Planning an autistic child's occupational therapy is usually a conversation between their parents and a therapist. But a University of Missouri study found children could benefit from taking part in those conversations.
Occupational therapy is used to promote, maintain and develop everyday skills. Each occupational therapy session is tailored to what the patient wants to work on. Melanie Tkach, a University of Missouri researcher, occupational therapist, and assistant professor in the College of Health Sciences, conducted the study, which gives autistic children more agency in planning their therapy while also getting to stay in the comfort of their own home.
The study involved 17 children between the ages of five and 13. It took place over the course of eight sessions—with the exception of one family, who met their goals in seven.
Tkach believes that the breakthroughs she saw in the children are because they were involved in their planning.
"It was neat to watch them negotiate some of the goals that they were setting or negotiate the plans that they were making," Tkach said.
Their goals included learning how to tie their shoes, being less afraid of bugs, swimming and prepping lunches for school.
After comparing surveys that were completed by the children's caregivers before and after therapy, Tkach found that the sessions helped children meet their goals, participate more in day-to-day activities and improve the families' quality of life.
"One of my favorite things was watching the families start to take on the problem-solving process. Because this is all about guiding a family through a problem-solving approach," Tkach said.
Nathan Dare is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Missouri who specializes in supporting families of children with autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Dare says while children are somewhat involved in their in-person planning, they were given many more opportunities to plan their therapy in Tkach's research.
"Families come to us with particular goals in mind that they want their kiddos to either participate in to some degree or to do independently," Dare said.
Virtual meetings were chosen for these coaching sessions to get rid of the need to go to an in-person clinic. That also kept the children in a familiar setting, which allowed them to feel more comfortable speaking up and advocating for themselves in their sessions.
While the study was conducted with children in Columbia, Tkach said the virtual therapy sessions could help bring an added benefit for rural and underserved communities.
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