Question 1

What activity would be appropriate to help a 4-year-old student develop a correct grasp on crayons and markers?

Accepted Answer

To help facilitate a correct writing and drawing grasp, you could have the student draw on a vertical surface, such as a chalkboard or dry erase board. The hand and wrist are forced into the correct writing position when writing or drawing on a vertical surface.

Question 2

Sean, your 3-year-old student, scribbles by holding a marker with his wrist pronated, his thumb and the lateral side of his index finger pinching the marker, and the rest of his fingers curled around the marker. How do you correct this position?

Accepted Answer

Children of Sean's age are just beginning to develop the fine motor skills necessary to hold crayons and markers with a tripod grasp. Most do not yet have this skill. One way to facilitate the development of grasp, however, would be to give Sean broken crayons to use. The crayons are so small that they must be held with the fingers close to the tip. But Sean could still color with his hand in a pronated position.

Question 3

Alyssa, your new 3-year-old student, jumps all over the therapy room and cannot attend to a task for more than a few seconds at a time. How do you structure Alyssa's therapy sessions?

Accepted Answer

You would structure Alyssa's therapy sessions by planning several activities that are short and involve gross motor skills. Children often have short attention spans and high energy levels at that age. Structuring the therapy session in this way would give Alyssa the sensory input she needs to be able to focus on a task.

Question 4

Alex, your 14-year-old student with a learning disability, is cooperative during 1:1 therapy sessions, but ignores you or is resistant to you when you attempt to work with him in his classroom. His behavior is: _________

Accepted Answer

Alex's behavior is typical due to his age and stage of development. Young teenagers are in the stage of development where the social and emotional centers of their brains are rapidly developing. So their focus and interest will be on their peers. Students who require special services in school may be hypersensitive to the attention placed on them and may resist your help.

Question 5

Felicia is an 8-year-old outpatient who sustained a thumb injury when her hand was slammed in a car door. You would like to use fluidotherapy to help relieve pain and improve mobility in Felicia's carpometacarpal (CMC) joint. But she is afraid of the unit. What could you do to help Felicia accept the treatment?

Accepted Answer

Felicia may accept the treatment if she is allowed to inspect the fluidotherapy unit and given an explanation of how it works. Children who are elementary school age are in a stage of development that involves the learning centers of the brain. Felicia's desire to learn about the fluidotherapy unit may override her fear, and she may accept the treatment once she knows how it works.

Question 6

Your OT department asks you to develop a sensory break routine and schedule for Brayden, your student with high-functioning autism. What is the purpose of a sensory break routine and schedule?

Accepted Answer

The purpose of a sensory break routine and schedule for Brayden is to help him meet his sensory input needs during his school day. Brayden's sensory input needs will have already been determined through an OT evaluation and data collection during treatment sessions.

Question 7

Austin is a fourth-grade student with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. His teacher notifies you that he chews on his clothes repeatedly during the school day. What intervention do you recommend to alleviate this behavior?

Accepted Answer

Austin is seeking proprioceptive input by chewing. Allowing him to chew gum or candy is an age-appropriate way to allow Austin to get the input he needs. Also, it teaches him that it is not acceptable to chew on things that are not food.

Question 8

Kylie, your first-grade student, displays difficulty forming and aligning letters during handwriting tasks. What accommodation do you provide for her to use in her classroom?

Accepted Answer

You provide Kylie with highlighted paper to use in her classroom. Highlighted paper highlights the bottom half of the writing line in yellow. This gives students a defined area to place lowercase letters. The highlighted paper facilitates correct alignment during handwriting tasks.

Question 9

Karl, a second-grade student, cannot sit still in his desk chair. However, he responds well to core strengthening activities during therapy sessions. What adaptation do you provide for him to use in his classroom?

Accepted Answer

Karl responds well to core strengthening activities in therapy, so a ball chair would meet his postural and movement needs in his classroom. This adaptation would be most effective in helping Karl to focus while he is completing classroom work.

Question 10

Your kindergarten student Charlotte has daily meltdowns in her classroom. She screams, kicks, and throws things. Other students must be removed from the room. During therapy sessions, you have determined that Charlotte enjoys crawling through a tunnel and playing with fidget toys inside a tent. What intervention do you recommend to teaching staff to use when Charlotte has meltdowns?

Accepted Answer

Charlotte responds well to small, enclosed spaces. So an appropriate intervention for Charlotte during a meltdown would be to remove her from the classroom and allow her to sit in a play tent in a quiet area to calm down.

Question 11

What activity would you use to address core strengthening with a child?

Accepted Answer

An activity you could use to address core strength would be to sit on a therapy ball to play catch. The action of sitting on the therapy ball forces the trunk muscles to continuously adjust posture, while the action of tossing and catching a ball forces the trunk muscles to adjust to weight shifting.

Question 12

Which intervention might be used to treat tactile defensiveness?

Accepted Answer

The Wilbarger brushing protocol was designed specifically to address tactile defensiveness.

Question 13

Your student David loves to toss beanbags at a target while swinging prone in a net swing. What sensory systems are you strengthening by doing this activity?

Accepted Answer

The prone position strengthens the core muscles and reinforces the proprioceptive sense of position in space. The swinging motion reinforces the vestibular sense of body in motion.

Question 14

What activity could you use to facilitate visual scanning?

Accepted Answer

The activity of locating and crossing off specific pictures in an array facilitates visual scanning. The child must move his/her eyes into all four visual quadrants to scan for and locate pictures.

Question 15

Ariana, your 6-year-old student, cannot complete any activity that involves more than one step at a time. Your OT department tells you that she has difficulty with praxis, or planning and carrying out ideas. What activity could you use to help Ariana develop this skill? Build a(n): _______.

Accepted Answer

The activity of building an obstacle course would facilitate Ariana's ability to plan and carry out actions that involve more than one step. Because the activity involves gross motor movement, the steps will be more obvious and memorable for Ariana. So it will be easier to emphasize the "First, then…" aspect of the activity.

Question 16

Tanner, your second-grade student, is putting together a puzzle while lying prone over a bolster and supporting himself with his arms. What is the purpose of this activity?

Accepted Answer

This activity helps to build Tanner's core and upper-body strength. The position uses static contraction of the trunk, neck, shoulder, and upper arm muscles to stabilize the body as Tanner works.

Question 17

How could you inhibit spasticity in the left, upper extremity of your patient - a toddler with cerebral palsy?

Accepted Answer

To inhibit spasticity in the left, upper extremity, you would have the toddler side sit with the weight on the left arm and then reach for toys with the right hand. The weight of the trunk on the left arm will help to lengthen the spastic muscles. This promotes normal muscle balance and alignment.

Question 18

Bella, your new 3-year old student, is afraid of swinging and refuses to go near the swing. Your OT department tells you that Bella has a very low tolerance of vestibular input. What activities could you use to help encourage Bella to swing?

Accepted Answer

The activities of pushing a stuffed animal on the swing and allowing Bella to sit on the swing without swinging introduce the concept of swinging without actually forcing Bella to swing. This allows her to get used to the idea of swinging before trying it herself and makes the activity less threatening.

Question 19

Nelson, a kindergarten student, sustained a brachial plexus injury to his right arm when he was 3 years old. What activity could you use to build active range of motion in Nelson's right shoulder?

Accepted Answer

The action of drawing a figure eight on a vertical surface moves the shoulder joint through several composite motions, improving range of motion in all planes.

Question 20

Jackson, your first-grade student, has low muscle tone. What activity could you use to build muscle tone and general endurance?

Accepted Answer

Riding prone on a scooter board to pick up bingo chips engages the core muscles, as well as the larger muscles of the upper and lower extremities. The number of bingo chips placed for Jackson to pick up can be graded to help build endurance.

Quiz 2: Implementing Interventions