Session Abstracts

90 Minute Sessions

• Fit4Work in the Garden: Using the Gardening Environment for Vocational Success in Youth with Disabilities

• • Youth with developmental disabilities experience persistent employment and health disparities. This session presents Fit4Work in the Garden, an evidence-based framework integrating physical fitness and vocational readiness through school gardening. Participants will learn to align gardening tasks with IEP goals, transition planning, and MTSS to support inclusive, sustainable employment preparation.

• Exploring OTs Role and Impact on Misophonia and Misokinesia

• • Misophonia and misokinesia are emerging neurological conditions with significant functional impact yet limited OT guidance. This presentation reviews current definitions, differential diagnosis, client populations, comorbidities, and research. Attendees will explore occupational therapy’s role in assessment, intervention, documentation, and practical strategies to support participation and quality of life.

• Common Strands: Knitting, OT, and Project Knitwell 

• • Leisure, Social Participation and Health Management will be explored through the lens of Project Knitwell. We will create a small community, consider health and wellness and provide comfort for ourselves (and consider comfort for others). Bring a WIP if you have one, or come ready to learn to knit.

• Assistive Technology – Where Can Occupational Therapy Fit? Where do you fit?

• • Occupational Therapists are uniquely skilled at adapting devices, environments, and strategies. Assistive Technology (AT) includes the devices and services that help students get around educational challenges. Attend this session to assess your ability to support AT and receive resources that support identification of appropriate AT tools for your students.

• Effective Behavioral Interventions & Supports: Blending OT & ABA for all Settings

• • This intermediate level session will provide an overview of behavioral intervention strategies for therapists to implement in a variety of settings with different developmental levels. Client issues, such as transition difficulties, task avoidance, refusal, rigidity, and attention seeking will be addressed. In addition, integrating non-contingent access to sensory supports as antecedent strategies will be covered. Using case scenarios, therapists will practice problem solving and apply these strategies to support children’s regulation for optimal arousal and engagement by integrating behavioral supports with therapy interventions.

45 Minute Sessions

• Supporting Safe Relationships: Expanding OT Practice in Sexuality Education

• • Individuals with IDDs often experience limited access to sexuality and relationship education despite increased vulnerability to abuse and significant gaps in caregiver support. This presentation shares evidence-based, trauma-informed strategies from a doctoral capstone project, offering practical approaches for teaching boundaries, consent, communication, and dating to promote safe, meaningful participation in relationships.

• The Telepathy Tapes and the Energy of Autism

• • "The Telepathy Tapes" podcast released in 2024 has intrigued millions of people, but also challenged our ideas about autism and relationships. This session will introduce the energetic anatomy of the autistic child referred to in the Tapes.

• From Silos to Synergy: Building a Cross-District Mentorship Circle to Advance School-Based OT and PT Practice 

• • School-based OT and PT leaders often work in isolation despite shared challenges. This panel describes how a cross-district mentorship circle was formed to support collaboration, leadership, and systems-level practice advancement. Panelists share lessons learned and invite participants to build regional and statewide mentorship networks.

• Building Firm Foundations in Early Intervention: Adaptive Standing as AT

• • This course highlights the critical importance of early diagnosis and the timely use of assistive technology to support children from birth to age five. Assessments for early diagnosis can identify the risk of cerebral palsy as early as four months of age. Current participation-based practices will incorporate equipment such as standers to implement postural management, promoting engagement in daily routines while leveraging crucial early brain plasticity. Specific strategies will strengthen communication among providers, families, and the EI team.

• Navigating Uncertainty in School Practice: The Dual Impact on Professional Reasoning

• • Uncertainty is inherent in school-based practice and significantly influences professional reasoning. This session examines the emotional and cognitive impacts of uncertainty and presents reflective, reflexive, and practical strategies to navigate ambiguity, support ethical decision-making, and foster resilience and innovation in complex educational systems.

• Managing Big Behaviors in Pediatric OT: A Regulation-First, Executive Function Lens

60 Minute Sessions

• Narcan Training 

Poster Sessions

• Designing Inclusive Community Events: An Occupational Therapy Perspective

• • Ensuring accessibility in community events is essential for inclusive participation. Guided by an occupational therapy perspective, this project identifies best practices through evidence and stakeholder interviews across varied contexts to highlight common needs and evidence based recommendations. Key insights and actionable strategies will be presented to inform inclusive community event design.

• Envisioning the Future of Early Intervention: Strengthening OT Education to Prepare for Transdisciplinary Practice in Early Intervention Practice Across Virginia Universities

• • The Virginia Early Intervention/Preservice Consortium connects faculty across Virginia’s universities to collaborate in advancing the quality of early intervention (EI) preparation. This presentation explores how the Consortium enhances stronger partnerships with local EI systems, creates research opportunities, and shares resources that enrich the education and preparation of future early interventionists.

• Occupational Therapy’s Role in Supporting Early Literacy Participation in Children With Down Syndrome

• • Occupational therapy practitioners have a unique role in supporting early literacy for children with Down syndrome. This poster examines the evidence on adaptive storytime and multisensory, motor-based literacy interventions. Findings highlight occupational therapy strategies, program length considerations, and implications for developing inclusive, OT-led adaptive storytime programs.

• The inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ (LGBTQ+) Fathers in the NICU and the role of Occupational Therapy

• • This presentation is to identify barriers to inclusion and establish occupational therapy’s role in implementing strategies to increase the inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ (LGBTQ+) fathers in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).