Dear Chambers Hill Families,

Welcome to the 2022-2023 school year!   We are excited to let you know that we are implementing a new Social Emotional Learning program at Chambers Hill this year.  

All students, in grades K-5 will participate in this 10 week program to learn about their sense of Interoception.  You may be asking yourself, what is Interoception? I did not learn about that sense when I was in school. This is a normal question when people hear this word for the first time.  Interoception is the sense that allows us to notice our internal body signals.  Is our heart beating fast? Are my muscles sore? Am I hungry? Once we know/feel what is going on in our bodies we can learn how to make our bodies feel more comfortable if needed. This is the foundation for self-regulation.

 We will be using The Interoception Curriculum written by Kelly Mahler OTD, OTR/L, a local occupational therapist who is a leader in this field.  Her program was written for individual use or with small groups.  I worked this past year to modify it for use school wide.  Students will participate in activities aimed at building their Interoception Awareness (IA) through targeted mindful activities such as yoga, exercises and experiments.  Building vocabulary is also a key component so our students have the words to describe their body clues.   

We want to keep our families “in the loop” and continue to work on building your student’s IA at home so every week a green sheet of paper will come home. It is titled “IA on the Fly.”  The body part(s) that will be addressed that week will be highlighted, and this sheet will give you information and ideas on how you can build IA at home!

On the other side of this paper is more information on Interoception written by Dr. Mahler and it has her web-site, if you would like more information on this topic.  Below is our IA Detective, created by Mrs. Evans, our art teacher! The entire school will be voting to give him a name so be sure to ask your students what his name is in a few weeks!!!  

Again, we are so excited to bring this important and cutting edge programming to Chambers Hill!   Thank you for your support at home and if you have any questions please feel free to contact myself or Dr. Miller.

Sincerely,

Emilly S. King MS, OTR/L

 

 

 

 

 

 

Occupational Therapists working in a school setting help students access educational services and to benefit from their special education program.

The focus of OT is to remove any barriers that may impede the student's ability to complete school tasks.

 

-School based OT services for children ages 3-21 are defined by laws as "related services" and thus must support the specially designed instruction in the IEP.

-Related services are provided only if required to help a child with a disability to benefit from his/her special education program.

-A motor delay or medical diagnosis DOES NOT automatically indicate a need for school OT services. There must be an adverse impact on the child's performance or access to education.

 

1. Referral to OT

2. OT screen

3. If indicated from the screen, an evaluation may occur, with parent permission.

4. After the evaluation, the OT will determine if the student qualifies for services.

 

 

The best way to contact me is through e-mail since I travel between buildings. Eking@cdschools.org