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STAR Center is an active partner
and enthusiastic sponsor of the
Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation, the leader in SPD research, education and advocacy.
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Education and Research
Special opportunities for parents and professionals occur at or through STAR on a regular basis. These include:
Education at STAR
Education with the SPD Foundation
Research and the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation
Education at STAR
For families
At STAR Center, we believe that every contact with a client or client parent is an educational opportunity to promote understanding of sensory issues and effective strategies for handling them.
That's why treatment at STAR Center is family-centered. In family-centered treatment, parents and therapists become partners who assume different but essential roles. As a parent, you identify priorities and act as the experts on your child; your therapists are the experts in therapeutic technique and measure progress toward the priorities. Together, you and the therapist collaborate to develop the best possible program.
Parent education takes place during every therapeutic session at STAR Center and at SOS Feeding Solutions. Whether you are a mom or a dad or a grandparent, you learn as you participate in sessions as a "helper" to the therapist or watch your child in therapy from a viewing room adjacent to the OT gym.
In addition to this "built-in" education, five dedicated hours of parent education are incorporated into a typical 20-30 session treatment program at STAR Center. During these sessions, parents consult with the clinical staff with no children present to identify family priorities, give and receive feedback about the therapy process, develop take-home and community strategies, and provide advanced information about sensory challenges.
Education with the SPD Foundation
Special opportunities for parents and professionals occur at or through STAR on a regular basis through our partnership with the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation. These include:
- International Symposiums – Two information-packed days of presentations about the latest strategies and methods for living and working with "sensational kids" and families. Offered each spring in Denver and each fall in a city elsewhere in the United States, SPD Foundation Symposiums have attracted thousands of parents and professionals to learn from leading authorities on SPD and the sensory challenges involved in other disorders such as autism and ADHD.
- Intensive Mentorships – The Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation's Intensive Mentorship program provides clinicians with a unique opportunity to receive training in assessment and intervention for SPD. Designed for therapists at all levels to enhance diagnostic and clinical reasoning skills, the intensive, one-week programs are conducted at SPD Foundation and STAR Center. Program highlights include:
- Training in administering standardized assessment measures
- Training in clinical reasoning and advanced OT treatment techniques
- Training in research methods and design
- Training in psychophysiological methods (electrodermal activity, vagal tone or EEG/ERP)
Sessions are offered at five course levels of progressive depth.
Competency credentials in the diagnosis and treatment of SPD are awarded upon mastery of each course.
- e-Learning - Online classes on the SPD Learning Campus make it possible for parents, grandparents, teachers, childcare providers, clinicians, physicians, and anyone anywhere in the world to learn more about SPD from the leading champion for sensational families – all without ever leaving their home or office. Click here for more information.
Research and the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation
 The SPD Foundation is a Colorado public charity sponsored in part by STAR Center. Individual and family foundation donations and grants to the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation help to further research, education, and advocacy for children, adults, and families living with Sensory Processing Disorder.
Directed for more than 30 years by sensory research pioneer Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation supports multiple programs that increase public and professional awareness of the scope and severity of SPD. Among its many activities, the Foundation hosts informative symposiums for parents, educators, and health care providers and operates an extensive informational web site where mass media and a virtual library with dozens of research reports and clinical articles can be found.
STAR Center and the SPD Foundation are partners in the discovery of science-grounded answers that will change the lives of children and adults with Sensory Processing Disorder and disorders such as ADHD and autistic spectrum disorders, which often have a sensory component. When you or your family comes to STAR, you connect with the architects of a network of highly esteemed institutions whose scientists are hard at work learning more about SPD and other sensory disorders. Researchers at Harvard, Yale, Duke, and other national and international organizations are among the dozens of scientists studying the genetics, neuropathology, and effective treatments of SPD in association with SPDF.
At STAR, you or your child may be invited to participate in their studies, giving you the opportunity to contribute personally to the search for answers that change lives.
For more information about Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation and its activities, click here.
To have SPD news delivered directly to you sign up for the SPD Foundation E-Newsletter Sensations here.
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