Executive Function through a Sensory Lens
R250,00
This workshop is for Occupational Therapists only. You must enter your OT HPCSA registration number below to purchase the course.
Course features:
-
Explore the neurological aspects of praxis, from ideation to execution. Understand where praxis is processed in the brain, and how it relies on both sensory input and motor planning pathways for effective action.
-
Learn how motor actions are refined through sensory feedback and guided by feedforward mechanisms. Discover how disruptions in these loops can undermine both praxis and executive functioning, affecting everything from fine motor tasks to emotional regulation and behavior.
-
Gain insight into how children develop a sense of their body in space and time, critical for anticipation, sequencing, and goal-directed behaviour. Examine how deficits in this area can contribute to challenges in planning, inhibition, and flexibility.
-
Clarify the often-overlapping presentations of dyspraxia and executive function deficits. Participants will learn key distinguishing features and assessment clues that help tease apart the two.
-
Understand the real-world impact of praxis and Executive Functioning challenges on daily functioning, including self-care, participation, attention, and learning. Review how traditional behaviour-based interventions may fall short when sensory-motor foundations are overlooked.
-
Leave with a toolkit of sensory-informed, praxis-supportive strategies tailored for home, school, and therapy. Emphasis is placed on bottom-up supports (e.g., sensory-motor play, rhythm, environmental structuring) alongside top-down Executive Functioning coaching to scaffold lasting growth.
-
Your learning journey begins now — enjoy 1 year of access to the workshop from your date of purchase!
Unlock the connection between movement, sensation, and thinking. In this engaging and practical course, you’ll explore executive functioning through a sensory lens. Whether you're a therapist, educator, or parent, this course will help you understand the “why” behind challenging behaviors and give you real-world strategies to support children who struggle with planning, coordination, and self-regulation.
You’ll leave with a stronger ability to differentiate between dyspraxia and executive function deficits, and intervene in ways that actually meet the child’s needs, from the body up to the brain.
Course Overview
Executive functions—such as planning, inhibition, and working memory, are essential for success in daily life, especially in childhood development. However, what’s often overlooked is how sensory processing and praxis serve as the foundation for these cognitive abilities. This course reframes executive functioning as a whole-body process, starting in the sensory systems and expressed through movement and action.
You'll explore how praxis is processed in the brain, including the neural pathways responsible for ideation, sequencing, and execution. We’ll examine the feedback and feedforward systems that guide movement and thought, and how disruptions in these systems impact learning, behavior, and social participation.
One of the most valuable parts of this course is learning how to differentiate between dyspraxia and executive functioning difficulties, two conditions that often look the same on the surface, but require very different intervention strategies.
The course is grounded in neuroscience but highly practical, full of examples and tools you can use right away. It’s ideal for occupational therapists, educators, psychologists, and other professionals who want a deeper understanding of how body and brain work together to support learning and behavior.
What Will You Learn In This Course?
After taking this course, you will:
- Understand the neurosensory foundations of praxis and executive function
- Be able to differentiate dyspraxia from executive functioning difficulties with clarity
- Recognize how sensory feedback/feedforward processes influence regulation and learning
- Identify the role of spatial and temporal processing in planning and behaviour
- Learn to implement effective, sensory-informed interventions for children struggling with planning, coordination, and self-regulation
- Feel confident collaborating with caregivers and professionals to support development holistically