Award Date

5-15-2026

Degree Type

Doctoral Project

Degree Name

Occupational Therapy Doctorate

Department

Brain Health

First Committee Member

Sharon Jalene

Number of Pages

129

Abstract

In live theater performances, there are numerous sensory demands, including unpredictable noises, lighting, crowd movement, vocalization, and transitions in and out of the theater. Teachers, support staff, and chaperones who attend these performances may face barriers in supporting their children in unfamiliar environments, and community volunteers who have never assisted during these shows may not know how to support children who need it if they have not had prior exposure to children with diverse needs. This capstone project provides families, teachers, and volunteers with pre-visit resource guides with occupational therapy perspectives on sensory processing for student matinees and sensory-inclusive performances at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts (The Smith Center, TSC) in Las Vegas, Nevada.Guided by Dunn’s Model of Sensory Processing and Person-Environment-Occupation-Participation (PEO-P) Model, this project aims to meet the general public’s understanding and acknowledging of sensory patterns and implement sensory accommodations in a live theater setting. In collaboration with The Smith Center Education and Outreach Department, this project demonstrates the emerging role of occupational therapy (OT) in improving accessibility and inclusivity in the performing arts and offers an approach to raising awareness and creating more inclusive experiences for audience members with diverse needs.

Keywords

community-based practice; occupational therapy; performing arts accessibility; pre-visit materials; sensory processing; sensory-inclusive theater

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences | Occupational Therapy | Rehabilitation and Therapy

File Format

PDF

File Size

16700 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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