Throwing toys. Screaming “NO!!!!!” Dumping a plate of food on the floor while they look right at you in defiance. Kids can go from cute to aggressive in the blink of an eye. Is it annoying? Sure. Is it dangerous? Not all the time. Should you completely ignore it? Not unless you’d like to see…… Continue reading How To Respond to Your Child’s Aggressive or Defiant Acts To Get Results That Last
Category: preschoolers
Teach Kids How to Cut With Scissors…The Easy Way
As a pediatric occupational therapist, scissor use is something I assess but also something I teach. And I teach it early. I also teach safety early, and teach it with a focus on early success. What makes it easier to teach children to cut with scissors? Good timing. Typically-developing children have the visual-motor skills to…… Continue reading Teach Kids How to Cut With Scissors…The Easy Way
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. This is because no other OTs are helping parents figure out why their little flowers are wilting. 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…… Continue reading Helping Children With Low Muscle Tone Manage Summertime Heat
Try “Rainbow Tracing” to Build Pre-Writing Skills With Creativity
I am not a huge fan of teaching preschool children to trace strokes. I am very interested in the use of simple drawing to build pencil control and other pre-writing skills. But done right, tracing can be fun and useful for both the child and the adult. Here is one way to use tracing effectively:…… Continue reading Try “Rainbow Tracing” to Build Pre-Writing Skills With Creativity
Should You Use Pre-Mixed Dough to Bake With Your Toddler?
OK; this is a trick question. Using prepared dough is one of the easiest ways to introduce very young children (or special needs kids of any age that are functioning at the 18-36 month level) to food preparation. With the right mindset, it is the beginning of a wonderful way to share practical skills, build…… Continue reading Should You Use Pre-Mixed Dough to Bake With Your Toddler?
Want Better Self-Regulation in Young Children? Help Them Manage Aggression
You might think as a pediatric OTR, I would be writing a post about sensory-based treatment for self-regulation. And I have in the past. Not today. But I have been an OTR for decades, and what I know about today’s children is that agitated and dysregulated kids often need help managing aggressive impulses and negative…… Continue reading Want Better Self-Regulation in Young Children? Help Them Manage Aggression
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?
Doing OT Telehealth? Start Cooking (And Baking)!
Parents are looking for ways to survive the lockdown without daycare and preschool. Even the easiest child is starting to chafe under the oppression of the COVID quarantine. As an OT, it is my job to help parents support growth and development, but I don’t have to make it feel like work. Enter cooking and…… Continue reading Doing OT Telehealth? Start Cooking (And Baking)!
How To Pick A High Chair For Your Special Needs Child
My first Early Intervention home visits always involve seeing the child sitting in their high chair. Why? 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…… Continue reading How To Pick A High Chair For Your Special Needs Child
Want Your Child to Show Hand Preference (Righty/Lefty?) Where You Place Their Spoon Matters
I get a lot of questions about this issue, based on my experience as a pediatric OTR. Starting at 12 months, some children show a strong hand preference and never look back. Other kids are switching hand use long after 4. Without the existence of disorders that directly affect hand dominance such as orthopedic disorders, cerebral palsy,…… Continue reading Want Your Child to Show Hand Preference (Righty/Lefty?) Where You Place Their Spoon Matters
How To Help Your Toddler Hold a Spoon
Holding a spoon or fork isn’t an intuitive skill for children. Neither is assisting another person, of any age, to self-feed. Parents really have struggled with this issue, and there must be many more out there who are struggling still. This post is intended to help both parties be more successful. Young children use a…… Continue reading How To Help Your Toddler Hold a Spoon
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
How To Improve Posture In Children With Low Muscle Tone… Without a Fight!
With pediatric occupational therapy going on at home using parents as surrogate therapists, it isn’t helpful to ask a parent to do too much repositioning of children with low tone. First of all, kids don’t like it. Second, kids really don’t like it. I have never met a child that enjoys therapeutic handling, no matter…… Continue reading How To Improve Posture In Children With Low Muscle Tone… Without a Fight!
Using A Vertical Easel in Preschool? WHERE Your Child Draws on it Matters!
There are a few equipment and toy recommendations that every home-based pediatric OTR makes to a child’s parents: Play-Doh, puzzles, tunnels, …and a vertical easel. Found in every preschool, children from 18 months on can build their reach and proximal (upper body) control while coloring and scribbling on a vertical surface, rather than a tabletop.…… Continue reading Using A Vertical Easel in Preschool? WHERE Your Child Draws on it Matters!
Is Your Toddler Home From School Because of COVID-19? Save Your Sanity With Fun Routines
Many families have toddlers that are not attending daycare or preschool now. They are at home. All day. They are off their schedules, and sometimes seem off their rockers! Here are some ideas to help their parents retain their sanity: Create a routine for them. This means that they get snacks at a certain time,…… Continue reading Is Your Toddler Home From School Because of COVID-19? Save Your Sanity With Fun Routines
Joint Protection And Hypermobility: Investing in Your Child’s Future
Parents of hypermobile kids are taught early on not to pull on limbs while dressing them or picking them up. It is less common to teach children how to protect their own joints. In fact, parents may be encouraged by their child’s doctors to let them be “as active as they want to be,…… Continue reading Joint Protection And Hypermobility: Investing in Your Child’s Future
Sensory Processing, Allergies, and Colds: Nothing to Sneeze At!
Here in the US, it is cold and flu season. Most of my day is spend with kids recovering from some upper respiratory virus. A few seem to have a continuous runny nose and cough. They also have an increase in their sensory processing issues. Is this connected, and if so, what can be done?…… Continue reading Sensory Processing, Allergies, and Colds: Nothing to Sneeze At!
Calm Your Child When They Cry After Losing a Game
Whether it is a board game or a soccer game, once children are old enough to wrap their minds around winning, they cannot handle losing. Their grief leads parents to “throw” every game so that their child wins every time, or they make up games where everyone is a winner (I will…… Continue reading Calm Your Child When They Cry After Losing a Game
Are You a Trauma Survivor AND the Parent of a Special Needs Child?
First, let me say that trauma survivors can be among the most loving and active parents I work with as a pediatric occupational therapist. How do I know they are survivors? Some parents share their histories openly, and some aren’t aware of what their actions and words reveal. Occupational therapists that have worked in psychiatry…… Continue reading Are You a Trauma Survivor AND the Parent of a Special Needs Child?