Graduation Year
2026
Document Type
Capstone Project
Research Type
Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Occupational Therapy
Department
Occupational Therapy
Program Chair
Kitsum Li, OTD, OTR/L, CSRS
Faculty Mentor
Laura Greiss Hess, PhD, OTR/L
Content Expert
Dan Phillips, MS, CCC, SLP
Site Mentor
Tim Park and Joe Cashel
Community Partner
Marin Ventures
Abstract
This occupational therapy (OT) doctoral capstone project focused on the development and implementation of a proactive sensory modulation program with the use of Assistive Technology (AT) for adults with Developmental Disabilities (DD) at an adult day program. Adults with DD have diverse needs such as - motor, communication, behavioral, cognitive, and sensory processing challenges. These varying abilities often require AT and environmental adaptations to afford meaningful participation in occupations. Providing customized and accessible programing for adults with DD arediversity, equity, inclusion, justice and accessibility (DEIJA) issues (Kripke, 2018). Often, adult day programs are limited in OT services, including accessible sensory motor which can result in states of dysregulation thus impeding meaningful engagement in activities which is a justice issue (Kripke, 2018; Gomez & Medallon, 2022). This practice gap was a fit for occupational therapy expertise to provide accessibility to sensory modulation and corresponding curriculum and professional development programming. A project level needs assessment was completed through skilled observations, staff/stakeholder conversations, and a google form which drove the curriculum development. The needs assessment process was highly collaborative and focused on staff input including their perspectives, questions, and priorities. Staff collaboration and buy-in were essential to program design. This program prioritized professional development training curriculum (instructional slide decks, printed PDFs and links to recordings) for the adult day program staff to support sustainability for program implementation over time. In addition to being an informational resource for current staff, these materials will also be used as a part of the onboarding process when new staff are hired. Program evaluation findings indicated that staff had increased knowledge and confidence in sensory modulation programming following the professional development sessions. This program created an infrastructure for accessible sensory modulation programming at the day center. Future directions for this project include measuring intervention effectiveness. Adapting sensory modulation strategies promotes accessibility for adults with DD which promotes justice in engaging in daily occupations.