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Mylene Ibus

Eng 301-39

Jaime Brody

15 October 2018

Rhetorical Analysis Essay

In the first few years of a child’s life, they develop essential skills to perform different tasks

throughout their daily routines. Some of these tasks vary from being able to groom themselves to

learning how to play to most importantly, being able to interact with others. Each child is different and

is able to adapt to their surroundings at their own pace, but for children with autism, it’s different.

Autism is a developmental disorder that delays children’s abilities in performing different tasks and

affects the way they act and interact with others (“Autism Spectrum Disorder”). The two articles I will

be analyzing that discuss the role of occupational therapy for autistic children is “Why is Occupational

Therapy important for children with ASD?” by Corinna Laurie and “How does Occupational Therapy

Help Kids with Autism” by Shea Brogren. Both articles go in depth about what occupational therapists

do and how their practice is able to strongly correlate with individuals with autism. Although Corinna

Laurie focuses primarily on one issue that autistic children face, Shea Brogren focuses on multiple skill

sets that autistic children lack, and both authors are able to provide concrete information and examples.

Connie Laurie, a specialist occupational therapist who works closely alongside the National

Autistic Society (NAS) and is the director and founder of Evolve Children’s Therapy Services,

discusses the significance of occupational therapy for autistic children and how their role can help

improve the lifestyle of autistic children. There are many limitations that children with autism face, but

one of the biggest issues that 60 to 70 percent of autistic children face is the way they process and

sense things around them (Laurie). This lack of sensation is the main issue that Laurie brings up in her
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article “Why is occupational therapy important for children with ASD?” She brings up the issue of

sensory overload and lack of sensory input for in children and tackles how occupational therapist are

key in solving this.

From the beginning of her article, Laurie establishes an appeal to logos and uses this approach

to build her appeal to ethos throughout her argument. She begins by summarizing why she believes

occupational therapy is important for children with autism, and follows up on this claim by defining

what exactly occupational therapists do and what they focus on. She then begins to discuss the

different aspects of sensory integration and defines what these different aspects mean for her audience.

For example, she discusses a “sensory diet,” which is a specific plan to integrate our senses more with

our daily activities, and how it is occupational therapists who are able to prescribes these diets. By

going more in depth the issue that autistic children face and clearly stating the job of an occupational

therapist, this sways the audience into believing that occupational therapy must be a logical solution

for the child because occupational therapists are equipped in promoting their overall wellbeing.

Someone who may be reading this article may be a parent or a family member of an autistic child, and

they might be curious as to how much occupational therapy can help their child. Because of Laurie’s

experience as an occupational therapist and ties with the National Autistic Society, this sets a tone of

trust between the author and the audience, and serves as a way to cater to this particular audience and

effectively persuade them into bringing their children to therapy.

Because Laurie pitches her information in a straightforward manner and her credibility as an

occupational therapist, this also allows the audience to make a quicker decision on whether or not to

bring in their children. Although, she goes in depth about the issue of autistic children not being able to

properly use and interpret their senses, she does not fully address other issues that autistic children may

face, such as fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and cognitive development. She mentions how
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occupational therapists “work to promote, maintain, and develop the skills needed to be functional” for

children, and briefly mentions that they work to “develop skills for handwriting, fine motor skills, and

daily living skills”, but directs a majority of her focus on sensory processing disorders. As stated

before, this information would be good for parents or family members of autistic children, but

wouldn’t be beneficial to all parents or family members of autistic children. It is possible that some

parents have autistic children who struggle more with their fine motor skills rather than their sensory

development, so for this specific audience, this information may not be useful in deciding whether or

not they should seek an occupational therapist because it exclusively talks about the issue of sensory

processing disorders. Overall, Laurie sets up her argument in a well structured form that appeals to her

audience because of the many examples and definitions she gives, which makes her article more

simple and understandable.

An article that one may refer to instead to get an overall summary of different issues that

autistic children may face is “How Does Occupational Therapy Help Kids with Autism?” by Shea

Brogen. Shea Brogen is an occupational therapist who specializes in pediatric/child and adolescent

mental health, and holds primary interest in children who has experienced developmental trauma. She

obtained her Masters of Occupational Therapy degree from the University of North Dakota, which is

known to be one of the top twenty five most innovative colleges, according to US News (“Most

Innovative Schools”). Within her article, there are two main things that she addresses- the first is a

brief and short introduction of what occupational therapists do, and the second is the type of skills

occupational therapists can help address. Brogen begins her article by stating that occupational

therapist use a “variety of methods to address and promote skills needed to participate fully in daily

life activities” and how children with autism receive aid from occupational therapist to help to address

the skills they need to build in (Brogren). She then lists different skills that autistic children may
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struggle with, such as emotion regulation skills, social skills, sensory processing, motor skills, and

family routines.

Similar to the Laurie, Brogren uses an appeal to logos, which ties in with her appeal to ethos, to

develop her credibility as an occupational therapist. Before she goes more in depth about these

different skills, Broger discusses the measures that are taken in order to become an occupational

therapist. She states that because of their “educational background in anatomy and biology, human

development, kinesiology, psychology, and client centered care,” this allows “OT practitioners to be in

the unique position to provide holistic care” (Brogren). By using this generalization, Brogren is able to

capture the attention of her audience, because it allows the reader to form a sense of reassurance that

occupational therapists are well equipped in providing services for autistic children, before actually

stating what services they provide. Under each skill set, the author explains how exactly autistic

children may struggle in that area, by providing different definitions and different examples. An

example of one of these areas the Brogren talks about is motor skills. She defines what gross motor

skills and fine motor skills are, providing examples such as running or writing, and explains how

children with autism have “delays” in this area. By stating not just one, but multiple skill sets that

autistic children lack, this allows Brogen to be more inclusive with her audience and speak to all

parents/family members with autistic children who have either one or a combination of these skill sets

that they need to work on.

Both articles convey the idea that because occupational therapists focuses on the overall being

of a human person, it is reasonable for autistic children to seek services from them so that they can aid

in improving their lifestyle and daily activities. Even though the first article focuses more on the

concept of sensory integration, it is still an issue that a majority of autistic children face and can always

further improve on in their life. If a reader may have more questions about other obstacles that autistic
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children face, they can refer to the second article and not only be well informed about what the

different obstacles are, but how occupational therapy will be able to assist children and their families.

The title of both articles immediately reveal occupational therapy holds some degree of significance by

using words such as “how” and “why”. Brogren’s article shows that occupational therapists are not

only interested in helping children with autism, but helping their families throughout this process

because of their holistic approach to things. This is evident in the last section of her journal, titled

“Family Routines and Time Management”, which provide different ways that families can contribute

in improving their child’s life. Overall, these two resources prove to not only be credible and

trustworthy, but most importantly, informative and inclusive to its targeted audience.
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Work Cited

“Autism Spectrum Disorder.” ​MedlinePlus,​ U.S. National Library of Medicine, 11 Sept. 2018,

medlineplus.gov/autismspectrumdisorder.html.

Brogren, Shea. “How Does Occupational Therapy Help Kids with Autism?” ​Harkla​, Harkla, 15 Feb.

2018, harkla.co/blogs/special-needs/occupational-therapy-autism.

Laurie, Corinna. “Why Is Occupational Therapy Important for Autistic Children?” ​Network Autism,​

National Autistic Society , 19 June 2015,network.autism.org.uk/good-practice/case-studies/why

-occupational-therapy-important-children-autism

“Most Innovative Schools.” ​U.S. News & World Report​, U.S. News & World Report, 2018,

www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/innovative..