Kids that defy adult instructions, even instructions that are ultimately for their benefit, often get begged or threatened into compliance. Pleading with your child to pick up their mess, or threatening your child that those toys on the floor will be given to a charity shop isn’t always going to work. Why? Probably because your…… Continue reading Address A Child’s Defiance Without Crushing Their Spirit
Category: parenting
Hypermobility and ADHD? Take Stability, Proprioception, Pain and Fatigue Into Account Before Labeling Behavior
ADHD is a disorder that is diagnosed clinically. This means that there are no brain examinations, no measures that are not behavioral, when determining whether or not to give a child this label. The younger the child, the less accurate behavioral measurements are. But the risks in quickly giving a child this label are significant.…… Continue reading Hypermobility and ADHD? Take Stability, Proprioception, Pain and Fatigue Into Account Before Labeling Behavior
How To Teach Your Child To Wipe “Back There”
Potty training is a process. For most kids, the final frontier is managing bowel movements. Compared to learning to pee into the toilet, little kids are often more stressed by bowel movements and have less opportunities to practice. Most children don’t have more than one BM per day, but they urinate many times per day.…… Continue reading How To Teach Your Child To Wipe “Back There”
Negotiating With Toddlers? Why They Think That 90/10 Is A Good Deal
Toddlers can make you doubt your sanity. They really can. How can a crushed cookie be the end of the universe as they know it? Why do they think you can make more cookies appear on demand? And how to explain to this person that thinks you hung the moon that you simply cannot…… Continue reading Negotiating With Toddlers? Why They Think That 90/10 Is A Good Deal
Make Handwriting Fun While Getting Ready For The New School Year
Here in the US, kids are getting ready to go back to school. And most of them haven’t been writing much in the last 6-8 weeks. At the kindergarten level, some children will have forgotten any lowercase letters they knew in the spring. At the 1-2 grade levels, it is not uncommon for kids to…… Continue reading Make Handwriting Fun While Getting Ready For The New School Year
Should Hypermobile Kids Use Backpacks?
It is back-to-school season here in the US. One of the items on shopping lists is a new backpack. But for kids with low muscle tone or hypermobility, backpacks can be more than a way to carry books and water bottles. They can be a source of pain, headaches, even numbness in hands and fingers.…… Continue reading Should Hypermobile Kids Use Backpacks?
How to Help Sensitive Kids Handle Greeting People (Including Their Own Parents!)
Many kids with ASD and SPD struggle with agitation and even tantrums when people enter their homes. It can happen when their parent returns home from work, eager to scoop them up. These kids become shy, run away, even hit! Many, even most parents, believe that this is “bad behavior”, being defiant, or expressing…… Continue reading How to Help Sensitive Kids Handle Greeting People (Including Their Own Parents!)
Parents With Disabilities Deserve Real Support, Not Pity or Praise
Parenting is hard. Everyone that has children or works with them knows that this is true. Parenting when you have a disability is harder by far. Like parenting… squared. But instead of real support, many disabled people who become parents or are thinking of becoming parents face a lot of reactions from the non-disabled.…… Continue reading Parents With Disabilities Deserve Real Support, Not Pity or Praise
Prevent Skin Injuries In Kids With Connective Tissue Disorders: Simple Moves To Make Today
Children with EDS and other connective tissue disorders such as joint hyper mobility disorder often have sensitive skin. Knowing the best ways to care for their skin can prevent a lot of discomfort and even injury. These kids often develop scars more easily, and injured skin is more vulnerable in general to another injury down…… Continue reading Prevent Skin Injuries In Kids With Connective Tissue Disorders: Simple Moves To Make Today
Hypermobile Child? Simple Dental Moves That Make a Real Difference in Your Child’s Health
As the OTR on a treatment team, I am the ADL (Activities of Daily Living) go-to person. Why then, do so few parents ask me what ideas I have about ADLs, especially dental care? Probably because OT as a profession has developed this reputation as the therapist either focused on handwriting or…… Continue reading Hypermobile Child? Simple Dental Moves That Make a Real Difference in Your Child’s Health
Is is Sensory Or Is It Behavior? Before 3, The Answer Is Usually “Yes!”
If I had a dollar for every parent that asked me if head banging when frustrated means their child has a sensory processing disorder…well, I would be writing this post from a suite in Tahiti! Modulation of arousal is the most common sensory processing concern for the parents that I see as a pediatric occupational…… Continue reading Is is Sensory Or Is It Behavior? Before 3, The Answer Is Usually “Yes!”
Can Hypermobility Cause Speech Problems?
As a pediatric OT, many of my clients have speech and feeding problems that are attributed to low muscle tone. Very often, that is where assessment ends. Perhaps it shouldn’t. Joint hypermobility can also create issues such as dysarthria, disfluency and poor voice/breath control. It isn’t only about oral muscles and muscle coordination for feeding.…… Continue reading Can Hypermobility Cause Speech Problems?
Taping The Paper To The Table For Your Child? Stop!
Many young children between 2 and 5, especially children with low muscle tone or postural instability, will struggle with bilateral control. In preschool, one way to notice this is to see the paper sliding around the table while a child colors. The common response of teachers (and parents) is to tape the paper down. Oops!…… Continue reading Taping The Paper To The Table For Your Child? Stop!
Gifted at Preschool: How to Support The Young Gifted Child In Class
Gifted children often cannot wait to go to preschool. They may follow an older sibling into their classroom and cry when they have to leave. After all, look at all those books, art supplies, and science stations to explore! Things can go right off the rails, however, if the teacher and the classroom…… Continue reading Gifted at Preschool: How to Support The Young Gifted Child In Class
Hypermobile Toddlers: It’s What Not To Do That Matters Most
Do you pick up your toddler and feel that shoulder or those wrist bones moving a lot under your touch? Does your child do a “downward dog” and her elbows look like they are bending backward? Does it seem that his ankles are rolling over toward the floor when he stands up? That is…… Continue reading Hypermobile Toddlers: It’s What Not To Do That Matters Most
And She Rescues Him Right Back: An Early Reader For The Young Feminist
If you like the movie “Pretty Woman”, you will know this reference. I have always been conflicted about this popular adult fairy tale, even though I adore the two stars and the clever screenplay. In fact, I have wished at times that the roles were reversed. Apparently, there is a children’s book for…… Continue reading And She Rescues Him Right Back: An Early Reader For The Young Feminist
How to Teach Your Child to Cut Food With a Knife…Safely!
After a child scoops with a spoon and pierces food with a fork, time seems to stand still. No one wants to hand a young child a knife. But they should (sort of). Here are some ideas to safely explore knife skills without holding your breath or end up still buttering their toast when they…… Continue reading How to Teach Your Child to Cut Food With a Knife…Safely!
The Difference Between Special Needs and Typical Potty Training Approaches: Address Sensory/Behavioral Issues and Use Consistent Routines
After writing The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone, I have been asked what was different about my book. There must be 100 books on potty training special needs kids. What did I do differently? Simple. I am an occupational therapist, so I have no choice but to use my…… Continue reading The Difference Between Special Needs and Typical Potty Training Approaches: Address Sensory/Behavioral Issues and Use Consistent Routines
Prevent the Summer Slide in Handwriting By Making It Fun To Write
“The Summer Slide” is the phenomenon of losing academic skills during summer vacation. With the exception of the children who insist on you buying them workbooks and those that read a book a day by choice, all summer long, summer slide will happen to most children. Here are some strategies to limit it’s effect on…… Continue reading Prevent the Summer Slide in Handwriting By Making It Fun To Write
Sensitivity and Gifted Children: The Mind That Floods With Feeling
Gifted children are often the most emotional and empathic toddlers in the room. They are the kids who cry when the ASPCA runs those tearjerker commercials. They are the teens who want to develop an NGO to provide clean water in developing countries. Gifted children don’t do this to get a boost on…… Continue reading Sensitivity and Gifted Children: The Mind That Floods With Feeling