STAR for School: expanding the STAR Frame of Reference for students with sensory integration and processing challenges to a school-based setting and measuring outcomes to establish intervention effectiveness
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Abstract
In her occupational therapy doctoral project, the author has developed the STAR for School program, and its associated evaluation research protocol, as an outgrowth of the well-established STAR Frame of Reference. This project was designed to expand occupational therapy intervention for children with sensory integration and processing challenges, who often exhibit significant occupational participation and performance difficulties, from the clinic to the school setting. The author’s aims were to provide school-based occupational therapy practitioners with a clear path for service provision, coupled with a method for measuring outcomes focused on occupational engagement to establish the intervention’s effectiveness. This work is intended to fill existing gaps in the literature on adapting the clinic model of sensory integration intervention to the schools and aligning school-based programs with the laws and guidelines inherent in school system operations. By expanding the STAR Frame of Reference to this context, the school-based occupational therapy practitioner is able to draw from this approach and upon strategies from the sensory, regulation, and relationship domains when providing support to their students. Highlighted in this author’s presentation are the potential role that short-term direct pull-out intervention can play and implications for the impact of STAR for School on future programming in the school setting. The author has also helped to develop a continuing education course as a means to build the knowledge and skills needed as a basis for implementing STAR for School.