Category: occupational therapy

What Happens When Adults Don’t Teach Handwriting

This is not a post about the developing world, where getting a full meal supersedes writing a full sentence. It is about allowing errors to go ignored because a child “tried their best, and we don’t want them to get discouraged”. Handwriting is not intuitive.  Walking appears to be a skill that we are programmed…… Continue reading What Happens When Adults Don’t Teach Handwriting

The Easiest Way To Trigger Interoceptive Calming In Your Child

Interoception.  The eighth?? sense?  The key to calming? If there was a way to produce therapist catnip, it has to be by mentioning “interoception”!    We are all buzzing about this.  But understanding how the ability to sense internal homeostasis (that is what interoception is) makes kids happier is harder to convey in practical, non-medical…… Continue reading The Easiest Way To Trigger Interoceptive Calming In Your Child

3 Hidden Causes of Handwriting Errors

Lined paper.  Pencil grips.  Easels.  Tutoring. All of these solutions can help a child who has illegible handwriting.  There are more handwriting devices and strategies than pencils in my desk drawer.  But three contributors to poorly legible writing are often easily forgotten:   Room temperature.  Children that are chilly or too toasty will be fidgety.…… Continue reading 3 Hidden Causes of Handwriting Errors

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

Is Your Child Jumpy, Distracted, Or Controlling? Sound Sensitivity Could Be The Problem

  M.E. couldn’t pay attention to her homework.  The landscapers had arrived, and the muffled sounds of their equipment had her looking around and running to the window every few minutes.  Her brother sat on the floor with his LEGOs, oblivious to it all.  He was four years younger, but his behavior was easier to…… Continue reading Is Your Child Jumpy, Distracted, Or Controlling? Sound Sensitivity Could Be The Problem

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.  It is…… Continue reading Why Using a Chair Correctly is SO Difficult for Hypermobile Kids and Adults

Teaching Kids To Cut With Scissors? Don’t Use Cheap Paper

As a pediatric occupational therapist, I would guess that every third IEP I have seen for preschool children includes some version of being able to cut with scissors. Understanding anatomy and neurology certainly help therapists understand why a child struggles. But when teaching a motor skill, it also helps to know what tools make a…… Continue reading Teaching Kids To Cut With Scissors? Don’t Use Cheap Paper

How To Write Numbers And Letters To Avoid Confusing Young Children

One of the common questions children will ask me when I am working with them on handwriting is “Why is your “6” different from my book’s “6”? , or why is your ” M” different from my book’s “M” ? This is an EXCELLENT question. Here is the answer: because a computer made those numbers…… Continue reading How To Write Numbers And Letters To Avoid Confusing Young Children

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!

Why A Circular Scribble ISN’T a Circle

I spend a lot of time in telehealth with toddlers and young preschoolers doing pre-writing.  It requires few tools, it is easy to demonstrate, and it is fun.  But when parents tell their two year-old that they drew a circle after they scribbled in a circular pattern, I stop them. Why? After all, copying a…… Continue reading Why A Circular Scribble ISN’T a Circle

Doing Quickshifts? Modulated Music? Therapeutic Listening? Get These Affordable, Comfortable, Kid-Size Bluetooth Headphones From PURO!

Wirecutter, owned by the New York Times, just did a piece on great gifts. The PURO BT2200 models were featured because they are child-sized NOISE-LIMITING headphones with a BUILT-IN MIC, which is great for virtual school participation. I am recommending them because they will not destroy your child’s hearing. They max out at 85 decibels.…… Continue reading Doing Quickshifts? Modulated Music? Therapeutic Listening? Get These Affordable, Comfortable, Kid-Size Bluetooth Headphones From PURO!

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

Should You Use White Noise With Toddlers?

I teach The Happiest Baby on the Block techniques to calm newborns because it is based in science.  The science of neurology and early development.  But babies grow.  The 5 S’s, used all together, really don’t work much past 12 weeks of age.  Nobody is swaddling a 6-month old, or jiggling an 8-month old. But…… Continue reading Should You Use White Noise With Toddlers?

The Three Stages of Color Recognition in Toddlers and Preschoolers

Although this is not officially an OT issue, I regularly field questions about when and how to teach color recognition to young children.  Like many of my other posts, I am writing this one so that I have something I can send parents; they can read about the concepts we discuss.  There is so much…… Continue reading The Three Stages of Color Recognition in Toddlers and Preschoolers

Is It Sensory Treatment…Or Sensory Stimulation? How To Know The Difference

cco I have spent the first part of my career in pediatrics convincing parents, teachers, and other therapists that sensory processing is important for development, and that sensory processing disorders are a real “thing”.  I am spending the latter part of my career trying to explain to the same groups that using a sensory-based activity…… Continue reading Is It Sensory Treatment…Or Sensory Stimulation? How To Know The Difference

Help Your Toddler Prepare to Write

Ian, Lila, and Tom aren’t writing. They are drawing! Contrary to the ideas of some preschool teachers, most three year olds don’t write their names.  In truth, most young fours don’t either.  I refuse to count the kids who “draw” their names like the photo above.  That isn’t writing.  That is drawing, the same as…… Continue reading Help Your Toddler Prepare to Write

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

How To Remember to Do A Sensory Diet With Your Child

A “sensory diet” is the cornerstone of managing a child’s sensory processing issues.  Every therapist knows that without a good home program that only addressing a child’s needs in a session, we aren’t going to see much progress.  Treatment sessions are spent half playing catch-up:  trying to increase postural activation, calming them down, or waking…… Continue reading How To Remember to Do A Sensory Diet With Your Child