Pivoting Care Models: Using Yoga Group Interventions to Improve Access in Pediatric Occupational Therapy
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2026
3:10 PM – 4:10 PM
Course Description
Pediatric patients are often seen in a traditional one-to-one therapy model. While a one-to-one model has several advantages, there are some limitations that a small group model can target. For example, group interventions lead themselves to more easily targeting skills such as socialization, self-advocacy, collaborative play, and learning from shared experiences. This presentation is shared from the perspective of an occupational therapy practitioner facilitating a yoga group for autistic youth within a clinic setting for the first time. Caregivers of children receiving occupational therapy services frequently express a need for self-regulation strategies to use at home. Yoga is a modality that can help to address stress, inattention, hyperactivity, anxiety, and depression (Patra et al., 2024). Thus, a yoga group was intentionally chosen to address a common need in care with evidence to support its use as an intervention approach. In this session, the presenter will outline the group development process, including rationale for group size and age range, session length, caregiver engagement, outcome measures, and referral criteria. In addition, activity ideas and session breakdowns based on evidence-based resources including AOTA’s Occupational Therapy Practice Guidelines for Autistic People Across the Lifespan (Patten et al., 2024). This session will also share strategies that were used to overcome challenges including caregiver home carryover (Uebelacker et al., 2023). Reflections will be shared from a trial of the yoga group including barriers to a successful group and changes that were made throughout the process. While this presentation is from the perspective of a pediatric practitioner facilitating a yoga group, lessons learned from providing family centered group service delivery are applicable to any practitioner interested in creating a group. Participants will reflect on how they can apply the knowledge gained toward developing a group model in their own practice.
Speakers
Mary Kate Uebelein, OTR/L, BCP is a pediatric occupational therapist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where she provides outpatient services to children ages 0–21 with developmental delays and feeding challenges. She serves as the occupational therapist for the Down Syndrome clinic and co-treats with speech-language pathologists to support children with complex communication, behavioral, and sensory needs. In addition to her clinical work, she supervises Level II fieldwork students, mentors new hires, and mentors feeding therapists completing the hospital feeding competency. Her prior experience includes early intervention and pediatric outpatient therapy at Mountainside ABA in West Virginia, early intervention at MECA Therapies in New Mexico, and acute care at Covenant Health Hobbs Hospital, where she helped establish outpatient pediatric therapy services at a previously adult-only clinic.
Mary Kate is a committed educator, advocate, and community volunteer. She completed the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) fellowship at the University of New Mexico and has presented department-wide on topics including executive function assessments and yoga interventions for youth mental health. She is a 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher and holds certifications in infant massage, DIRFloortime, and feeding therapy approaches including SOS and Beckman Oral Motor. She is board certified in pediatrics through AOTA and is an active member of the Junior League of Columbus and the Down Syndrome Association of Central Ohio, where she helped lead vendor and mascot organizing for the Buddy Walk, an event attended by more than 8,000 people. Mary Kate holds a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from Harding University.
Content Level
Introductory: This level assumes the audience has little or no information regarding the content area.
Practice Areas
Children and Youth; Health and Wellness; Mental Health