Ways to Play: Designing Sensory Integration Based OT Sessions
Pediatric occupational therapist Robin Hellmann shares the repeatable four-part sequence she uses to prepare a child’s body and brain for functional tasks: deep pressure, heavy work, prone extension, and supine flexion. A practical session for OTs and related practitioners who work with children with sensory processing and motor challenges in clinics, schools, homes, and sensory gyms.
What this webinar covered
In this recorded session, pediatric occupational therapist Robin Hellmann, MA, OTR/L, walks through the four-part sequence she uses to prepare a child’s body and brain before moving into functional tasks: deep pressure, heavy work, prone extension, and supine flexion.
Robin explains the clinical reasoning behind each phase and how she adapts the sequence for different children and session goals. Her demonstrations show how a single piece of equipment can serve several purposes. The Fitness Wheel, for example, becomes a surface for prone extension, a container for heavy work, a balance challenge, and a fine motor station. She also demonstrates activities on the Air Barrel and Power Launch, though her approach applies to whatever equipment a clinic, school, or home already has.
The session closes with audience Q&A.
Who this is for
This webinar is for pediatric occupational therapists and related practitioners who work with children with sensory processing and motor challenges in clinics, schools, homes, and sensory gyms. Watching as a team? The recording makes a ready-made staff training session.
About Robin Hellmann, MA, OTR/L
Robin Hellmann, MA, OTR/L, has been practicing pediatric occupational therapy for over twenty years. She holds a Master’s degree from NYU and advanced training in sensory processing, neuromotor development, and reflex integration. Robin is the owner of Spark Pediatric OT in Westport, Connecticut, where she works with children with sensory processing and motor challenges.
Her treatment approach emphasizes play-based, child-directed sessions, built on a structured foundation that prepares each child’s body and brain for participation. For the child, a well-designed SI session should feel like play. For the therapist, it should feel like a system that works.
