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
Category: self-care skills
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
A Practical Guide to Helping the Hypermobile School-Age Child Succeed
The JointSmart Child series started off in 2019 with Volume One: The Early Years. It is finally time for the school-age child to have their needs addressed! Volume Two: The School Years is available now on Amazon as an e-book, filled with information to make life at home and at school easier and safer. This…… Continue reading A Practical Guide to Helping the Hypermobile School-Age Child Succeed
Potty Training in the COVID-19 Age
Parents are staying home with their toddlers and preschoolers now. All day. While this can be a challenge, it can also be the right time to do potty training. Here’s how to make it work when you want to teach your toddler how to “make” in the potty: You don’t have to wait for…… Continue reading Potty Training in the COVID-19 Age
Does Your Toddler Fight Diaper Changes? End The Drama Today!
I regularly field questions about this problem from the parents of children I treat. If your 8 to 36-month old is fussy during diaper changes, and you know it isn’t from diaper rash, keep reading, because… I have some information and ideas for you. Parents of kids with sensory processing issues or developmental…… Continue reading Does Your Toddler Fight Diaper Changes? End The Drama Today!
The JointSmart Child Series: Parents of Young Hypermobile Children Can Feel More Empowered and Confident Today!
My first book, The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone, was a wonderful experience to write and share. The number of daily hits on one of my most popular blog posts Hypermobility and Proprioception: Why Loose Joints Create Sensory Processing Problems for Children helped me figure out what my next e-book…… Continue reading The JointSmart Child Series: Parents of Young Hypermobile Children Can Feel More Empowered and Confident Today!
Why Injuries to Hypermobile Joints Hurt Twice
My new e-book, The JointSmart Child: Living and Thriving With Hypermobility, Volume I, is just about ready to launch. One of the book’s major themes is that safety awareness is something that parents need to actively teach hypermobile young children. Of course, physical and occupational therapists need to educate their parents first. And they shouldn’t…… Continue reading Why Injuries to Hypermobile Joints Hurt Twice
Toilet Training Strategies to Help The Child With A Receptive Language Delay Succeed!
Even after writing my books on potty training, I continue to be aware that some parents (and therapists!) think that there are issues that can completely prevent successful training. One of these issues is a receptive language delay. This is when a child’s ability to comprehend language is not age appropriate. It may be accompanied…… Continue reading Toilet Training Strategies to Help The Child With A Receptive Language Delay Succeed!
Hypermobility Or Low Tone? Three Solutions to Mealtime Problems
Many young hypermobile kids, with and without low muscle tone, struggle at mealtimes. Even after they have received skilled feeding therapy and can chew and swallow safely, they may continue to slide off their chair, spill food on the table (and on their body!) and refuse to use utensils. It doesn’t have to…… Continue reading Hypermobility Or Low Tone? Three Solutions to Mealtime Problems
How Long Term Medical Care Affects Infant and Toddler Development
The good news: more and more extremely premature and medically complex babies are surviving. The bad news: there is a cost to the extended and complex treatment that saves their lives and helps them to thrive. This post is an effort to put out in the open what pediatric therapists know only too well…… Continue reading How Long Term Medical Care Affects Infant and Toddler Development
Afraid to Toilet Train? Prepare Your Child… and Prepare Yourself
I spend an extra 30 minutes at the end of a session this week helping a mom build her courage and confidence so that she felt ready to start toilet training soon. Her child is over 3, has sensory and motor issues, but shows tons of signs for readiness: dry diapers for increasingly long periods,…… Continue reading Afraid to Toilet Train? Prepare Your Child… and Prepare Yourself
Should You Install a Child-Sized Potty for Your Special Needs Child?
I know that some of you don’t even realize that such a thing exists: a toilet sized for preschoolers and kindergarteners! Well, you won’t find it in Lowe’s or Home Depot on the showroom floor, but you can buy them online, and it is an option to consider. Here are the reasons you might put…… Continue reading Should You Install a Child-Sized Potty for Your Special Needs Child?
How Being Toilet Trained Changes Your Child’s Life (and Yours!)
Think your child doesn’t care that he is wearing pull-ups in pre-K? Well, he might not…yet. After all, he doesn’t know another life. He has been using a diaper (because we know that pull-ups aren’t anything other than a diaper, right?) for elimination since his first day of life. Wait until he is trained, and…… Continue reading How Being Toilet Trained Changes Your Child’s Life (and Yours!)
The Not-So-Secret Solution for Your Child With Motor And Sensory Issues: Dycem
In adult rehab, occupational therapists are regularly providing patients who have incoordination, muscle weakness or joint instability with both skill-building activities and adaptive equipment such as Dycem. In pediatrics, you see a predominance of skills training. Adaptive equipment shows up primarily for the most globally and pervasively disabled children. I think that should change. Why? Because…… Continue reading The Not-So-Secret Solution for Your Child With Motor And Sensory Issues: Dycem
Three Reasons Why Your Constipated Toddler May Also Have Bladder Accidents
Kids with chronic constipation are a challenge to train. It can often appear that withholding is the issue, and to be certain, fear and pain are real issues. But there are some physiological problems caused by constipation that contribute to bladder problems, and they aren’t always what your pediatrician is thinking about. The constant fullness…… Continue reading Three Reasons Why Your Constipated Toddler May Also Have Bladder Accidents
The Best Toilet Training Book for Neurotypical Kids: Oh Crap Potty Training!
My readers know that I wrote a book on potty training kids with low tone ( The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone: Potty Training Help Has Arrived! ) but I have to admit, I learn a lot from other authors. Jamie Glowacki has written a terrific book that speaks clearly and…… Continue reading The Best Toilet Training Book for Neurotypical Kids: Oh Crap Potty Training!
What Do You Say to Kids Who Don’t Know They Need to “Go”? Tell Them to Stand Up
For children with either low muscle tone or spasticity, toilet training can be a real challenge. If it isn’t clothing management or making it to the potty on time, they can have a hard time perceiving that NOW is the time to start heading to the toilet. Why? Often, their interoception isn’t terrific. What is…… Continue reading What Do You Say to Kids Who Don’t Know They Need to “Go”? Tell Them to Stand Up
Universal Design For Parents of Special Needs Kids: It’s Important for You Too!
I just finished the coursework for my CAPS certification (certified aging-in-place specialist)! Amazing instructor and loads of valuable information about construction and renovation that only the National Association of Home Builders could impart. And not just for aging-in-place; the concepts of accessibility make homes more visitable for family and friends, and more livable and…… Continue reading Universal Design For Parents of Special Needs Kids: It’s Important for You Too!
Tub Safety For Special Needs Children
Bathtime is usually a fun experience for young children. Toys, splashing, bubbles. But it’s not always fun for parents. If your child has issues with sensory sensitivity, sensory seeking or hypermobility, you can feel like a one-armed paperhanger; juggling toys, washcloth and child! One solution is to use a bath seat. A word of common…… Continue reading Tub Safety For Special Needs Children