IMany of the schools I work in have wonderful social emotional programs and strategies and I have learned so much from the social workers there. One tool that is used is the Zones of Regulation. I used this briefly as an outpatient therapist but to date, I have not implemented this with any of my OT students in the schools, because the school social worker's had it covered. School social workers are amazing by the way, I admire all of the ones that I work with for their ability to interact with every student and their ability to teach "strategies". I learned from them that I can tell a student exactly what we're doing...learning strategies. Here is a chart taken from the Zones of Regulation website: Taking this chart into consideration and this new day and age of at home learning, I've been able to look at my own children and decide what "zone" they are in and what strategy they need. Then I decided to tell my kids that they were crabby and needed "quiet time" as a calming strategy. Ask me how that worked out? It didn't necessarily help. I started with my 7 year old who has emotional ups and downs like a teenager, and showed her the colors of the zones and the emotions that fall into each. Then we started with talking about what calms her down and what makes her feel better. I started teaching her that the items we came up with are "strategies". So now when she is acting a certain way I can ask her....what zone do you think you are in right now? How can we get you back to the green zone? Some students will need help to figure out their strategies. As parents you know your child best and you know what tends to help them regulate and get back into that "green" zone. I know there isn't more "time" at home right now with work and school schedules but maybe there's more awareness about the triggers before your child goes into a red zone, or awareness of what strategies seem to get your child back on track. The distance learning link to the Zones website is below, to check out for more information. These are good strategies and tools for all children and even adults who are looking for more awareness into their own emotional regulation. Thanks for reading! LeAnn
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The past month has helped me organize my thoughts around my children's chore responsibilities since there has been many more messes around my house. You can have the conversation, like I've had with friends, about whether to compensate your kids for chores, what is a chore vs. expectation, etc. There are alot of opinions out there and I have my own mom perspective on those. However, for the purpose of this blog, I'll stick to my OT perspective :) Chores are a great way to teach responsibility, routine, skill acquisition, and to get sensory input! I happened upon a chart from Integrated Learning Strategies that has sensory sensitive chores. I follow them on Instagram and get quick tips and ideas from them as a therapist. I am posting this chart for you to check out to see what chores might suit your child and their sensory system the best! You can download the chart below to have the whole picture. Here are the types of kids that would fall into the outlined categories: Chores with no texture: for those that are sensitive to how things feel and different textures, maybe your child doesn't even want to look at things that have different textures. Chores with texture: for those that seek a variety of textures and touch alot of items. They may seem "obsessed" with petting the animals or rubbing people's arms. Heavy weight chores: for anyone! "Heavy work" provides sensory input to the joints which is calming. Most therapists would agree that you can't get enough heavy work input. If you have a child with endless energy, put the energy to good use and ask them how they feel when they've completed a purposeful task. Chores without loud noise: for the kiddos that are sensitive to loud, unexpected, or alot of varying noise. Chores with headphones or earplugs: for the kiddos that want to participate in the process of vacuuming, baking, etc, but are typically aversive to the noise of the activity. Chores with gloves: for those with tactile sensitivities (myself) who need to get some chores done but don't want to touch anything yucky. Gloves (if you don't have a latex allergy) offer a great barrier to the "yucky" stuff but allow the task to still be completed. The child then learns they can still participate in activities with some simple accommodations. Hopefully you will find something on this list for your children to do, so that you have some relief and so they reap the benefits as well! LeAnn
It's the little things. It's not always about a worksheet or drill and kill activities. While those can be appropriate and necessary at times, there are simple games that work on skills that are helpful and impactful for learning academics. The video describes the "why" behind the activities but I also wrote about them below.
The above activities are just throwing animals and a target and playing catch with fun stuffed animals. We have a balance board at home because I'm an OT. I realize many of you won't have that as an option. If you have a bosu ball, a seat cushion, or even a folded towel, that will also work. Or it may be a challenge even without your child standing on anything but the floor. Skills for throwing at a target include, eye hand coordination, force modulation, aim, shoulder strength, grasp and release, timing and rhythm. Skills for throwing and catching include eye hand coordination, visual tracking, crossing midline (visually and with the upper body), force modulation, aim, shoulder strength, grasp and release, and timing and rhythm. Many of these skills are also necessary for reading and writing. You can start by meeting your child where they are at. If they are struggling with attending and participating in the activity, you can make it as easy as possible so they can have success. Also, use a motivator like I talk about in the video. Let your child have something invested in the activity so you can get their best work. As it gets easier for them you can move the basket further away, have them participate longer before they get a reward etc. If you or a sibling make it look like it's fun, that might work too. Hopefully it will be something you and your child find fun to do together! LeAnn I am right handed, so it was not until I began working as a school OT that I realized that some left handed students have a difficult time. The world is not set up for left handers. I have some strategies to help left handed students which I will list below:
Websites With Great Information and Strategies
Assistive Technology for Lefties:
All images obtained from Therapyshoppe.com where items can be purchased.
Laura Henry, an ASD consultant at the GISD, provided the following information:
According to Autism Internet Modules, social narratives are "visually represented stories that describe social situations and socially appropriate responses or behaviors to help individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) acquire and use appropriate social skills...Social narratives may help the individual gain information about the thoughts and feelings of others, as well as contextual information they may have missed." Laura also provided the link below for an age appropriate social story describing the Covid-19 virus. Link originally shared by Barb Olszewski - ASD consultant GISD https://carolgraysocialstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/COVID-19-I-Can-Help.pdf Do you remember those summers when there weren't any cell phones or computers, and your mom wouldn't let you in the house until you were outside for at least an hour? Maybe that was just me, but I remember plenty of hot summer days standing on concrete and throwing a tennis ball against the brick wall of the house and catching it just to not die of boredom. Well.. the other day I was in the backyard with my kids and my daughter picked up a tennis ball and started throwing it against the wood of the swing set and catching it. And I thought, ah ha! Video time! I can't help but think with an OT brain and see how something so simple, that use to entertain me as a kid, can also be a therapeutic activity. First, throwing at a target requires eye/hand coordination. Second, it requires force modulation, or the ability to throw with the correct force to get it to bounce back to you without moving. Third, it takes bilateral integration skills to bring your hands together to catch the ball, and again, eye/hand coordination to move your arms in the right direction at the right time. Fourth, it takes rhythm and timing. Crazy, because all of those skills are related to handwriting! Bottom line is if you can get your kids to find any kind of value or entertainment in throwing and catching a tennis ball, you will be indirectly impacting their handwriting in a positive way. If this activity is too difficult for your child there are many ways to adapt it; * start with just bouncing and catching a tennis ball up and down on concrete * have them try to bounce and catch with one hand * have them bounce and catch between hands * have them dribble the ball with one hand, then between two hands Here's the Youtube video for a visual. Thank you! LeAnn If I work with your child on handwriting (which is almost a guarantee) then they are familiar with the language from Handwriting Without Tears. Today I received an email from them that they are providing free online resources for families for 30 days! I checked it out to see what is available and all the workbooks are there in addition to online interactive teaching of letter formation, grip, and more! I'm using so many exclamation points because it's such a great way to continue working on handwriting at home.
The Kick Start Kindergarten is for pre K- K Letters and Numbers for me is for Kindergarten My Printing Book is for 1st grade Printing Power is 2nd grade Cursive Handwriting is for 3rd grade Cursive Success is for 4th grade Go to https://www.lwtears.com/ Click on the blue button that says "explore resources". Hope you find this helpful and if you have any questions let me know! LeAnn Hello!
In many cases, if you have a 2nd - 5th grader with direct or consultative occupational therapy services, we are working on some kind of handwriting. In general many students have their letters down by 2nd grade and are now working on writing a sentence(s) legibly with spaces and words on the line. Factors that go into legible handwriting? So many that it requires a list: * tactile discrimination (the ability for the touch sense to interpret what it feels) * proprioceptive input (the ability of the body to interpret it's place in space and to have quality movement) * core strength * the ability to cross midline * Visual tracking and convergence (being able to bring your eyes into your nose, aka cross eyed) * core strength (to be able to sit at a desk and have adequate posture) * shoulder stability (after core strength, the shoulders have to be strong enough to move the rest of the arm) * wrist stabilization (writing with the wrist and forearm placed on the writing surface) * individualized finger movements with the pencil (movement comes from the finger and thumb joint when moving the pencil allowing for proper motor control) * visual perceptual skills (being able to see the paper and understand where to place the letters on the line and where to put spaces) * motor planning (ability to automatically form letters so the brain can focus on writing it's thoughts rather than making the letters) Those are the main factors that I can think of at the moment, but there are probably even a few more! And these are just for the physical act of writing, not the cognitive aspect of having structured thoughts, spelling, and complete sentences with punctuation. In some cases students have the factors I mentioned about but have difficulty with the cognitive process of communicating their thoughts. And other times students have the cognitive process but struggle with the physical -- these students typically do well with typing. So why am I telling you this? Because pick one, any one, and work on it at home if you or your child are looking for something to do :) A simple way to see what your child can do is to give them lined paper, write a sentence that they are able to read, and then ask them to copy it. When they copy you may be able to tell if they have difficulty with the size of their letters, the spacing, or the alignment. If your child has difficulty with the size of letters, regular lined paper my be too small for them. They may do better if you use plain paper and draw lines on it. Many of the students I work with are familiar with small, tall, and fall letters. This is the verbage we use to describe where letters are placed and it helps with alignment and size. Small letters: a,c,e,i,m,n,o,r,s,u,v,w,x,z Tall letters: b,d,f,h,k,l,t fall letters: g,j,p,q,y If you suspect that your child has low core strength - a simple way to tell is if they can lay on their stomach and lift up their arms (superman) and feet and hold for at least 30 seconds. Average for 6 year olds and older is at least 30 seconds. If they cannot hold this position for 30 seconds, then core strength is something they can work on. This can be through holding the superman pose, sit ups, and simply reading or watching tv on their stomachs. Look for more posts and/or videos for ideas for the other factors that contribute to handwriting. Thanks for reading! LeAnn |
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May 2020
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