Occupational Therapy, It's So Much More Than Sensory Integration Activities
Meg Mathews
Occupational Therapist
Occupational Therapy It’s So Much More Than Sensory Integration Activities
When Meg Mathews was four, she had a meltdown over wanting an avocado at the store. After moving from Texas to Cairo, Egypt and then back to Texas, Meg says she remembers feeling displaced and homesick.
“At that moment, to me, the avocado represented the taste of home. I remember being frustrated with change and I couldn’t figure out how to articulate and express my feelings to my mother,” says Meg. “I was a very emotional child with a lot of sensory processing issues and sensitivity to change.”
“This is why I connect so strongly to the kids I work with. I understand what they’re feeling. It’s my role to support the families and the child—helping parents understand their kids aren’t just being difficult. They may be driven by fears or sensory issues that are impacting their ability to handle change, transitions, and activities. We use sensory integration activities and other OT [occupational therapy] tools to help them build their skills and engage more fully with their family’s daily life.”
“It’s my role to support the families and the child—helping parents understand their kids aren’t just being difficult.”
Meg’s Story
Despite moving to Egypt as a child, Meg grew up a Texan through-and-through. She’s still a big fan of college football, cheering on the UT Austin Longhorns and the TCU Horned Frogs of her alma mater whenever she gets a chance.
Growing up, Meg always had a strong sense of community. She was involved with showing horses, playing piano, and later the clarinet in her high school band. She also volunteered with the local chapter of meals-on-wheels where she loved going to people’s homes, delivering food and cheer.
“I had 40 grandparents in Fort Worth! I loved meeting with people who were otherwise isolated and alone. I fell in love with working in the community, building relationships, and getting to know different folks.”
Meg still found time to do well in school. She loved her Life Skills class where she started to work with children with different needs and built her love of child psychology and development. She carried her passion to her undergraduate work at Texas Christian University. Once she started shadowing in occupational therapy (OT) her freshman year, she was hooked. This was a strong factor in her choice to attend the University of Illinois at Chicago.
“I loved Chicago because there was a huge emphasis on community, both in the city and at University of Illinois at Chicago. They had a strong emphasis on community service, which aligns so well with OT.”
“What I love the most about occupational therapy is the service side, especially in early intervention. You’re looking at a child in their own environment, building a relationship, and figuring out what works holistically. Then there’s the science side of it, where you’re looking at the body, exploring strategies to increase strength and alignment. OT is the perfect collaboration with service and science.”
During her graduate work, she found her calling during a rotation in home health. She loved being in a home, building a relationship with family members, and collaborating with team members. This is one of the many reasons Meg was so drawn to M Street Pediatric Therapy.
“When I left my interview with M Street, I actually cried tears of joy in the elevator. I felt like I had found my perfect calling. It was exactly the setting and type of practice where I wanted to work.”
“I’m surrounded by such talented therapists and such great resources. It’s a wonderful environment and I feel so fortunate to be part of the M Street community.”
Working with Meg and M Street
“In our work, factors are always changing. Kids are aging out, meeting their goals. Environments are changing. You’re constantly adapting and figuring out new ways to help them connect. It’s stretched me to get better at accepting change and learn to adjust as we go.”
As Meg reports, change hasn’t always been a comfortable situation for her, which is one of the reasons why she has so much empathy for the young children she works with.
“My fears about change really help me relate to kids and understand how children tolerate and process change. I was a kid who struggled with sensory processing. I had to turn my socks inside out, clothes were often uncomfortable, I was frequently frustrated.”
Meg recalls these anecdotes as she works with parents to help them understand the feelings, emotions, and even fears behind what’s happening with their child. Occupational therapists are able to understand what the child is going through and pass the information along to the parents and siblings to help bridge the “gap” in communication.
M Street therapists work together closely to serve the needs of the youngsters in their care. While the early intervention work is carried out within the family home, day care, or school setting, M Street therapists often collaborate and work together to provide the care and insight above and beyond a typical clinic setting.
“We may strategize ways to help a child process their emotions, to open a window to work with a speech therapist, for example. That’s one of the many aspects I really love about M Street. We’re in constant collaboration and have a close knit community with therapists and other pediatric service providers. We may not work in a traditional clinic setting, but there’s a strong sense of community and communication.”
With each family Meg works with, she takes the time to explore their unique situation and the individual needs of their child. In OT, and especially early intervention, there’s never a one-size-fits-all answer. It’s all about helping a child participate in the normal daily routines of their family and find success in age appropriate activities.
“We spend time observing and discussing what’s ‘typical’ for each child. We may go to the park, for example, or ask a parent to record or take notes on a behavior at bedtime. Then we strategize on what the parent is seeing, why it’s a struggle, and how to make it more comfortable. Sometimes we find behavior is actually typical and age-appropriate. Other times, we’ll work on what’s inhibiting the child from participating fully in an activity. It may mean taking a break, learning to take a breath, and understand coregulation,” reports Meg.
“We work with kids to build reaction skills to carry them into adulthood. We’ll find proactive ways to manage emotions, like not pushing friends, biting, or pulling hair. Rather than saying, ‘don’t do this,’ we explore why it’s happening. What’s the emotion they’re feeling and how can we help them manage it, so we end up with better social and emotionally adjusted adults in the world?”
“…it’s about supporting the children we work with so they can participate in the activities that matter to them…”
Simple Adjustments Lead to Big Gains
Often simple strategies become powerful tools to help kids work toward their occupational therapy goals. Meg loves using sensory integration activities to help kids build their motor skills, as well as working on their emotional coping strategies. One of her favorite approaches is with cooking.
“Almost everyone has a kitchen and most families cook. So, one strategy we’ve tried is integrating kitchen tools to help kids build on their skills. I’ve had clients who are dominant with one side of their body. Simply using their non-dominant hand to stack rings onto a wooden spoon becomes a fun game almost any family can do.”
“I love integrating cooking into OT, if families like to cook, because there are so many opportunities for OT and sensory integration activities. Using simple, every-day activities like turning doorknobs, stirring, flipping with a spatula, or rolling dough helps kids build routines and learn skills. Kids love it because it’s hands on and fun.”
Like all our therapists at M Street, Meg seeks ways to build OT activities into the daily routine of kids and parents.
“We don’t build in all these extra activities to do, supplies to purchase, and more. Parents already do activities with their kids. We talk about how to implement sensory integration activities and other skill-building, so we’re not reinventing the wheel. Consequently, we get more buy-in and follow through because parents aren’t facing an overwhelming laundry list of activities they need to do every few hours.”
Meg loves working with M Street families and says that for her, working with the clinic has been a complete career game-changer.
“I love working in the homes of clients and in the community. It’s so empowering for families to work within their natural environment on a timeline and schedule that works for them.”
“If, at the end of the day, a parent realizes time on the iPad is more feasible than a game on the floor, we look at how to incorporate the iPad into OT. Could the child use a stylus to build up their fine-motor skills? Are there games they could play to reinforce what they’re learning? How do we service the child and meet their needs within the context of their family’s needs and their daily lives?”
“As a profession, occupational therapy is often hard to describe because it’s so broad. At the end of the day, when we get down to it, it’s about supporting the children we work with so they can participate in the activities that matter to them, so they’re happy with their participation.”
For Meg, a self-described “crunchy granola type” she loves this holistic and organic approach to therapy. In her spare time, she and her fiancé spend time with their mini-schnauzer mix. She loves doing yoga and creating needle-felted crafts. These little self-care activities give Meg the headspace to give the families she cares for her fullest attention and empathy.
“I’m constantly thinking about what I’m doing with a client, what’s next, and how to adapt therapy into their lives. There’s so much to learn and do at M Street and I get an amazing opportunity to develop my skills even further. Working at M Street Pediatric Therapy has had a huge impact on me personally. Even my fiancé pointed out the big difference. I’m solidified in where I want to be in OT and I have the drive to continue learning and moving forward.”
“I’m surrounded by such talented therapists and such great resources. It’s a wonderful environment and I feel so fortunate to be part of the M Street community.”
“We may not work in a traditional clinic setting, but there’s a strong sense of community and communication.”