When you see it, it looks like Helen Keller crossed with a Roomba. A child enters a space, even a familiar space, and runs the perimeter without stopping to play or examine things. They may trace the room with their fingers, or repeat this process many times before they “land” and engage in some kind…… Continue reading Does Your Child Hate Big Spaces? There is a Sensory-Based Explanation for all That Complaining
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Quickshifts: A Simple, Successful, and Easy to Use Treatment For Regulation, Attention, and Postural Activation
What if you could add a sensory-based treatment that targets specific sensory, motor, and behavioral goals? What if it doesn’t require expensive equipment or a large therapy space, and you could see the effects within a very short time? Since adding Quickshifts to my therapy sessions, I have been able to successfully address some of…… Continue reading Quickshifts: A Simple, Successful, and Easy to Use Treatment For Regulation, Attention, and Postural Activation
What To Say When Your Child Says “I Hate You!”
It happens to almost every parent. It could happen when your child is a fuming preschooler, or a haughty tween. Doesn’t matter. It still hurts. A lot. Even the sweetest child can hurl one of these statements out when they don’t get what they want or aren’t allowed to do something. The biggest question…… Continue reading What To Say When Your Child Says “I Hate You!”
How Long Term Medical Care Affects Infant and Toddler Development
The good news: more and more extremely premature and medically complex babies are surviving. The bad news: there is a cost to the extended and complex treatment that saves their lives and helps them to thrive. This post is an effort to put out in the open what pediatric therapists know only too well…… Continue reading How Long Term Medical Care Affects Infant and Toddler Development
Does Your Special Needs Child Have a “Two-tude”? Its Not Just the Age; Its Cumulative Frustration Minus Skills
I spend a lot of my work week with toddlers, and they can be a challenge. One minute sunny, the next screaming because their cookie broke. Special needs toddlers can have a ‘tude as well, but many professionals sweep it under the rug. They tell parents that this is normal, and that they should…… Continue reading Does Your Special Needs Child Have a “Two-tude”? Its Not Just the Age; Its Cumulative Frustration Minus Skills
Need to Support A Child’s Independence? Offer to Help Them!
I know; it sounds like I am being sarcastic. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Instead of telling children to “Give it another try” or “I know you can do it”, offering help to a young child can have the paradoxical effect of eliciting more perseverance and attention. It really isn’t all that…… Continue reading Need to Support A Child’s Independence? Offer to Help Them!
When Writing Hurts: The Hypermobile Hand
Many children resist doing their homework, but most kids say “Its so BORING!” not “My hand hurts too much”. If a child is complaining of pain, and they don’t have a joint disease such as JRA, the first thought is hypermobility. The good news is that there are a few fast fixes that can decrease…… Continue reading When Writing Hurts: The Hypermobile Hand
Why Is The Wilbarger Protocol So Hard To Get Right?
The Wilbarger Protocol has been a staple of therapeutic treatment of sensory processing disorder for decades. I will reveal my age, and admit that I learned directly from Pat Wilbarger. She was an amazing teacher and a highly skilled clinician to see in action. But I have lost count of the number of times…… Continue reading Why Is The Wilbarger Protocol So Hard To Get Right?
Safety Awareness With Your Hypermobile Child? Its Not a Big Thing, Its the Biggest Thing
Therapists always try hard to be optimistic when discussing their pediatric client’s future. Why not? Kids have amazing potential, and we aren’t fortune tellers; there are so many things that can go right. As therapists, we also should share the reality of how bad choices create unfortunate consequences. Among them are the long-term…… Continue reading Safety Awareness With Your Hypermobile Child? Its Not a Big Thing, Its the Biggest Thing
Afraid to Toilet Train? Prepare Your Child… and Prepare Yourself
I spend an extra 30 minutes at the end of a session this week helping a mom build her courage and confidence so that she felt ready to start toilet training soon. Her child is over 3, has sensory and motor issues, but shows tons of signs for readiness: dry diapers for increasingly long periods,…… Continue reading Afraid to Toilet Train? Prepare Your Child… and Prepare Yourself
Sensory Stimulation is not Sensory Treatment
I thought that I might never hear it again, but there it was. Another parent telling me that a member of her child’s treatment team had placed her hands in a rice-and-bean bin. “Why?” I asked. “She said it was sensory.” was the response. This particular child has no aversions to touch, and no sensory-seeking…… Continue reading Sensory Stimulation is not Sensory Treatment
Stop Your Child From Chewing on Clothes or Toys
Babies love to munch on their toys. They nibble at book bindings, chew the heck out of their loveys, and some little ones really love to chew their pacifiers. As they grow, most children let go of this behavior. Chewing and biting for sensory exploration and state modulation diminishes and a child’s behavior evolves into…… Continue reading Stop Your Child From Chewing on Clothes or Toys
Are Your Other Children Resentful of Their Special Needs Sibling?
This is something that is hardly ever spoken of, but it happens in many, if not most families. The good news is that it is normal, it doesn’t predict future behavior, and you can address it without sending everyone to a psychiatrist. The time and energy demands of a special needs child aren’t always in…… Continue reading Are Your Other Children Resentful of Their Special Needs Sibling?
Sensitive Child? Be Careful How You Deliver Praise
Sensitive kids need encouragement as much as the next child, but they can have a paradoxical reaction when you praise them. What do I mean? You compliment your child by saying “GREAT job! I knew you could do it!”, and they react by becoming angry or even arguing with you. They may even try to…… Continue reading Sensitive Child? Be Careful How You Deliver Praise
Should You Install a Child-Sized Potty for Your Special Needs Child?
I know that some of you don’t even realize that such a thing exists: a toilet sized for preschoolers and kindergarteners! Well, you won’t find it in Lowe’s or Home Depot on the showroom floor, but you can buy them online, and it is an option to consider. Here are the reasons you might put…… Continue reading Should You Install a Child-Sized Potty for Your Special Needs Child?
How Being Toilet Trained Changes Your Child’s Life (and Yours!)
Think your child doesn’t care that he is wearing pull-ups in pre-K? Well, he might not…yet. After all, he doesn’t know another life. He has been using a diaper (because we know that pull-ups aren’t anything other than a diaper, right?) for elimination since his first day of life. Wait until he is trained, and…… Continue reading How Being Toilet Trained Changes Your Child’s Life (and Yours!)
The Not-So-Secret Solution for Your Child With Motor And Sensory Issues: Dycem
In adult rehab, occupational therapists are regularly providing patients who have incoordination, muscle weakness or joint instability with both skill-building activities and adaptive equipment such as Dycem. In pediatrics, you see a predominance of skills training. Adaptive equipment shows up primarily for the most globally and pervasively disabled children. I think that should change. Why? Because…… Continue reading The Not-So-Secret Solution for Your Child With Motor And Sensory Issues: Dycem
How An Aging-In-Place Specialist Can Help You Design an Accessible Home for Your Child
I finally did it; I got my CAPS certification! I know, you are asking yourself “What does a pediatric occupational therapist want with an Aging-In-Place certificate?” Well, as it turns out, many of the barriers and home access problems that require redesign or better design for older adults are also issues with children dealing with…… Continue reading How An Aging-In-Place Specialist Can Help You Design an Accessible Home for Your Child
Could Your Pediatric Client Have a Heritable Disorder of Connective Tissue?
Therapists see lots of hypermobile kids in clinics and schools. I see hypermobile children every week in their homes for private sessions, consultations and ongoing treatment through Early Intervention. My estimate is that at least 25% of kids over 5 and almost 50% of the younger kids I have treated have some degree of…… Continue reading Could Your Pediatric Client Have a Heritable Disorder of Connective Tissue?
Raising a Gifted Child? Read “A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children” For Successful Strategies To Navigate the Waters
Raising a gifted child isn’t always rainbows and first place ribbons. Especially in the early years, the intensity, drive and complexity that gifted children bring to the table can come out looking like bossiness, perfectionism and extreme sensitivity How To Spot A Gifted Child In Your Preschool Class (Or Your Living Room!). Many books try…… Continue reading Raising a Gifted Child? Read “A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children” For Successful Strategies To Navigate the Waters