At the OT Schoolhouse, we support school-based occupational therapy practitioners to use evidence, research, and best practices to feel more confident in their role and to avoid burnout.
Create personalized social stories in minutes
Presented by
The OT Schoolhouse Collaborative
Hey Reader,
Several of you recently reached out to me about how to support students who are eloping from class, therapy sessions, and/or transition periods.
There are several reasons why students may elope, and no two children elope for the same reason.
That is why it is crucial to assess the elopement behavior just as you would assess handwriting, cutting, and other fine motor skills. Through data collection with the help of teachers and paraprofessionals, we can develop a theory for why the student may be eloping.
Once you have a theory for why the student is eloping, you can move on to the treatment to reduce the child’s perceived need for elopement.
Every case is different, of course. However, one strategy that effectively supports students who elope in a neurodiversity-affirming way is Social Stories, as trademarked by Carol Gray.
Carol Gray’s take on developing Social Stories for autistic children is this:
Social stories can be a great tool to support our students when we keep these principles in mind. If not, they can be improperly used to mold behaviors without respecting students’ right to make their own decisions.
Recently, a new tool has become available to help teachers, parents, and therapists like you and me create personalized social stories for the students in our lives. And I wanted to share it with you before it takes off and may start charging for its service.
The tool is Ella.Kids, and it allows you to make personalized, digital social stories in just minutes via AI. I have already played around with it, and I am impressed. Just provide minimal information about your student (first name, age in years, and a description of the child), add a title to your story, and let the AI do the rest.
Here is a story I created in just 5 minutes.
Want to learn more about Ella Kids AI social stories?
There is still time to attend this event live!
Join us TOMORROW, October 10th, at 7 pm EST to learn the theoretical foundations and evidence from contemporary neuroscience and how your interventions support the mechanism of change - neuroplasticity - which results from the vestibular activation in an otherwise underperforming vestibular system.
Join OTS Collab today to attend this course live, or catch the replay afterward.
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🧰 My Go-To assessment tool for PK-3 - The Miller Function and Participation Scales (M-FUN) is my preferred assessment for looking at education-related tasks among kids aged 2-7.11.
🤌 Easy Hold Adapted Tool - I’ve used the EaZyHold tool to help kids hold everything from a pencil to a water bottle. A great tool to share with teachers who work with students with physical disabilities.
*Proud Affiliate
LAST WORD 👋
Will I see you at OTAC?
For those of you attending the California and Colorado OT Association conference, I will be joining you!
I'll be at the COLORADO OTAC on Saturday, Oct. 14th, and am presenting in the afternoon on being an OTPreneur (OT+Entrepreneur).
At the California conference, I'll be there on the ninth and tenth of November to present and receive an award 🤩.
If you'll be there, I'd love to say hello and snap a selfie with you. Please don't hesitate to say hello if you see me in the hallway. I'll be sure to bring some OT Schoolhouse swag for those who track me down.
As always, thank you so much for opening up this email and having a read. Whether you clicked on any of the links above or not, I hope the content helped you improve your practice, even if just 1%.
If you take a look at Ella, let me know what you think about it. Will you use it in your practice?
I'll see you next week with a new OT Schoolhouse podcast episode.
Until then,
👋 Jayson
Transparency note: I have no financial affiliation with Ella.Kids. I am simply sharing this tool as I know it can help you in your practice.
Jayson Davies, MA, OTR/L
Say hi 👋 on Instagram, LinkedIn,
and inside the OT Schoolhouse Collaborative
Jayson Davies, OTR/L
At the OT Schoolhouse, we support school-based occupational therapy practitioners to use evidence, research, and best practices to feel more confident in their role and to avoid burnout.
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