Question 1

Four of the six students in the early childhood play group at your school receive OT for sensory processing disorders. How could you service these children as a group?

Accepted Answer

To service children of this age as a group, you could arrange for a sensory group time with the early childhood teacher for the entire class. Include sensory interventions that meet your students' needs as a part of the group. This method of delivery allows all the children in the class to be included and lets the children with sensory processing needs model their actions from the children who have normal sensory processing. It also provides for more adults to help supervise the activities, so you can focus on your OT students within the group setting.

Question 2

You have six OT students in the kindergarten class at your school. The classroom teacher has asked you for ideas to help with handwriting for all of the students. How could you approach this request?

Accepted Answer

Since the kindergarten teacher has asked you for ideas to help with handwriting and you have so many OT students in the class, you could offer to co-teach a handwriting unit with the teacher once per week. You must have the teacher present in the classroom because he/she is certified to teach the entire class. While co-teaching, you can address the needs of your OT students and give the teacher ideas to help the handwriting of the other students.

Question 3

You have been working with three middle school students on using assistive technology to complete language arts assignments. You would like to see them incorporate the assistive technology they have learned into their language arts classes. They all work with the same special education teacher during language arts. How could you facilitate incorporating the assistive technology?

Accepted Answer

To facilitate the students incorporating the technology into their language arts classes, you could ask the special education teacher if you could work with your students as a group. Your students could use the technology to work on the assignments given to them by the special education teacher, without having to keep up with the pace of a regular education class.

Question 4

Three of your OT students are experiencing difficulties feeding themselves in the lunch room. They spill their trays, create large messes, and do not eat much food. All three of the students have diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder. How could you address the feeding issues of your students?

Accepted Answer

Because all three of these students have an autism spectrum disorder, they all may be experiencing sensory overload in the lunch room environment. Scheduling a "lunch group" in a quiet area will reduce sensory input for the children and will allow them to focus on lunch room skills without the distractions.

Question 5

You co-treat three children with Down syndrome with the physical therapy assistant. All three children have difficulty with larger motor eye-hand coordination activities. Scheduling these students has been difficult due to the large number of services they receive. How could you address all of these issues?

Accepted Answer

To address the eye-hand coordination problems with all three children, you could plan a large motor group with the physical therapy assistant and provide services to the children in a group setting. This solution would also resolve your scheduling difficulty because fewer therapy times would be required during the children's school week.

Question 6

Seth is a 17-year-old male with a diagnosis of spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. He has come to your outpatient clinic for treatment of flexion contractures of both wrists. Seth still has active use of his fingers, and his hands can be passively ranged to about 20 degrees short of neutral. What type of splints does your OT department ask you to fabricate for Seth?

Accepted Answer

The OT department asks you to fabricate hard volar wrist splints for Seth to use during the day. The hard splints will place a sustained stretch on the flexor muscles of the wrists and will position Seth's hands in a functional position to allow him to use his fingers during activities.

Question 7

Tucker is a 10-year-old brain injury patient with multiple flexion contractures. He is unable to participate in any functional activities beyond sensory stimulation. Tucker is experiencing skin breakdown in both palms. What solution does your OT department ask you to implement for Tucker?

Accepted Answer

Your OT department asks you to implement the use of bilateral cylindrical splints made of dense, washable foam. These splints will position Tucker's hands to prevent pressure. The material is easy to clean and will assist in keeping dirt away from the sensitive areas of Tucker's hands.

Question 8

Annie, your 8-year-old student with cerebral palsy, hates wearing her bilateral wrist splints and is repeatedly refusing to cooperate when her paraprofessional attempts to put them on her. You notice red areas on Annie's skin near the head of the radius, ulnar prominence, and CMC joint of the thumb. What do you and your OT department conclude is the problem?

Accepted Answer

The red areas you observe are near bony prominences, indicating that Annie's splints are getting too small for her. The splints need to be replaced with larger ones.

Question 9

Taylor is a 3-year-old student with a diagnosis of status post hemispherectomy that is secondary to seizure disorder. He wears a wrist-thumb orthosis on his left hand and an ankle-foot orthosis on his left foot. Upon arrival to his therapy session, you notice that Taylor is not wearing his wrist splint, and he is dragging his foot sideways as he walks into the therapy clinic. What do you suspect?

Accepted Answer

Taylor is dragging his foot because he is not wearing his ankle foot orthosis. The ankle foot orthosis places the foot in alignment for ambulation. If Taylor's foot is not in alignment and he is not wearing his wrist-thumb orthosis, you would suspect that he is also not wearing his ankle foot orthosis.

Question 10

Mia, an 8-year-old student, underwent flexor tendon transfer surgery on her thumb two weeks ago. She has been immobilized up to this point, but her immobilizer and stitches are now removed. What type of splint does your OT department ask you to fabricate for Mia?

Accepted Answer

Your OT department asks you to fabricate a half-thumb post to allow active range of motion at the IP joint. Mia may begin gentle range of motion at this joint, but it is too soon after surgery to allow full range of motion of the thumb or the sustained passive range of motion that an outrigger would provide.

Question 11

Savanna is an 11-year-old spinal cord injury patient on the rehabilitation unit. She has a C7 spinal cord injury and has active movement in her shoulders and elbows. But she cannot move her fingers enough to grasp objects. What adaptive device do you issue to Savanna to help her hang on to daily living objects, such as silverware, her toothbrush, and other items?

Accepted Answer

A universal cuff will hold the handles of Savanna's daily living objects in place in the palm of her hand, so she can complete activities of daily living (ADLs).

Question 12

You have been attempting to teach your fifth-grade student, Morris, how to tie his shoes for four years. He has Down syndrome and still cannot handle the laces correctly. Morris will be starting middle school soon. What is your solution to Morris' inability to tie his shoes?

Accepted Answer

You provide Morris with elastic shoelaces, turning his shoes into slip-ons. Since Morris has been working on shoe tying for four years with no progress and he has Down syndrome, adapting shoe closures is the most realistic option to help him be more independent in middle school.

Question 13

Andrew is a seventh-grade student with a learning disability. He continues to struggle with writing, being unable to handwrite legibly or type at a functional speed. He completes written assignments very slowly and dislikes language arts. What type of assistive technology does your OT department tell you to begin teaching Andrew to use?

Accepted Answer

Speech to text or dictation software will allow Andrew to dictate text directly into a word processing program. Since Andrew's handwriting and typing skills are both weak, dictation will allow Andrew to compose written work without struggling to perform the motor actions of writing or typing.

Question 14

Your student Jesse, who has multiple developmental disabilities, cannot feed herself at lunch without spilling food on her lap. She holds her spoon with a gross grasp and cannot scoop food without shoveling it off her tray. She does not pay attention to where her food items are and repeatedly knocks her milk and tray off the lunch table. What adaptations do you recommend for Jesse to her teacher?

Accepted Answer

To address Jesse's self-feeding issues, you would recommend a sectioned lip plate to separate Jesse's food and give her an edge to push the food against when scooping; a non-skid mat under Jesse's place to prevent it from sliding; and a covered cup to reduce spills if Jesse knocks the cup off the table.

Question 15

Matthew, your 16-year-old student with quadriplegic cerebral palsy, has limited upper extremity motor skills. His teacher asks you for some ideas for Matthew that would address leisure skills. He spends most of his time at home watching television. What is one adaptation that you could recommend for Matthew?

Accepted Answer

You could recommend a switch-adapted CD player for Matthew. This is a device that Matthew could operate himself, even though he has limited upper extremity motor skills. Matthew would use either a large button switch that he could operate by pressing it with any part of his arm, or a head-activated switch mounted where Matthew could press it with the side of his head.

Question 16

Paul, a sixth-grade student with an autism spectrum disorder, complains of headaches during the school day. He tells you that the standard fluorescent lights in the school seem to jump, and he feels better when he closes his eyes. What could you do to address Paul's complaint?

Accepted Answer

To address Paul's complaint, you would ask the maintenance man to install light filters over the lights in Paul's classroom. Light filters, which come in a variety of colors, help reduce the glare and harsh fluorescent rays from the lights. This does not require the teacher to turn out the lights in the classroom.

Question 17

Felix, your new 3-year-old student, runs around the therapy room and jumps on all the equipment in an unsafe manner. He does not respond to verbal or visual commands. How can you adapt the therapy room to keep Felix safe?

Accepted Answer

Since Felix is very young and does not know how to behave safely in his environment. So you would adapt the therapy room by blocking off all equipment - except for the item you want to use with Felix at a particular time. Rewards for safe behavior may be used at some point, but the reward system must be taught to Felix before it will be effective.

Question 18

Is the use of physical restraint or seclusion allowed in public school?

Accepted Answer

The use of physical restraint or seclusion is allowed in public schools if the school has a written policy that follows guidelines from the U.S. Department of Education and the laws regarding physical restraint and seclusion from the state in which the school is located.

Question 19

Geraldo, your kindergarten student with autism, is not responding to your verbal prompts as you attempt to guide him to the first activity of your therapy session. Your OT department tells you to use the following during Geraldo's therapy sessions: _________.

Accepted Answer

Your OT department tells you to use a visual schedule during Geraldo's therapy sessions. Geraldo is not responding to verbal commands, which indicates that Geraldo does not process auditory sensory input correctly. Using a visual schedule gives Geraldo an alternate method of sensory input through visual cues that let him know what activity is next.

Question 20

Your 18-month-old student, Ashley, is too young to follow verbal directions or a visual schedule. How do you structure her therapy session, so she will participate in the activities you have planned?

Accepted Answer

Since Ashley is too young to follow verbal directions or a visual schedule, you would present the activities to Ashley one at a time. If Ashley does not understand how to complete the activity, you would give her physical assistance until she learns the motions required. Then you would decrease the amount of assistance and allow Ashley to complete the activity herself.

Quiz 2: Implementing Interventions