Parents of some gifted children know that this gift comes with more than a quick intellect. It can come with a will of iron and incredible emotional range. Gifted children can be expansively happy one moment, and intensely sad the next. No, it isn’t bipolar disorder, and it probably isn’t ADD (gifted kids are misdiagnosed…… Continue reading Is Your Gifted Child Also Your Most Strong Willed Child?
Category: sensory processing issues
Strengthening A Child’s Pencil Grasp: Three Easy Methods That Work
When a child makes fast progress from a fisted grasp to a mature pencil grasp in therapy, parents notice. This isn’t easy to accomplish, but it is possible. I spent the first decade of my pediatric OT career thinking that finger exercises were the answer. Nope. Here are my three favorite strategies to…… Continue reading Strengthening A Child’s Pencil Grasp: Three Easy Methods That Work
Sensory Sensitivity In Toddlers: Why Responding Differently to “Yucky!” Will Help Your Child
Sensory sensitivity and aversive behaviors are among the most common reasons families seek occupational therapy in Early Intervention. Their kids are crying and clinging through meals, dressing, bathing and more. What parents often don’t see is that they can help their child by being both empathic and educating them throughout the course of the day.…… Continue reading Sensory Sensitivity In Toddlers: Why Responding Differently to “Yucky!” Will Help Your Child
Hypermobility in Young Children: When Flexibility Isn’t Functional
Your grandma would have called it being ” double jointed”. Your mom might mention that she was the most flexible person in every yoga class she attended. But when extra joint motion reduces your child’s performance or creates pain, parents get concerned. Sometimes pediatricians and orthopedists do not. Why would that happen? A measure…… Continue reading Hypermobility in Young Children: When Flexibility Isn’t Functional
Your Gifted Child: More Than An Amazing Intellect
The characteristic that convinces a parent that their child is gifted is often an impressive vocabulary or mathematical ability. This is the criteria that will get them into the “G and T” program in school, and is often a source of pride for both parents and children. Wait! There are other characteristics of giftedness…… Continue reading Your Gifted Child: More Than An Amazing Intellect
Gifted and Struggling? Meet the Twice Exceptional Student, and How OT Can Help
I work with two amazing children that could be diagnosed as “twice exceptional”. Both boys, they have amazing intellectual gifts (one verbal, one in math) but they work with me on their handwriting and their behavior. Neither can write a simple sentence without significant errors in letter placement or formation. But both…… Continue reading Gifted and Struggling? Meet the Twice Exceptional Student, and How OT Can Help
Young Children With Dysgraphia Need Better Handwriting Instruction, Not Just Technology.
The diagnosis of dysgraphia is so vague that I almost hesitate to write about it. The reason I am dipping a toe into these messy waters? Almost every psychologist that gives a child this diagnosis recommends abandoning handwriting in favor of tablets and speech recognition programs. I feel strongly that this does young children a…… Continue reading Young Children With Dysgraphia Need Better Handwriting Instruction, Not Just Technology.
How Occupational Therapy Can Help Gifted Children (And Their Exhausted Parents!)
Gifted children have abilities that make them more sensitive to their bodies, their world and the people in it. They notice sensations, emotional states and the interplay between the physical and the non-physical world in ways that non-gifted people do not. Exquisite sensitivity, combined with intensity and drive, often come at a price for…… Continue reading How Occupational Therapy Can Help Gifted Children (And Their Exhausted Parents!)
Why is Staying Dry at Night So Challenging For Some Children?
I have received a few questions on this subject since publishing my e-book, The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone. Parents are wondering how to expand daytime success through the night. Here is what I know about getting through the night high and dry: it is as much a physical…… Continue reading Why is Staying Dry at Night So Challenging For Some Children?
Is Your Sensitive Child Gifted As Well?
Happy New Year! The topic of sensitivity (in all it’s expressions) in young children isn’t new to this blog, but the correlation with giftedness hasn’t been a part of my other posts. It is today. Sensitivity is common in gifted toddlers and preschoolers, and sensitivity is ubiquitous in young children with diagnoses such as…… Continue reading Is Your Sensitive Child Gifted As Well?
The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone: Potty Training Help Has Arrived!
My most popular post, Why Low Muscle Tone Creates More Toilet Training Struggles for Toddlers (and Parents!) inspired me to write a manual to help parents with potty training. There was nothing in books or online that really helped families, just a few lines about being patient and…… Continue reading The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone: Potty Training Help Has Arrived!
Should Your Child Use A Pencil Grip?
I will be asked about pencil grips every time I teach a workshop or lecture on handwriting. My popular post, The Pencil Grip That Strengthens Your Child’s Fingers As They Write. , partially explains when and why I would recommend the use of this excellent pencil grip with older kids. I have a message for preschool teachers…… Continue reading Should Your Child Use A Pencil Grip?
Dressing Without Tears: Sensory-Sensitive Strategies That Work
If your child has tactile (touch) sensitivity, getting them dressed can mean more than a chore. It can mean tears. Tags in shirts, “scratchy” jeans, and all that pulling of clothing over their face! I know families that scheme for months to find clothes that their child will wear to a wedding or buy clothes…… Continue reading Dressing Without Tears: Sensory-Sensitive Strategies That Work
Finger Awareness and Math Skills: Recent Research, and “Where is Thumbkin?”
The Atlantic magazine ran a terrific article, Why Kids Should Use Their Fingers in Math Class, and I am still blown away with the connections they make between brain activity during finger movements and during math calculation and comprehension. Let me get out my hands and count the ways I could use this information!…… Continue reading Finger Awareness and Math Skills: Recent Research, and “Where is Thumbkin?”
Why “Hand-Over-Hand” Assistance Doesn’t Work With So Many Special Needs Children
This method of teaching fine motor skills has never worked well for me in Early Intervention. In my professional experience, it has been a popular technique for many special educators. But they aren’t always getting the results they want. Very often, the scenario is as follows: I get a call from a concerned parent, telling…… Continue reading Why “Hand-Over-Hand” Assistance Doesn’t Work With So Many Special Needs Children
Teach Your Kindergartener How To Erase Like a Big Kid
Does it matter how a child erases their mistake? You are probably thinking that I ran out of topics for my blog this week. Not exactly. I was thinking about what makes my handwriting posts different than other bloggers that publish posts on early writing skills. I like to look at all the details when…… Continue reading Teach Your Kindergartener How To Erase Like a Big Kid
Want Pincer Grasp Before Her First Birthday? Bet You’ll Be Surprised At What Moves (Hint) Build Hand Control!
The image of a baby popping cereal into her mouth and grinning is commercial genius. But what if your child is still raking them with a fist at 8 months? Is that late or just right? Is there a way to promote early grasp without offering a baby something tiny that she can choke on?…… Continue reading Want Pincer Grasp Before Her First Birthday? Bet You’ll Be Surprised At What Moves (Hint) Build Hand Control!
Frustrating Homework? Adapt Children’s Worksheets For Success
The new school year is beginning here on the east coast, and kids will be getting new workbooks and worksheets for homework. Over the years, I have seen a staggering variety of mass-produced assignments that could only be designed by adults who spend very little time with young children, and none with kids that have…… Continue reading Frustrating Homework? Adapt Children’s Worksheets For Success
Low Tone In The Summer: Why The Heat Affects Your Child’s Safety
If you have a child with low muscle tone, you may have seen them wilt like flowers in the sun. Even if they are well-hydrated, even if they are having fun, they just can’t run as fast or sit as steadily when they are warm. Add a SPIO vest or other compression garment, and…… Continue reading Low Tone In The Summer: Why The Heat Affects Your Child’s Safety
Why Do Some Kids With ASD and SPD Refuse Toilet Training?
Toilet training is one of the few self-care skills that fall primarily on special needs parents. Speech therapists, feeding therapists, occupational therapists and ABA instructors all do assessments and create plans. Hints on toilet training from your therapy team are often very helpful, but “the boots on the ground” are yours as a parent. You…… Continue reading Why Do Some Kids With ASD and SPD Refuse Toilet Training?