Episode 104: Supporting Parents of Neurodiverse Children with Laura Petix of The OT Butterfly
- Jayson Davies
- Jul 4, 2022
- 42 min read
Updated: Nov 14, 2024
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Welcome to the show notes for Episode 104 of the OT Schoolhouse Podcast.
As OTPs in the schools, we all work with children with Sensory Processing Disorders. But our guest today has gone a step further in how she supports the families of neurodiverse children. Laura Petix, MS, OTR/L, dives into her passion for helping parents gain the tools they need to understand information and strategies to help their children. She has even used these tools in her personal life with her daughter Liliana.
Tune in to learn the following objectives:
Listeners will learn about multiple resources for children with SPD
Listeners will learn what social stories are, and how they benefit many children with anxiety and SPD
Listeners will learn about the “Just right Challenge” for common sensory triggers
Guest Bio
Laura Petix, MS, OTR/L,
Laura is a pediatric Occupational Therapist in Southern California. She is a wife and mom to a neurodivergent 4-year-old with Sensory Processing Disorder and anxiety. Laura's passion is educating parents about how sensory processing directly impacts learning and behavior. She does this via her social media (@TheOTButterfly), podcast, blog, 1:1 parent consults, online courses, and programs for parents of kids with sensory challenges.
Notable Quotes
“I truly feel that if I won the lottery, I would still be doing this because it’s so meaningful to me, it's so impactful.” - Laura
“My husband is always like, how does she go from zero to 100; And I'm like, she's not at zero. She's at like 75, like, constantly, you just don't see it.” - Laura
“I teach parents how sensory processing impacts learning and behavior in their children. And I do that mostly through, one on one parent coaching, or my online Parent Program.” - Laura
“I will always 110% advocate for you to have your child be seen in person; I can't see your child. This is all education-based.” - Laura
“So I very quickly was starting to put together this Disneyland for parents of SPD kids. This resource where I was rating all of the rides on a scale of like one to five for vestibular sound, tactile, smell.” - Laura
Resources
1:1 Parent Consultation with Laura
Episode Transcript
Expand to view the full episode transcript.
Amazing Narrator
Hello and welcome to the OT school house podcast, your source for school based occupational therapy tips, interviews and professional development, now to get the conversation started, here is your host. Jayson Davies, class is officially in session.
Jayson Davies
Hey everyone. And welcome to Episode 104 of the OT school house podcast. My name is Jayson. I'm so happy to be here with you today. This episode is actually being released on July 5, which is one day after July 4, which, of course, is always a good time for everyone, at least I hope, and also two days after my birthday, which this year I got to celebrate at my cousin's wedding. So that's a lot of fun. Today is July 5. I'm actually probably going to be celebrating my birthday today. We'll see. And of course, my son is now three, three and a half months old, so we're just having a great start to the summer here at ot school house, myself, my wife, my baby, Kyler, and I hope you are as well, and maybe you're listening to this later. It's fall, winter, spring. Who knows? You know, I just want to say we have a great episode for you here today, and I really do hope you enjoy it today. We are bringing on Laura petix. She is the OT butterfly, and I could not have enjoyed the conversation you are about to hear more. We got into so much, just amazing stuff. She is not a school based OT, but she is a pediatric OT, and she is using everything that she learned through occupational therapy school, through her occupational therapy practice, helping kids with sensory processing disability. And she has taken that and she has started a business where she is now supporting, supporting parents, supporting kids through their parents all online, and she is just doing it in a very genuine, very occupational therapy way. And I could not not share this episode with you. She is just an amazing person. She's doing a lot for occupational therapy, and she's doing even more for the clients that she serves. So we're going to talk a little bit about how her Instagram has just blown up, and how she's just sharing occupational therapy with the world through her business, but we're going to really get down into the nitty gritty about how she is specifically supporting those clients that she works with also at the end, stay tuned, especially if you're a huge Disneyland fan, because we talk about how she's actually incorporating Disney into her business. Hint, it has to do with sensory processing disorder. So you're not going to want to miss that. You know, I'm not going to to waste any more of your time. I really want you to hear this interview, so please just put that phone away if you haven't already, and enjoy this episode with Laura pettits. I hope you enjoy it. Hey Laura, welcome to the OT school health podcast. How are you doing today?
Laura Petix
Hey, Jayson, it's good to see you. Finally, I'm doing well. Thank you for having me like thank you for inviting me.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, definitely it's, you know, it has been a true blessing, a true honor, just overall fun watching the OT butterfly grow on Instagram and now you have a podcast, and that's crazy. How are things going?
Laura Petix
Oh, everything is going well. And, yeah, this is, this is not where I intended the OT butterfly to go, but here I am, and that's how the best things turn out, right? But yeah, I it's really good to have such a direct impact with parents, so that's something that's very exciting for me every day, and I'm very grateful for all of the different dips and turns I've taken along my way to get here, because it all happens for a reason, right? So I'm happy to be here.
Jayson Davies
Absolutely, and we're going to dive all into that, but first, you know what? I just want to give you a chance to share a little bit of background about maybe how you got to where you were just a few years ago as you started the OT butterfly in your ot career.
Laura Petix
Yeah, so I am a pediatric occupational therapist, and I have only ever worked in a clinic, in a private sensory integration clinic. That was where my second field work was, and that's where I was hired, in the Bay Area. And I stayed there up until right before the pandemic. And so I started the OT butterfly in, I think, February of 2019, when I was creating a lot of resources for my own clients at work, I just love creating very tailored, specific things for them, whether it was like a very specific pirate themed calendar for this child to get ready for school, or a Paw Patrol cutting activity to motivate one of my clients. And I was always creating this stuff. And then I stumbled upon teachers, P teachers, and I was like, I'm gonna put some stuff on there. And so one thing led to another, and I thought it was just gonna be this little cute side hobby that, once I got into it, I got very, very obsessed with making it like this fun thing. And it consumed so much time, and it was truly one. The only moments that I experienced flow of where I lost track of time, what I learned in grad school, and I was like, This is what it feels like. And it was just this perfect merge of hobby, but like productivity, which is definitely my like, type A, everything. And this was before did I have? Nope, nope. I already had my daughter at this time, but I was in this perfect lull where I had just enough time to be bored after after work and after momming hours where I was like, What do I do with this free time? And I spent all that time on there. And turns out, when you make a TPT store, you also have to, you know, support it with a Pinterest account and a blog and Instagram to showcase all of that. So I was like, Oh, I guess I'll start an Instagram. I really don't want to, but they're not going to know about my teachers paid teacher store. So I'll just, I'll just do that, but, like, not spend too much time on to it. And yeah, so I spent the first, like, year and a half focusing on my resources catered to other occupational therapists, mostly PDFs, downloads, teachers, pay teachers, stuff and then perfect storm of events. My husband got a new job, so we had to leave the Bay Area, like the week before the world shut down. So I had this like time to, like, be out of the clinic. I was like, in between jobs, because I didn't know what I was which clinic where I was going to work. And then it all just fell into place as more and more parents started finding me on Instagram and asking, what is going on with my child? Because these were things they weren't seeing because their kids were at school all day, or they never really had to fill so much of their time supporting their child through virtual school with all of the sensory stuff that they're like. What do I do? And so very much, took a very quick turn, like in summer of 2020, when I started to focus talking to parents more. And that's where I have found my calling. I found my people. I truly feel like, if I won the lottery today, I would still be doing this, because it's so meaningful to me and so impactful.
Jayson Davies
That's great. That is great. You know, I'd like a visual therapist. You know, we naturally, I think, have that desire to help as many people as we can. And whether you're working in a school, in a clinic, in a hospital, whatever setting that is, you're physically there, and your time is taken every time you are seeing a person and being online. I know you do work with people one on one, but anytime you post something on Instagram, it's one to so many. And I know this isn't a business podcast, but it's so exciting to see your Instagram just blow up. I mean, I remember when you just had a, you know, a few 100, then a few 1000, and now 6575.
Laura Petix
I reached out to in the beginning, because you were already well established at that point. So, yeah, I remember that. Yeah, it's
Jayson Davies
pretty crazy. So alright, so you started off in a pediatric clinic, and then you decided to start a TPT store, and went from there, I got to ask, why the OT butterfly? How did that come to be?
Laura Petix
Yeah, so I remember trying to think of a name for my store, and I was thinking of, like, pretty, like, ot puns that I was trying to go for, and it just didn't, like, stick. And I, like, almost kept forgetting my names. Like, I think if anyone has some of my first free downloads that they got, like, the first week they're gonna have like, three different, like, copyright names at the bottom, because I, like, came up with a bunch of random, like, hands on stuff, like very pun ot stuff. And I was like, I can't even remember what the name is at that time to, like, get people to download. I was like, this isn't gonna work. And then it just came to me one day. So butterflies are a pretty significant symbol in my family, and from talking to a lot of a lot of other people, this is very common for a lot of cultures and a lot of families. But in my family, I'm Filipino. In my family, my mom, we grew up always seeing butterflies as like people who have passed away, like relatives. So whenever you would see a butterfly, my mom be like, oh, there's your uncle so and so, like, watching over you. Like, we have a lot of, actually, family stories of, like, near death experiences, but then, like, a butterfly is somehow, like, in the environment, or like, lands on that person, and like, they almost drowned and they didn't like, it's crazy stories. But so butterflies have been symbolic in that perspective. But then my grandma loved butterflies, like wallpaper butterflies, bed sheets butterflies. She had a restaurant called the butterfly cafe. She had iced tea, called butterfly iced tea, like she was Miss butterfly. I drew butterflies for her all growing up so and the like, a few months before I started my TPT store, she passed away, so she was very like in the front of my mind. And so it just all made sense. And then even after the fact, I was like, this is actually a really good metaphor for our clients and for the families we work with, as the they transform into, like independent butterflies, and they fly off. And I was like, this just fits all around. And now it's, I love it.
Jayson Davies
Absolutely. And actually, you have your. Own little butterfly at home, your daughter. You know, this is a great little segue. Why don't you tell us a little bit about your daughter, and also how she has actually played a little bit of a role within the OT butterfly.
Laura Petix
Yeah, oh my gosh. Liliana, so she is my one and only. She is almost five now, and she, from the beginning, was not meant to be part of this whole thing, but she really is now, like no one can see this, but she is like the face of the OT butterfly. I have pictures of her all over the place because she's a very clear representation of the kinds of kids I am trying to help and to serve and support. So she is, she's almost five. Like I said, she is neuro divergent. She has anxiety and sensory processing disorder, so she needs a lot of support for emotional regulation and just getting through a lot of stuff in her day. But from when I first started my Instagram, and I was still focusing on TPT stuff, I felt so awkward on stories, on Instagram stories, and I'm like, I don't know how to talk to people, and so I would like have her next to me as my little sidekick, and it kind of like broke the eyes and people, I got way more views. People were asking questions about her, like they loved her little voice. So I was like, You are my secret weapon. And that was before I really, totally knew she was neurodivergent. I didn't start seeing signs for her until she was around. Like, I mean, I'd say I always did, but it didn't start falling into place until she was like 1314, months. So as my journey with her started unfolding, I shared a lot of that with my audience, and that really built a close connection with everyone. So right now, where it stands, we are going through our second round of like evaluations. The first time we tried to go this route was like when she was two, and then all of everything happened with pandemic, and we've kind of been getting by, and, you know, I've been using all my ot tools as much as I can, but now, as she approaches kindergarten, it's clear that she still needs more support, and I'm hoping to get that so we are going through evaluations, through our Insurance and through the school. So I very much understand what parents are going through, because it has not been an easy route, even for someone like myself, who is so well connected and understands the whole process. So yeah.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, absolutely. I mean myself as a school based OT, you know, I have a I have a three month old, or just about three month old now, and I have, kind of, I've said this to people that I've worked with, to people that are very close to me, and it's one of those things where you almost don't want to say it out loud, but, like, I have kind of said, you know, I will have totally no problem at all if I have a student with special needs, but, man, I feel bad for the school district if I have a student with special needs, because I know everything.
Laura Petix
Yeah, like, you do not want me as a client. No, I try, yeah. I try to, like, always be in both sides, right? And be like, I'm very empathetic of the task that you guys have to go through to qualify students. But also, like, let's skip all of that stuff, because I know we really know why I'm here. Like, I wouldn't be bringing my daughter to these appointments and doing this just for fun, right? Like, I know she needs XYZ, so, yeah, hopefully you don't have to deal with this fight. You don't have to fight this fight for your son, but He, you would be the best advocate for him that comes.
Jayson Davies
Thanks. Yeah, well, are there any specific stories going on, right or any specific situations that you wouldn't mind sharing right now?
Laura Petix
Yeah, oh, gosh. Okay, so, so well, the most recent is, like, just a couple hours ago, I just got off the phone with her principal. She's starting a year round school, so I don't know when this is going to come out, but she is starting school on july 14, and she is just in pre K right now going, she's in a private pre K, and she's going to a public our local public school. And based on her needs, her anxiety is what really drives the sensory so she is a people pleasing, super charismatic, super funny, like, not super shy. She will like talk to anybody, but when she is anxious about things that are unknown to her or things that are unexpected, it comes out as a lot of well, first of all, her sensory stuff gets, like, heightened in that moment, and she has really big emotional dysregulation stuff. So my husband is always like, how does she go from zero to 100 and I'm like, she's not at zero, she's at like, 75 like, constantly, you just don't see it, right? That's how I explain it to him and other parents. I'm like, they're never just at this regulated. She's just got this internal state of arousal that's always kind of up and ready to just go into fight or flight mode at any moment. And so I am trying to take off as much of that cognitive load for her before school starts by answering these unknown because she's like, what's my teacher's name? What does she look like? What's my classroom going to look like? All of the curious things that a lot of kids ask. But for her, these unknowns can really be deep seated and have her perseverate on these things. So much that she can't really focus on anything else that almost five year old should focus on, and then we have really big meltdowns at home. So my point of talking to her principal was I was asking him for a certain set of accommodations before school starts. I was asking if we could find out who her teacher is before and she is at her school. There is four kindergarten classes, there's 2am and then, like, 2pm classes. So I'm like, I need to know which time her class starts, who her teacher is going to be. I need a picture of her teacher because I'm going to create a social story, and I needed time to walk through the classroom before school starts, so she can, like, have that body movement of walking through and visualizing what it's going to be like. Because I 100% I'm that person. I have anxiety as well. I'm the person who looks up like the directions in Google Maps, but like the street view of like where I'm going, and I look up what parking lots look like before I go somewhere, because I have this like anxiety. And then when I'm driving, I can't focus like it is very real. So I think I am even better advocate for my daughter, because I have anxiety as well. So so that conversation was just asking for those and then I shared with him that we are currently going through evaluation process with our insurance trying to get her seen by a developmental pediatrician, fighting so hard for OT and also getting evaluated for play therapy. And so he actually very much surprised me. Maybe I'm just jaded from hearing all of the horror stories, but he surprised me in being proactive about setting her up for a 504 plan. Like, I was very much approaching this as, like, I'm asking for these accommodations, quote off the record to meet her teacher. If you can't meet that for me, I'm I will go the 504 plan route, the more legal route, the more red tape route, which I know as a school. Like, it's not a way, like, you don't. You'd rather avoid that if you can. Right? So I was ready to, like, use that as my leverage, but he was more that. He was like, yep, we can do that for you. And you know, since you're going, you already have these evaluations in place, why don't you bring that when you walk your daughter through the school? And we'll add that, and we'll get the process started for a 504 plan, so you can just be ready if you need it. And I'm like, that's amazing. So I was not even expecting that, and I'm very happy to hear that.
Jayson Davies
That's awesome. No, that's great. You know, I agree with you to the extent, you know, the red tape, trying to avoid it and do things a little bit hush hush on the backside, without doing the 504 but at the same time, I completely would advocate for like he is doing, for that 504 because if you don't put that 504 in place at the beginning, then the next time you as the mom comes in and you might ask for something else, and then you come in and maybe you ask for something else, and it's nothing that you shouldn't ask for. You absolutely should. But if that 504 isn't already put in place, then it just looks like someone's just asking for more and more. But once you put that 504 in place. Now it's on paper. It's documented, it's official. And if they need more, if she does one day anymore, it's already it's already there and documented. So I think that's a great, awesome.
Laura Petix
Yeah, so I was very pleasantly surprised with that, so that I feel like is a gift from the universe, because I have been fighting so hard with our insurance to get her the medical route type of OT right, because she definitely does need some outpatient sensory integration type work to help with her regulation. And yes, I am very qualified to do this, but I don't think unless, unless you're a parent out there, you don't understand that dynamic of like mom to child is not the same as therapist to child, and I have all of my tools in place at home, but I need more, and I cannot be her therapist too. So that's what I've been fighting for.
Jayson Davies
definitely, yeah, and you know, I've been watching some of those. So anyone who's listening go over to the OT butterfly on Instagram, and Laura puts all of her stories into those nice, little neat, whatever highlights
Laura Petix
So, go to the highlight called eval, and you'll hear, you'll see all the all of the mess that I get to deal with. But yeah.
Jayson Davies
Yeah. all right, so I want to move on. But you actually mentioned something, and hopefully this will probably be a pretty quick answer. You mentioned creating social stories for for Liliana, do you use a specific tool for that?
Laura Petix
Yeah, I use the social story creator library on iPhone. I don't know if they have it on Android. I keep saying that, and no one has ever responded, because I feel like most of the people I talk to have iPhones, but it has a like a person holding a pink book. And I love this tool, if I don't use this well, she was little. She used to like, like flipping through pages. So I've done like, cut and paste, laminate type social stories, right? But she's very much into, like, hearing herself talk and seeing her. So if I don't create, like, an actual social story in this app, and I'll talk about what I love about it, I will record a video of her talking to herself in the future, which has been so helpful, because she loves that. So she'll say like, wellyana, tomorrow when you wake up, remember, it's pack up day at school, and you're usually nervous. Remember mom said you can take a deep breath, so like, she's just talking to herself. And then in the morning, I'm like, Hey, someone has a message for you, and I'll, like, play that video of her. I use that for, like, all transitions, everything, when it when it's like, a very predictable meltdown, there's like, a 90% chance of meltdown. I'm like, Wait, let's record you. But so the social story creator library, you can take pictures, which I love, for all social stories, I much prefer, like the actual photo of the child, of the environment, of everything. You can take photos, and then you can type in the words, but then you can record your voice, or the child's voice saying the phrase, or whatever that is, and then they can watch the social story like unfold. So it's like a digital version, and you can take this like anywhere. So I love that too. That's what we use at home.
Jayson Davies
That's great. Yeah, as you were talking, I was gonna ask about potentially using, like, YouTube social story type of things. But even better, if she's creating her own social story for herself to watch.
Laura Petix
You know, I try. I spent so many hours trying to find like, specific scenario YouTubes for my own clients. And I'm just like, if you can just go and, like, take pictures yourself, of your child and at the dentist, like, this is gonna be way more effective and relevant for your child. So I started doing that. And yeah, it works like a charm for my daughter.
Jayson Davies
That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, anytime you can make it more custom, more personalized to your environment, to your person, I'm just thinking of the PEO model, right person, environment, occupation, if you can wrap those up and make it as customized to the client or your child as possible.
Laura Petix
Oh my gosh, I haven't heard that in years. I you're triggering some PTSD from, like, five cards studying that I have not even uttered those words in so long. But yes, you're right.
Jayson Davies
Yeah. PE Oh, my, well, that's the one that always comes back to me. I couldn't tell you a thing about Moho. That's like, the one that always.
Laura Petix
You know what I used a lot, but what stuck with me, and I used a lot in my when I was in mental health, for like, my, was it, I think was my first field work. I use the Kawa model a lot. I heard you, and I use that a lot with kids, yes, yeah, and that one stuck with me a lot. And I've, like, tailored that a lot for some of my older kids working with, like, emotional regulation and worries and stuff. We've used the Kawa model for like, some of my, like, fifth and sixth grade one. So that one stuck with me, but the other those are more like the PEO and like all that stuff like is very blurry to me, so don't test me on that.
Jayson Davies
Understandable. We all, you know, we come out of university, out of school, and it's not meant to we're not meant to retain everything. We're meant to retain the things that we know that we can go back to and learn more about if we need to. So yeah.
Laura Petix
I honestly learned like 95% of what I know from, like my field work too, like my mentors were everything, and so yeah, that made a huge difference for me. Different.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, that's awesome, man. I keep going back and forth. I want to move on to the next question, but then you say something. I'm like, I want to know more about that. But yeah, you know what? We'll keep going. So we talked a little bit about at the beginning, and then we started talking a little bit about, more about more about your family and Liliana, but let's go back. How do you explain what you're doing as a business right now? If you had to, kind of, you know that elevator pitch a little bit, what are you doing?
Laura Petix
Yeah. So I teach parents how sensory processing impacts learning and behavior in their children, and I do that mostly through one on one parent coaching or my online Parent Program. And just recently, I'd say, in the past three months to six months, I've even more niche down and like solidified my expertise in the space of I call it like gentle parenting with a neuro divergent twist, because everybody online right now, gentle parenting is such a buzz word, it's often misused. It's often like misunderstood, but I've found a way to translate that where it applies to neuro divergent parents, and most of the parents I work with are parents of sensory sensitive children. So if we're talking about SPD and all of the different profiles, sensory sensitivity is the one that hits closest to home. It's the one I have the most experience working with in my practice and at home. So I spend most of my time talking to those parents. But in general, I love teaching parents about how sensory processing impacts their child's behavior and learning.
Jayson Davies
Awesome. That's well, I just know that you're helping many, many people because of your Instagram following. But let's dive deeper, more into actually your I guess the clientele you're actually working with not those the ones that. Following you on Instagram. You said you do that in two different ways. You have one to one mentoring, and then you also have a program. Let's start with the program, and then we'll get more into the one to one. What does that program look like?
Laura Petix
Yeah. So I have a parenting program that is. It's a course and a program kind of mixed in one. So it's this course with lessons and modules teaching them the why behind sensory their child's behaviors? Why behind the behaviors? It teaches them how to identify their child's specific triggers and like goals based on where their current like baseline level is. I teach them how to set long term goals, short term goals. And then, like, identify their baseline level. And then I teach them about sensory strategies daily at home, just to get them as regulated as possible. Before school, you know, to try to avoid as many meltdowns as possible, how to come out of a meltdown with sensory strategies. And then I teach them how to engage in the just right challenge, and I use a ladder to depict the just right challenge, and I teach parents how to create their own just right challenge ladder for the most common sensory sensitive triggers. So I talk about sensitivity to clothing, sensitive to loud sounds or busy environments, sensitivity to grooming activities, which includes like hair cutting, hair brushing, hair washing, tooth brushing, nail cutting, and also picky eating. And so those four pillars spell out W, I, S, E, so that's where I get the wise and sensory wise solutions, which is the name of my podcast and the program. And so I send parents weekly emails for 16 weeks to get them to keep up with the lessons and watch it weekly. And then they also get a private community full of other parents of sensory sensitive children. So it's it's off of Facebook, but it's the same idea where there's like a forum and you can ask questions, share, wins, all of that. And then we also have five group coaching calls throughout that 16 weeks. So I go heavy on the the Course Program, the videos, the lessons for 10 weeks. But then for six weeks after that, I specifically leave time for group coaching, for questions. Because the one thing I have a gripe about for a lot of like take and go courses is like you either like binge the content and then like you don't remember it. Because I do that all the time. I get so excited to learn something, and then I'm like, wait, where was that lesson on blah, blah, blah? Either binge it, two, you forget about it, or three, you take it. But then after you have all these questions for the Creator, like for it to fit your child, and if it's a take and go course that creator doesn't really have the obligation to, like, spend time answering your questions and helping you through it. So I build in like, six weeks of like, troubleshooting as they learned how to use the just right challenge, and I could give them examples like, oh, that didn't work for your child. Maybe that wasn't the just right challenge. Let's talk about it. So it's really a course and program built into one, but now I'm on like, the fourth cohort of it, and it's been so successful, and parents feel so empowered, and it's just it's really transformed how I work with my in person clients as an OT really, really trying to pull the parents on board, because like seeing how much progress parents can make at home without OT. Now, if you have ot in person and you can do this like, it's like a huge, huge thing unlocked. So that's my one main Parent Program. It's like course with the program mixed together.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, you know, I don't do cohort based for my courses. They are self paced, but I do give people a few things to add on. I make sure that a they have lifetime access, so that way they can go back in and access it whenever they need to. But we also do live collaboration hours, so every other week, I hop on and just do live Q and A with anyone, and so I absolutely agree, right? You need to have that application side of it. You can't just, especially in science fields, right? You just can't take something and walk away.
Laura Petix
Yeah, there's so many parenting courses, like bedtime stuff, meltdown stuff, that's just like a take and go, yeah. So I really because, like, sensory is so, I mean, every child is different, period, but when we're talking about sensory stuff, it really does take some practice and and troubleshooting. And, yeah, they get access to the course for a lifetime, I just paced them through, and then the community is only for six, yeah.
Jayson Davies
Perfect that's really cool. Okay, as OTs, I like to think we are some of the most ethical people in the world, and sometimes it almost doesn't backfire on this, but, like, it makes running a business, in my opinion, a little tricky, because you almost want to give everything away for free, because, you know, these people who have a child with SPD, they need so much support, but at the same time, we have to keep in mind our license and all that. And when it comes to sensory, you kind of mentioned, you know, sensory is very unique to an individual, obviously. So I know this is helpful. You You just mentioned you're helping hundreds 1000s of. Parents, how do you grapple with that whole here is a course, and you know, it's a video. It's recorded. It's not specific to your child, but at the same time I'm here, I'm giving you this course, and I want to help you. How does that work out for you?
Laura Petix
Yeah, so my number one huge value to me through everything I do as a business owner, is always being transparent, almost to the point where some, like my business coach sometimes is joking. She goes, like, Are you even trying to sell this? Course? Are you trying to, like, not sell it because you have so many disclaimers. Of like, this isn't for you. This isn't for you. But I'm very, very transparent. Of like, this is not occupational therapy, like in my frequently asked questions. It's like, will my child still need ot outside of this, I can't tell you, I will always 110% advocate for you to have your child be seen in person. I can't see your child. This is all education based. What I do is how I explain it is I'm giving the parents kind of like, like, if I were to take off my ot glasses and like, lend it to them. Like, here's what I see. You put this on and tell me what you see, and you can explain it to me. And I'll give you three different examples of why that thing could be happening. Which one sounds like it applies to your child? And they're like, Oh, it sounds like this. So we'll talk about it. But I always, I mean, I have a bunch of things reminding them that this is really just giving them the tools to understand their child's behavior more, or at least know what to question about their child's behavior, just really giving them the framework to look through. Versus like, that's why I don't have a lot of strategy based courses. I don't have like, here's how to do here's what to do for sensory seekers. Like, I really don't I if I'm doing that, I do a lot of parent one on one, parent coaching, and I'm also very specific, like, I am not seeing your child. I am not assessing your child based on what you're telling me. Here are two or three or four different things that could work for a general sensory seeker. You decide what works best for your kid. So I'm, like, overly communicative in that way, so that I know by the time a parent puts in their paypal or, like, sends that, like, you know, purchases something, they've gone through like, three or four disclaimers. Like, this is not going to do, like, X, Y and Z. So that's why my my business coach, is always like, Oh, you're, are you really trying to sell this? Yes, I just, I can't take that. Like, scam will fix your kid, or, like, no meltdowns in like, 10 days. Like, I hate all of that stuff. I just really want my what I'm selling and what I can what I can guarantee a parent will walk away with after consult call, after my program, after everything is you will know more after this about your child than you did before. Gary like, and I can very confidently say that without feeling like I would let someone down, like, I promise you, I will teach you something that you did not already know about sensory and how that applies to your child, and you'll walk away with at least one, if not like, a handful of things that you can either look more into yourself like you'll actually have the name for what to look for, right? And that goes a long way, or some things for you to experiment and try, knowing that some of these things might not fully work for your child.
Jayson Davies
That's fantastic. That's great. I think as OTs, you know, we get caught up and we have an OT degree, and that means that we need to have a traditional ot job. We need to see a client one on one or in a small group. And I just love that you are you're taking your knowledge from OT and you're applying it to help parents in a very different way, but a way that is just as if not more impactful for them. So that's awesome.
Laura Petix
Thank you.
Jayson Davies
So that was the program, the group program. Now, individually, do you see kids in person in your area? You're in Orange County area right now, Southern California.
Laura Petix
I am. I'm in or I'm in Irvine.
Jayson Davies
Okay, that's what I thought. I thought you were always there. But you mentioned earlier you're up in the bay area.
Laura Petix
So I yeah, I grew up here in Orange County, moved to the Bay and then we're I'm back. You had to come back. No, I had to come back. Disneyland was calling me to stay with an earshot of that.
Jayson Davies
So I'm the same way. So how are you working with clients? One on one? Are you working directly with children? Are you working with the parents, kind of in the same way you're doing the group, but one to one. Or what does that look like?
Laura Petix
Yeah, so I am part time at a clinic. It's not my practice. It is. I'm an employee, a part time employee at a clinic. I have a very small caseload, just to keep my ot skills sharp, and I like to be in there, actually working with kids. So I have a very small caseload, like one day a week, in person, and then I have for the OT butterfly, I have one on one parent coaching style sessions, so it's either like Q and A anything you would ask into Google. I will help you understand that. I help them with the language to advocate for their child, with the school with insurance, with finding a clinic with family members. And I help them understand a very like nuanced behavior and peel apart the layers and explain all the different things behind it. And I also have been getting more clients recently who just from a general perspective of, like, how to support their kid at home, how to handle like, certain sensory based behaviors, from a discipline perspective from, like, a parenting perspective, from a parenting style perspective, which I've been really enjoying doing lately.
Jayson Davies
That's awesome. So are most of your clients within the group? Or how much time do you get to spend with your one to one clients?
Laura Petix
Yeah, so no, so people. So I have a couple clients who are doing one on one and the program, and they like, really like having that to refer to as, like a resource that's always there. But then they really like the hand holding, like one on one time with me. But mostly I have my one on one clients are typically ones who don't fall into the sensory sensitive perspective, because I have other courses for that, right, or have other programs. So the sensory wise solutions is for parents of sensory sensitive kids. I have some parents of sensory sensitive kids in my one on one, but usually they end up in this program. So my consults are usually parents of just kids with anxiety, kids who they haven't figured out quite yet. Kids are having a hard time at school, kids who are sensory seekers, and so I guess, how much time do I have for one on one calls? I have an open caseload right now. I don't have too many on my caseload because it's usually like, either a one off, like, Q, a, like, Oh, I get a lot of the like, do I even need? OT, let me just like, consult with you and talk about things, and I'll say, like, yeah, highly recommend, like, going and here's how you could find that. I have a lot of parents who are like, can I we talk about, like, my child is having a hard time at school or sibling stuff? And then they'll book like, three calls, and we'll, we'll tackle at it from like, a package perspective. I don't have a lot of like, ongoing, like, monthly, gotcha one on one console. It's very much a here's the information. Go with it. I'm here if you have more questions. But the most I will work with the family is like, three to five sessions to, like, tackle a very specific thing. And aside from that, I have, like, some like, I have a one of my very, very niche, niche, niche, niche, niche areas is for clothing sensitivities. So I have a home program called from stressed to dressed. It's in, like, a PDF ebook, and it's basically the quote curriculum that I used in the clinic to help kids with clothing sensitivities that I used to like hand write and cut out little things for them that I turned into a program once I left the clinic. So that is one resource that I send a lot out to parents and OTs who want to use it. Like I became the clothing girl at my clinic. Like, every time we had a clothing client, the clinic director would be like, Oh, she needs to work with Laura. Because, like, I just had all of these little ways to motivate them. So.
Jayson Davies
that's awesome. That's great. That's cool to see that you're able to help so many people in so many different areas in different ways too. You have the group, you have the book, you got everything. Yeah, that's cool. Now, one thing that I definitely want to ask you about, because, as we both mentioned, we're big Disney fans. I haven't had a pass since the whole changed up, the whole structure and whatnot, and whatnot and but I did see a few things come from you that you're actually supporting children with sensory processing disorders and their ability to go to Disneyland. Obviously, this is very niche. This is a very Southern California or maybe Florida. But I think you also started this right before the pandemic. So it may or may not be going because of the pandemic, but what is this?
Laura Petix
Yeah, so I actually started it in the pandemic. I started it when I got my pass. So I got the new magic key pass, like the week that it came out, like in August. And as I started going more, I was like, because I haven't, I haven't gone back since being well, I have, like, a couple times, but not since I've been, like, started this, since I started the OT butterfly, I had not been back. So now that I'm, like, always thinking of, like, accommodating and supporting parents, I'm like, Disneyland is just so over stimulating, which I knew, and I will go on a ride. And I'm like, they didn't like that, like, who can go on that ride with the sensory sensitivity? And like, why didn't they tell me that? And like, the fantasy land rides are, like, the only ones that little kids can go on, but they are the most, like, the darkest, the loudest. Like, oh, terrifying. And like, we went on, like, Cars Land and that Radiator Springs, and I forgot that. Like, that spray that when you're in the paint shop and you spray, I'm like, I know, like, five clients who would have fully freaked out with that, like, it's a minute millisecond of the thing. But like, what you don't realize is that when your kid walks off of that, or like has, or like has this tiny little experience that you didn't expect it, like, the rest of the day can go downhill if you don't know that and know what to avoid. And. The app doesn't tell you, like, you might get sprayed by mist, because they don't consider that, because it's a tiny little part, right? And what I was realizing with my daughter was that like, getting her on the ride, like I needed, like, from a it's like energy conservation, but it's like sensory trigger conservation, like getting, like, trying to limit what goes into her sensory threshold is like, I need to let her experience the ride for all of the like sensory, like triggers that it has so every time, like between rides, whether it's on the line or like walking out of that like she needs to be as accommodated and supported as possible. And I also need to, again, take that cognitive load out from her and show her videos of these rides. Know what the line is gonna be, like, all of that stuff, so she doesn't have this, like, built up anxiety before even stepping foot on this ride. So I would go to Disney on and, like, take videos for her, and then come home and show them to her. Then take her because it was YouTube videos, but they weren't, like, accurate. They weren't portraying the line, like, Those videos are, like, more specific to the attraction, and they like mute out the sounds of like, when you're waiting in line, or there's like music going over it. So I wanted, I just took very raw videos of our experience, and then I was like, this needs to be a resource. This needs to be something for parents. So I very quickly was starting to put together this Disneyland for parents of SPD kids, this resource where I was rating all of the rides on a scale of, like one to five for vestibular sound, tactile smell. And I think I'm wondering if there's something else that I was missing, but I rated all of it on like, a scale of one to five how intense something is. Yeah, I also detailed, like, it's a lap belt versus a shoulder belt, or there's no belt, or all of the things that you don't think about, like the exit upon exiting, there's a really bright red flashing light outside of Soren. And I'm like, I know, visually sensitive children. Oh, that's the other thing I write. I rate darkness.
Jayson Davies
Oh yeah.
Laura Petix
I rate the darkness on on a lot of rides, like how dark it is and how and then how loud it is. And also, what kind of vestibular input is it like? The Winnie the Pooh ride has some it's like this awkward in between linear, but there's like, half rotary as you're, like, sort of spinning halfway, a little bit, and you're rocking back and forth the Haunted Mansion when you have that inversion, like, kind of, like, tip back, oh, yeah, really hard for gravitationally insecure kids going backwards too. Yeah. Like, the it doesn't, it doesn't, they don't talk about those things. And again, I've seen, and I've heard from many client, many people who have DMed me after where they're like, I'm scared to go back, because the first ride I went on, I was not expecting that, and the rest of the day was like an sh i t show because they were just dysregulated for the rest of the day. So I was working really hard on packaging that together. I'd say it's like 70% done. It stopped. I couldn't go as often because of all of the pandemic stuff, like keeping my daughter safe became a bigger priority, and now my now, my PASS is going to expire in August, and I heard that they might not offer it again, so that, yeah, I've heard that they might not offer it again, and that's making me so sad. So I have this, like, half finished resource I did like a I might do this again, because I've heard I've had a lot of parents ask I might do like, pop up zoom calls for people who are going soon, where I could just answer all the questions. But I use the DAS disability pass for my daughter, and that's been our saving grace that I encourage a lot of parents to use as well, and it's the only way that I can take my daughter, daughter there now.
Jayson Davies
I have a quick question. You You mentioned an app and that the app has some information. Does it tell you any helpful information at this point?
Laura Petix
It will say, like, dark thrill rides or like? It will say, like, some drops. It won't say like, tips back. It won't say there's, like, that, it'll say you can get wet on, like, some rides that, like, actually have a splash component. But like, it did not say that for Radiator Springs, because they don't think of that mist as, like, getting wet, right? Yeah. And then the other piece about it is, like, the Winnie the Pooh ride, which is very relevant for, you know, autistic clients. There's like, a scene at the end with the birthday party, and there's a thunderstorm simulation. That's right, the app doesn't say that. It just says, like, dark and scary, but like, if you're like, oh, but my kid loves Winnie the Pooh, it's not going to be that scary. But if that's one of your kids triggers, that's a scary thing. Plus there's all those weird, like, clown things in Winnie the Pooh, it's just like, it's a whole, it's a whole trip in that right? But they don't, they don't talk about that in the app, either. So the app gives very minimal stuff. The one cheat that I say parents look for is look for the rides that are safe for pregnant women, because they have that you can filter out on the app if you're pregnant or expecting, those usually are the least vestibular intense rides. Rides, yeah, if you're looking for vestibular input, that's the only cheat I found. But everything else, they just kind of group into, like, loud, scary thrill rides. And then there's some rides that they don't even mention that are scary, that actually can be based on your child's triggers. And as a parent, I would like to know that there is a birthday party scene in the windy the poo ride or something, right?
Jayson Davies
Yeah, and at Disneyland, it's more than just the rides, too. I mean, all the fireworks, Fantasmic. I mean, there's so many different things going on that have so many different experiences.
Laura Petix
You can try to, like, I can understand, if you're like, my kid is sound sensitive. We're not doing fireworks at all.
Jayson Davies
Sure, that's a pretty easy one, but some of the other ones.
Laura Petix
You want to avoid. But there's other things you can't avoid, those freaking bathrooms are like an issue, right? So having all of the tricks of like, where the bathrooms haven't have not an automatic toilet flusher, or walking them through what a character experience is going to be like, which I liked their COVID precautions for their characters, it was much more sensory friendly for kids because they were all behind a rope, like you didn't have to worry about, like, getting up close to them, but now they're back to normal. So yeah, there's all of those, like, in between, stuff that we forget about or that we take for granted when we have neurotypical kids and we don't remember how hard, how much of that, just outside the ride stuff can contribute to our overload for our sensory kids.
Jayson Davies
Absolutely Wow. So we're gonna have to, well, first of all, if you're a Disney fan, you've loved the last 12 minutes. If you're not a Disney fan, hopefully you're still on. We're gonna, we're gonna continue back to working with non Disney people right now, but we're gonna have to cut out the last, you know, 1215, minutes and just send that to Disney so that we can see Laura on one of those Imagineer episodes that they got going on right now.
Laura Petix
That would be amazing.
Jayson Davies
right? Oh, man. All right, so I want to ask you four quick response questions. I didn't send these to you in advance, but they're really simple, I promise. Okay, one book every ot should read.
Laura Petix
One book every ot the whole brain child.
Jayson Davies
All right, a YouTube channel that you appreciate because of they facilitate for sensory processing disorder, kids with sensory.
Laura Petix
Oh, gosh. I haven't been on YouTube in so long, but the one YouTube channel I always go to for my clients is the art for kids hub, just for, like, practicing drawing, but, like, I haven't used, I haven't used YouTube for sensory stuff in so long.
Jayson Davies
You're, well, you're creating your own That's why, I mean, you just got all the videos for your own kid. All right, I agree. I use that one all the time. I think it's a great praxis, um, activity, yeah. All right, so we did book YouTube podcast, same genre, but podcast, podcast, of course, your own. But what else?
Laura Petix
Well, oh yeah, I've been really liking so there's two, and this is all for parent. This is for parents. But OTs like to learn about what parents are learning about. So Natasha Daniels, she has at parenting survival. She focuses on anxiety, OCD and sensory processing overlap, which is very helpful for me. It's very she has her own kids experiencing that stuff, and she coaches parents as well. And Dr Becky, good inside. I can't go wrong with her. I love her approach to parenting and and teaching stuff. And sorry I can't pick one. Mr. Chaz. Mr. Chaz is leading. I think I forget what his podcast is called. Mr. Chazz is teaching and leadership podcast. I think he is a really, really good breath of fresh air, Teacher of teachers, but he uses Conscious Discipline, and he's a cycle breaker, and he makes you, like, think about really hard questions about your childhood and how it impacts the way that you are working and raising your own kids. And those, those three, as a parent, I feel like I've won the lottery with that's great. So with free support, while hearing that all of those things, if you have a neuro divergent kid or work with them, those are great outside. I love, I love, I don't listen to OT podcast as much anymore, because what I found that has better me as like as a business woman and as a parent and as an OT is by learning from other professions. I think I got so tunnel vision to a lot of OT podcast, which I love too, especially at the beginning, but now, as a parent hearing other approaches, it's so helpful.
Jayson Davies
Gosh, stop sending my my listeners away.
Laura Petix
Click, click. Out of both.
Jayson Davies
We got a little bit of both. We got a parent and an OT on here right now. So that's cool. All right. One more. This one is a little more direct and relatable to you. I want to ask the significance behind the lovely art that you have everywhere, because it's pictures, it's pictures of Liliana, but it's a very much different representation. So share a little bit about that.
Laura Petix
Yeah. So I shared this earlier when I when I first started TPT. I. Like I'm bored, like I need something to do. And I got really, like, obsessed with it. So also, when I get really engrossed in my work, I have a hard time like doing any self care or like practice tasks, or practice self care tasks, or like, just relaxing non work tasks. And last summer, I just was working so much, but I was like, I need something else, but my hands really wanted to be busy. I kept trying to watch my favorite shows and do all the things, but I was still pulling my iPad and my computer out to like, work. I just could not stop. So I got this iPad and this procreate app where you could draw, and I just really love, like, drawing and doodling and stuff like that. And I found a way I learned how to create like these faceless portraits, which is, I think, like a newish style I've seen out there of other people. So I started doing that with my daughter's stuff. And I liked that. It kind of branded my Instagram, without always me putting like the OT butterfly on it. But I also really loved the faceless portraits because it because it kind of feels like less identifiable, and you could almost see like, like. You could relate like that could be my child, right? But so every time I am feeling like this creative urge, but I'm trying to like separate myself from work, I'm trying to relax. I will pull out my iPad and draw and do more pictures of her, and I just keep adding that to my content. And it like, kind of it checks off my productivity tab and self care at the same time. That's great tasking. I hope my therapist isn't listening, because she's always trying to tell me to like separate it. But I just I feel so much more fulfilled when some of my self care can also go back to my work, so a little bit of both. So when you see me, have a bunch of new Instagram story templates and like pictures of her. You know, I've been on this, like quote, trying to do the self care.
Jayson Davies
Right? That's funny. I'm the same way with Canva. Canva is like, I'm doing work, but I'm not really doing work.
Laura Petix
Right? Like, sometimes I'll, like, have a really good show. And my husband, I have these like background shows where it's like, you don't have to pay attention, but you love having it. So we have our set of background shows, and I'm like, pull them out. I'm like, am I gonna draw tonight, or am I gonna go on Canva and, like, mess with, like, a new template, or my website design where it's still work, but it like feels creative and fun.
Jayson Davies
Exactly. Yeah, totally understand it. Yeah. Alrighty. Laura, well, that is fantastic. I totally thought that you had those made. Like, I thought you had a graphic designer making all those. I had no idea that it was you.
Laura Petix
So that's all me. It's all me, and it's so, it's so, it's really fun, I love doing.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, that's awesome. It's a great way to get away from without getting away Exactly. Well, Laura, thank you so much for coming on before I let you go. Where can people learn about you and the OT butterfly?
Laura Petix
Yes. So as Jayson already said, I am all over Instagram at the OT butterfly. My website is the OT butterfly.com and on there you can find all of my podcast transcripts that are kind of turned into blogs. I also have some blogs on there, and that's where you can find more about my courses and my one on one, and my podcast if you just want to listen straight on Apple Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. It's sensory wise. It's a sensory wise solutions podcast for parents. And I'm going to shout out Sarah putt ot for life, because she helped me get all of that off the ground last summer, and I'm almost reaching my one year mark. And so Sarah, if you're listening, thank you. She's also the person who popped my podcast cherry. I was the first, she was the first podcast I was ever invited on to speak. So I know a lot together, and anyone listening should also listen to her podcast.
Jayson Davies
Absolutely. Yeah, Sarah has been on the on the podcast a few times. Now she actually hosted my 100th episode. Oh my gosh, just a few weeks ago. So yeah, it was, it was amazing. We all love Sarah here and so, yeah, well, thank you, Laura. I appreciate having you. I appreciate your time today, and I look forward to seeing all the parents, all the all the kids that you are going to help over the many years to come. I appreciate you sharing that a little bit about that with us. So thanks again.
Laura Petix
Thank you so much for having me. Thanks everyone for listening.
Jayson Davies
All right, everyone that was Laura petts from the OT butterfly, please, please, please do go check her out on Instagram and her website, even if you don't need her, course, because you're an occupational therapist and you don't have a child yourself with sensory processing disorder, go check it out. She just has so much good stuff. She also has a bunch of free resources if you just subscribe with your email. So all of that is going to support you. As she mentioned, you know, she started with a TPT, a Teachers Pay Teachers, which I know everyone listening as a school based ot has gone on to TPT, so she really understands occupational therapy. And as you also heard a little bit about her child, Liliana, she is really starting to understand school based services, maybe not ot yet, but understanding five oh fours and all of that great stuff. So yeah, be sure to check that out. And with that, I'm gonna say so long for today, and I will see you in episode number 105 on the OTs schoolhouse podcast. Take care. Bye.
Amazing Narrator
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