Best Occupational Therapy (OT) Blogs

A while back I was contacted by Scott Lentine, a 25 year old man with high-functioning autism (PDD-NOS/Asperger's). He graduated from Merrimack College magna cum laude with a Bachelor's Degree in Religious Studies with a Biology minor.

I don't usually share personal stories about my family but this one cracks me up. "Interoception" refers to awareness of what is going on inside the body- like recognizing pain. Kids with sensory processing disorders may have discrimination deficits in many areas including recognizing what is going on inside their body.

Today I wanted to try some finger painting with my little guy (20 months old). Unfortunately, I didn't have any paint and I wasn't able to go to the store to buy cornstarch or any of those other ingredients commonly used in homemade paint recipes. Thankfully, I did have flour and food coloring.

OT's with Apps is a resource to educational and medical occupational therapists, parents and clients on iPod, iPhone and iPad apps believed to be suited for occupational therapy intervention and services whether working with adults or children. Mobile devices are a relatively new tool to us personally as well as therapeutically.

Jill has been helping parents and educators understand the many concepts of sensory motor development. This process affects not only motor skills but the emotional well being of the child and the ability to organize and attend to the world as well.

Did you know that PediaStaff has lots of great EI positions nationwide?? Our client is seeking Pediatric SLPs, Pediatric Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists to provide evaluation and assessment with an emphasis on the development of an individualized functional communication system. Among the diagnoses are autism and dysphagia.

What's a de-lish concoction for the final session of the year? Hmmm...summer is almost here---it's getting pretty hot and muggy in Richmond---how about---fruit pops?! Our basic ingredients--frozen strawberries, pineapple and already-mixed orange juice. Haven't seen too many right-handed students opening a package in this fashion. Pour in about 3 ounces of orange juice.

Tummy time is one of those things that pediatricians are always encouraging parents to do with their newborns and infants. Over the years, I have found that parents don't always understand why tummy time is so important.

The If you are a pediatric therapist working with younger children, ages birth through early elementary years, this American Academy of Pediatrics has published new research on early identification and evaluation of motor delays and variations in muscle tone.

Tummy time is one of those things that pediatricians are always encouraging parents to do with their newborns and infants. Over the years, I have found that parents don't always understand why tummy time is so important.

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Welcome to Therapy Fun Zone. Occupational and Physical Therapy should be fun for both the client and the therapist. We have to be creative and we are always thinking up new ideas to make it interesting and make our clients want to keep working. We also love to share our creativity and collaborate with each other.

Please welcome Christie of Mama OT! Christie is Mama to one precious kiddo (21 months old, plus one on the way this summer) and an occupational therapist to many. She has experience working in early intervention, clinic-based, and school-based settings, and she is passionate about educating and empowering those who work with kids.

Developing the skills needed to eventually read and write is a gradual process for children. The more they explore and develop more complex concepts about the world around them, as well as the role of language and print in daily life, the better prepared children are to later integrate reading and writing into their own lives.

Movement is at the very core of how children develop intellectually, emotionally, socially, and of course, physically. Here at Moving Smart we foster children's naturally move-to-learn style while helping parents and teachers understand the comprehensive benefits of all that wiggling! So let's get moving!

We recently posted a fascinating article about how bilinguals switch between languages on our Facebook page. Parents often ask us for advice on raising their children bilingually. Parents want to do it and educators want to help. Christina Bosemark wrote a series of 6 articles about raising bilingual children, giving loads of insight, advice, and tips.

NHS child development timeline for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. Help and advice for parents to help child development.

A child's hand is a powerful tool for learning. With his hands he can control the world around him, build and create all that he can imagine, and express himself, first in gestures, then with scribbles, and eventually, with the written word.

Here are more therapy putty exercises! As I said in my previous post, there are different strengths of therapy putty, so just click on the following links for more information and prices at Amazon. For a child (or adult) who is quite weak, I would recommend the soft resistance putty.

When first preparing a student for the TEACCH structured work system, we first start with simple fine motor taskboxes. Most of the time, students at this level are working on fine motor goals anyway so this is a great starting point. In my classroom, the purpose for the structured work system is primarily INDEPENDENT task completion.

Welcome to Therapy Fun Zone. Occupational and Physical Therapy should be fun for both the client and the therapist. We have to be creative and we are always thinking up new ideas to make it interesting and make our clients want to keep working. We also love to share our creativity and collaborate with each other.

After all that talk about good seating and positioning for school function, let's get the students out of their desks! Our bodies were not made to sit for extended times. Did you know that Winston Churchill did much of his work while standing at his desk? Let's explore some alternate positions for school work.

What is it? A child with dyspraxia can present with a wide spectrum of difficulties. The term is, however, used to describe co-ordination difficulties with evidence of significant perceptual problems in the majority of cases. Caution should be taken when using the term as it may eventually be loosely applied to every child who shows a little forgetfulness, disorganisation and clumsiness in their daily routines.

Kathryn W. Mason, one of the OTRs on our staff, shared this info on improving scissor skills: Encourage a variety of fine motor activities like bead stringing, tearing paper strips, play doh, "Simon Says" and water "squirt" toys to encourage hand development which will help with scissor use.

You may want to sign up your children in a camp specializing in these activities or find classes in your community where children can try more than one of the following. I also recommend these throughout the year. I like when children can be involved in activities as part of their natural routine (when possible) rather than through conventional therapy.