I had the pleasure of representing Therapro at the OT PT Fall 2014 Conference held at Northern Illinois University on October 17, 2014. Now in its 12th year, this highly anticipated event brought together over 500 occupational and physical therapists from Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana. The conference, held biennially, is designed specifically for school-based practitioners, offering evidence-informed strategies and tools to help ensure students continue to receive the highest quality therapeutic services within educational environments.

The OT PT Fall 2014 Conference is a full-day event and was packed with professional development opportunities. Attendees could choose from 11 informative workshops that addressed current topics and best practices. Sessions included Activity-Based Intervention and Adaptive Equipment, YogaEd and Brain Gym, The Zones of Regulation, and Assistive Technology Solutions, among others. Each session supported the conference’s overarching goal of promoting effective collaboration among therapists, educators, and families.

Therapro was proud to be represented not only at the exhibit booth, but also by author and presenter Tere Bowen-Irish, who led a full-day session. Her presentations—“OT for the Anxious/Stressed Students (Strategies for a Calmer Classroom)” and “Drive Thru Menus for Preschool and Kindergarten”—were well-received and offered actionable techniques to support emotional regulation and early literacy skills from an OT lens.

The Therapro exhibit booth was a hub of activity as attendees explored products that support classroom participation and regulation. Some of the most popular items included:

• The Sensory Connection Self-Regulation Workbook
• Gator Tweezers
• Assorted fidgets
• Poetry Yoga Cards
• Senseez Vibrating Pillow, and
• Drive Thru Body Challenge & Preschool/K cards.

A big thank you and congratulations to conference chairs Deb Daniel and Terry Seifert for organizing such a meaningful and well-executed event. We look forward to connecting again at the next OT/PT Fall Conference!

Filomena Connor, MS, OTR/L

The 22nd Annual Ohio Institute for OT/PT School-Based Practice conference in Columbus on August 11-12 was an exhilarating 2 days of incredible workshops with distinguished presenters. A record-breaking attendance of 700 therapists attended this superb event. The exhibitors included 28 vendors, one of which was Therapro! For the 7th consecutive year as the Therapro rep, I thoroughly enjoyed the enthusiasm and positivity of the conference planning committee co-chairs, Mary Kay Eastman, PT, MS and Molly Dodge, OTR/L. These women and their tireless team planned another stellar conference. Throughout the conference, Holly Bartholomew, conference coordinator, kept things running smoothly behind the scenes.

This year, Therapro authors, Bhanu Raghavan, MS, OTR/L and Ginger McDonald, OTR/L were included on the roster of speakers. Their dynamic presentation featured their publication, “Self-Care with Flair! A Step-by-Step Guide to Teaching Self-Care Skills to Children with Disabilities.” They presented their unique method for increasing independence with self-care skills, teaching the skills of dressing, grooming, toilet training, and eating by using a uniform approach with pictures and rhyming while employing visual, verbal, and tactile/kinesthetic cues.

The gregarious Ohio therapists spent time lingering at the Therapro exhibit area, sharing their opinions about products and creative uses for them in the classroom setting. They returned this year with endorsement of products they purchased at last year’s conference, including Wobbledeck, Crayon Rocks, and Fanta Color Jr. Many of Therapro’s new items, including WriteRight pencil grip Yogarilla Cards, and Stretch and Match Geoboard, won rave reviews.

It was a whirlwind 2 days in Columbus! I am eager to learn what the OT/PT Institute will be planning for next year. Thank you for a terrific conference! I look forward to returning to Columbus again next August.

Filomena Connor, MS, OTR/L

August 20, 2014

The November 21-22 Therapies in the School conference, sponsored by Education Resources, Inc., in Framingham, MA, was an incredibly constructive time for therapists to learn and share the latest in evidence-based strategies, select appropriate assessment tools and assistive technology, apply best practices in team collaboration…and much, much more!

As the Therapro rep, it was fun to talk with many therapists about tools they like and how they use them in their school-based practices.

Here are some popular materials that therapists loved and recommended:

• Brain Gym ®Teacher’s Edition
• Karen Moore’s book – The Sensory Connection Self Regulation Workbook
• Thumball; Move Your Body
• Body Poetry: Yoga Cards
• Hands and Feet Markers
• TRUNKS game

Check them out on the Therapro website to see if they could be useful in your practice!

From all accounts, this was a very fruitful conference for attendees, who walked away on Friday afternoon after a full two days of listening, learning, discussion, and networking.

– Filomena Connor, MS, OTR/L