Occupational Therapy News OTnews April 2019 | Page 47

ACTIVITY FEATURE
At that time, Mayuri explains, the pupil had been having
occupational therapy for around three years, to develop his play,
attention, motor and sensory skills, however ‘his poor engagement
and disconnectedness were resulting in maladaptive behaviours
outside the class’.
Using a client-centred approach, Mayuri found that cooking as
an activity seemed to appeal to the student more than a play-based
occupational therapy in the therapy room.
‘After considering his interests, we decided to teach him to make
spicy lentil soup,’ she says. ‘The novelty of the dish and change
in the environment led him to engage in a 45-minute occupational
therapy session without any prompt. He remained focused and
enjoyed the sensory elements of cooking – sounds, smells, visual
appearance of ingredients and taste.’
The student went on to actively engage in further occupational
therapy cooking sessions and, after a few months, his teachers
began to report his increased participation in academic lessons.
‘He went on from exploring and cooking for himself to cooking
for others, venturing into holding bigger events for the whole school,’
Mayuri reflects. ‘This gave him the opportunity to share his cooked
food with staff and students; providing him with a sense of identity
[as] he was being associated with tasty food.
‘But beyond that, he was receiving compliments, experiencing
success, developing skills that were unique to him, and being liked
by others.
‘Staff and students provided much-needed social reinforcement
and soon this became a driving force for him. As this approach
continued to show positive changes in his overall engagement,
including his academic performance, an Occupational Therapy Café
project came into existence, under which several children aged
between seven and 19 years old cooked to develop motor, sensory,
social and core life skills such as confidence, motivation and self-
esteem.’
The project has been ‘developing continuously to harbour novelty
and curiosity, to sustain motivation’ Mayuri adds.
‘Through this project, pivotal areas of development that affect
the lives of children with autism have been addressed. For example,
the annual Winter cafe, Easter cafe and Food festival have been
(l to r) Rachel Parris, TES Awards host, Mayuri Tokekar, occupational therapist,
The Holmewood School, Ria Rattan, occupational therapy assistant, The
Holmewood School, and Margaret Mulholland, Director of Development and
Research, Swiss Cottage School
De Vos and Leclair (2019) utilised a convergent
parallel mixed method design to examine participants’
perspectives of an inpatient food skills group,
run by occupational therapists in a mental health
setting. Following group participation, 60 individuals
completed a questionnaire (analysed using descriptive
and correlational statistics) whilst 20 also participated
in a semi-structured interview (analysed thematically).
Triangulation was used to combine and interpret
findings. The authors found participants valued
having the opportunity to build skills and engage in
meaningful activity whilst in hospital; and that they
identified the group as important to their recovery, and
would use the cooking skills learnt after discharge.
The authors suggest that the group was about more
than the outcome: it was also about the process of
occupational engagement.
Reference
De Vos G, Leclair L (2019) Food skills group value,
meaning and use with inpatients in a mental health
setting. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, Jan
24. [Epub ahead of print].
providing students at the Holmewood School with eating and
feeding issues with much needed food exposure.
‘Another example has been the opportunity to practise skills
needed for employment, such as money management, customer
service, planning events, managing time, sustaining attention, and
filtering noise to focus on customers.’
In February 2019, the project won a prestigious TES Independent
School Award in the ‘Special Needs Initiative of the Year’ category.
Lead judge Margaret Mulholland, said: ‘This is a wonderful
example of a social enterprise initiative set up by the occupational
therapy team to explicitly strengthen motor skills development while
supporting steps toward employability. The pride of the young
people, parents and other stakeholders shone through in this
application.’
One of the parents added: ‘The Occupational Therapy Café
project has changed children’s lives with its knowledge, skill and
understanding. It has made education and the opportunities that
come with education accessible.’
‘The efforts of all the students and the occupational therapy team
has been acknowledged through this unique long-term project,
which continues to evolve, with 17 students under its umbrella
currently benefiting on various levels and focus areas,’ Mayuri says
proudly.
‘Bespoke, meaningfulness, novelty and purposefulness remain
core features of this project, highlighting the need to listen to our
clients and work collaboratively.’
Mayuri Tokekar, occupational therapist, The Holmewood School,
London. Email: [e-mail]
OTnews April 2019 47