Children start learning self-regulation early. Most kids eventually become reasonably skilled at it, given some help from loving adults. The problem is they don’t learn it quickly. Self-regulation takes a long time to become established in the slowly-developing brain of a young child. While you are scooping up the puddle of Jell-O that used…… Continue reading Help Your Child Develop Self-Regulation With Happiest Toddler On The Block
Category: sensory processing issues
Can You K-Tape Kids With Ehlers-Danlos and Other Connective Tissue Disorders?
The short answer: some of these kids, some of the time. The long answer: To use K-tape effectively, you need to understand the mechanics of tape on the skin and underlying tissues, how connective tissue disorders disrupt skin healing, how to minimize skin shear and inflammation, and that only using one type of tape may…… Continue reading Can You K-Tape Kids With Ehlers-Danlos and Other Connective Tissue Disorders?
Use The Fast Food Rule For Better Attunement With Your Child
What’s attunement? The physical and emotional connection that a healthy parent makes with their upset child that brings them both back into a calm and balanced state. Why is it important? Because without attunement you don’t have healthy attachment, and attachment is the foundation for a healthy emotional and interpersonal life. Attunement and attachment are…… Continue reading Use The Fast Food Rule For Better Attunement With Your Child
Improving Daily Life Skills for Kids With Special Needs
Therapro, the terrific source for a lot of handy therapy equipment and especially for items that help kids with sensory processing issues, has posted another piece from me on ADLs. Take a look: What Helps Special Needs Kids Tolerate Grooming and Hygiene? “Activities of Daily Living” don’t have the cache’ of kineseotaping or therapeutic listening,…… Continue reading Improving Daily Life Skills for Kids With Special Needs
Which Improves Pencil Grasp Best: A Pencil Grip Or A Thicker Pencil?
As a pediatric occupational therapist, I am often asked to weigh in on this debate. Not often enough, it seems, based on the pencils I see being used by kids who are struggling to write. There are a lot of kids out there using pencils with wonky grasp patterns because no one…… Continue reading Which Improves Pencil Grasp Best: A Pencil Grip Or A Thicker Pencil?
For Kids With Sensory Issues and Low Tone, Add Resistance Instead of Hand-Over-Hand Assistance
One of my most popular posts, Why “Hand-Over-Hand” Assistance Works Poorly With So Many Special Needs Children , explains how this common method of assisting children to hold and manipulate objects often results in rejection or even aversion. This post tells you about my most successful strategy for kids with low muscle tone and limited sensory…… Continue reading For Kids With Sensory Issues and Low Tone, Add Resistance Instead of Hand-Over-Hand Assistance
How Hypermobility Affects Self-Image, Behavior and Activity Levels in Children
As rehabilitation therapists, OTs and PTs are focused on skill building and reaching functional goals with our clients. But feelings influence behavior, and so therapists have to be aware of more than joints and muscles when looking at function. In this post, I would like to address the many ways that hypermobility can create social…… Continue reading How Hypermobility Affects Self-Image, Behavior and Activity Levels in Children
OXO for Kids: Great Tableware For Older Kids With Sensory and Motor Issues
Does your child knock over her milk on a daily basis? Do utensils seem to fly out of your son’s hands? I treat kids with hypermobility, coordination and praxis issues, sensory discrimination limitations, etc.; they can all benefit from this terrific line of cups, dinnerware and utensils. Yes, OXO, the same people that sell you…… Continue reading OXO for Kids: Great Tableware For Older Kids With Sensory and Motor Issues
Should Your Hypermobile Child Play Sports?
This is one of the most difficult questions I field from parents of children over 5. Every parent wants their child to receive the social, emotional and physical benefits from participating in sports. They also know that there are greater risks for hypermobile kids. Kids with hypermobility fall on a very wide spectrum. Some are…… Continue reading Should Your Hypermobile Child Play Sports?
What Helps Sensitive and Autistic Kids Handle Haircuts?
Depending on your child’s age and issues, getting a haircut can be anything from a chore to a dreaded event that you put off, and then put it off a bit more. So many kids fear them: kids with ASD, kids with sensory issues, children that have had multiple hospitalizations or procedures, children with anxiety…… Continue reading What Helps Sensitive and Autistic Kids Handle Haircuts?
How Parents Can Teach Healthy Body Boundaries To Young Children
One of the greatest horrors of the Larry Nasser story is that parents were often mere feet away from these girls while they were being molested. The people most invested in a child’s safety had no idea that anything violent was occurring, and these girls did not reveal their discomfort at the time. These…… Continue reading How Parents Can Teach Healthy Body Boundaries To Young Children
Can You Use The Wilbarger Protocol With Kids That Have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome?
My posts on proprioception and hypermobility have been popular lately, leading me to think that parents (and therapists) want more information on the sensory basis for their children’s struggles, and that often their treatments don’t include addressing their sensory processing issues. The Ehles-Danlos Syndromes (yes, there are more variants than just vascular and hypermobile!) are…… Continue reading Can You Use The Wilbarger Protocol With Kids That Have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome?
Stop All The Whining With The Fast Food Rule
Whining is a “fingernails on a chalkboard” experience for most adults. We often give in to a whining child, just to avoid hearing that noise. Or we explode and scare them (and ourselves) with the anger that whining can trigger. What can you do? What would you say if I told you that I use…… Continue reading Stop All The Whining With The Fast Food Rule
Hypermobility, Sleep, And The Hidden Problems With Blankets
Everyone knows that sleep is important. Research in sleep science (yes, this is a thing) tells us that our brains are working to digest the day’s learning, the immune system is active during sleep, and our bodies are repairing and renewing tissues and organs while we slumber. As much as we need sleep, kids need…… Continue reading Hypermobility, Sleep, And The Hidden Problems With Blankets
Holidays Hints For Sensitive Kids
The stores are full, your inbox is too, and you are wondering how to handle your sensitive child’s reactions to family and school events. You are not alone. Everyone knows about the “holiday blues”, where our dreams and expectations come up against real life: awkward family relationships, conflicting demands on our time and finances, etc.…… Continue reading Holidays Hints For Sensitive Kids
OT and Non-Disabled Gifted Children
I was asked to write another guest post for Therapro, the fantastic OT equipment and materials company that I have been using for clinic and home items for years. This time the subject is gifted children: Do Gifted But Non-Disabled Children Need Occupational Therapy?. The first time you encounter a young gifted child, you may…… Continue reading OT and Non-Disabled Gifted Children
Make Wiping Your Child’s Nose Easier With Boogie Wipes
It is cold and flu season here in the states, and I have already seen my share of snot-caked little faces. Little children get more colds than older kids and adults, and they can turn into an agitated mess when you say “Honey, I need to wipe your nose”. These wipes are going to make…… Continue reading Make Wiping Your Child’s Nose Easier With Boogie Wipes
A Simple Strategy To Improve Your Child’s Posture In A Stokke Tripp Trapp or Special Tomato Chair
The Tripp Trapp chair: The one therapists often recommend. These well-designed seats can be wonderful for kids that need solid foot support. Even the best hip and chest strapping doesn’t always mean that a child is actively using their feet for postural control. You will never guess what the secret weapon is to keep…… Continue reading A Simple Strategy To Improve Your Child’s Posture In A Stokke Tripp Trapp or Special Tomato Chair
Help Your Special Needs Toddler Make The Transition To School Routines
Many developmentally delayed toddlers move their therapeutic and educational services to a toddler developmental group, A.K.A. special needs program, when they are between 18 and 30 months old. Not all of them slide into the routine easily. There can be a few tears and a lot of complaining about fitting into a schedule…… Continue reading Help Your Special Needs Toddler Make The Transition To School Routines
Should Hypermobile Kids Sit On Therapy Balls For Schoolwork?
They are everywhere; colorful therapy balls have migrated from the clinic to the classroom. You can buy a base or a whole chair with a ball attached. But do kids with hypermobility benefit from using them, or will they create more problems than they solve? Hypermobility in infants and very young children is common,…… Continue reading Should Hypermobile Kids Sit On Therapy Balls For Schoolwork?