plunge

If you are thinking of embarking on this training, I would encourage you to take the plunge and start your SI journey, with the knowledge that you will have the opportunity to engage in many rich and fulfilling opportunities during your studies. It is essential to manage your time so that you can study, participate and reflect on all the learning opportunities, ideally according to the programme of work advised by SIE for each module. This way you can make the most of engaging in the many fruitful and rich discussions and learning opportunities explored during forum tasks, from therapists practising around the world. 

If you are a visual learner like me, make notes, draw pictures, use colour and whatever other strategies you have, to highlight key pieces of information and learning. I started this process in SI Module 1, and I have continued this throughout the modules. I now have a collection of detailed and valuable material that I can easily refer back to when I need to check knowledge and understanding or to remind myself of key learning.

Since occupational engagement and participation in school are key to a child’s success, my developing vision for OT-ASI intervention within my specialist school setting, is to create a streamlined service with proven clinical effectiveness and outcome measurement, that is valued, robust and highly regarded within the whole school community. This will ultimately contribute to the school’s overall aim, which is for students to enjoy learning in a calm, happy and safe environment. 

I am absolutely delighted and honoured to have won ”The Elizabeth Stephenson Award for the Postgraduate Diploma in SI Outstanding Student of the Year 2021” in recognition of my work to achieve Advanced Practitioner status. I feel that the breadth and depth of the study topics, clinical hours and mentoring support for SI Module 4 greatly enhanced both my clinical and professional skills enabling me to practice confidently as an Advanced Practitioner. By applying advanced knowledge of sensory integration theory and practice to my clinical field, I can respond more effectively to the diverse needs of the children with whom I work. 

Having recently earned the status of Advanced Practitioner, I am planning to use the remainder of this academic year to embed my advanced knowledge and skills into practice. I am continuing to engage in relevant short courses of clinical interest and I am particularly enjoying and benefitting from the current Sensory Integration Education Masterclass series of workshops. I feel extremely grateful and privileged to have worked with the many children, families, parents and professionals, all of whom have contributed to my learning and clinical experiences along my SI journey.

Thank you to Kate Broughton for sharing her story with us.

References

_{Parham, L. D., Cohn, E. S., Spitzer, S., Koomar, J. A., Miller, L. J., Burke, J. P., Summers, C. A. (2007). Fidelity in sensory integration intervention research. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61, 216–227} 

_{Parham, D. L., Smith Roley, S., May-Benson, T. A., Koomar, J., & Brett-Green, B. (2011). Development of a Fidelity Measure for Research on the Effectiveness of Ayres Sensory Integration intervention. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy.}

Interested in SI Training?

Find out more about Sensory Integration Education's modular MSc in Sensory Integration pathway, accredited by Sheffield Hallam University, here.