14/06/2025
๐ง Executive functioning, autism & ADHD - we love this hands-on work!
So much more than just a catchphrase, executive functioning is the behind-the-scenes skillset which helps people plan, organise, initiate, and follow through with complicated, but also seemingly basic tasks.
๐ก OTs are trained to apply the Person-Environment-Occupation foundational model, helping us to break down how someone's capacity to 'do stuff' is impacted by:
๐ Person - skills, strengths, habits, health & disability-related barriers
๐ Environment - their physical, cultural & sensory surroundings, and the people in their lives who may assist or hinder performance
๐ Occupation - the tasks that are most important, in priority order
When a person has executive functioning challenges, as is commonplace with our autistic participants, the PEO model helps us with the practicqal know-how:
๐ Person - is there cognitive overload, anxiety, memory issues? Is rejection sensitive dysphoria stopping them from seeking assistance?
๐ Environment - is it too cluttered, noisy, unstructured? Are support staff understanding the person's needs wholly?
๐ Occupation - is the task too complex, poorly timed, lacking meaning, or overwhelming?
By supporting the person, adapting the environment, or breaking down the task... OTs improve 'occupational performance'...the ability to participate and succeed in everyday life. This is where checklists are great - if they are actually personalised:
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carefully created together
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expressly demonstrated for the person and support staff
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the right size, font, colours, language, order
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properly located
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practised out via role play
Picture of my autistic participant's checklist for their support workers, because asking for help feels like too much, and they'd rather cancel the shift.
***Specifics tasks removed for anonymity***
***My participant prefers to be described as an autistic person than a person with autism***
Bespoke OT supports neurodivergent people and people with psychosocial disability to build systems that actually work for them; and this only happens in the context of a trusting therapeutic relationship, and is only ever, highly personalised.
๐ We now have capacity Perth-metro wide ๐
โ๏ธ 0492 975 402
๐ www.bespokeot.com.au
๐ฉ info@bespokeot.com.au