Expanding the Horizon - Transitioning the Lens from SPD to Sensory Health

Join Dr. Virginia Spielmann for a deeper discussion about WHY we talk more about “sensory health” and the intentional movement away from deficit-based approaches and language. During this webinar, Dr. Spielmann will highlight what we have learned, how STAR and our partners are pioneering sensory integration/processing best practices, and the movement away from the deficit lens within sensory and the other conditions in which sensory challenges are common.

As STAR takes the critical steps to change the narratives of how disordered sensory processing (also known as SPD) is seen and understood, we push for recognition that sensory impacts every person’s daily life. We not only want to have therapeutic practices see individuals as people, not their medical diagnosis, but also the communities they live, work, learn, and play in. When we widen our lens and educate individuals and communities that sensory domains impact not only individuals with sensory processing challenges but every person’s overall health, we help create a world in which we can all feel safe, welcomed, and thrive.



Presenters:


Virginia Spielmann, PhD, OTR/L
Executive Director (she/her)

Virginia is a well-travelled speaker, coach and educator on topics including sensory integration, DIR/Floortime, child development and infant mental health. She has conducted trainings in Kenya, Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and the USA and leads workshops at international conferences.

Virginia is a founder and former Clinical Director of SPOT (Speech, Physical, and Occupational Therapy) Interdisciplinary Children's Therapy Center in Hong Kong, where she led a large and widely respected inter-disciplinary team.

Virginia obtained her BSc in Occupational Therapy in Oxford England (2002) and her Masters in Occupational Therapy from Mount Mary University, Milwaukee (2018). She is a DIR/Floortime Training Leader and Expert and clinical consultant for the Interdisciplinary Council for Development and Learning (ICDL). Her extensive pediatric experience includes children on the autism spectrum, as well as those with Sensory Processing Disorder, infant mental health issues, children from adopted families and those who have experienced developmental trauma.

Virginia has considerable post-graduate training, she is certified on the SIPT and is currently completing her Ph.D. in Infant and Early Childhood Development with an emphasis on mental health, with Fielding Graduate University, in Santa Barbara.