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 Vital Links Workshops

This page allows you to browse and register for Vital Links workshops in the U.S. (if you are looking for international/non-U.S. workshops, please click here instead). You may scroll down this page to browse workshop information or to register online for a specific workshop. You can also click on the city for any workshop listed below to view or print details and a registration form for that workshop. If you would like to view or print a complete course schedule with all locations/dates, click on the link below:

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Therapeutic Listening: Listening With the Whole Body

Listening plays a vital role in the sensory integration process. In fact, some believe that the auditory system is the ‘missing link’ in sensory integration modalities. Both research and clinical experience have shown that using sound-based interventions for clients with sensory processing difficulties can increase treatment effectiveness.

In this two-day workshop, you will learn to use Therapeutic Listening® Modulated CDs to create individualized, home-based programs for clients. You will also learn how to implement Therapeutic Listening strategies in conjunction with postural, respiratory, and sensory activities. The course will take you through all of the steps--from assessment to outcomes--for creating complete Therapeutic Listening programs. Video case presentations will be used to illustrate points and show changes in individuals with listening and other sensory processing difficulties.

This workshop will be especially meaningful for practitioners who have a background in sensory integration, including therapists in schools, hospitals, and private clinics. This course provides 12 contact hours or 1.2 AOTA CEUs, and provides participants with the necessary background information to begin using Therapeutic Listening right away. Specialized headphones and CDs are necessary and are available for purchase upon completion of the course. Faculty: Sheila M. Frick, OTR, Lynette Burke, OTR, Sharron Donnelly, MS/OTR, Lindy Joffe, MS/OTR, and/or Rita Montez, MS/OTR. 1.2 CEUs available from AOTA.

If a workshop has a yellow background, you may click on the location for a registration form and more info, or register online by clicking on "Register" below. If early bird pricing is available (typically up until a month before specific workshops), the lower early bird price is shown. If an early bird discount is not available for a specific workshop, the regular price is shown instead. Click on "Discount Policy" above for additional discount information.

*Registration fee includes Listening With the Whole Body: Clinical Concepts and Treatment Guidelines for Therapeutic Listening (published in 2009, $79 value).

Click on a location above for a printable Adobe Acrobat brochure with additional details and a registration form. You may also register quickly and securely online by clicking "Register" below.

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Advanced Therapeutic Listening

As Therapeutic Listening® has continued to expand, Vital Links has maintained its focus on creating cutting edge clinical treatment approaches. Advanced Therapeutic Listening builds upon Therapeutic Listening: Listening with the Whole Body, presenting a variety of advanced sound tools for use in treatment sessions, home programs and sensory diets. This course also introduces new sound tools for use in developing listening “tune-ups” and enhancing individualized listening programs. Videos and case studies are used throughout to highlight and reinforce concepts.

Advanced Therapeutic Listening debuts a new series of therapeutically enhanced audio CDs: the Fine Tuning™ series. The Fine Tuning series helps to refine sensory modulation and discrimination abilities across multiple sensory systems. The course also covers the Spatial Enhancement™ and Gearshifters™ series. These new CDs are presented in tandem with carefully designed programs to support emergent skills across multiple domains. These programs are appropriate for clients across the age spectrum with sensory processing difficulties, as well as developmental and learning challenges.

For maximum benefit to the participant, prior completion of Therapeutic Listening: Listening with the Whole Body is required. It is also recommended that participants have prior experience implementing Therapeutic Listening protocols. Upon completion, participants may purchase advanced treatment CDs to set up programs for clients in homes, schools, and clinics. This course provides 12 contact hours or 1.2 AOTA CEUs. Faculty: Sheila M. Frick, OTR.

If a workshop has a yellow background, you may click on the location for a registration form and more info, or register online by clicking on "Register" below. If early bird pricing is available (typically up until a month before specific workshops), the lower early bird price is shown. If an early bird discount is not available for a specific workshop, the regular price is shown instead. Click on "Discount Policy" above for additional discount information.

Click on a location above for a printable Adobe Acrobat brochure with additional details and a registration form. You may also register quickly and securely online by clicking "Register" below.

[ Register ]

Astronaut Training: A Sound Activated Vestibular-Visual Protocol

Vestibular enhancement has always been central to sensory integration practice. However, the importance of administering precise vestibular input that is integrated with specific sound and vision input is only beginning to be acknowledged. This workshop will expand the therapist’s skills via enhanced understanding of the developmental and neurological processes of the Vestibular-Auditory-Visual Triad. Understanding how these three systems work together with the body’s senses creates a foundation for achieving competency in applying specific intervention strategies, including Astronaut Training: A Sound Activated Vestibular-Visual Protocol.

Astronaut Training provides precise input to all five vestibular receptors, along with auditory and visual input to create a comprehensive treatment protocol that integrates these three sensory systems. Core activities provide opportunities for an adaptive response to sensory input, which completes the sensorimotor neurological circuits underlying all function. Guidelines are provided for safe, effective use of this protocol with clients of all ages and diagnoses.

Faculty: Sheila M. Frick, OTR, and/or Mary J. Kawar, MS, OTR. 1.2 CEUs available from AOTA or ASHA. Registration fee includes the cost of course materials, including Astronaut Training: A Sound Activated Vestibular-Visual Protocol (Handbook & Companion CD, $39 value).

If a workshop has a yellow background, you may click on the location for a registration form and more info, or register online by clicking on "Register" below. If early bird pricing is still available (typically up until a month before the workshop date), the lower early bird price is shown. If the early bird discount is no longer available for a specific workshop, the regular price is shown instead. Click on "Discount Policy" above for additional discount information.

Click on a location above for a printable Adobe Acrobat brochure with additional details and a registration form. You may also register quickly and securely online by clicking "Register" below.

[ Register ]

Building Blocks for Sensory Integration

This two-day experiential workshop provides therapists with an in-depth understanding of the developmental and neurophysiological links between sensory integration and the basic primary movement patterns that provide the foundation (or building blocks) for sensory modulation and integration. Beginning with support of the primitive reflexes, we will explore the development of posture and its relationship to gross and fine motor skills along with visual and auditory function. This course will allow participants to fine tune their clinical observation skills for the clients who are often difficult to test using standard measures. Hands-on demonstrations, movement labs, and video examples will highlight treatment strategies that can be implemented with and without therapy equipment, making them appropriate for all clinical settings. A range of intervention strategies designed to support functional performance will be presented, and workshop participants will leave with a systematic way to assess, document and treat the movement challenges that arise from the lack of effective sensory motor integration. This course provides 12 contact hours or 1.2 AOTA CEUs. Faculty: Sheila Frick, OTR. Click on the location below for specific workshop details.

Click on a location above for a printable Adobe Acrobat brochure with additional details and a registration form. You may also register quickly and securely online by clicking "Register" below.

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Clinical Investigations of Vestibular Enhancement: A Lab Course to Integrate Powerful Therapeutic Movement, Vision, and Sound Strategies in Pediatric Treatment

Group size for this workshop will be limited to allow for interaction and active participation in live treatment sessions, video case review and labs, so please register early if you are interested in attending!

This two-day hands-on workshop will provide an opportunity for therapists to learn, perform, analyze, and adapt powerful therapeutic strategies designed to address dysfunction in individuals with underlying vestibular-based problems. Participants will be guided in every aspect of treatment, with the goal of expanding clinical reasoning skills to apply in all areas, from assessment to design and set-up of individualized therapy programs. Topics to be addressed will include: A Newly Updated Astronaut Training Protocol, Postural and Core Development, Oculomotor Skill, and Bilateral Motor Coordination. Group size will be very limited, as the focus will be on active participation in treatment demonstrations and labs throughout the workshop.

Faculty: Sheila M. Frick, OTR, and Mary J. Kawar, MS, OTR. This course provides 12 contact hours or 1.2 AOTA CEUs. Click on the location below for specific workshop details.

Click on a location above for a printable Adobe Acrobat brochure with additional details and a registration form. You may also register quickly and securely online by clicking "Register" below.

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Focus on Treatment: Building Integration through the Developmental Process

Group size for this workshop will be limited to allow for interaction and active participation in live treatment sessions, video case review and labs, so please register early if you are interested in attending!

Framed within the perspectives of sensory integration theory, this interactive course will explore in depth the neurodevelopmental processes that integrate sensory, postural, and motor functions and development. The principles of sensory integration theory and the foundations of movement and postural development will be used to guide clinical reasoning in executing effective treatment strategies. We will discuss how unique variations in the progression of early sensory-motor development either promote or detract from sensory integrative function. Participants will learn how to assess blocks that interfere with the fullest expression of the typical developmental progression. Participants will learn an array of treatment activities applicable to children across the age span with diverse disorders such as sensory modulation disorder, autism spectrum disorders, developmental disabilities, and regulatory disorders.

This four-day course provides 24 contact hours or 2.4 AOTA CEUs. Faculty: Sheila Frick, OTR, and Julia Wilbarger, Ph.D., OTR. Click on the location below for specific workshop details.

Click on a location above for a printable Adobe Acrobat brochure with additional details and a registration form. You may also register quickly and securely online by clicking "Register" below.

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International Workshops

Below is a list of upcoming international (non-U.S.) workshops. Click on the location below for contact information and to learn more about the workshop.

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