Central Florida: Sensory Bus provides services for needy children
- The end of childhood
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Nov 6, 2025, WUSF: The Sensory Bus is a traveling therapy space for children with sensory needs
The service, based in north central Florida and led by an occupational therapist, fills a gap for children with disabilities who have no access to sensory services, especially homeschooled students in rural areas.
Four months ago, Katy Alexander tirelessly searched Facebook Marketplace for the perfect vehicle: an old bus.
This would soon become her pride and joy and, from Oct. 31, her fulltime job. As an occupational therapist in the Marion County School District over the past 10 years, Alexander sensed there was a space of need in her community. She knew there were children with disabilities without access to sensory services, especially homeschooled students in rural areas. . . .
How did the idea for a sensory bus come about?
I felt there was a gap in our community. There's not enough services for our kids, especially our kids with disabilities. I talked to a family and they were frustrated by the lack of resources and I was like, 'Yeah there's nothing around here.' And then I was like, 'Why don't I do something about that?' I really feel that God led me to the bus. He helped me come up with the name, with what I was gonna do and it's been a fun ride since. That was last November, so almost a year.
With The sensory bus, is it to get to families in areas where they don't have access to occupational therapists?
The Sensory Bus – it's to kind of bridge that gap of lack of services. We take the Step Up for Students scholarship, which is very popular for kids with disabilities. They can get the Unique Ability Scholarship and have access to the bus there. It's really for our kiddos who don't quite qualify for outpatient services or they're on waiting lists for outpatient services.
How do your services on The Sensory Bus differ from normal occupational or outpatient therapy?
The very unique thing about me is I come to you, I bring the sensory experience to you, whereas home health you're pretty limited in the equipment that you can bring in. If I were to do a home health visit I'd have to rely on what the parents had for sensory equipment because a lot of my equipment is big. Your kid gets the experience of an outpatient, if not more experience of an outpatient sensory clinic, in the comfort of their own front yard. And there's no waiting list for me. . . .
Do you feel that the families that you've met in the school system and your connections will follow you to the gym?
I hope so because I have made a lot of connections and friends in the school setting. The teachers who work with the special needs population, they know of the bus, they are very supportive and they see the need. I think word of mouth and the support that I've already felt from the community, that's gonna help carry me to the gym.
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