Building a Sensory Toolbox: Sensory Diets, What They Are, and How to Use Them

  • Presenter: Teresa A. May-Benson, ScD, OTR/L, FAOTA
  • Level: Intermediate.
  • Access: All parts of the course, including assignments, must be completed within a 7 week viewing window.
  • Contact Hours: 1.5 contact hours
  • AOTA Areas: Occupational Therapy Service Delivery Domain: Performance Skills, Context and Environment Process: Intervention
  • Audience: Occupational therapists, OT assistants, physical therapists, PT assistants and students, speech and language therapists, teachers, and educators.
  • Completion Requirements: To earn contact hours for this course participants must view this course in its entirety, and successfully complete the accompanying course quiz
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Course overview

A sensory diet is a controlled program of interaction with sensory input throughout the day, that helps us to be alert and adaptable, so we are able to function to the best of our abilities in our environment.

This webinar will discuss how to build a good sensory diet, covering the core concepts related to structured 'diets' and 'sensory points', strategies for selecting appropriate activities, and how to implement them effectively. This webinar will also address the function of sensory diets as they differ from formal therapeutic activities.

This course utilizes a PowerPoint presentation. Slides are available for download.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this webinar participants will be able to:

Identify the components of a good sensory diet.

Recognize the appropriate uses of sensory diet programs.

List the core concepts related to sensory points and sensory diets. 

Teresa A. May-Benson,
ScD, OTR/L, FAOTA

Teresa is an expert occupational therapist renowned for her clinical research, mentoring and education related to related to sensory integration theory and intervention, praxis, and social competency. She is currently the owner/CEO of TMB Education, LLC and serves as President and practicing occupational therapist at OTR, Inc, a private occupational therapy practice specializing in sensory integration and social competency for children and adults across the lifespan, located near Philadelphia, PA. Dr. May-Benson has a diverse background as a clinical practitioner, having worked in private and public-school settings as well as private practice. She has authored numerous book chapters and articles on praxis and sensory integration and completed her doctoral dissertation on ideational praxis. Teresa is an education and research faculty member at the SPIRAL Foundation. In her role of educator, she currently serves as adjunct faculty at Widener University and is past faculty at Tufts University and the University of Indianapolis. She has received the Virginia Scardinia Award of Excellence from AOTA for her work in ideational praxis and is the 2023 recipient of the AOTF A. Jean Ayres Award.

Continuing Education:
ADA/Section 504: If you require special accommodations, please contact courses@thespiralfoundation.org
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