In this episode of Stress-Free IEPTM, Frances Shefter speaks with Mya Zavaleta, of Rooted Occupational Therapy. Mya provides Nature OT services to kids in the outdoors to build their coordination, connection, and calming skills. She works with neurodiverse children in individual, group, and camp settings.
Special offer for viewers: Contact Mya and let her know, you learned about her from Stress-Free IEPTM with Frances Schefter, and get a reduced price for services – $800 for a week of Nature Based Occupational Therapy. Reach out and let Mya know you watched this and mention this special offer.
Stress-Free IEPTM:
Frances Shefter is an Education Attorney and Advocate who is committed to helping her clients have a Stress-Free IEP experience. In each podcast, Frances interviews inspiring people to share information, educate you, empower you and help you get the knowledge you need.
VOICEOVER ( 00:00:00): Welcome to Stress-Free IEPTM. You do not need to do it all alone with your host Frances Shefter, Principal of Shefter Law, she streams a show live on Facebook on Tuesdays at noon Eastern, get more details and catch prior episodes at www.ShefterLaw.com. The Stress-Free IEPTM video podcast is also posted on YouTube and LinkedIn and you can listen to episodes through Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts, Stitcher and more. Now, here’s the host of Stress-Free IEPTM Frances Shefter.
FRANCES ( 00:00:36): Hello, everyone and welcome to the show today. Our special episode I made special for a special person, Mya Zavaleta, who is the proud owner of Rooted Occupational Therapy. At Rooted Occupational Therapy. They provide nature OT services to kids in the outdoors to build their coordination, connection and calming skills. She works with neurodiverse children in individual group and camp settings and it’s, I think she’s so special because I’ve never heard OT doing it outside. So, Mya please introduce yourself a little bit more and tell us about how Rooted OT came about.
MYA ( 00:01:17): Yes. Hi. I am so glad to be here. Thank you so much, Frances. And so I originally became an occupational therapist because about almost 20 years ago because I have a cousin who um has developmental disabilities. And I went to her occupational therapy sessions with her as a little girl. And she would just play and learn how to move her body and just feel so connected and engaged and had so much fun. And I said, I wanna do what that lady is doing. And um, so then that just planted the seed and then I was a teacher for three years in New York City. And while I really enjoyed working with children, I realized 25-28 on 1 is really difficult. I want to do something that’s more um to really see an impact on children in smaller groups. So that brought me back to that occupational therapy and yeah, that’s where I am.
FRANCES ( 00:02:9): And then, so you moved down to the DC area. You’re in the DC Maryland area. What uh made you go to doing the outside, doing the occupational therapy and the outside in the nature?
MYA ( 00:02:19): Yes. So I, post pandemic or during the pandemic, just being behind boxes, which is, you know, computer screen with my clients and just realizing and even for my children, I have currently, they’re 13 and 15 years old, but just seeing the lack of nature and outdoor experiences and exposure to outdoors for all kids. And um and just the wonder and magic of being outside that is just so inviting and brings out such a different sense of calm and richness to kids, especially post pandemic because they weren’t outdoors for many reasons. I worked at a middle school and high school in DC and there were reasons for that they didn’t feel safe, or because of COVID getting sick and because, and oftentimes they just weren’t outside so much that they would say, you know, there are bugs and Miss Mya, Rockaway Park, what if they’re like bears? Literally, they said there might be bears or big animals might eat me. Like just, they just did not have a concept of what it is. And I said, I really want to dismantle that for kids and help them see that it’s such a, safe and healthy and healing space. And for me, it’s been a very healing space. So helping transfer that to my clients has been so, so valuable.
FRANCES ( 00:03:32): Yeah, it’s, my husband is the woods person. He loves being out in the woods and that’s his calming space. I’m the beach girl, I’m the water. So it’s always funny.
MYA ( 00:03:40): That’s wonderful. Yeah.
FRANCES ( 00:03:42): Right. Um, so, I mean, I’ve always loved being in the nature and just the, the grounding of it. So how do you like, I mean, I know occupational therapy is certain, tools and equipment that you use. Like, how do you adapt that to have it outside?
MYA ( 00:03:58): Yes. So we, in my trunk, I have just so many different tools. It depends on what we’re working with. Fine motor things. Um swings, balls, um all different types of things to build with. Tarps. Tarps are super important. So I open up my trunk and I pull out some tools that I know I wanna work with, with kiddos, but it’s very child-led. So I’ll say, what are you interested in working with today? And they’ll say, oh, I want this swing and I want to do this type of ball activity. And what is this? I’ll say, pull it out, let’s see what we do with it and we can um, learn something new. So, um that really engages them and it’s just like a trunk full of um, toys as they say. And yeah, so it just depends on what they’re really interested in, what we’re working on with each kiddo that they um kind of what drives and then I often get asked by parents. But what do you do in the cold or what do you do in the snow or the rain? And we bundle up and dress appropriately and I have some extra layers if kids need extra hats and gloves. And if they’re dressed appropriately, there’s no bad weather. It’s just weather that we need to protect ourselves with. So then, um I will string from like, I’ll find the right tree and I’ll, this is part of working with some kids, like helping problem solve like, where do you think would be the best place for us to make a rain fort it because it’s gonna rain or it is raining, we need to cover up. So between two trees hanging, um uh a type of rope that’s called the Molly rope that has lots of loops and then um putting tarp over it that’s kind of making like a lean to type of tent and putting stakes in to keep them in the ground and then figuring out the right tension that you need, what, what size um bungee cords you need, just lots of problem solving, lots of using the whole body. And then we go underneath and play our games and do our activities under the air and lots of observation and just having fun in all weather.
FRANCES ( 00:05:52): I love that because it’s, my husband says the same thing. There’s no bad weather, just bad clothing choices. And I say that’s fine with you in winter. I’m still staying inside.
MYA ( 00:06:01): Yes, and that’s why parents love me because they’re like, oh my gosh, I don’t want to be outside with my kid in the winter for an hour. And I say that’s my job. I can do that. And yeah, we make it fun and we have O-Tea I love to say that O-Tea, it’s occupational therapy tea that we drink and there’s so many wonderful sensory properties of drinking tea, the scents. And then so we even do this imaginary. We um if we don’t have real tea but you smell the, the great smell and it, this is hot chocolate breathing, take a deep breath in, smell the hot chocolate, hold your breath and blow out but not too hard that you’re gonna blow out those marshmallows you have in there, blow breathe out, cooling off the hot chocolate or your tea. So, um yeah, there are definitely lots of different things to keep ourselves warm and keeping our hands warm with the tea. And I even have little, um, they’re hot water bottles that are, have covers on them that are like a little stuffed animal squishy feel. And then they have little pockets and we put our pockets in those and those are our hand warmers when we’re cold and those are our natural hand warmers, which is a great way to keep warm.
FRANCES ( 00:07:06): So we have the, um, the little hand warmer packets because I’m Girl Scout Cookie Mom. So when we do cookie sales booths that it’s been cold this winter, the kids love having those to warm up their hands.
MYA ( 00:07:18): I’ll have to show you my natural hand warmers too. But yes, those, those work absolutely too.
FRANCES ( 00:07:22): Yeah. No, it’s great. I mean, I love it that it’s outdoors because it’s just so not traditional. Um, and I’m sure there’s people like, oh, well, you know, you can’t do all that you need to do with a child. Um, that, of what their goals are and what their end goals are. You can’t do it all if you don’t have the right equipment. How do you adjust for that?
MYA ( 00:07:44): Yes, definitely. It’s, it’s just a matter of having, I have everything that’s portable. So I have stools and I have a table and I have a lot of times we don’t even do tabletop things. We, because many of our kids, my kids see that and they’re like, ah, paper and pencil stuff. I don’t do that. The handwriting is too difficult. But if we’re drawing with sticks in the dirt, in the water, on rocks and with the ropes and in different ways, then it just becomes so much more engaging and we’re really tapping into different, um, brain processes to help them learn these concepts that like the top line, the dotted line and the bottom line, we’re using sticks, we’re using rocks and we’re using, uh, a rope and then they understand it in a different way and it’s a whole body learning and not just sitting at a paper, with paper pencil at a desk. Um, but we write and draw and color, over a trunk, a tree trunk. So we’re working on stability, core trunk stability. And, um, then we’re climbing on the trunk and then we’re gonna continue writing another sentence, you know, at the end of the trunk just making it whole body, lots of different body positions that is really going to engage them in different ways and strengthen their bodies in different ways.
FRANCES ( 00:08:57): It’s awesome. And I’m assuming, like, using the whole body, it’s, if they’re having fun, you’re gonna learn it more and you’re gonna, you’re gonna want to do it.
MYA ( 00:9:05): Yes. Yeah. There. Yeah.
FRANCES ( 00:9:9): So, I’m assuming you start with us, do you start with assessing the children before you start therapy?
MYA ( 00:9:16): Yes, every child that I see has an evaluation either with me or they have a previous one that I can use. Yes, they need to have an occupational therapy evaluation so that I know what we’re working on. We have measures and baseline measures to know um where they start and then to be able to um monitor their progress.
FRANCES ( 00:9:32): Perfect. That’s awesome. And so you’ll use other people’s evaluations like if somebody had it done at school or something like that.
MYA ( 00:9:38): Absolutely. Yeah. Sometimes I will need to do a mini evaluation if I feel like I want more information or I feel like the circumstances were different for that child. But um, yeah, I’m able to get that information from them,
FRANCES ( 00:9:53): Which I’m sure is different because school evaluations focus on the school needs. Not as much as the home life needs.
MYA ( 00:10:00): Yes. Absolutely. There can be overlap. Yes, but they’re different. But since I was um, for 12 years I was a school based Occupational Therapist. So I do incorporate lots of academic skills and then um something that’s unique about my services I think is that I collaborate with teachers often. I, I have different packages for um clients, families, and if they have one that has consultations, then I will consult with teachers for definitely like 1 to 2 sessions per quarter, the three, the three months that we’re working together when they’re on the quarter system. But that’s really because I was in a school, I know what their needs are in the school. And I’m able to really um approach it in a way that I know, obviously they’re not gonna be able to do this one thing for Juanita, but I know that they’re gonna be able to, um, consider how to make the materials or the strategies a little more accessible or generalized for the whole population, the whole community and make it more um normalized for the child.
FRANCES ( 00:11:04): I love that because it’s, it’s, I always say it’s so important having everybody, the whole team on the same page, like the inside providers and the ones in school, the outside providers. It’s like we’re a team and if we’re not working together, you’re not like, you’re working against the child if we don’t work together as a team. Right? That is true. Yes. And I love that you have the teaching experience because I definitely find because, you know, as, you know, I was a former teacher as well and I find that teachers are more open to former teachers because I guess you know, we speak the language, we get it, we know what they’re going through and we’re not trying to make their lives harder, we’re trying to make their lives easier.
MYA ( 00:11:46): Absolutely. Yes. Yes. And acknowledging their efforts and what they are doing. That’s right because a lot of times there are great things happening in the classroom and then, um yeah, just building on those, maybe trying strategies that may have not been considered before or kind of reframing the process.
FRANCES ( 00:12:02): Right. And then they can also provide strategies to you of what they’re, what works for them to make it easier. So we’re not, um I don’t wanna say wasting time, but we’re not experimenting with what strategies will or won’t work. Um That if we know there’s some work.
MYA ( 00:12:18): Yes, absolutely.
FRANCES ( 00:12:20): So when you, like, I know you said you have a trunk full of toys, which I love. That’s awesome. Do you, and you said you let the children, um you let the children pick their toys. Do you like select only a certain amount that you have in your trunk?
MYA ( 00:12:44): You know, it really depends on. So sometimes if I give open the trunk for my kids that are gonna be disregulated, overwhelmed by those many choices, I’m going to maybe choose certain ones and say, hey, pick out of this area or I won’t fill my trunk with so many things. But for kids that are better at making choices and are able to, um, but aren’t gonna have that executive functioning difficulty and overwhelm then they’re gonna be, then I will, um, allow them to choose whatever they want or I will preselect for kiddos.
FRANCES ( 00:13:15): So it’s kind of giving them a choice so that they think they have the power of choices, but whatever they choose is what you wanted them to choose in the first place.
MYA ( 00:13:24): Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. And sometimes they do choose something that I’m like, oh, I don’t think that that would have been something I would have chosen, but I’m creative and think on my feet and we turn it into something therapeutic and fun.
FRANCES ( 00:13:37): And I think that’s, I, you know, I know with like the strong little child and there’s all these books out there and stuff about how kids, a big thing for, especially the younger children is that they don’t have choice in their life, like everybody’s telling them what to do. Yes. Absolutely. I’m sure with having these choices that it’s giving the children more, um, you know, just giving them their ability to choose, makes them want to come see you more, right?
MYA ( 00:14:03): Absolutely. Yes. And this sense of competence like I choose and I turn it into something that was fun and meaningful for me. You know, and that’s another thing about working in nature is that the space, space is just, it’s neutral space for both of us because I can’t engineer the space the way I could have when I worked in a clinic or in a class in, at the school in a certain space. It, it is what it is. Sometimes trees fall overnight or over the week and the weekend and it, it’s in a different place or the creek water is really high and we had planned on going fishing that week or we wanted to do a creek hike, but the water, it’s not, it’s been rainy and it might not be clean. So, we have to think about that. The air is different. The lighting is different. So I’m experiencing at the same time that they are and it’s not the top down. Like I have this information. You’re gonna come in and do what I, I select for you. It’s just, we’re experiencing this together and we’re going to engage with it and explore together. So it really neutralizes our, um, our relationship in many ways.
FRANCES ( 00:15:07): That’s so great. So, wait, creek walks. Do you actually, like, go walking in the creek?
MYA ( 00:15:12): Absolutely. Yes. Yes. It’s great for their vestibular, their sense of balance, their sense of control. Um, and so they’ll have walking or shoes sometimes it’s like their old sneakers. Sometimes it is water shoes and when the water is low enough and it hasn’t rained recently that there’s gonna be overflow of any dirty water in there. Yeah. We go walking in the creek and we do hikes in the creek and the deep pressure that they feel against their legs and even if they’re tiny, even up higher, um, is wonderfully regulating for their body, of the water pushing, pressing up against them. And then the coolness of the water, it can be so, so hot DC, heat, humidity. But when we’re in the creek it’s so much cooler. So it’s very, very sensory regulating.
FRANCES ( 00:15:57): So you said rain, shine, snow, sleet, whatever it is, you guys are out there, right?
MYA ( 00:16:03): We are. Yes. But a backup space is my home. If I feel like in particular, if it’s certain windy days and there are lots of limbs coming that could be um coming down. We will, I have a backyard outdoor studio also that we use.
FRANCES ( 00:16:16): Oh, that’s great. So, is it a, it’s a full outdoor studio or is it like a kind of hybrid indoor outdoor?
MYA ( 00:16:22): But I have a caseta, like a covered shelter and then sometimes if the wind is coming in the, the rain is coming in at the side sideways, we put up a tarp and again, problem solving. Which tarp should we use? What size bungee cords? Where are we gonna put the bungee cords? How are we gonna connect them? And then we use that as part of the therapy process also.
FRANCES ( 00:16:41): That is so awesome. I love it because it’s just taking occupational therapy to such a different level. And I am sure all the kids that interact with you are just learning so much more.
MYA ( 00:16:54): It’s very rich. It’s wonderful. Yes, it’s so dynamic.
FRANCES ( 00:16:56): Parents are all ok? Like do you let parents know what your plan is? So they know how to dress their child or what to send?
MYA ( 00:17:04): Definitely. Yes. So I always say bring extra layers just in case they get chilly. Um but I have extra clothes if they do, are not dressed appropriately or need more layers or forget something or lose something because that’s what kids do. But um yeah, there hasn’t been an issue that weather has limited our ability to have fun and explore and have therapy.
FRANCES ( 00:17:26): That is awesome. So, do you mainly do nights and weekends or do you do during school? Like when do you provide services to these children?
MYA ( 00:17:33): On Monday through Friday? I, my earliest is 8:00 and my um latest is uh, well, I have a group, my groups are 4:00 to 5:30. I have a few groups now. But my one-on-one sessions, the last one is 4-5. So, and then it gets a little tricky when it’s getting dark at night. And so I think for my, um my fall quarter, I’m usually, my last session will be 3 to 4.
FRANCES ( 00:17:58): So that makes sense. So at the end of the day, so it’s, they’re not missing too much school.
MYA ( 00:18:01): I have lots of morning sessions and afternoon sessions, but I do have homeschooled kids. So I do see them see them during the day. So it’s pretty much throughout the day. No weekends. No nights.
FRANCES ( 00:18:11): That, yeah. No, that makes sense. And what about, like, for breaks and stuff, like over the summer it’s such a long period of time that kids go without. Do you do anything special over the summer?
MYA ( 00:18:20): Yes. I have nature camps over the summer. So this year I’m gonna have two weeks in July and I’m really excited to um open up registration for those. One week is gonna be nature ninjas. Lots of movement, lots of problem solving and risk taking and in occupational therapy in nature OT we do dangerous things carefully because kids are exposed to dangerous things all the time. They need to do it carefully whether that’s if a limb is fallen across. Um At one point, we showed up at the creek and a tree had fallen from one side of the creek onto the other side of the creek and it was probably like 50 ft long. And so we first like, thought about like what happened, and how did this get here and how sad it must be for the tree that it’s fallen and then the exposed roots and the root scouring. We talk a lot about exposed roots and what that means for lots of mud now in the creek and um lots of different eco effects of that. But then how they were really curious, could we climb this big tree branch or tree trunk across the creek? I don’t know. Let’s try that. And I actually had done it before. I had done it with any of my clients. I always do things first and, um, we had to figure out, problem solve the path to do that. And then we always talk about risks. There are risks. We could, what are all the risks? Um, especially kids that might be more impulsive or those that are gonna be very anxious and not gonna do it because it’s too scary. Well, let’s talk about it. You could scrape yourself, you could fall, you could get wet, you could, um, a branch could break that you’re using for stability, lots of different things. And what are we gonna do? We’re gonna work through it together. We’re gonna problem solve and I’ve done it before and I will do it for them. Have them watch me do it and then they’re gonna do it themselves and, but sometimes they’re like, no, I don’t want to watch you do it. I want to do it first. And I said, well, I’ve done it before and I can walk you through it and talk you through it. But, um, if you’re willing to take that risk, let’s see how that goes. Um, so, yeah, so we did that. I don’t know what, what the, oh, so we, we were just talking about for, um, so a concept I use for risk taking in nature ninjas. We talk about risks which is really, really important for kids. And then the second week is nature superheroes and just doing much more uh more fun um problem solving and obstacle courses and whole body activities in nature. And some kiddos just need that extra support of a smaller group. Somebody, an occupational therapist who it really helps kids navigate social relationships and feeling safe in um nature spaces to be able to just have fun and be outdoors and enjoy summer.
FRANCES ( 00:21:13): I love that you say, and I keep saying love, but it is, I love your program and I love everything you do. Um, I’m thinking about like, my kids like wanting to go out in the woods and play and I’m thinking about it. I’m like, oh, teach them how to do it safely because let’s be real. Our kids are going to go out and they’re going to climb the trees and they’re gonna climb across whatever they see. And if we do that problem solving with them, it’s just gonna make them that much more independent and that much more secure with themselves and going out and doing.
MYA ( 00:21:42): Yes, it gives them that sense of confidence. Like I know there’s some risk to this. So I have to assess those risks and then do it carefully and take my time, maybe move my body, body more slowly, maybe think about where I’m putting my feet, maybe looking around me and scanning what’s around me? Yeah,
FRANCES ( 00:21:59): Let’s you teach so much more. So for the camp you said you’re gonna do two different weeks? Is it just gonna be open to your OT clients? Are you opening up to the public?
MYA ( 00:22:9): Yeah, it’s open to the public. It, I do have some OT clients that are gonna be joining but it’s open. It’s uh a group of, I have six spots for children that um do need occupational therapy services, but I also have peer playmates. So kids that can benefit from the services, but don’t necessarily have IEPs or diagnoses that can really benefit from the social skills and the physical coordination skills that we’re working and maybe some of their social emotional wellness. So yeah, so I, it’s for a group of eight but typically the group is gonna be between I think five or six for each session. So it’s a very low child to adult ratio and it’s for specialized occupational therapy professionals that are gonna be supporting these kids.
FRANCES ( 00:22:59): It’s great because I’m thinking about how much the program supports children of all the other diagnoses, you know, your ADHD children, your children with anxiety, your children with autism spectrum, like it just, it’s such an amazing program that I’m like, ok, they might not need OT but they need all that other stuff that you’re teaching. So I’m hoping maybe if you get busy enough you’ll throw in another couple of weeks or something.
MYA ( 00:23:29): Yeah, yeah. You know, my, program manager has said, well, maybe you’re gonna want to, you know, keep that schedule open because I bet you’re gonna be needing to have some overflow weeks. So that is a possibility. We’d have to be a little crafty with our scheduling. But, yeah.
FRANCES ( 00:23:43): Yeah, because it’s just, I mean, it sounds like a great program. I’m like, my daughters would love to take it, you know.
MYA ( 00:23:47): I’d love to see them there.
FRANCES ( 00:23:49): Yeah, it would be fun. Um, so, so we talked about the camp, we talked about it in nature. I’m trying to think what else we didn’t touch on. Um, you do the calming skills and neurodiverse children. How do people get in touch with you? Like, what do people do if they want, if they’re not sure if their child needs OT?
MYA ( 00:24:08): Yeah. So there are a few things that my, I have a website. It’s www.rootedinDC.com. So it’s ROOTEDINDC.com. So that gives lots of information of, um, my philosophy and what we do in nature. Why nature, a little bit about myself and then, um, the different packages I offer and the process that, um, we have to get people on board and then, um, you can contact me. We can also have a chat to see if it’s the right fit. Oftentimes parents really know, like, I, I really have a sense that my child is, um, really clumsy or has, um, really oversensitive to certain sounds and, um, certain textures and I think something’s going on and I’d like to have somebody see, like, what, what we can do to support my child. Um, so oftentimes parents do know that something is happening and they, they like that professional advice and um support. So then um that’s my website. And then if you really want a glimpse of what I’m actually doing, I’m on Instagram, which it’s so funny to my friends to hear me say that I’m on Instagram because I’ve always been like no social media, you’re my friend in person, but I’m not your friend virtually. No, I’m on social media also, I’m on Facebook and my Instagram handle is Mya Zavaleta M Y A Z AV A L E T A O T – https://www.instagram.com/myazavaletaot/. And that’s where you can actually really get a glimpse of what I’m doing with kids. I think there’s the video of um one of my young clients, a teen crossing that creek, um large trunk that I was talking about um using different tools and all of the different um strategies we use. And then I give a, a caption of what the justifications are under helping people understand what exactly it is that we’re doing and how it’s therapeutic. Um So that gives, I think parents check that out often. They’ll say I just want to see like, what do you do with my kid in the woods? It’s kind of unusual, but I would drop off my child with somebody and let them play, let them go off. Yeah. And what are they really doing? Um, so that kind of gives parents a really fair, image of what I’m doing with their potentially with, a child such as theirs. And then I’m um also on LinkedIn too..
FRANCES ( 00:26:31): Great. So I wanna go back to because you were saying oftentimes parents know that your child is clumsy and things going on. And I say often in all of my videos and shows that trust the parent gut, it’s there for a reason. Moms, dads, like we know we have it inside us. Yeah. What are some signs that, you know, for the newer parents that don’t know anything about the special education world or neurodiverse. What are some signs they can look at to know, look for, to know whether they need to contact you or not?
MYA ( 00:27:01): Yeah, that’s a good question. I think that really when they’re not able to manage navigating their world, whether that’s social relationships, if they’re in conflict with um their classmates. Even with adults, they’re having difficulty being able to express themselves using their body instead of being able to say like I’m hungry. Having frequent meltdowns, meltdowns that are longer than a few minutes long. Once you figure out what it is and you address like, ok, it was actually that they were hungry or it was actually that they were really upset that x, y, and z happened with a peer. Once you address the issue and they’ve, you’ve gotten them to that place of comfort, they’re still gonna have that temper tantrum. They’re still gonna, it’s gonna be prolonged and it’s, it’s really, really difficult to help them calm and soothe. And I don’t say self soothe because it’s really hard to expect a little one to know how to self soothe. We as older, more mature, more reflective humans, we can self soothe but a child, it’s very, very difficult for them to really self soothe. They need to learn how to soothe. Um But yeah, so if they’re having, they’re getting really stuck. Um, and, and if they have particulars about, um, certain things that they will not wear certain clothing because it’s, the tag is really itchy or, um, when they go outside, it’s, the noise is really loud. They do not go in crowds, they get really, really anxious, um, being in certain spaces, um, just being really observant of our, our young ones and knowing something isn’t right about this situation. And I want to figure out what it is and help them, um, identify what that is and help them be able to start advocating for themselves and being able to use words and even sometimes it’s like even using signs or thumbs up, thumbs down. How is this feeling? Is it the noise? Yes. Is it the bright lights? No, not really. No, it’s not the bright lights. It’s, you know, just helping them use different strategies to be able to identify what exactly it is. That’s really, um, setting them off and not helping them navigate their world.
FRANCES ( 00:29:17): I’m so glad I asked because those are not things that I would think of calling an OT for. Not necessarily like, you know, the meltdowns, the disregulation and all that. Well, they need to see a, like a psychologist or a psychiatrist or, you know, figure that out, lots of them. Yeah, that’s great to know that, that’s, that’s your wheelhouse as well to help with the sensory issues.
MYA ( 00:29:39): Yes, that’s absolutely occupational therapy. And then the obvious and I don’t highlight this. I’m, I’m a word nerd. I love handwriting. I love helping kids with handwriting, but that’s the obvious one too. If your child is having difficulty staying on the lines, writing in a way that people can see what they say. Writing our names is something that we all identify with. We, it’s, it’s very special. It’s who we are and if they can’t write their name, if they can’t, um, put work paper to pencil, to really be able to express their, write what they need to write. Yeah.
FRANCES ( 00:30:07): Right. Those are the things, tying shoes, writing your name. Those are the things like, oh, I need to call an OT but it’s so much more..
MYA ( 00:30:13): We’ve broadened. Yes.
FRANCES ( 00:30:16): Yeah, I love that and then um to bring it back to IEP. So you do private evaluations, I’m assuming because of your teaching background, you know how to write the evaluations um to help families get qualified for services in the schools.
MYA ( 00:30:36): I do, I will say um I often will say at school, visual perceptual difficulties are gonna look like this and these are the strategies you might want to try. And so for a, as an example, so I will incorporate into how it looks like in their classroom. And oftentimes parents will say there’s an uh um in my intake, one of the questions is how does the child perform academically? What are the concerns at school? And um what are any supports that your child is receiving? And then I will build on that too to um offer other strategies and approaches that have been effective and worked for me when I was a school based therapist.
FRANCES ( 00:31:17): Yeah, that’s great because I know a lot of my issues that my, that my clients are having and families are having is that the school says, well, that’s a medical need, it’s not a school need and that difference between an educational need and a medical need, who’s responsible so that, you know, that’s, you know, and so that, you know, both, you know, how to write it that, and I’m not saying that it’s always a school need, but there are times that it is both and needs.
MYA ( 00:31:43): Absolutely. And it’s, it’s really contributing to the child’s sense of competence and being able to, you know, fulfill their occupation as truly being able to learn, to socialize, to be able to have relationships and to be able to write and read. And there’s just, it’s just a child, whether they’re physically in school or physically at home, they need those skills. Yeah.
FRANCES ( 00:32:06): Right. And they need them all around. This has been so wonderful and so great. I’m so glad we met. Um I think I, I think Bill is the one that introduced us. Um Yes, Bill is awesome in DC Superior Court. Um And like this is just great. I’m so excited and I know you’re working with a couple of my clients already, I believe, and I look forward to us having this continued relationship and hopefully people out there know now what to look for and to contact Mya for that different approach for your child.
MYA ( 00:32:39): Yes. And if I can offer your clients and anybody who’s watching this, if you um want to contact me and say I learned about you from Stress-Free IEPTM with Frances Schefter, I’d love to offer $800 for a week of Nature Based Occupational Therapy, which is a reduced price for our services. So I would love for people to reach out and let me know you watched this and offer that.
FRANCES ( 00:33:06): Thank you so much. That’s wonderful. So now I hope even more people take advantage of it. Yes, thank you. And I think all those links are gonna be below in the show notes. Thank you so much, Mya. This was awesome.
MYA ( 00:33:20): It was great to talk to you Frances. Thank you.
VOICEOVER ( 00:33:23): You’ve been listening to Stress-Free IEPTM. With your host Frances Shefter. Remember you do not need to do it all alone. You can reach Frances through ShefterLaw.com where prior episodes are also posted. Thank you for your positive reviews, comments and sharing the show with others through YouTube, LinkedIn, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and more.
Stress Free IEP™ with Frances Shefter and Mya Zavaleta
In this episode of Stress-Free IEPTM, Frances Shefter speaks with Mya Zavaleta, of Rooted Occupational Therapy. Mya provides Nature OT services to kids in the outdoors to build their coordination, connection, and calming skills. She works with neurodiverse children in individual, group, and camp settings.
Stress-Free IEPTM:
Frances Shefter is an Education Attorney and Advocate who is committed to helping her clients have a Stress-Free IEP experience. In each podcast, Frances interviews inspiring people to share information, educate you, empower you and help you get the knowledge you need.
Watch more episodes of Stress-FreeTM on YouTube.
Connect and learn more from your host, Frances Shefter:
Read the full transcript of this episode:
VOICEOVER ( 00:00:00): Welcome to Stress-Free IEPTM. You do not need to do it all alone with your host Frances Shefter, Principal of Shefter Law, she streams a show live on Facebook on Tuesdays at noon Eastern, get more details and catch prior episodes at www.ShefterLaw.com. The Stress-Free IEPTM video podcast is also posted on YouTube and LinkedIn and you can listen to episodes through Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts, Stitcher and more. Now, here’s the host of Stress-Free IEPTM Frances Shefter.
FRANCES ( 00:00:36): Hello, everyone and welcome to the show today. Our special episode I made special for a special person, Mya Zavaleta, who is the proud owner of Rooted Occupational Therapy. At Rooted Occupational Therapy. They provide nature OT services to kids in the outdoors to build their coordination, connection and calming skills. She works with neurodiverse children in individual group and camp settings and it’s, I think she’s so special because I’ve never heard OT doing it outside. So, Mya please introduce yourself a little bit more and tell us about how Rooted OT came about.
MYA ( 00:01:17): Yes. Hi. I am so glad to be here. Thank you so much, Frances. And so I originally became an occupational therapist because about almost 20 years ago because I have a cousin who um has developmental disabilities. And I went to her occupational therapy sessions with her as a little girl. And she would just play and learn how to move her body and just feel so connected and engaged and had so much fun. And I said, I wanna do what that lady is doing. And um, so then that just planted the seed and then I was a teacher for three years in New York City. And while I really enjoyed working with children, I realized 25-28 on 1 is really difficult. I want to do something that’s more um to really see an impact on children in smaller groups. So that brought me back to that occupational therapy and yeah, that’s where I am.
FRANCES ( 00:02:9): And then, so you moved down to the DC area. You’re in the DC Maryland area. What uh made you go to doing the outside, doing the occupational therapy and the outside in the nature?
MYA ( 00:02:19): Yes. So I, post pandemic or during the pandemic, just being behind boxes, which is, you know, computer screen with my clients and just realizing and even for my children, I have currently, they’re 13 and 15 years old, but just seeing the lack of nature and outdoor experiences and exposure to outdoors for all kids. And um and just the wonder and magic of being outside that is just so inviting and brings out such a different sense of calm and richness to kids, especially post pandemic because they weren’t outdoors for many reasons. I worked at a middle school and high school in DC and there were reasons for that they didn’t feel safe, or because of COVID getting sick and because, and oftentimes they just weren’t outside so much that they would say, you know, there are bugs and Miss Mya, Rockaway Park, what if they’re like bears? Literally, they said there might be bears or big animals might eat me. Like just, they just did not have a concept of what it is. And I said, I really want to dismantle that for kids and help them see that it’s such a, safe and healthy and healing space. And for me, it’s been a very healing space. So helping transfer that to my clients has been so, so valuable.
FRANCES ( 00:03:32): Yeah, it’s, my husband is the woods person. He loves being out in the woods and that’s his calming space. I’m the beach girl, I’m the water. So it’s always funny.
MYA ( 00:03:40): That’s wonderful. Yeah.
FRANCES ( 00:03:42): Right. Um, so, I mean, I’ve always loved being in the nature and just the, the grounding of it. So how do you like, I mean, I know occupational therapy is certain, tools and equipment that you use. Like, how do you adapt that to have it outside?
MYA ( 00:03:58): Yes. So we, in my trunk, I have just so many different tools. It depends on what we’re working with. Fine motor things. Um swings, balls, um all different types of things to build with. Tarps. Tarps are super important. So I open up my trunk and I pull out some tools that I know I wanna work with, with kiddos, but it’s very child-led. So I’ll say, what are you interested in working with today? And they’ll say, oh, I want this swing and I want to do this type of ball activity. And what is this? I’ll say, pull it out, let’s see what we do with it and we can um, learn something new. So, um that really engages them and it’s just like a trunk full of um, toys as they say. And yeah, so it just depends on what they’re really interested in, what we’re working on with each kiddo that they um kind of what drives and then I often get asked by parents. But what do you do in the cold or what do you do in the snow or the rain? And we bundle up and dress appropriately and I have some extra layers if kids need extra hats and gloves. And if they’re dressed appropriately, there’s no bad weather. It’s just weather that we need to protect ourselves with. So then, um I will string from like, I’ll find the right tree and I’ll, this is part of working with some kids, like helping problem solve like, where do you think would be the best place for us to make a rain fort it because it’s gonna rain or it is raining, we need to cover up. So between two trees hanging, um uh a type of rope that’s called the Molly rope that has lots of loops and then um putting tarp over it that’s kind of making like a lean to type of tent and putting stakes in to keep them in the ground and then figuring out the right tension that you need, what, what size um bungee cords you need, just lots of problem solving, lots of using the whole body. And then we go underneath and play our games and do our activities under the air and lots of observation and just having fun in all weather.
FRANCES ( 00:05:52): I love that because it’s, my husband says the same thing. There’s no bad weather, just bad clothing choices. And I say that’s fine with you in winter. I’m still staying inside.
MYA ( 00:06:01): Yes, and that’s why parents love me because they’re like, oh my gosh, I don’t want to be outside with my kid in the winter for an hour. And I say that’s my job. I can do that. And yeah, we make it fun and we have O-Tea I love to say that O-Tea, it’s occupational therapy tea that we drink and there’s so many wonderful sensory properties of drinking tea, the scents. And then so we even do this imaginary. We um if we don’t have real tea but you smell the, the great smell and it, this is hot chocolate breathing, take a deep breath in, smell the hot chocolate, hold your breath and blow out but not too hard that you’re gonna blow out those marshmallows you have in there, blow breathe out, cooling off the hot chocolate or your tea. So, um yeah, there are definitely lots of different things to keep ourselves warm and keeping our hands warm with the tea. And I even have little, um, they’re hot water bottles that are, have covers on them that are like a little stuffed animal squishy feel. And then they have little pockets and we put our pockets in those and those are our hand warmers when we’re cold and those are our natural hand warmers, which is a great way to keep warm.
FRANCES ( 00:07:06): So we have the, um, the little hand warmer packets because I’m Girl Scout Cookie Mom. So when we do cookie sales booths that it’s been cold this winter, the kids love having those to warm up their hands.
MYA ( 00:07:18): I’ll have to show you my natural hand warmers too. But yes, those, those work absolutely too.
FRANCES ( 00:07:22): Yeah. No, it’s great. I mean, I love it that it’s outdoors because it’s just so not traditional. Um, and I’m sure there’s people like, oh, well, you know, you can’t do all that you need to do with a child. Um, that, of what their goals are and what their end goals are. You can’t do it all if you don’t have the right equipment. How do you adjust for that?
MYA ( 00:07:44): Yes, definitely. It’s, it’s just a matter of having, I have everything that’s portable. So I have stools and I have a table and I have a lot of times we don’t even do tabletop things. We, because many of our kids, my kids see that and they’re like, ah, paper and pencil stuff. I don’t do that. The handwriting is too difficult. But if we’re drawing with sticks in the dirt, in the water, on rocks and with the ropes and in different ways, then it just becomes so much more engaging and we’re really tapping into different, um, brain processes to help them learn these concepts that like the top line, the dotted line and the bottom line, we’re using sticks, we’re using rocks and we’re using, uh, a rope and then they understand it in a different way and it’s a whole body learning and not just sitting at a paper, with paper pencil at a desk. Um, but we write and draw and color, over a trunk, a tree trunk. So we’re working on stability, core trunk stability. And, um, then we’re climbing on the trunk and then we’re gonna continue writing another sentence, you know, at the end of the trunk just making it whole body, lots of different body positions that is really going to engage them in different ways and strengthen their bodies in different ways.
FRANCES ( 00:08:57): It’s awesome. And I’m assuming, like, using the whole body, it’s, if they’re having fun, you’re gonna learn it more and you’re gonna, you’re gonna want to do it.
MYA ( 00:9:05): Yes. Yeah. There. Yeah.
FRANCES ( 00:9:9): So, I’m assuming you start with us, do you start with assessing the children before you start therapy?
MYA ( 00:9:16): Yes, every child that I see has an evaluation either with me or they have a previous one that I can use. Yes, they need to have an occupational therapy evaluation so that I know what we’re working on. We have measures and baseline measures to know um where they start and then to be able to um monitor their progress.
FRANCES ( 00:9:32): Perfect. That’s awesome. And so you’ll use other people’s evaluations like if somebody had it done at school or something like that.
MYA ( 00:9:38): Absolutely. Yeah. Sometimes I will need to do a mini evaluation if I feel like I want more information or I feel like the circumstances were different for that child. But um, yeah, I’m able to get that information from them,
FRANCES ( 00:9:53): Which I’m sure is different because school evaluations focus on the school needs. Not as much as the home life needs.
MYA ( 00:10:00): Yes. Absolutely. There can be overlap. Yes, but they’re different. But since I was um, for 12 years I was a school based Occupational Therapist. So I do incorporate lots of academic skills and then um something that’s unique about my services I think is that I collaborate with teachers often. I, I have different packages for um clients, families, and if they have one that has consultations, then I will consult with teachers for definitely like 1 to 2 sessions per quarter, the three, the three months that we’re working together when they’re on the quarter system. But that’s really because I was in a school, I know what their needs are in the school. And I’m able to really um approach it in a way that I know, obviously they’re not gonna be able to do this one thing for Juanita, but I know that they’re gonna be able to, um, consider how to make the materials or the strategies a little more accessible or generalized for the whole population, the whole community and make it more um normalized for the child.
FRANCES ( 00:11:04): I love that because it’s, it’s, I always say it’s so important having everybody, the whole team on the same page, like the inside providers and the ones in school, the outside providers. It’s like we’re a team and if we’re not working together, you’re not like, you’re working against the child if we don’t work together as a team. Right? That is true. Yes. And I love that you have the teaching experience because I definitely find because, you know, as, you know, I was a former teacher as well and I find that teachers are more open to former teachers because I guess you know, we speak the language, we get it, we know what they’re going through and we’re not trying to make their lives harder, we’re trying to make their lives easier.
MYA ( 00:11:46): Absolutely. Yes. Yes. And acknowledging their efforts and what they are doing. That’s right because a lot of times there are great things happening in the classroom and then, um yeah, just building on those, maybe trying strategies that may have not been considered before or kind of reframing the process.
FRANCES ( 00:12:02): Right. And then they can also provide strategies to you of what they’re, what works for them to make it easier. So we’re not, um I don’t wanna say wasting time, but we’re not experimenting with what strategies will or won’t work. Um That if we know there’s some work.
MYA ( 00:12:18): Yes, absolutely.
FRANCES ( 00:12:20): So when you, like, I know you said you have a trunk full of toys, which I love. That’s awesome. Do you, and you said you let the children, um you let the children pick their toys. Do you like select only a certain amount that you have in your trunk?
MYA ( 00:12:44): You know, it really depends on. So sometimes if I give open the trunk for my kids that are gonna be disregulated, overwhelmed by those many choices, I’m going to maybe choose certain ones and say, hey, pick out of this area or I won’t fill my trunk with so many things. But for kids that are better at making choices and are able to, um, but aren’t gonna have that executive functioning difficulty and overwhelm then they’re gonna be, then I will, um, allow them to choose whatever they want or I will preselect for kiddos.
FRANCES ( 00:13:15): So it’s kind of giving them a choice so that they think they have the power of choices, but whatever they choose is what you wanted them to choose in the first place.
MYA ( 00:13:24): Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. And sometimes they do choose something that I’m like, oh, I don’t think that that would have been something I would have chosen, but I’m creative and think on my feet and we turn it into something therapeutic and fun.
FRANCES ( 00:13:37): And I think that’s, I, you know, I know with like the strong little child and there’s all these books out there and stuff about how kids, a big thing for, especially the younger children is that they don’t have choice in their life, like everybody’s telling them what to do. Yes. Absolutely. I’m sure with having these choices that it’s giving the children more, um, you know, just giving them their ability to choose, makes them want to come see you more, right?
MYA ( 00:14:03): Absolutely. Yes. And this sense of competence like I choose and I turn it into something that was fun and meaningful for me. You know, and that’s another thing about working in nature is that the space, space is just, it’s neutral space for both of us because I can’t engineer the space the way I could have when I worked in a clinic or in a class in, at the school in a certain space. It, it is what it is. Sometimes trees fall overnight or over the week and the weekend and it, it’s in a different place or the creek water is really high and we had planned on going fishing that week or we wanted to do a creek hike, but the water, it’s not, it’s been rainy and it might not be clean. So, we have to think about that. The air is different. The lighting is different. So I’m experiencing at the same time that they are and it’s not the top down. Like I have this information. You’re gonna come in and do what I, I select for you. It’s just, we’re experiencing this together and we’re going to engage with it and explore together. So it really neutralizes our, um, our relationship in many ways.
FRANCES ( 00:15:07): That’s so great. So, wait, creek walks. Do you actually, like, go walking in the creek?
MYA ( 00:15:12): Absolutely. Yes. Yes. It’s great for their vestibular, their sense of balance, their sense of control. Um, and so they’ll have walking or shoes sometimes it’s like their old sneakers. Sometimes it is water shoes and when the water is low enough and it hasn’t rained recently that there’s gonna be overflow of any dirty water in there. Yeah. We go walking in the creek and we do hikes in the creek and the deep pressure that they feel against their legs and even if they’re tiny, even up higher, um, is wonderfully regulating for their body, of the water pushing, pressing up against them. And then the coolness of the water, it can be so, so hot DC, heat, humidity. But when we’re in the creek it’s so much cooler. So it’s very, very sensory regulating.
FRANCES ( 00:15:57): So you said rain, shine, snow, sleet, whatever it is, you guys are out there, right?
MYA ( 00:16:03): We are. Yes. But a backup space is my home. If I feel like in particular, if it’s certain windy days and there are lots of limbs coming that could be um coming down. We will, I have a backyard outdoor studio also that we use.
FRANCES ( 00:16:16): Oh, that’s great. So, is it a, it’s a full outdoor studio or is it like a kind of hybrid indoor outdoor?
MYA ( 00:16:22): But I have a caseta, like a covered shelter and then sometimes if the wind is coming in the, the rain is coming in at the side sideways, we put up a tarp and again, problem solving. Which tarp should we use? What size bungee cords? Where are we gonna put the bungee cords? How are we gonna connect them? And then we use that as part of the therapy process also.
FRANCES ( 00:16:41): That is so awesome. I love it because it’s just taking occupational therapy to such a different level. And I am sure all the kids that interact with you are just learning so much more.
MYA ( 00:16:54): It’s very rich. It’s wonderful. Yes, it’s so dynamic.
FRANCES ( 00:16:56): Parents are all ok? Like do you let parents know what your plan is? So they know how to dress their child or what to send?
MYA ( 00:17:04): Definitely. Yes. So I always say bring extra layers just in case they get chilly. Um but I have extra clothes if they do, are not dressed appropriately or need more layers or forget something or lose something because that’s what kids do. But um yeah, there hasn’t been an issue that weather has limited our ability to have fun and explore and have therapy.
FRANCES ( 00:17:26): That is awesome. So, do you mainly do nights and weekends or do you do during school? Like when do you provide services to these children?
MYA ( 00:17:33): On Monday through Friday? I, my earliest is 8:00 and my um latest is uh, well, I have a group, my groups are 4:00 to 5:30. I have a few groups now. But my one-on-one sessions, the last one is 4-5. So, and then it gets a little tricky when it’s getting dark at night. And so I think for my, um my fall quarter, I’m usually, my last session will be 3 to 4.
FRANCES ( 00:17:58): So that makes sense. So at the end of the day, so it’s, they’re not missing too much school.
MYA ( 00:18:01): I have lots of morning sessions and afternoon sessions, but I do have homeschooled kids. So I do see them see them during the day. So it’s pretty much throughout the day. No weekends. No nights.
FRANCES ( 00:18:11): That, yeah. No, that makes sense. And what about, like, for breaks and stuff, like over the summer it’s such a long period of time that kids go without. Do you do anything special over the summer?
MYA ( 00:18:20): Yes. I have nature camps over the summer. So this year I’m gonna have two weeks in July and I’m really excited to um open up registration for those. One week is gonna be nature ninjas. Lots of movement, lots of problem solving and risk taking and in occupational therapy in nature OT we do dangerous things carefully because kids are exposed to dangerous things all the time. They need to do it carefully whether that’s if a limb is fallen across. Um At one point, we showed up at the creek and a tree had fallen from one side of the creek onto the other side of the creek and it was probably like 50 ft long. And so we first like, thought about like what happened, and how did this get here and how sad it must be for the tree that it’s fallen and then the exposed roots and the root scouring. We talk a lot about exposed roots and what that means for lots of mud now in the creek and um lots of different eco effects of that. But then how they were really curious, could we climb this big tree branch or tree trunk across the creek? I don’t know. Let’s try that. And I actually had done it before. I had done it with any of my clients. I always do things first and, um, we had to figure out, problem solve the path to do that. And then we always talk about risks. There are risks. We could, what are all the risks? Um, especially kids that might be more impulsive or those that are gonna be very anxious and not gonna do it because it’s too scary. Well, let’s talk about it. You could scrape yourself, you could fall, you could get wet, you could, um, a branch could break that you’re using for stability, lots of different things. And what are we gonna do? We’re gonna work through it together. We’re gonna problem solve and I’ve done it before and I will do it for them. Have them watch me do it and then they’re gonna do it themselves and, but sometimes they’re like, no, I don’t want to watch you do it. I want to do it first. And I said, well, I’ve done it before and I can walk you through it and talk you through it. But, um, if you’re willing to take that risk, let’s see how that goes. Um, so, yeah, so we did that. I don’t know what, what the, oh, so we, we were just talking about for, um, so a concept I use for risk taking in nature ninjas. We talk about risks which is really, really important for kids. And then the second week is nature superheroes and just doing much more uh more fun um problem solving and obstacle courses and whole body activities in nature. And some kiddos just need that extra support of a smaller group. Somebody, an occupational therapist who it really helps kids navigate social relationships and feeling safe in um nature spaces to be able to just have fun and be outdoors and enjoy summer.
FRANCES ( 00:21:13): I love that you say, and I keep saying love, but it is, I love your program and I love everything you do. Um, I’m thinking about like, my kids like wanting to go out in the woods and play and I’m thinking about it. I’m like, oh, teach them how to do it safely because let’s be real. Our kids are going to go out and they’re going to climb the trees and they’re gonna climb across whatever they see. And if we do that problem solving with them, it’s just gonna make them that much more independent and that much more secure with themselves and going out and doing.
MYA ( 00:21:42): Yes, it gives them that sense of confidence. Like I know there’s some risk to this. So I have to assess those risks and then do it carefully and take my time, maybe move my body, body more slowly, maybe think about where I’m putting my feet, maybe looking around me and scanning what’s around me? Yeah,
FRANCES ( 00:21:59): Let’s you teach so much more. So for the camp you said you’re gonna do two different weeks? Is it just gonna be open to your OT clients? Are you opening up to the public?
MYA ( 00:22:9): Yeah, it’s open to the public. It, I do have some OT clients that are gonna be joining but it’s open. It’s uh a group of, I have six spots for children that um do need occupational therapy services, but I also have peer playmates. So kids that can benefit from the services, but don’t necessarily have IEPs or diagnoses that can really benefit from the social skills and the physical coordination skills that we’re working and maybe some of their social emotional wellness. So yeah, so I, it’s for a group of eight but typically the group is gonna be between I think five or six for each session. So it’s a very low child to adult ratio and it’s for specialized occupational therapy professionals that are gonna be supporting these kids.
FRANCES ( 00:22:59): It’s great because I’m thinking about how much the program supports children of all the other diagnoses, you know, your ADHD children, your children with anxiety, your children with autism spectrum, like it just, it’s such an amazing program that I’m like, ok, they might not need OT but they need all that other stuff that you’re teaching. So I’m hoping maybe if you get busy enough you’ll throw in another couple of weeks or something.
MYA ( 00:23:29): Yeah, yeah. You know, my, program manager has said, well, maybe you’re gonna want to, you know, keep that schedule open because I bet you’re gonna be needing to have some overflow weeks. So that is a possibility. We’d have to be a little crafty with our scheduling. But, yeah.
FRANCES ( 00:23:43): Yeah, because it’s just, I mean, it sounds like a great program. I’m like, my daughters would love to take it, you know.
MYA ( 00:23:47): I’d love to see them there.
FRANCES ( 00:23:49): Yeah, it would be fun. Um, so, so we talked about the camp, we talked about it in nature. I’m trying to think what else we didn’t touch on. Um, you do the calming skills and neurodiverse children. How do people get in touch with you? Like, what do people do if they want, if they’re not sure if their child needs OT?
MYA ( 00:24:08): Yeah. So there are a few things that my, I have a website. It’s www.rootedinDC.com. So it’s ROOTEDINDC.com. So that gives lots of information of, um, my philosophy and what we do in nature. Why nature, a little bit about myself and then, um, the different packages I offer and the process that, um, we have to get people on board and then, um, you can contact me. We can also have a chat to see if it’s the right fit. Oftentimes parents really know, like, I, I really have a sense that my child is, um, really clumsy or has, um, really oversensitive to certain sounds and, um, certain textures and I think something’s going on and I’d like to have somebody see, like, what, what we can do to support my child. Um, so oftentimes parents do know that something is happening and they, they like that professional advice and um support. So then um that’s my website. And then if you really want a glimpse of what I’m actually doing, I’m on Instagram, which it’s so funny to my friends to hear me say that I’m on Instagram because I’ve always been like no social media, you’re my friend in person, but I’m not your friend virtually. No, I’m on social media also, I’m on Facebook and my Instagram handle is Mya Zavaleta M Y A Z AV A L E T A O T – https://www.instagram.com/myazavaletaot/. And that’s where you can actually really get a glimpse of what I’m doing with kids. I think there’s the video of um one of my young clients, a teen crossing that creek, um large trunk that I was talking about um using different tools and all of the different um strategies we use. And then I give a, a caption of what the justifications are under helping people understand what exactly it is that we’re doing and how it’s therapeutic. Um So that gives, I think parents check that out often. They’ll say I just want to see like, what do you do with my kid in the woods? It’s kind of unusual, but I would drop off my child with somebody and let them play, let them go off. Yeah. And what are they really doing? Um, so that kind of gives parents a really fair, image of what I’m doing with their potentially with, a child such as theirs. And then I’m um also on LinkedIn too..
FRANCES ( 00:26:31): Great. So I wanna go back to because you were saying oftentimes parents know that your child is clumsy and things going on. And I say often in all of my videos and shows that trust the parent gut, it’s there for a reason. Moms, dads, like we know we have it inside us. Yeah. What are some signs that, you know, for the newer parents that don’t know anything about the special education world or neurodiverse. What are some signs they can look at to know, look for, to know whether they need to contact you or not?
MYA ( 00:27:01): Yeah, that’s a good question. I think that really when they’re not able to manage navigating their world, whether that’s social relationships, if they’re in conflict with um their classmates. Even with adults, they’re having difficulty being able to express themselves using their body instead of being able to say like I’m hungry. Having frequent meltdowns, meltdowns that are longer than a few minutes long. Once you figure out what it is and you address like, ok, it was actually that they were hungry or it was actually that they were really upset that x, y, and z happened with a peer. Once you address the issue and they’ve, you’ve gotten them to that place of comfort, they’re still gonna have that temper tantrum. They’re still gonna, it’s gonna be prolonged and it’s, it’s really, really difficult to help them calm and soothe. And I don’t say self soothe because it’s really hard to expect a little one to know how to self soothe. We as older, more mature, more reflective humans, we can self soothe but a child, it’s very, very difficult for them to really self soothe. They need to learn how to soothe. Um But yeah, so if they’re having, they’re getting really stuck. Um, and, and if they have particulars about, um, certain things that they will not wear certain clothing because it’s, the tag is really itchy or, um, when they go outside, it’s, the noise is really loud. They do not go in crowds, they get really, really anxious, um, being in certain spaces, um, just being really observant of our, our young ones and knowing something isn’t right about this situation. And I want to figure out what it is and help them, um, identify what that is and help them be able to start advocating for themselves and being able to use words and even sometimes it’s like even using signs or thumbs up, thumbs down. How is this feeling? Is it the noise? Yes. Is it the bright lights? No, not really. No, it’s not the bright lights. It’s, you know, just helping them use different strategies to be able to identify what exactly it is. That’s really, um, setting them off and not helping them navigate their world.
FRANCES ( 00:29:17): I’m so glad I asked because those are not things that I would think of calling an OT for. Not necessarily like, you know, the meltdowns, the disregulation and all that. Well, they need to see a, like a psychologist or a psychiatrist or, you know, figure that out, lots of them. Yeah, that’s great to know that, that’s, that’s your wheelhouse as well to help with the sensory issues.
MYA ( 00:29:39): Yes, that’s absolutely occupational therapy. And then the obvious and I don’t highlight this. I’m, I’m a word nerd. I love handwriting. I love helping kids with handwriting, but that’s the obvious one too. If your child is having difficulty staying on the lines, writing in a way that people can see what they say. Writing our names is something that we all identify with. We, it’s, it’s very special. It’s who we are and if they can’t write their name, if they can’t, um, put work paper to pencil, to really be able to express their, write what they need to write. Yeah.
FRANCES ( 00:30:07): Right. Those are the things, tying shoes, writing your name. Those are the things like, oh, I need to call an OT but it’s so much more..
MYA ( 00:30:13): We’ve broadened. Yes.
FRANCES ( 00:30:16): Yeah, I love that and then um to bring it back to IEP. So you do private evaluations, I’m assuming because of your teaching background, you know how to write the evaluations um to help families get qualified for services in the schools.
MYA ( 00:30:36): I do, I will say um I often will say at school, visual perceptual difficulties are gonna look like this and these are the strategies you might want to try. And so for a, as an example, so I will incorporate into how it looks like in their classroom. And oftentimes parents will say there’s an uh um in my intake, one of the questions is how does the child perform academically? What are the concerns at school? And um what are any supports that your child is receiving? And then I will build on that too to um offer other strategies and approaches that have been effective and worked for me when I was a school based therapist.
FRANCES ( 00:31:17): Yeah, that’s great because I know a lot of my issues that my, that my clients are having and families are having is that the school says, well, that’s a medical need, it’s not a school need and that difference between an educational need and a medical need, who’s responsible so that, you know, that’s, you know, and so that, you know, both, you know, how to write it that, and I’m not saying that it’s always a school need, but there are times that it is both and needs.
MYA ( 00:31:43): Absolutely. And it’s, it’s really contributing to the child’s sense of competence and being able to, you know, fulfill their occupation as truly being able to learn, to socialize, to be able to have relationships and to be able to write and read. And there’s just, it’s just a child, whether they’re physically in school or physically at home, they need those skills. Yeah.
FRANCES ( 00:32:06): Right. And they need them all around. This has been so wonderful and so great. I’m so glad we met. Um I think I, I think Bill is the one that introduced us. Um Yes, Bill is awesome in DC Superior Court. Um And like this is just great. I’m so excited and I know you’re working with a couple of my clients already, I believe, and I look forward to us having this continued relationship and hopefully people out there know now what to look for and to contact Mya for that different approach for your child.
MYA ( 00:32:39): Yes. And if I can offer your clients and anybody who’s watching this, if you um want to contact me and say I learned about you from Stress-Free IEPTM with Frances Schefter, I’d love to offer $800 for a week of Nature Based Occupational Therapy, which is a reduced price for our services. So I would love for people to reach out and let me know you watched this and offer that.
FRANCES ( 00:33:06): Thank you so much. That’s wonderful. So now I hope even more people take advantage of it. Yes, thank you. And I think all those links are gonna be below in the show notes. Thank you so much, Mya. This was awesome.
MYA ( 00:33:20): It was great to talk to you Frances. Thank you.
VOICEOVER ( 00:33:23): You’ve been listening to Stress-Free IEPTM. With your host Frances Shefter. Remember you do not need to do it all alone. You can reach Frances through ShefterLaw.com where prior episodes are also posted. Thank you for your positive reviews, comments and sharing the show with others through YouTube, LinkedIn, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and more.
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