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Upcoming Events
Integrative Education offers a variety of learning opportunities:
February 26-27, 2021, Live Online Webinar
Recording access approximately 1 week after the event, viewing available for 2 weeks after release
Annual event for empowering and connecting pediatric professionals
Cost: Early Bird Registration on or before January 15: 1-day $195*, 2-day $395*
Regular Pricing: 1-day: $215*, 2-day $430*
*Group discount for $10 off per course for groups of 5 or more
Email at for a coupon code
Dr. Carol Penn and Dr. Kathy Farah
February 26-27, 2021
CEUs: 12 hours (1.2 AOTA CEUs)
Recording access approximately 1 week after the event, viewing available for 2 weeks after release
Optional: Live Interactive Community of Practice, 1-hour session
March 10th, 2021, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm CST
CEUs: 1 hour (.1 AOTA CEUs)
Course Description
This course is an evidenced based examination and experiential approach to generational and racialized trauma. It invites the participant to deeply examine their implicit bias through review of their family of origin. Mindfulness-based and mind-body approaches will be used to shift physiologic responses. Learning new patterns will strengthen therapeutic relationships in a trauma informed, culturally sensitive manner.
February 26, 2021
CEUs: 6 hours (.6 AOTA CEUs)
Recording access approximately 1 week after the event, viewing available for 2 weeks after release
Optional: Live Interactive Community of Practice, 1-hour sessions
March 16th, 2021, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm CST
CEUs: 1 hour (.1 AOTA CEUs)
Course Description
Interoception is an important sensory system that helps us to feel internal body signals like a full bladder, growling stomach, tense muscles or speeding heart. Research indicates that our ability to clearly notice and interpret these internal body signals enables us to accurately identify and manage how we feel: Are we Anxious? Getting Frustrated? Hungry? Full? In pain? Needing the bathroom? Interoceptive differences are very common in a variety of clients including those with autism, trauma and attachment disorders, sensory processing disorder, ADHD, anxiety, depression and behavioral challenges. Interoception is emerging as a key factor in the development of regulation, emotional well-being and social connection so it is more important than ever to incorporate interoception-based knowledge in the supports that we provide.
This course will provide an overview of what the latest research tells us about interoception as well as how to apply this evidence when serving clients in a variety of settings. A systematic evidence-based approach for assessing and supporting interoception will be shared. Participants will learn how to successfully adapt the approach presented to match the needs of clients with a variety of backgrounds, learning styles and ages.
Shelley Mannell
February 27, 2021
CEUs: 6 hours (.6 AOTA CEUs)
Recording access approximately 1 week after the event, viewing available for 2 weeks after release
Optional: Live Interactive Community of Practice, 1-hour sessions
March 18th, 2021, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm CST
CEUs: 1 hour (.1 AOTA CEUs)
Course Description
Previous models of postural control were based on our knowledge at the time. While both Neuro-Developmental Treatment and Sensory Integration address postural control, their information and application in both motor and sensory realms are incomplete based on current research and knowledge. Many other philosophies of therapeutic intervention for children do not address postural control at all. Join us for an exploration of dynamic systems theory as the basis for a contemporary paradigm for postural control. We will discuss this model, emphasizing an expanded number of components and the dynamic relationships between components, along with practical information on the clinical application to assessment and treatment of postural control in children with sensory and motor challenges.
CEUs: 6 contact hours (.6 AOTA CEUs)
Available until March 21st, Community of Practice session March 22nd 11:30 am - 12:30 CST
Recording available for 30 days following your purchase
Cost: $215 USD for the 4-part series*
*Group discount for $10 off for groups of 5 or more on 4-part series
Email at Education@integrativeot.org for a coupon code
Course Description
The situation we are experiencing with COVID-19 is considered a collective trauma. Within this collective experience, emotional and behavioral responses are as varied as the number of humans on the planet. It is affecting us all, how we manage our own feelings and how we relate to one another. Adding to the ongoing uncertainty of issues related to the pandemic is a heightened awareness of racial injustice, political division and for many of us, an uncertain future. This unique series of four live webinars will address the dynamics of heightened emotion, allowing teachers and school-based practitioners to explore trauma-sensitive practice in real-time - bringing the theory into action. Appreciating the potential impacts of both early developmental trauma and current unpredictable events upon teaching and learning offers practitioners deeper insight and compassionate curiosity about how to support our students returning to school in the fall.
Natural Postural Engagement for Pediatrics
Irene Ingram, OTR/L, Live Online Webinar
April 16th, 2021, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm CST
CEUs: 3 Contact Hours (.3 AOTA CEUs)
Recording access approximately 1 week after the event, viewing available for 2 weeks after release
Cost: $90
Course Description
This course will provide a valuable set of tools for every therapist’s toolbox to jumpstart systems and engage the child’s natural ability to organize through the vestibular system.
Natural Postural Engagement (NPE) assists the child in accessing his original system of organization. It uses many techniques to organize the child for body awareness, sensory processing, symmetry, midline, range of motion, rhythm, core righting, use of limbs and oral motor efficiency. It specifically treats above and below the hyoid in relationship to the integration of the sublingual floor, infra hyoid muscles, with the function of the lips, jaw, and tongue.
The NPE program rapidly changes the neurological function of the child when techniques are effectively carried out. It is excellent for home programing due to the simplicity and playful attributes.
Michelle Emanuel, Rhoda Erhardt, & Kim Barthel, On-Demand
Available for purchase February 1, 2021 - April 30th, 2021
CEUs: 3 contact hours (.3 AOTA CEUs)
Recording available for 30 days following your purchase
Cost: $75 USD
Course Description
The Lunch & Learn series presented in November 2020, December 2020 and January 2020 are bundled together for a unique 3-hour on-demand learning opportunity. In this course, there are three modules of these topics:
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Michelle Emanuel, Polyvagal PopUp: The Neuroscience of State Behavioral Organization, held as a live webinar on November 6, 2020.
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Rhoda Erhardt, Visual-Perceptual-Motor Interventions for Developmental Coordination Disorders, held as a live webinar on December 2, 2020.
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Kim Barthel, Sleep as a Contribution of Regulation, held as a live webinar on January 7, 2021.
Each module includes the recording, course handouts, references and chat transcript from the live events.
Michelle Emanuel, On-Demand
Available for purchase February 1, 2021 - April 30th, 2021
CEUs: 1 contact hours (.1 AOTA CEUs)
Recording available for 30 days following your purchase
Cost: $30 USD
Course Description
This course covers the essentials of autonomic nervous system function as seen through the lens of the Polyvagal Theory. Understanding the neuroscience behind dysregulation and regulation provides a strong foundation for therapists to provide helpful interventions which optimize regulation and resiliency. State behavioral organization is the key to safe and meaningful negotiation through the sensorimotor territory of human development in the pre-crawling period.
Rhoda Erhardt, On-Demand
Available for purchase February 1, 2021 - April 30th, 2021
CEUs: 1 contact hours (.1 AOTA CEUs)
Recording available for 30 days following your purchase
Cost: $30 USD
Course Description
This course will focus on practical approaches for providing services to children with Developmental Coordination Disorder, which is recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fifth edition (DSM-5). Theoretical foundations for impairments in skilled motor movements that are linked to implications for occupational performance will be explored. Participants will walk away with examples of intervention strategies including principles for individualizing therapeutic activities.
Kim Barthel, On-Demand
Available for purchase February 1, 2021 - April 30th, 2021
CEUs: 1 contact hours (.1 AOTA CEUs)
Recording available for 30 days following your purchase
Cost: $30 USD
Course Description
Virtually every neurological and mental health issue manifests in sleep-wake dysregulation (Garcia-Rill, 2019). Therapists who evaluate, support and enhance function are constantly questioned by their clients “How do I help myself or my child sleep better?” This lunch and learn session will focus upon the science of sleep and its impact upon regulation.
Using Innate Sensory-Motor Intervention to Help Overcome ADHD Symptoms—Rationale and Supporting Evidence
Sonia Story, Lunch & Learn
May 6th, 2021, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm CST
CEUs: 1 Contact Hour (.1 AOTA CEUs)
Recording access approximately 1 week after the event, viewing available for 2 weeks after release
Cost: $30
Course Description
Huge numbers of children and adults live with the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Research evidence shows that ADHD symptoms are associated with motor challenges and with sensory processing challenges. Research also shows that the brains of individuals with ADHD are less developed than the brains of individuals who do not have these symptoms.
This leads to important questions: Can innate sensory-motor activities provide increased brain development and maturity? Is there evidence showing that innate sensory-motor activities may help to reduce ADHD symptoms? Join us for this 1-hour lecture to explore the answers to these questions.
The Pervasive Impact of Breath on Function: What to Know and What to Do
Eileen Richter & Patricia Oetter, On-Demand
Available for purchase February 26th, 2021 - June 30th, 2021
Community of Practice Q&A session, June 15th, 11:30 am - 12:30 CST
CEUs: 3 Contact Hours (.3 AOTA CEUs)
Recording available for 30 days following your purchase
Cost: $90
Course Description
Breath has not always been a focus in pediatric treatment. New information is shedding light on how respiration impacts many aspects of development. It is therefore necessary for us to take a more in-depth and active approach to breathing function in our clients with regulatory, sensory processing and/or sensory motor dysfunction.
Current study of breathing restrictions be they structural, functional, or the result of trauma or allergies is identifying associations with regulatory disorders such as sleep apnea, sleep patterns, ADD, and ADHD; as well as motor skills such as feeding, posture and other skills. Observation of respiratory patterns leads to a better understanding of development and sensory motor outcomes. Identifying where 3-dimensional rib cage expansion, i.e. breath, is restricted (diaphragm, upper chest, neck, mouth, nose) provides clues to function and is a foundational focus for treatment. Rate, depth, rhythm and gradation are required for attention, self-regulation, endurance, postural control, eating, voicing for speech, and many other development achievements.
This workshop will emphasize the process of respiratory development, from in utero on, as it relates to typical and atypical sensory processing, and sensory motor processing and development. We will discuss how this applies to assessment and treatment of pediatric clients with varied diagnoses. Using lectures, slides, & videos, we will explore assessment and treatment options to address various dysfunctional respiratory patterns.
Avanti Pre-Camp Conference 2021: The Spirit of Engagement
Patricia Oetter, Irene Ingram and Kim Barthel, Live Online Webinar
Thursday June 17th, 2021, 8:45 am - 4:30 pm CST
CEUs: 6.25 Contact Hours (.625 AOTA CEUs)
Recording access approximately 1 week after the event, viewing available for 2 weeks after release
Cost: $195 early bird registration ends May 15th, regular price, $215
*Group discount for $10 off per course for groups of 5 or more
Email at Education@integrativeot.org for a coupon code