So many hypermobile kids and adults develop pelvic floor problems. They surface as issues with bowel and bladder control, mobility problems, and when kids become sexually active, a host of sexual dysfunctions. Wouldn’t it be better to prevent problems than solve them? Of course it would. That was a rhetorical question, posed out of frustration…… Continue reading Can You Prevent Pelvic Floor Issues in A Hypermobile Child?
Category: hypermobility
How a White Noise Machine Will Help Your Kid With hEDS
This post isn’t about babies or toddlers with hEDS (so few of them get diagnosed that the experience alone would be a post!). It is for the older kids with hEDS. The ones enrolled in school, the ones who no longer think there are monsters in the closet or hug a stuffy tight at…… Continue reading How a White Noise Machine Will Help Your Kid With hEDS
When Your Child’s Defiance is Coming From Being Neurologically Disorganized
Over a few decades of being a homecare OTR, I have seen a lot of different reactions from parents. And received a lot of different requests. The most honest ones are from parents who think their child is constantly defying them. They would like some pointers so they can stop wishing they were on a…… Continue reading When Your Child’s Defiance is Coming From Being Neurologically Disorganized
Why Your Kid With hEDS Doesn’t Seem to Know They Need the Potty… Right Now!
“Daddy….I gotta go. Right NOWWWW!” No parent wants to hear this coming from the back seat of their car while driving down a freeway or on a rural road. But it happens. And it can happen to older kids with hypermobile Ehlers Danlos syndrome (hEDS), well past early childhood. It can happen to…… Continue reading Why Your Kid With hEDS Doesn’t Seem to Know They Need the Potty… Right Now!
Finally… A Desk Chair For Your Hypermobile Kid, And it Has a Footrest!
The SitRite chair might be for you. After sending parents to the Stokke website for years, it became clear that this chair wasn’t “all that” for every kid. No armrests, a really hard seat, and once a child pushed away from the table or desk, they needed an adult to help them get closer…… Continue reading Finally… A Desk Chair For Your Hypermobile Kid, And it Has a Footrest!
Fixing Circle Time For Preschoolers With Low Muscle Tone
School is starting again. For kids with hypotonia (low muscle tone), circle time isn’t always their best activity. All that sitting. In one spot. All that waiting for their turn with the special hat or toy. All that paying attention…while sitting and waiting. Occupational therapists are often asked to come in and stop the fidgeting,…… Continue reading Fixing Circle Time For Preschoolers With Low Muscle Tone
Low Tone In The Summertime Heat? 4 Reasons To Hydrate
Here in the northeast, we are simmering all day, every day. The little ones on my caseload with low muscle tone are getting floppier and crabbier with each week at camp or daycare. We know why. The effects of heat on muscles is a big part of the problem. Bring them indoors in the A/C,…… Continue reading Low Tone In The Summertime Heat? 4 Reasons To Hydrate
Diaper Sticker Shock? Train ‘Em Now!
The pandemic has created gaps in consumer staples and rising prices for everyday items. One of those staples is…diapers! Well, when things get harder, it is time to think out of the (diaper) box. If your child is over 18 months of age and has typical motor and cognitive development, there is a fair chance…… Continue reading Diaper Sticker Shock? Train ‘Em Now!
Why Using a Chair Correctly is SO Difficult for Hypermobile Kids and Adults
I spend a fair amount of time teaching hypermobile people of all ages how their sitting position affects their ability to write, keyboard, or do just about anything. And of course, we want hypermobile people to have a stronger core while sitting. But their chair can help them. It is not a crutch. Yup. Use…… Continue reading Why Using a Chair Correctly is SO Difficult for Hypermobile Kids and Adults
Like The Cube Chair? Here Is a Table and Chairs Set For Younger Toddlers!
My post on the classic Cube Chair The Cube Chair: Your Special Needs Toddler’s New Favorite Seat! has been popular, but it isn’t always a great choice for the smaller toddler that was a preemie (they tend to stay smaller in size). So…enter the next choice for toddlers that need some back support and need…… Continue reading Like The Cube Chair? Here Is a Table and Chairs Set For Younger Toddlers!
Book Review By An OTR: Life, Disrupted; Getting Real About Chronic Illness in Your Twenties and Thirties
Although I work in pediatrics now, I spent the first 10 years of my career in adult ortho-neuro rehab. This means that I worked with many young adults facing issues from RA, MS, Lupus, spinal cord injuries, and more. They were just getting started with jobs, raising children, and making an adult life, but they…… Continue reading Book Review By An OTR: Life, Disrupted; Getting Real About Chronic Illness in Your Twenties and Thirties
Book Review From an OTR: Easy For You To Say Q and A’s for Teens Living with Chronic Illness or Disability
If you are a teen with JRA, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, MD, paraplegia, or any of the many conditions that create daily challenges in your life, you need to read this book. If you are the parent of a teen or tween with these medical conditions, you REALLY need to read this book. Dr. Miriam Kaufman wrote…… Continue reading Book Review From an OTR: Easy For You To Say Q and A’s for Teens Living with Chronic Illness or Disability
Remote Learning Strategies for Special Needs Students
Remote learning isn’t easy. Helping a special needs student navigate it isn’t easy either. Here are some strategies to improve outcomes and reduce everyone’s stress about it: If your child’s OT has created a sensory diet for them, this is the time to use it. A sensory diet is a series of activities and actions…… Continue reading Remote Learning Strategies for Special Needs Students
A Fun Way to Help Kids With Low Tone Stand Up Straight: Stomp-Stomp!
Kids with hypermobility or low tone are often found standing in the most dysfunctional of positions. Toes pointing in, feet rolled in or out, feet on top of each other: take your pick, because these kids will alternate between these wobbly choices and more! Read How To Improve Posture In Children With Low Muscle Tone… Without…… Continue reading A Fun Way to Help Kids With Low Tone Stand Up Straight: Stomp-Stomp!
Why Joint Protection Solutions for Hypermobility Aren’t Your Granny’s Joint Protection Strategies
I spent almost 10 years working in adult rehab before I transitioned to pediatrics. I still teach joint protection, but I teach it differently to hypermobile kids and their parents. Kids rarely have JRA, or joint damage in general. What they have in spades are serious degrees of hypermobility. And the methods to use joint…… Continue reading Why Joint Protection Solutions for Hypermobility Aren’t Your Granny’s Joint Protection Strategies
Toilet Training? Your Child Needs the Right Shorts!
In my first e-book, The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone, I wrote almost a full chapter just on clothing management. If your child needs you to pull clothing on and off, they are NOT fully trained. And if they have clothes that make it impossible for them to…… Continue reading Toilet Training? Your Child Needs the Right Shorts!
Helping Children With Low Muscle Tone Manage Summertime Heat
I write a version of this post every summer. Puzzled parents ask me about their child’s sometimes dramatic reactions to playing outside in the heat. Kids are melting like popsicles, tripping and whining. Time to explain the way low tone and heat interact to create less safety, less stability, and less cooperation. Yup, low tone…… Continue reading Helping Children With Low Muscle Tone Manage Summertime Heat
Is Your Child With Low Tone “Too Busy” to Make it to the Potty?
Since writing my first e-book, The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone, I have fielded a ton of questions about the later stages of potty training. One stumbling block for most children appears to be “potty fatigue”. They lose the early excitement of mastery, and they get wrapped up in…… Continue reading Is Your Child With Low Tone “Too Busy” to Make it to the Potty?
How To Pick A High Chair For Your Special Needs Child
My first Early Intervention home visit always involves seeing the child sitting in their high chair. I learn a few very important things. I learn how the child is handled by the parent or caregiver, including whether they use the available strapping to secure them. Many don’t, and don’t realize that it is part of…… Continue reading How To Pick A High Chair For Your Special Needs Child
How Therapeutic Listening Enhances Motor Skills
My readers know that I am a huge fan of Quickshifts in treatment. I have had some amazing successes with Quickshifts for regulation and modulation. Their focus on combining binaural beat technology with instrumentation, rhythm, melody and tone makes these albums effective, and it eliminates the challenges of modulated music for very young or fragile…… Continue reading How Therapeutic Listening Enhances Motor Skills