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UAlberta Occupational Therapy

Students Develop "Sensory Room"

to Help People with Disabilities

O

T students Katie Johnston (top left) and Gina Harg-

reaves (bottom right) with campers in the Sensory Shed

at Easter Seals Camp Horizon.

Bragg Creek, AB – We all have that place we like to go to

recharge. For the campers at Easter Seals Camp Horizon, this

place is a room with squishy toy bears that light up, bubbles to

blow, noise makers and a chillout tent with pillows, glowing stars

and multicoloured globes.

“It’s nice to have a place to go that’s calming. I like the vi-

brating pillow the best,” says Vivian Sykes, 17, who’s been attend-

ing Camp Horizon since 2002.

Based on sensory processing theory, University of Alberta

occupational therapy (OT) students developed this room to help

people with various disabilities such as cerebral palsy and autism

spectrum disorder learn about their sensory needs and how to

effectively regulate them. The OTs provide education about how

people can use their senses to calm down or alert them and help

them get into feeling “just right.” Ultimately, Sensory Fun Time

is an opportunity for campers to learn about themselves and

their sensory needs.

UAlberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine OT students

Katie Johnston and Gina Hargreaves started working with Easter

Seals Camp Horizon on June 23 as part of their fieldwork place-

ment. Their goal is to enhance the camper experience, and they

do this by acting as additional supports to engage campers in

different activities, like the high ropes course, the zipline or the

swimming pool.

They are also available as consultants to offer tips about

feeding, transfers, selfcare and mental health.

“Our position here is to enhance the camp experience and

allow campers to explore and learn about themselves in a fun

environment. It’s not about ‘providing treatment to patients,’ but

rather we are sharing experiences with campers in an ideal set-

ting: one in which campers can just be themselves without wor-

rying about what others might think of them,” says Hargreaves,

who is in her second year of the MSc Occupational Therapy pro-

gram at the UAlberta main campus in Edmonton.

“One camper told us that she loved coming to camp be-

cause they didn’t make her do therapy here, so it’s certainly been

a shift in mindset from our previous placements,” adds Johnston,

who is also in her second year, but taking the OT program at the

Calgary satellite campus.

Not commonly known to Calgarians, UAlberta has a satellite

campus in Calgary, allowing students here to have the opportu-

nity to obtain an MSc in Occupational Therapy and still stay in

the city.

“There is a great need for more OTs in Calgary. There are

about 540 OTs in Calgary serving a population of 1.2 million,

while Edmonton has 832 OTs serving a population of just over

800,000,” explains Jutta Hinrichs, supervising OT and clinical ed-

ucation coordinator – Calgary.

Though Johnston and Hargreaves will be done their field-

work placements at Camp Horizon by Aug. 8, Easter Seals will

continue to have other OT students complete fieldwork place-

ments in the future.

“Our campers, counselors and staff love working with the

OT students and we look forward to continuing this partnership

with the University of Alberta,” says Anna Garcia, director of op-

erations, Easter Seals Camp Horizon.

“We’ve learned through our experience that leisure is an oc-

cupation in its own rite and it’s important for everyone to include

leisure activities in their lives to maintain balance and their health

and wellness,” says Hargreaves.

Easter Seals Camp Horizon benefits from UAlberta student

clinical placements - By Laurie Wang

OT students Katie Johnston (top left) and Gina Hargreaves (bottom right)

with campers in the Sensory Shed at Easter Seals Camp Horizon.