Bridging Sensory Integration and Academic Standards in School-Based OT

In this episode of the OT Schoolhouse Podcast, host Jayson Davies is joined by Aimee Piller and Dr. Sultan Alfawaz to explore a powerful shift in school-based occupational therapy practice. Together, they break down how aligning OT services with academic standards can transform both student outcomes and how practitioners advocate for their role in schools.

You’ll learn practical strategies for linking evaluation data and sensory processing patterns to educational goals, including how to connect assessments like the EASI, SOCM, and BOT-3 to specific academic standards. The episode also unpacks proximal vs. distal outcomes and helps you confidently determine when to use Ayres Sensory Integration® versus sensory-based interventions in school settings.

Whether you're looking to strengthen your evaluations, improve collaboration with teachers, or better justify your services in IEP meetings, this episode provides a clear, actionable framework you can start using right away.

🎧 Listen now to learn how to connect your OT services to what matters most in schools—student participation and academic success.

Learning Objectives

— Learners will identify how to link occupational therapy interventions to academic or state standards to improve educational relevance and advocacy in school settings.

— Learners will differentiate between proximal (sensory processing) and distal (participation/academic) outcomes to strengthen clinical reasoning and goal writing.

— Learners will identify how to integrate state standards into the referral and evaluation process.

Thanks for tuning in!

Thanks for tuning into the OT Schoolhouse Podcast brought to you by the OT Schoolhouse Collaborative Community for school-based OTPs. In OTS Collab, we use community-powered professional development to learn together and implement strategies together.

Don't forget to subscribe to the show and check out the show notes for every episode at OTSchoolhouse.com

See you in the next episode!