SPECIALTY SPACES
OT / PT / rehabilitation spaces
Figure 63
Figure 64
The spaces used for Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy need to have a level of environmental control and flexibility to support students trying to achieve sensory equilibrium. These are spaces where therapists and students work on creating alignment of mind and body to achieve tasks. To achieve these tasks, the students need to be in the correct frame of mind. The goal is to have multiple accessible spaces that allow for the development of both gross motor and fine motor skills. Development of those skills is not always linear and progress is not always large. So these spaces should also be a place where students and therapist can celebrate victories, both big and small. A real risk that exists are injuries. Fall protection and other safeguards need to be in place to ensure safety for all users for physical therapy. Fatigue is an issue with any therapy. The challenge is balancing the efforts with the outcomes. For occupational therapy, outdoor opportunities are important for students to practice real world applications in real weather conditions. Therapy does not necessarily have to occur in designated spaces. Corridors can be optimized to practice low impact gross motor skills and develop endurance through repetition.
AERO Therapeutic Center
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