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
Tag: ASD
How Using Dr. Karp’s Fast Food Rule Transforms Kids With Special Needs
Yes, I said the word transform. I know that hyperbole isn’t always appropriate when you are a therapist (we try to hedge our bets with predictions), but I am willing to go out on a limb in this instance and say that learning this single Happiest Toddler on the Block technique will make a difference with…… Continue reading How Using Dr. Karp’s Fast Food Rule Transforms Kids With Special Needs
Does Your Child Hate Big Spaces? There is a Sensory-Based Explanation for all That Complaining
When you see it, it looks like Helen Keller crossed with a Roomba. A child enters a space, even a familiar space, and runs the perimeter without stopping to play or examine things. They may trace the room with their fingers, or repeat this process many times before they “land” and engage in some kind…… Continue reading Does Your Child Hate Big Spaces? There is a Sensory-Based Explanation for all That Complaining
Halloween is Coming: For Sensory Sensitive Children, It’s No Celebration
I love Halloween, but not everyone does. Kids with sensory sensitivity top THAT list! The strange transformation of their classrooms, homes and yards aren’t exciting; they are disorienting. The masks and loose costumes? Pure Hell. But at least here in America, it often seems like it is almost unpatriotic to shun this holiday unless you…… Continue reading Halloween is Coming: For Sensory Sensitive Children, It’s No Celebration
Spatial Awareness and Sound: “Hearing” The Space Around You
I hear a lot about kids who aren’t comfortable in big spaces: cafeterias, churches, gyms. Many parents, and even some therapists, attribute it to lack of familiarity: these are places they use inconsistently and are filled with more strangers. Or they mention noise intolerance: to music, to shouting, and to sounds like balls bouncing or…… Continue reading Spatial Awareness and Sound: “Hearing” The Space Around You
Teaching Safety Awareness To Special Needs Toddlers
Parents anxiously wait for their special needs infants to sit up, crawl and walk. That last skill can take extra months or years. Everyone, and I mean everyone, uses walking as a benchmark for maturity and independence. They shouldn’t. A child with poor safety awareness isn’t safer when they acquire mobility skills. Sometimes they are…… Continue reading Teaching Safety Awareness To Special Needs Toddlers
Is Compulsive Gaming A Disorder…Or A Symptom?
The WHO has recently classified compulsive gaming a mental illness. I am not so sure. What I do believe is that doing anything compulsively is a big problem for developing brains. Is your child heading in the direction of using gaming or web surfing to deal with issues such as social anxiety or poor executive…… Continue reading Is Compulsive Gaming A Disorder…Or A Symptom?
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
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!)
Child Writing Too Lightly on Paper? It Might Not Be Hand Strength Holding Him Back
If your child barely makes a mark when he scribbles or writes, most adults assume that grasp is an issue. Today’s post suggests that something else could be the real reason for those faint lines. Limitations in postural and bilateral control contribute far more to lack of pressure when writing than most parents and teachers…… Continue reading Child Writing Too Lightly on Paper? It Might Not Be Hand Strength Holding Him Back
Low Tone and Constipation: Why This Issue Delays Toilet Training Progress
Kids with low tone and sensory processing disorders are not the only children who struggle with constipation, but it is more common for them. The reasons are many: low abdominal and oral tone, less use of available musculature because they use compensatory sitting and standing (the schlump, the lean, the swayback) patterns, and even food…… Continue reading Low Tone and Constipation: Why This Issue Delays Toilet Training Progress
Use The Fast Food Rule to Help ASD Toddlers Handle Change
Kids With ASD can react strongly to changes in their routines or environments. Even changing the location of furniture they don’t even use can create screaming and aggression. Why? Often they use their external concept of home and environment to provide internal consistency, structure, and spatial comprehension. We all do, in reality. Ask anyone who…… Continue reading Use The Fast Food Rule to Help ASD Toddlers Handle Change
Why Cutting Nails Is Such a Challenge for Autistic and Sensory Kids
Most children resist nail trimming. But kids on the autism spectrum, kids with sensory sensitivity, and children with significant language delays can turn this simple grooming task into an epic contest of wills. Parents tell me all too often that it is two-person job for them. It can be the hardest thing they do all…… Continue reading Why Cutting Nails Is Such a Challenge for Autistic and Sensory Kids
Improve Transitioning Skills in ASD By Helping Kids Pay Attention To The Sounds Around Them
Kids with ASD often have limited auditory awareness and processing. Imagine your life if you struggled with this: Should I pay attention to the hum of the fan or your voice? That ringing; is it a doorbell, a toy, or a phone? I didn’t notice you speaking to me, and now you tell me that…… Continue reading Improve Transitioning Skills in ASD By Helping Kids Pay Attention To The Sounds Around Them