Occupational Therapy

 

A Sensory Integration Method for Occupational Therapists

Occupational Therapy Topics

 

OT Case Report
Infinity Riding
OT Continuing Ed. Course
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Video Demonstrations (Windows Media Player required)

 

Ballerina Infinity Walking

 

Infinity Walk is a perfect fit for occupational therapists who specialize in sensory integration. It is the occupational therapist�s challenge to help a person develop and integrate many important functional life skills. Infinity Walk progresses life skills from basic motor and balance functions; to bilateral reflex, attention and focus; to multi-tasking challenges that incorporate physical, cognitive, emotional and social skills.

 

Occupational therapists immediately recognized Infinity Walk as a useful method for treating vestibulo-oculo-cervical (VOC) dysfunction. The VOC triad has been compared to a camera sitting on a tripod. Think of the eyes are the camera lens and the cervical column, or neck, as the means to leveling the camera. The vestibular system fine-tunes balance of the neck (and entire body) so that the eyes can focus on a target, even when that target is moving. Infinity Walk adds an additional VOC challenge, because the person is always in motion as well. As the Infinity Walker continued to walk forward along a figure-eight pathway, their eyes constantly cross the midline as they focus on a  stationary target, track a target in motion, or, practice visual search of numerous targets.

 

Mary Kawar, MS, OTR is credited as the single most significant contributor to introducing Infinity Walk to OTs through her teaching and writing on Oculomotor Control. Mary has personally introduced Infinity Walk  to over 2000 occupational therapists during international teaching tours. She also cited Infinity Walk as one of her top two picks for oculomotor-vestibular-proprioceptive intervention in Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, 2nd edition1.

Mary Kawar teaches the oculomotor therapeutic uses of Infinity Walk method as part of a continuing education workshop �From Eye Sight to Insight: Visual/Vestibular Assessment and Treatment�, sponsored by Professional Development Programs ( www.pdppro.com ).  OT and OTR participants have passed on to Dr. Sunbeck very positive feedback about Mary's workshop

Watch the ballerina video clip for an example of excellent VOC function while Infinity Walking.

 

1Infinity Walk described and recommended in Kawar, Mary, MS. OTR, Oculomotor Control: An Integral Part of Sensory Integration. In Bundy, Anita; Lane, Shelly; Murray, Elizabeth; Sensory Integration Theory and Practice, 2nd. edition. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company, 2002; p. 356.

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