The Department of Occupational Therapy of the College of Rehabilitation Sciences hosted the first Seminar-workshop on Executive Functions (EF) in the country titled, “A Child’s Blueprint for Success: Occupational Therapy Assessment and Intervention of Executive Function.” The seminar-workshop which was held from August 4 to 7, 2018 at the AMV Multipurpose Hall was attended by more than 130 occupational therapists.
The seminar-workshop was facilitated by experts from Hong Kong, Dr. Cynthia YY Lai and Mr. Trevor WK Yung. Dr. Lai is an occupational therapist and an assistant professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University while Mr. Yung, an educational and developmental psychologist is the director of Neurolab in Hong Kong. Both speakers have more than ten years of experience working with children with developmental disabilities. Together, they collaborated on several research studies and developed a computer application for children to evaluate and address problems in executive function.
The seminar-workshop tackled identification of executive function deficits in children as well as designing training activities and workable intervention plans from toddlers to adolescents based on key executive function models. The lecture covered the basic concepts of executive functions with an overview of executive function models, core executive function components as well as assessment and intervention activities.
The workshop was divided into three parts. The first part covered integration of executive function activities and intervention into the occupational therapy documentation system, developing clinical reasoning, using objective tests to identify executive functioning deficits, and executive function skills training. The second part covered various principles of intervention and integrating training elements into daily practice. The third part presented evidence-based practice intervention activities, which the participants had the opportunity to perform and practice with fellow attendees. Towards the end of the workshop, attendees, divided into small groups, presented context-based EF training activities to manage EF deficits of children. The department aims to continuously seek partnerships with foreign institutions to bring quality professional development activities and contribute to the advancement of the profession.
