OT4me

OT4me We transform lives through occupational therapy and sensory integration, you can book a free 30-minute consultation with one of our therapists.

06/10/2026

It's ADHD Awareness Month, and concentration isn't only about attention.

Lizzie, one of our OTs, describes an ordinary day: an open plan office, kitchen smells, bright lighting, noise from the corridor. That is a lot for any brain to filter.

🔊 Noise, light and smell all ask for attention
🧠 The more the senses are working, the less is left for focus
🔄 Small changes to a space can help a body settle

If you or your child find it hard to concentrate, it is worth looking at the senses as well as attention. The same applies at work, at home and at school.

Because regulation comes before learning.

October is ADHD Awareness Month, and ADHD is about much more than attention.Parents tell us about things like:🏃 Needing ...
04/10/2026

October is ADHD Awareness Month, and ADHD is about much more than attention.

Parents tell us about things like:

🏃 Needing to move to think
🔊 Switching off in a noisy room
🔋 Big energy after school, then a crash at home
🚦 Finding it hard to get started on a task
⭐ Deep interests that hold their focus for hours

None of these says what a child is capable of. They say what a child's body and senses need to be at their best. An OT can look at how senses and regulation are shaping everyday life, and what might help.

Swipe through to see what each one can look like.

Because regulation comes before learning.

Book a free 30-minute call with an OT 👉 ot4me.co.uk/book

Your child isn't being naughty.They might be sensory overloaded.Here are five things parents and carers tell us about ev...
02/10/2026

Your child isn't being naughty.

They might be sensory overloaded.

Here are five things parents and carers tell us about every week, that often get labelled as behaviour problems but are actually sensory responses:

Covering their ears in a loud room. Not overreacting, but protecting an overwhelmed nervous system.

Refusing certain clothes, or cutting off labels. Not defiance, but sensory sensitivity.

Only eating a handful of foods. Not fussy, but taste, texture and smell sensitivity.

Crashing into furniture, always climbing or jumping. Not clumsy or hyper, but seeking the input their body needs.

A meltdown after a really good day out. Not ungrateful, but a nervous system finally letting go, somewhere safe.

Understanding the why behind a behaviour changes how we respond to it. Regulation comes before behaviour, not after it.

If any of this sounds familiar, book a free 30-minute call with one of our OTs to talk it through 👉 ot4me.co.uk/book

01/10/2026

Play is powerful, and it's at the heart of everything we do.

In a child-led session, it can look like a child is simply playing. Louise, Clinical Director at OT4me, explains what is happening underneath:

🧠 The sensory systems are being brought together
🧘 The child is working towards regulation
🎯 They are building the functional goals that make everyday life easier

Starting with play means the child can take part in a way that feels natural to them. That is where the real work happens, and often the child doesn't notice it is work at all.

Because meaningful play leads to meaningful progress.

29/09/2026

Why does your child always say they're on green?

The colours come from the Zones of Regulation, a framework created by occupational therapist Leah Kuypers and used in lots of UK schools.

🔵 Blue: tired, sad, bored or unwell. Running slow.
🟢 Green: calm, focused and ready to learn.
🟡 Yellow: worried, frustrated, silly or over-excited. Starting to lose some control.
🔴 Red: angry, panicked or overwhelmed. Out of control.

As Rachel explains, many children learn that green is the good one. So when an adult asks, green feels like the safe answer, even when they're heading for the red zone.

Often it isn't about honesty. To know which zone you're in, you first need to notice your internal body cues: a racing heart, a tight tummy, hot cheeks. That sense is called interoception, and for many children it's still developing.

What parents can do:
1. Start with the body. Ask "What's your tummy doing?" before asking for a colour.
2. Every zone is OK. Yellow and red are signals, not trouble.
3. Share your own. "I'm in yellow, I'm rushing and my shoulders are tight."
4. Accept any answer. If they say green, thank them and stay curious.
5. Little and often. Check in at calm moments, not only mid-meltdown.

When a child can feel it, they can name it.

Book a free 30-minute call with an OT 👉 ot4me.co.uk/book

Not all sensory support is the same. New research suggests that difference shows up in what a child can actually do.If y...
27/09/2026

Not all sensory support is the same. New research suggests that difference shows up in what a child can actually do.

If you are a SENCO or a school leader, you are already making sensory decisions every week. Which pupil needs a movement break. Who needs a quieter route to the hall. What goes in the plan and what stays informal. Usually with limited time and a long list. You are not overthinking it. Those distinctions genuinely matter.

Park and Kim (2026) pooled 23 randomised controlled trials of sensory integration therapy with children. They found improvements in motor skills, in daily functioning, and in the individual goals set for each child.

The largest effects were on those individual goals. And they were most pronounced where the therapy stayed close to Ayres Sensory Integration principles.

That is the part worth sitting with. Universal adaptations, targeted strategies and fidelity-grounded intervention are three different things, and the evidence does not treat them as interchangeable.

Which gives you a sharper question to ask. Not "do you offer sensory support" but "what is this practitioner trained in, and does the intervention hold to the model it names".

Because the goals that moved in these studies are not abstract. Getting into the building. Staying at the table. Managing the corridor between lessons. Regulation first, then learning.

Small hinges open wide doors.

Park, S. H., & Kim, E. Y. (2026). Effects of sensory integration therapy in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 172, 105269.

For the SENCOs here: when you arrange sensory input for a pupil, what do you currently ask about the approach?

25/09/2026

Ever noticed children come in from a windy playtime full of beans? 🌬️

There is a sensory reason for it. Louise Newton, Clinical Director at OT4me, explains.

When the wind blows, it moves across the skin unpredictably, switching from light pressure to deep pressure without warning. It whips around the ears too. The trees rustle more, everything gets a little louder, and all of that sudden, changing input puts the body on alert.

So a child who comes in wound up on a blustery day may simply have had a lot of sensory input.

Louise suggests talking about the weather on the way to school or home. How does it feel? Is it cold? Do you need your coat on? Small questions like these help children notice what their body is feeling.

Book a free 30-minute call with an OT 👉 ot4me.co.uk/book

Six people whose minds work differently, and what they went on to do.Simone Biles (ADHD): "Having ADHD, and taking medic...
23/09/2026

Six people whose minds work differently, and what they went on to do.

Simone Biles (ADHD): "Having ADHD, and taking medicine for it is nothing to be ashamed of nothing that I'm afraid to let people know."

Dav Pilkey (dyslexia and ADHD): "My dyslexia helped me too. It helped me to choose my words very, very carefully."

Michael Phelps (ADHD): "I look at myself everyday and I'm so proud and so happy of who I am and who I was able to become."

Lewis Hamilton (dyslexia): "Just know that you're no less. Your mind just works in different ways, and you're gonna do amazing."

Jamie Oliver (dyslexia): "Let's make sure no child is left behind."

Temple Grandin (autism): "The world is going to need all of the different kinds of minds to work together."

A few simple ways to share these stories at home:
• Let your child pick the person they like most, and start there.
• Talk about what they're brilliant at, not just what they found hard.
• Read their quote together and ask what it means to your child.
• Notice your child's own strengths, and say them out loud.

Photos: Agência Brasil, Claire Knights, Karl Gabor and Peabody Awards (CC BY), via Wikimedia Commons.

22/09/2026

The school run often starts long before anyone leaves the house.

Louise Newton, Clinical Director at OT4me, has one principle for it: keep the morning as calm as it can be, and move the tricky jobs to the night before.

In practice that looks like:

Hair washed and the knots brushed out the evening before, so nobody is working through them at 8am
Uniform laid out and ready
Lunch made and in the fridge

None of that is about being organised. It is about how much a child, and a parent, can manage when everyone is tired and the clock is running. A morning with three difficult jobs in it asks a lot of a nervous system that is still waking up. Moving two of them to the evening leaves more room for the bits that cannot move.

If mornings in your house are hard at the moment, that is worth taking seriously rather than pushing through.

Book a free 30-minute call with an OT 👉 ot4me.co.uk/book

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