Peak Potential

13/08/2026

This is further welcome evidence as to how sensory integration impacts daily functions for young people. It will be great to see the research base increasing more to reflect adult needs.

If you ever wondered why Occupational Therapists look at tasks like getting washed and dressed in minute detail it actually tells us a lot about sensory integration, especially praxis, and what does or doesn't improve the situation for the individual. Add in detailed knowledge of someone's sensory integration patterns for a tool like the EASI and we start to build a profile that can help the person find options that actually help, rather than relying on a sticky plaster approach, like "use a note book", that doesn't have long term benefits.

From Sensory Scores to Participation: What New Research Asks Us to Notice SAISI Page - South African Institute for Sensory Integration Congratulations to Dr Rencken. UKZN Von Ravensway.

Sensory integration is absolutely about participation. New South African research helps make that connection visible. Researchers did not simply ask whether children were sensory-seeking, overresponsive, or underresponsive.

They brought together EASI performance-based assessment with sensory responsiveness and the impact on everyday family life.

Why does that matter?

Because sensory integration supports what we do.

Postural control matters when we sit, reach, write and play.

Bilateral integration matters when we dress, use tools, climb or join a game.

Sensory discrimination helps us understand our body and the world around us.

Praxis helps us imagine, plan and organise new actions.

And sensory responsiveness can influence how available we are for all of these things.

This feels particularly timely alongside RCOT’s 2026 Informed View, with its welcome emphasis on occupational goals and meaningful participation.

Sensory integration is not separate from participation.

Understanding sensory integration can help us understand why participation may be easy, effortful or sometimes not possible at all.

But a sensory score alone cannot tell us that story.

We need the person, their sensory experiences and sensory integrative functions, the environment, the activity, the relational response and what happens to participation.

We explore the new research, including its important limitations, here: From Sensory Scores to Participation: What New Research Asks Us to Notice. Read our longer article to practice review and find the article link here: https://sensoryproject.org/2026/08/13/sensory-integration-participation/

13/07/2026

In a family of autistic/ADHD/AuDHD folks some tasks are harder for some than others. One of my kids was struggling to remember the steps involved in showering so asked if I could help. I made this for them last night. Then while I was at it I did a morning list and an evening list.

Will it help? Time will tell, but good to try so we can find options that work for them. The fact they were excited to try is a win as far as I am concerned.

05/07/2026

It's disability awareness month so while my busy mind is juggling work, school transitions, end of school year changes, normal life things, and preparing for the summer holidays I had nothing left to come up with an amazing post about what this month means to me.

But then I remembered my amazing friend JJJJ doodles designed these a few years ago and was kind enough to share them with me.

Not only do they make such engaging art, they also have a wealth of personal knowledge and university qualifications in disability rights.

Image description: The Pictures are mainly black illustrations on a white background, depicting items that support accessibility like an AAC device, wheelchair, headphones, sunflower lanyard among others. There are also some words including "all welcome" "rights not charity" and "nothing about us without us". The central point is the disability pride flag which does have some additional colours. Both pictures show the same things but one was resized to be used as a facebook profile banner.

04/07/2026

Networking does not need to involve a conference centre or a complicated formal process. Sometimes it is based on something formed from a brief encounter.

There is a excitement in meeting with a follow Occupational Therapist by chance through a work situation, then deciding to meet up for an informal discussion about all sorts. Add in a wonderful walk in the Peak District and you get a morning filled with joy, and even a bonus surprise of seeing a Stag while out on our wander.

Thank you Roots OT for such a lovely morning yesterday. Talking about our shared passions of using Occupational Therapy in meaningful ways in community settings, especially if that means connecting with nature, was lovely. I really look forward to our next meet.

Also I think I could have eaten all the berry flapjack from the cafe it was so delicious.

20/06/2026

As an Occupational Therapist I am always encouraging people to think about self care, productivity and leisure. Sometimes you are lucky enough to find something that covers all these bases.

Self care: I am so much stronger and fitter, plus this is a fantastic exercise for tactile, vestibular, proprioceptive, visual, auditory inputs which aid with bilateral integration and help me have the right level of energy and sensory input for the task. (Very much in line with the helpful energy meters Autism Level UP have created).

Productivity: it links me with my social network and local businesses in a way that suits my AuDHD neurotype. Thank you Castle Martial Arts and especially the inspiring tuition from Mrs Morewood and Ozzy for creating such an inclusive environment.

Leisure: well the fun we have is just epic. Badibidu - Art by Cat Regi and I were having so much fun today we were belly laughing despite being hot, tired and being assessed.

My ninja gal pals celebrating passing our latest belt with Castle Martial Arts

Massive massive thanks to the Castle Martial Arts team who support us so incredibly. I love that you have the highest standards for everyone, give them the support needed to achieve it in their own way, and make sure people have a way to show their knowledge that is right for them. Huge hats off to you and thanks from the bottom of this mum heart.

Love you Peak Potential I wouldn’t enjoy getting decked by anyone else half as much.

09/06/2026

These powerful images show how stimming can feel. I’m so glad Autism Level UP! reshared them or I may never have got to see pictures that feel so viscerally close to how stimming feels for me as an AuDHDer.

28/05/2026

Several years ago I attended a continued professional development session (CPD) where the core was Positive Behaviour Support (PBS). They made some interesting points but as an AuDHD person I had questions, lots of questions, as some of the suggestions felt like they expected PBS to eradicate behaviour they deemed inappropriate, most was harmless stims. Their answers never eased my worries that it wasn’t being used in the person centred way the model claimed. Now this could be that they had misinterpreted the core of PBS, but then I see it is being used in ways that are definitely about the comfort of others, not the individual.

Important note: I am aware motivators have their place, but leaving someone with unmet needs, and instead asking for compliance isn’t acceptable.

WORDS MATTER, BUT PURPOSE MATTERS MORE

We want to be completely clear: this is not our resource, and we do not endorse it.

It was sent to us by someone seeking help to explain why it is not an appropriate classroom tool. We shared it because it made us pause and consider how urgently wider perceptions need to change.

Our concern is not simply the word “reinforcement”. Replacing “reinforcers” with “preferences” or “interests” would not resolve the fundamental problem, because the whole survey is designed to identify what adults can use to secure a desired response.

It turns relationships, movement, food, choice, interests and access to supportive activities into potential rewards.

Sitting near a trusted teacher is not a reward.

Time with a supportive adult is not a reward.

Movement is not a reward.

A break is not a reward.

Connection with a friend is not a reward.

Meaningful choice is not a reward.

Food should not be used as a currency for compliance.

These may be essential parts of safety, regulation, belonging, communication, autonomy and access to learning. They should not have to be earned.

We appreciate that teachers and classroom assistants are working within stretched systems and often need accessible tools. We also recognise that this resource may have been created with positive intentions. However, good intentions do not remove the need to examine what a tool is asking adults to do, whose needs it serves and what it may communicate to a child.

The question is not simply:

“What does this child like?”

It is:

“Why are we gathering this information, and how will we use it?”

Are we using a child’s interests to build genuine connection, make learning meaningful and support participation?

Or are we identifying what can be offered, withheld or made conditional to increase compliance?

Those are not the same thing.

For children with sensory integration and processing differences, trauma histories, anxiety, autism, ADHD, communication differences or demand avoidant patterns, what is interpreted as being “unmotivated” may be:

Overwhelm.

Sensory overload.

Fatigue.

Uncertainty.

Difficulty with praxis.

Fear of getting something wrong.

Communication load.

Loss of autonomy.

An inaccessible environment or activity.

A lack of safety within the relationship.

A checklist of preferred rewards does not help us understand these possibilities. It may instead place responsibility on the child to respond to an adult selected incentive, while leaving the environment, activity demands and relational response unexamined.

Rewards are not neutral for every child. Praise can feel exposing. Public attention may feel unsafe. Food rewards can become complicated. Stickers may be meaningless. Movement may be necessary for participation. Choice is only supportive when it is genuine and respectful, not another demand in disguise.

There is also a wider safeguarding concern. Teaching vulnerable children that access to approval, food, connection, movement or preferred activities depends upon pleasing an adult deserves very careful consideration.

So, rather than asking, “What reward works?”, we might ask:

What helps this child feel safe?

What helps their body feel organised?

What helps them understand what is happening?

What makes this environment more accessible?

Which relationships help them feel seen, heard and understood?

What activities are meaningful to them?

What choices protect their autonomy?

What might the child already be communicating through their words, actions, movement, silence, play, withdrawal or distress?

This is why we return to Sensory Ladders®, Sensory Spiders™ and Sensory Grids™ within the PEAR TREE™ Lens. These tools are intentionally accessible, but they are not designed to identify rewards or secure compliance. They open conversations and help children and adults explore self states, sensory patterns, environments, activity demands, relationships and what genuinely supports participation.

Any simplified tool has limits. The important question is whether simplification opens the door to curiosity and understanding, or reduces the child to something adults need to manage.

Children do not need us to become better at managing them.

They need us to become better at listening to and understanding them.

The goal is not compliance.

The goal is safety, participation, autonomy, connection and meaningful success.

21/05/2026

In case anyone is in any doubt this is what the law says about private reports. They are valid evidence, and LAs cannot deny them on the basis of being private. This is so critical when so many seek these assessments as they cannot access them though other channels, or the waits are so long that they will miss key deadlines in applying for the essential support and reasonable adjustments without them.

PRIVATE REPORTS & WHAT THE LAW SAYS

Under the SEND Regulations 2014, Regulation 6(1)(b) states:

“When securing an EHC needs assessment, a local authority must consider any information provided to the local authority by or at the request of the child, the child’s parent or the young person.”

The key words are:
“must consider any information.”

That includes private reports.

There is no legal distinction between reports commissioned privately and those commissioned by the NHS or local authority. A private report is still evidence and must be considered.

But this is where it gets annoying

“Consider” is not clearly defined in law. It can mean the LA has properly weighed the evidence and taken it into account, or it can mean they have read it and decided not to use it at all. What local authorities cannot do is refuse to look at a report or dismiss it purely because it is private.

I’ve seen some families have independent reports accepted immediately, and others where the reports were technically “considered” but very little weight was given to them.

In those situations (it is an absolute ball ache) but it’s important to know that you can appeal and ask the Tribunal to consider the evidence properly

Private reports will not be given any less or more weight than an NHS or LA-commissioned report simply because they are private. The SEND Tribunal is concerned only with whether the report writer has the relevant expertise to make the recommendations in the report. 😘