Preemies often wait a long time to start playing. NICU life isn’t about fun, it is about survival. Once your preemie is home, you will want to get the party started. If she has a weak grasp or isn’t coordinated enough to easily hold every rattle and toy that you got for your shower,…… Continue reading Best Preemie Toy? Try An O-Ball Toy For Easy Grasping And Playing
Category: occupational therapy
10 Easy Ways to Prepare Preschoolers to Write
Standardized testing has pushed the demand for handwriting down, down, down into preschool. The great majority of preschool children by the end of the 4’s will not have the physical control of a pencil to write lowercase letters correctly, but some teachers tell me that their administrations require them to teach kids to write their…… Continue reading 10 Easy Ways to Prepare Preschoolers to Write
Toe Walker? Why The Problem Usually Isn’t Touch Sensitivity
Kids that toe-walk after they have fully mastered walking and running (usually 24-30 months) are often accused of avoiding the feeling of their feet on the floor. It certainly looks that way. The truth is usually not so simple, and the solution not so easy to achieve. Getting a toe-walker to use a heel-toe gait…… Continue reading Toe Walker? Why The Problem Usually Isn’t Touch Sensitivity
The Tally Sheet, Updated For End of Preschool
Fans of my simple and fun pre-writing activity Preschool Handwriting Activity: The Tally Sheet, come on back into the pool for more! The tally sheet is a great way to keep score during a fast and fun game such as Pop-Up Pirate or Crocodile Dentist. As this year’s group or preschoolers are approaching the stage…… Continue reading The Tally Sheet, Updated For End of Preschool
Use The Fast Food Rule to Help ASD Toddlers Handle Change
Kids With ASD can react strongly to changes in their routines or environments. Even changing the location of furniture they don’t even use can create screaming and aggression. Why? Often they use their external concept of home and environment to provide internal consistency, structure, and spatial comprehension. We all do, in reality. Ask anyone who…… Continue reading Use The Fast Food Rule to Help ASD Toddlers Handle Change
Is Low Muscle Tone A Sensory Processing Issue?
Only if you think that sensing your body’s position and being able to perceive the degree/quality of your movement is sensory-based. I’m being silly; of course low tone creates sensory processing issues. It isn’t the same sensory profile as the child who can’t pay attention when long sleeves brush his skin, nor the child who cannot…… Continue reading Is Low Muscle Tone A Sensory Processing Issue?
Plus Plus Toy Review: This Toy Can Make Your Child Turn Off The Tablet
I got a box of mini PlusPlus building pieces as a gift from a client. Her son is apparently addicted. He was totally occupied with them for their entire vacation plane ride earlier this year. The entire ride. These toys from Denmark come in midi (medium size) and mini sizes. They are intended for…… Continue reading Plus Plus Toy Review: This Toy Can Make Your Child Turn Off The Tablet
How Using Utensils To Eat Prepares Your Child To Write
My post on selecting great utensils has generated buzz with my clients. When I mentioned in therapy sessions that every time a preschooler uses a fork or spoon with a mature grasp, they are building the strength and control needed for good handwriting, parent’s jaws hit the floor. It never occurred to them that there…… Continue reading How Using Utensils To Eat Prepares Your Child To Write
Which Spoon Is Best To Teach Grown-Up Grasp?
Using a spoon to scoop with a mature grasp (thumb on top, fingers curled under) and using a pencil to write are two preschool fine motor skills that last a lifetime. Did you know that the design of the spoon can make teaching mature spoon grasp easier? I had a discussion with a child’s speech…… Continue reading Which Spoon Is Best To Teach Grown-Up Grasp?
Teaching Handwriting To Kids with ASD
Handwriting still matters, and it matters just as much to kids on the spectrum. Teaching handwriting to kids that have difficulty focusing and that learn better with individualized instruction can be a challenge for any teacher, including special education teachers in a self-contained classroom. For teachers in an integrated classroom, it can be an overwhelming…… Continue reading Teaching Handwriting To Kids with ASD
Why Do You Start (Uppercase) Letters at the Top? Speed and Accuracy
Another week, another second-grader showing me how he writes uppercase letters starting on the baseline. You don’t have to use Handwriting Without Tears to use correct start and sequencing of strokes; no standard letter style starts uppercase letters on the baseline. For a reason. It is harder to achieve good control of your fingers in…… Continue reading Why Do You Start (Uppercase) Letters at the Top? Speed and Accuracy
Too Fussy to Breastfeed? It May Not Be Latching-On Issues
Latch-on is a big deal when you nurse. Getting a newborn to achieve that solid seal and then synchronize the suck-swallow-breathe rhythm is essential. When I was a younger occupational therapist, I was all about the mechanics of achieving oral control and teaching that rhythm. Some babies have medical issues that make it harder, but…… Continue reading Too Fussy to Breastfeed? It May Not Be Latching-On Issues
Improve Transitioning Skills in ASD By Helping Kids Pay Attention To The Sounds Around Them
Kids with ASD often have limited auditory awareness and processing. Imagine your life if you struggled with this: Should I pay attention to the hum of the fan or your voice? That ringing; is it a doorbell, a toy, or a phone? I didn’t notice you speaking to me, and now you tell me that…… Continue reading Improve Transitioning Skills in ASD By Helping Kids Pay Attention To The Sounds Around Them
Teach Angled Paper Placement Early in Handwriting Instruction
A Handwriting Without Tears training course was the first place that I heard, as a pediatric occupational therapist, how important correct paper placement (on a slight angle) really is when you teach children to write. Last week a mom who is also a licensed teacher reminded me. Her son is very bright but has more than…… Continue reading Teach Angled Paper Placement Early in Handwriting Instruction
Better Posture and More Legible Writing With A “Helper Hand”
What is it? Handwriting Without Tears (HWT), the handwriting instruction program, introduced me to the concept of the “helper hand”. The helper hand is a child’s non-dominant hand. I am a righty, so my left hand is my helper hand. Here is why it matters more than you (and your child’s teacher) think it does.…… Continue reading Better Posture and More Legible Writing With A “Helper Hand”
Low Tone and Toilet Training: Teaching Toddlers to Wipe
The parent that inspired my most popular post ever, Why Low Tone Creates More Toilet Training Struggles for Toddlers (And Parents!) , suggested that I write another about the most useful advice she says I ever offered her. Not the most glamorous topic, but teaching children to wipe their tushies is important.…… Continue reading Low Tone and Toilet Training: Teaching Toddlers to Wipe
Teach Spoon Grip By Making It Fun And Sharing a Laugh With Your Child
Whether you are teaching a younger child to grip a toddler spoon or teaching an older child to hold a spoon in the mature pattern, kids can resist practicing this important skill. I created a game that makes it really fun and builds a warm connection with your child. You share a laugh, and…… Continue reading Teach Spoon Grip By Making It Fun And Sharing a Laugh With Your Child
Why Low Muscle Tone Affects Pencil Grasp
Low muscle tone can cause a child to struggle with holding crayons and pencils. Those little fingers wrap around them, fold over them and sometimes ball up into a fist to hold a pencil. How a child holds a pencil does not automatically mean that his handwriting will be illegible, but it almost always makes…… Continue reading Why Low Muscle Tone Affects Pencil Grasp
Teaching Handwriting In Three Simple Stages
Parents and teachers are consistently surprised that there is a natural developmental progression in between scribbling and being a completely independent writer. Knowing the three stages of handwriting makes any writing lesson less frustrating for teachers as well as kids. Building skills rather than doing drills just works better! Stage One: An adult demonstrates how…… Continue reading Teaching Handwriting In Three Simple Stages
Good Posture for Kids With Feeding Issues Matters
Feeding challenges are a huge source of concern for parents of children with low tone, autism, and a host of other issues. Improving how a child sits when eating isn’t magically going to solve every problem for every child, but ignoring the benefits of good positioning will make most feeding problems worse. Even problems not…… Continue reading Good Posture for Kids With Feeding Issues Matters