Speakers

The PEAR TREE™️ Lens: Sensory Integration, Relationships and Real Life

The PEAR TREE™️ Lens has grown from more than 25 years of clinical practice, teaching and service development in sensory integration beyond childhood. In this session, Kath will invite delegates to look again at what we mean by assessment, formulation and intervention when sensory differences are understood within real life, real relationships and real systems.

PEAR reminds us to consider the Person, Environment, Activity and Relational response together. TREE adds the decision-making structure: Triage, Intentional Relationships, Embodied Evaluation and Ethical Choice. This matters because support is not only about identifying sensory needs. It is also about deciding what matters most, who needs to be involved, what is safe and realistic, and how people can be supported without losing dignity, agency or participation.

Kath will share how the PEAR TREE™️ Lens can sit alongside occupational therapy models, Ayres Sensory Integration, Sensory Ladders®️, Spiders™️, Grids™️ and everyday team practice. She will explore how it helps therapists, teachers, families and services move from generic strategies towards co-produced, proportionate, meaningful support.

Delegates will hear practical examples from mental health, learning disability, education and community contexts, including how sensory understanding can inform reasonable adjustments, relational safety, participation goals and service level triage. The session will be thoughtful, practical and hopeful, offering a clear framework for making better decisions when needs are complex and resources are stretched. It will also consider why sensory work needs transparent reasoning, careful language and shared accountability so support can travel across homes, schools, clinics and wider communities with confidence and care

Speaker Bio

Kath Smith is an Occupational Therapist, educator, researcher and internationally recognised leader in Ayres Sensory Integration®. She is the Clinical Director of ASI Wise and founder of The Sensory Project, where she has developed innovative tools including Sensory Ladders, Sensory Spiders and Grids to support sensory informed practice across the lifespan. Kath leads Ayres’ sensory integration education across the UK and Ireland, serves as an executive member of ICE-ASI, and is the ASI Wise Education Lead for the MSc Advancing Practice partnership with Ulster University. Her work has influenced practice, research and education internationally, with a particular focus on mental health, neurorehabilitation, trauma informed practice and equitable access to sensory integration knowledge. An award-winning clinician and educator, Kath is passionate about ensuring that "Sensory Integration is everyone's business" and that no one is left behind. Attendees will gain practical insights from a speaker whose work is shaping sensory integration practice and education worldwide.