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The OTvest™ is designed by an occupational therapist who has worked with special needs children of all ages for 29 years. Nancy VandenBerg, MS, OTR, is a nationally certified occupational therapist, registered in the state of Michigan, with a Master of Science degree. She has been on the steering committee of the Michigan Alliance of School Physical and Occupational Therapists for six years and is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association. Her research, The Use of Weighted Vests with Children with Attention Problems, has been published in The American Journal of Occupational Therapy (VandenBerg, 2001)* and in Pediatric Issues in Occupational Therapy: A Compendium of Leading Scholarship, (Royeen, 2004). The children in her research study showed a 18-25% increase in their attention in class while wearing a weighted vest*. This research led to the desire to design a more effective vest, providing enough weight, with the weight pressing down directly upon the shoulder's, chest and back (not just hanging in pockets or pulling down inside the vest)--and a design that children of ALL ages would like to wear. She personally has utilized vests with over 100 children. The OTvest is currently being used in more than 95 schools districts throughout the United States, as well as by individuals for the needs of their own children at home and in the community.
*see Directory of Related Links for the AOTA website for AJOT, Nov/Dec
2001.
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