Pine Tree OT

As I observe in different environments, and think about back to school the thought of autonomy has been heavily on my mind.

As an OT, we have to have goals. We evaluate and create treatment plans and skills we're supposed to address.

Sometimes, we can get too focused on getting a child to perform the skill in that treatment plan that we stop asking a much more important question:

What is the actual goal here?

If a child is sitting at a table and their entire body is telling us they need to get away by crying, trying to leave, pushing materials away and we have to physically position ourselves so they cannot run away just to make sure they match a few colors or make a mark on a piece of paper…

What is the emergency?

Seriously. What happens if that child doesn't match the colors today? What happens if they don't make the mark? What are we teaching that is so important that it requires overriding everything their nervous system is communicating to us?

Not only that, but what might we be teaching instead? That their “no” doesn't work? That adults get to decide when their body can leave? That therapy is something done to them? That the adults who are supposed to help them will continue making demands even when they are very clearly communicating, “I can't do this right now”?

Then we wonder why schools or therapies start to not feel like it’s not “the right fit.”

Yesterday I worked with a child at my clinic.
She had creative freedom to build an obstacle course. I could’ve made it prior, told her the steps, all wrappped up in a perfect package to perfectly address all my goals and check all the boxes. But I also understand the importance of allowing her to have ownership over what happens.

By allowing her just a bit of autonomy during an activity I already wanted her to do she created an obstacle course that: naturally stretched a tight Achilles related to toe walking, the obstacles she designed elicited heel striking, she incorporated the jumping and crashing her nervous system seeks for regulation, she challenged her visual skills by adding a hidden treasure challenge, she worked on strengthening, balance, motor planning and coordination.

Most importantly, because she had this control, she also let me in.

As I gave ideas along the way she was receptive to them because they weren’t demands. We were working alongside each other to make the best obstacle course this room has ever seen.

I didn’t need to dangle a reward over head in order for her to comply. I wasn’t physically holding her hostage. I didn’t need to give a thousand verbal prompts to remind her of my expectations.

She was receptive because the demand didn't feel threatening. During the entire session she had agency. She could say no. She trusted that I wasn’t going to take over and ruin something she created.

That is therapy, too.

I would argue that autonomy itself can be therapeutic, especially for children who spend enormous portions of their lives being directed by adults.

Sit here. Come here.
Put this on.Take that off.
Look at me.Answer this.
Write this. Try again.
Hands down.Quiet body.

First this, and THEN you can have what you actually want.

Autonomy is often a reward for the “work,” after all child has complied. This may ruffle some feathers but it feels like an approach created to make things work for the adults in the situations… not to actually help the children at any fundamental level.

I think it’s completely backward.

Autonomy is part of how children learn to trust their bodies. It's how they learn that their communication has meaning. It's how they develop self-advocacy. It's how they experience themselves as active participants in their own lives rather than passive recipients of whatever adults decide is best for them.

I want to be clear that none of this means children should never experience challenge.

It also doesn't mean therapy is child-led chaos where clinicians have no goals and children never encounter something difficult.

It means challenge and coercion are not the same thing.

It means I can know exactly what skills I'm targeting while giving a child meaningful choices about how we get there.

It means I can grade an activity, modify an environment, create opportunities, model, invite, wonder, collaborate and sometimes gently challenge without making my “success” dependent on whether a child obeys me.

Sometimes children will absolutely need support doing things they don't want to do. Life contains nonpreferred tasks. Safety sometimes requires adults to intervene.

But my point here is things like matching colors at a therapy table is not an emergency. Making a mark on a piece of paper is not an emergency. Completing the activity I planned simply because I planned it is not an emergency.

The goal cannot be compliance for compliance's sake.

Because I don't want the children I work with to leave my therapy room having learned that I can make them do things.
I want them to leave knowing something about themselves.

I can do hard things.
I can listen to my body.
I can ask for help.
I can change the plan.
I can say no.
I can trust this adult enough to try.
My ideas have value.
My body belongs to me.

And sometimes, when we stop spending the entire session trying to get a child to do exactly what we planned, we discover that they will show us another way to reach the very same goals.
Maybe even a better one.
Our clinical knowledge matters.
Our goals matter.
Our expertise matters.
But so does the human being standing in front of us.

The question isn't just, “Did they complete the task?”

It's also: What did they have to override in themselves in order to complete it?

I think we owe it to the children we serve to keep asking that question.

As we head into another school year in Maine, I need this information to be seen by as many parents as possible.

Right now there are big changes happening while part of CDS dissolves into the school districts. It’s been hard. Everyone seems to be trying their best, but we also cannot let a single child slip through the cracks.

If you are told to wait when you bring concerns about your child up, push back.

You have the right to.

One of the moments that stuck with me from Try It Sports Day is when a mom shared with me one of the main reasons she signed her daughter up was because she’d was really hoping that her daughter would make a friend that day.

And the amazing part was that she did. 💛

Growing up having a little brother with Autism, I watched him have the same peer struggles. If there’s one thing I learned from him and I see everyday in my practice, it’s that everyone needs connection.

One of the biggest misnomers with neurodivergence and Autism is that because many children have social differences it means they may not really “care” about making or having friends.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

This is the part of Try It Sports Day that doesn’t show up in a highlight reel, but it’s the whole point.

Sports are the vehicle and connection is the destination. Watching kids find their people, watching parents watch that happen… that’s why we do this.

Something I have to say about Try It Sports Day is that it wasn’t just for the kids.

So many parents told me what it meant to be in a space without the usual pressure. There was no comparing, no worrying if their kid was “keeping up,” no bracing for a hard moment in public. Just permission to relax and watch their kid have fun.

Parents found each other too. Conversations happened. Nods of recognition. The kind of “you get it” connection that’s hard to come by.

Because raising a kid who experiences the world differently can be isolating and it shouldn’t be. Days like this remind me that community isn’t just built for kids. It’s built for the whole family.

The first ever Try It Sports Day is officially in the books✨

I had tears in my eyes almost the whole day. This is exactly why we do this work.

My favorite part of the day? Having multiple kids walk up to me and ask when they can do it again. So… I guess we have to. 😊

None of this happens without incredible community support. Huge thank you to our sponsors:
🌿JL Landscape
🔥 Valley Home Heating
🏦 Seaboard FCU

Your support made this day possible for so many families. Thank you for believing in this vision.

Thank you to all of my family and friends who volunteered today, your time means everything and I couldn’t have done this without you!

Last but not least, thank you SO much to Hermon Recreation for the team effort it took to pull today off. The student athletes were absolutely amazing with the children and Isaiah Marseille made this entire day possible.

More photos from today to come!! If you got any great photos feel free to post them in the comments and/or tag Pine Tree OT

🏃‍♀️⚽🥎 TOMORROW IS THE DAY! 🥎⚽🏃‍♀️

Try It Sports Day is HERE
July 25th at Hermon High School!

We've been building toward this all summer, and we cannot wait to see a field full of excited kids tomorrow. This one's for every kid who's been told a sport "isn't for them" because the environment wasn't built with their nervous system in mind.

Tomorrow, it is. 💛

✅ Sensory-friendly stations: soccer, t-ball, and track
✅ Trained volunteers who get it
✅ Zero pressure, all exploration
✅ A medal for every single kid who shows up

All Bodies, All Sports. That's the whole point.

Huge thanks to our partners at Hermon Rec for building this with us, and to our sponsors JL Landscape, Valley Home Services and Seaboard FCU for believing in this from day one.

See you on the field tomorrow. 💛💚

🌟 Try It Sports Day — Save the Date!

I’m so excited to share some updates about Try It Sports Day!

📅 Saturday, July 25 | 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
📍 Hermon High School

Registration is now open through the Hermon Rec website 🔗 in the comments!

I’ll be honest, I’m writing this with tears in my eyes. I’ve never taken on something this large before, and the response from this community has been nothing short of overwhelming.

For a long time, working in this field means getting used to closed doors. A lot of “no’s,” a lot of red tape, a lot of shrugged shoulders. This time has been completely different and I am so, so grateful.

A huge thank you to Isaiah Marseille at Hermon Rec for partnering with me on this, and to our incredible donors so far: FCU, JL Landscaping, Northeast Paving, Valley Home Heating, and Valley Home Services. Your generosity means everything.

This event is being built with love, and my hope is that it becomes something this community can count on for years to come. 💙

📣 We’re still looking for volunteers!
If you’re interested, send me a message here or email [email protected]

Feeding therapy works best when it’s a team effort — and that team is bigger than most people realize.

Parents, OTs, SLPs, Pediatricians, Nutritionists — we all bring something different to the table (pun absolutely intended 🥄).

When I see a child for feeding, I’m not just looking at what they eat. I’m looking at the whole child:

🟢 How they fed as an infant
🟢 Speech and language development
🟢 Anatomy — palate, muscle tone, tongue ties, lip ties, tension
🟢 Postural control and core stability
🟢 Fine motor skills for self-feeding
🟢 Sensory processing profile

And that’s just my piece. Because feeding doesn’t happen in isolation, I’m always asking about nutrition intake, sleep, digestion, and more, so I can bring the right people in.

When I work with a family, I almost always recommend:

🔶 Checking in with their pediatrician about nutrient deficiencies (iron especially).Low iron can make a child feel awful and it’s hugely underrecognized in picky eaters.
🔶 Talking to their doctor about bowel patterns and reflux. Both can be silent drivers of feeding difficulty.
🔶 A speech therapy evaluation if they’re not already in ST. Yes, there’s overlap but that’s actually the point. Two perspectives are better than one.
🔶 A nutritionist consult when the picture calls for it.

P.S. Those wild straws? That’s not chaos, that’s therapy. 😄 We’re working on lip closure and making water exciting enough to actually drink. Sometimes the most important clinical tool is a really ridiculous straw.🌲