Environmental Enrichment
EE is a 6-month protocol with activities that change every two weeks. Parents/teachers select several multi-sensory activities from a list of 34 activities and do them for the two week period. They work with the child twice a day for about 15-20 minutes each. As the sessions progress, the child gains awareness of sensation and gains multi-sensory integration skills. The activities also build joint-attention skills, which are known to decrease autism severity.
The protocol is simply described in two published papers available for free online (see references below for more information).
In addition, my book, Hands-On Activities for Children with Autism & Sensory Disorders, devotes 80 pages to the protocol, providing approximately 200 activity variations and talking through program implementation details, including the Draw What You Feel activity.
Download the Draw What You Feel Activity (It's FREE!)
Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Teresa Garland, MOT, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist and author specializing in sensory and modulation issues. Garland works closely with other health professionals, teachers and doctors to understand and treat underlying sensory, timing, and coordination/motor planning issues as well as overlying socio/emotional behaviors in the symptoms of autism. She is the author of two books: Self-Regulation Interventions and Strategies: Keeping the Body, Mind and Emotions on Task in Children with Autism, ADHD or Sensory Disorders and Hands-On Activities for Children with Autism & Sensory Disorders.
She writes a blog at otselfregulation.blogspot.com/.
Woo, C. C., & Leon, M. (2013). Environmental enrichment as an effective treatment for autism: A randomized controlled trial. Behavioral Neuroscience, 487-97.
Teresa Garland, MOT, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist and author specializing in sensory and modulation issues. She has worked in schools, sensory clinics and medical settings with children and adults, treating sensory disorders, ADHD and autism. Ms. Garland works closely with other health professionals, teachers and doctors to understand and treat underlying sensory, timing, and coordination/motor planning issues as well as overlying socio/emotional behaviors in the symptoms of autism. She is trained/certified in the SIPT, Interactive Metronome®, Integrated Listening Systems (iLs), Therapeutic Listening, Wilbarger’s Sensory Defensiveness, the Natural Heart Approach, Mindfulness Training, and Food Chaining. Her bestselling books are titled Self-Regulation Interventions and Strategies: Keeping the Body, Mind and Emotions on Task in Children with Autism, ADHD or Sensory Disorders (PESI, 2014) and Hands-on Activities for Children with Autism & Sensory Disorders (PESI, 2016).
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Teresa Garland is a presenter with Michigan Job Rehabilitation. She receives a consultant fee, speaking honorarium, book royalties, and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Teresa Garland has no relevant non-financial relationships.
