Sleep and Development: What Therapists Need to Know

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the basics of pediatric sleep (sleep architecture, circadian rhythm, and sleep pressure) and understand how normal sleep develops from the newborn period through preschool age.
2. Recognize common pediatric sleep difficulties, red flags, and the contributing factors behind them (environmental, developmental, sensory, medical, etc.).
3. Explain how sleep impacts a child’s emotional regulation, attention, sensory processing, motor performance, behavior, communication, and participation in therapy.
4. Apply basic sleep screening questions within their own assessment process and know when and where to refer for further support.

Workshop Outline:

1. Understanding pediatric sleep (Sleep architecture and sleep cycles, Circadian rhythm and sleep pressure)
2. Sleep across development (Newborns to preschoolers: what is developmentally expected vs. concerning)
3. Sleep difficulties, red flags & contributing factors
4. Sleep & the child’s daytime functioning (Emotional regulation, attention and learning, sensory processing, motor performance, behavior communication, feeding…)
5. Sleep screening and when to refer
6. Take-home tools & Q&A

 

Sirene Hawat Khoury, Master’s degree in Psychomotor Therapy

• Former instructor at the Lebanese University
• Member of  Bébé Sucré Nursery Management Team
• Certified Potty Training Consultant – IPSP
• Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant – BSCT