Notice
Describe what is happening without rushing to label the person or the behavior.
The idea behind Sarah Elaine OT
Support helps skills become possible.
The right support does more than help someone complete a task today. It helps them understand themselves, recognize what helps, and participate with greater confidence, connection, and independence over time.
A welcome from Sarah
Why I built this space.
This short introduction will connect the Guide, services, and published books—and explain why better support begins with learning what to notice.
Sarah’s introductionVideo coming soon
A way of seeing, not a list of answers
Look underneath. Support what matters. Notice what changes.
Sarah’s work helps parents, caregivers, educators, and professionals move from a visible concern to a more useful question. The person, the activity, the environment, and the surrounding relationships all offer information about where support may help most.
Wonder
Look for the demands, patterns, context, and possible reasons underneath the moment.
Support
Choose a manageable support that protects connection and makes participation more possible.
Notice again
See what changed, adjust what did not fit, and build on what the person is learning.
Support all around
Two groups of supporters.
One shared way of seeing.
The same method serves two distinct roles. Parents carry support through daily life. Occupational therapists carry it into clinical relationships and help families recognize what may matter.
Parents & caregivers
Understand the moment without rushing to label the child.
Parent education organizes the age, context, activity, environment, and patterns you describe so you can choose a general starting point and recognize when additional help makes sense.
Explore the parent sideOT professionals
Strengthen your reasoning without having to think alone.
Professional education and remote mentorship offer a seasoned perspective for de-identified questions—especially when consistent on-site mentorship is limited or your work takes you somewhere new.
Explore the professional sideSupport is meant to evolve
Help from others can become a way to help yourself.
Support may begin with showing, saying less, doing something together, or placing a visual cue where the person can find it. As they discover what helps, repeated prompting can gradually give way to familiar tools, routines, self-knowledge, and strategies they can use with greater independence.
Independence does not mean doing everything alone. It can mean knowing where to look, how to begin, what support to request, or which strategy to return to. The goal is meaningful participation, satisfaction, choice, and connection—with the right level of support for that person.
Support the person. Strengthen the people around them. Make room for their own abilities to emerge.Meet Sarah Elaine, OTR/L
Support the person.
Strengthen the circle around them.
17years as an
Occupational Therapist
Occupational Therapist
10years focused on
pediatrics & Early Intervention
pediatrics & Early Intervention
Meet Sarah Elaine, OTR/L
Support the person.
Strengthen the circle around them.
Hi, I’m Sarah Elaine. I’ve been an occupational therapist for 17 years, including 10 years focused on pediatrics and Early Intervention.
Occupational therapy taught me to see the whole person—or the whole child—in the context of everyday life: what matters to them, what participation requires, and what may be getting in the way of greater independence, satisfaction, and connection.
A child who seems not to be listening, cooperating, or trying may be struggling with attention, regulation, motor planning, understanding the steps, or simply knowing how to begin. The visible moment is important, but it is rarely the whole story.
My work is not about handing parents, caregivers, co-parents, or professionals another random list of activities. It is about transferring a way of seeing: notice the person in context, use the details to decide where to look first, and choose support that protects connection while making participation more possible.
Human connection is not separate from progress. When a person feels more accurately understood, their abilities, independence, strengths, and gifts have more room to emerge.
That is the thread connecting Sarah’s Look Underneath Guide, my books and companion tools, and the caregiver and co-parent platforms I am developing. Each one supports the person by strengthening the understanding and confidence of the people beside them.
Start with the question in front of you, or explore the tools created to carry this lens into everyday life.
Sarah is based in Staten Island, New York. The resources and current website offerings are educational and available online. They do not provide individualized occupational therapy services, establish a therapist-client relationship, or replace evaluation or care from an appropriate licensed professional.