Your Therapy Source Inc. is the host for the next Occupational Therapy Blog Carnival. A blog carnival is a collection of articles on a specific topic. There have been two previously done on occupational therapy. All you have to do is submit your favorite OT blog post to the carnival at http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_6317.html. You must submit your blog article by Friday, May 1st. The OT Blog Carnival #3 is set to publish on May 4th.
Email me if you have any questions. If I can’t answer them, I will ask the primary host of the OT Blog Carnival at E-nableOT blog.
Archive for April, 2009
Occupational Therapy Blog Carnival
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009Earth Day Activities for Pediatric Therapists
Monday, April 20th, 2009Earth Day is this Wednesday, April 22, 2009. Why not incorporate the theme into your therapy sessions. Here are a few suggestions:
1. Earth Day Crafts: Create collages out of recycled materials. The children can cut up recycled cardboard or magazines to create a collage. Perhaps think of a theme such as healthy foods or exercise. Maybe write the child’s name in large bubble letters and glue on the recycled pictures.
2. Earth Day Challenge: Who can create the tallest recycled tower? See how many recycled boxes or containers you can stack before it falls over. Depending upon where you place the boxes, this activity encourages the child to squat down, reach high, motor plan and more.
3. Earth Day Signs: Create signs with the children reminding them of energy conservation. Example#1: Turn Lights Off when you leave a room – cut out pictures of light bulbs from magazines to glue to sign. Or cut out circles from white scrap paper to be light bulbs. Example #2: Turn off water when brushing teeth. Try using a toothbrush to paint with for the tooth brushing sign.
4. Recycle Carnival: Create carnival games out of recycled materials. For example, recycled, clean yogurt cups stack well for a target. Newspapers rolled up can hit objects for eye hand coordination. Put newspaper rolls on floor to jump over.
5. Practice energy conservation: Discuss how energy can be conserved by walking to school or stores. Practice different forms of transportation – walking, jogging, running, bike riding and scooter riding. Discuss which one required the most energy.
6. Protect the earth’s animals: Act out movements of endangered species such as elephants, gorillas, wolves, and tigers.
7. Milk Scoop Jugs: Most everyone knows how to make a milk scoop jug. Just cut off the bottom of a gallon milk container leaving the handle intact. Get a tin foil ball. Throw and catch it in the plastic container. Put colored tape on it to protect any sharp edges.
8. Clean Up Stroll: Take a walk outdoors, wear gloves and clean up any trash.
Anyone else want to add to the list?
If you would like more themed sensory motor activities check out our collection of sensory motor electronic books for the seasons.
Video Activity: Salt Letters
Saturday, April 18th, 2009Here is a video of a suggested activity to do with our newest electronic book – Alphabet, Number and Shape Cards.
Going Outdoors to Improve Attention Span
Friday, April 17th, 2009
A recent article in the Journal of Attention Disorders, reports on the benefits of walking in a park to increase attention span. A small group of 17 children with ADHD, participated in a study comparing walks in a park, downtown and a neighborhood. The walks in the park resulted in a significant difference in concentration as scored on the Digit Span Backwards (DSB).
The article also discusses Attention Restoration Theory (ART). The basics of this theory is that interacting with nature results in a type of restoration for the body and the brain. Try to remember a recent event when you spent time outdoors in a natural environment. You may walk slowly and attend to all of your visual surroundings – a bird chirping, a sunset, the green grass of Spring. When you return indoors, you feel relaxed and calm. Now to try to remember that last time you were outdoors in a busier environment, perhaps a city. Your attention may be focused on planning when to cross a street, avoiding cars and other city obstacles. These two environments rely on your brain to use two different types of attention – involuntary and voluntary. Concentrating on topics that interest you or something that grabs your attention involves involuntary attention. Concentrating on blocking out distractions to focus on the topic at hand involves voluntary attention (which can fatigue easily). When the brain experiences involuntary attention it allows voluntary attention to rest and recover.
The authors of this study question whether children with ADHD experience deficits in voluntary attention resulting in the fluctuating attention span that you see in children with ADHD. Therefore, the Attention Restoration Theory when applied to children with and without ADHD can perhaps be very beneficial. Walks in nature are simple to carry out on a daily basis. The “restorative” action of the walks which call upon involuntary attention can possibly help to improve voluntary attention.
With the amount of television and computer time that children are exposed to daily, more time spent outdoors is essential. Here are several ideas to encourage increased nature time for all children:
1. Take hikes and short walks in the woods. If you need a wheelchair accessible path, search state parks for handicapped accessible trails or try bike paths that are paved.
2. Go letterboxing – Letterboxing is a great family activity for people of all ages. You can go to www.letterboxing.org for a list of clues throughout the USA. You print off the clues, walk to find them and stamp a marking in your log book.
3. Gardening – plant a garden with children. Plant seeds in pots so that all children can assist.
4. Go on scavenger hunts for outdoor materials – check out Scavenger Hunts e-book for ideas
5. Allow children to play outdoors in dirt, mud and puddles.
6. Go on a bug hunt – see how many different bugs you can identify
7. Start a nature collection such as rocks, acorns, leaves or pine cones.
8. Go fishing, frog hunting, horseback riding or birdwatching.
9. Build a structure out of natural materials i.e. fort, collage made out of sticks or leafs.
10. Encourage teachers and therapists to plan lessons outdoors.
Fresh air makes everyone feel healthier, relaxed and perhaps improves attention. It is a simple way to improve concentration with no side effects (except skinned knees).
References:
Faber Taylor, Andrea, Kuo, Frances E. Children With Attention Deficits Concentrate Better After Walk in the Park J Atten Disord 2009 12: 402-409
Cimprich, B Attention Restoration Theory: Empirical Work and Practical Applications Retrieved from the web on 4/17/09 at http://www.umb.no/statisk/greencare/meetings/presentations_vienna_2007/cimprich_cost_pres_71007.pdf
Article on teaching children to ride a bicycle
Thursday, April 16th, 2009Collaborate with Teachers To Develop Multi-Sensory Lessons
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009Traditionally, a classroom lesson is delivered as verbal or written material. The student relies on auditory and/ or visual input to understand the concepts. The student is expected to sit for extended periods of time and remain on task. For many of the students who receive related services, this can be a frustrating method of comprehending academic material. If a student exhibits deficits in auditory or visual input, failure may ensue. On the other hand, if a teacher uses a multi-sensory approach to teaching material this student may succeed. A multi-sensory lesson allows for a student to learn using the various senses of the body instead of just auditory or visual. School based therapists can play a large role in helping teachers to incorporate additional sensory input such as tactile, proprioceptive, vestibular and motor skills when presenting academic material.
Occupational and physical therapists have a strong understanding of the large role that sensory input and sensory output plays in a students life. By offering that expertise to teachers when planning lessons, all students receive the benefits of multi-sensory learning. In addition, the students who receive related services will be able to experience improved carry over of therapeutic interventions.
By employing multi-sensory strategies in the classroom, information is delivered to the brain from several sensory systems. This spreads the load on the brain over several systems which may result in improved memory. Students can improve problem solving skills and retain more information by touching, feeling and moving to learn a new concept When physical activity is included in the lesson plan, students are able to release energy, reduce stress, increase level of alertness and practice motor and coordination skills.
Here are some basic steps to follow when creating multi-sensory lessons.
1. Infuse lessons with physical movement whenever possible including proprioceptive and vestibular activities.
2. Offer suggestions to include tactile experiences for students such as Wikki Stix®, tactile paper, modeling clay and salt trays.
3. Promote kinesthetic activities such as air writing to reinforce academic concepts.
4. Encourage fine and gross motor activities to enhance the lesson. Provide manipulatives that promote fine motor skills. Offer suggestions on how to include gross motor skill practice such as jumping, hopping or skipping during the lesson.
5. Include bilateral coordination activities to improve ability for students to cross midline.
6. Encourage the use of assistive technology to transform traditional lessons.
When the lesson is complete, see if it includes sensory input from the following areas: auditory, visual, tactile, proprioceptive and vestibular. If all five categories are included, you have achieved an excellent multi-sensory lesson that will be most likely a benefit for all students.
Upper Extremity Splint Compliance and AT Use
Thursday, April 9th, 2009Here is some information on an intriguing study in the Developmental Neurorehabilitation on children with hemiplegia and their use of upper extremity splints and assistive technology. The study reports that 56% of the children were prescribed UE splints but only 48% of those children were using the splints. In comparison, 46% of the children were prescribed assistive technology and 98% of those children were using the assistive technology provided to them. What a difference!
In my experience, compliance with orthotic use is frequently an issue. Some children dislike wearing them for various reasons – discomfort, appearance, parental dislike, etc. I attempted to find more research articles on compliance with upper extremity orthoses and came up empty handed. Does anyone have any articles to recommend regarding orthotic compliance in children?
I have heard educators and parents complain that at times assistive technology does not get used to its fullest potential due to lack of training with different products. It was promising to see that in this study this was not the case – 98% user rate is extremely high.
Reference: Russo, Remo Nunzio, Atkins, Renae, Haan, Eric, Crotty, Maria Upper limb orthoses and assistive technology utilization in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy recruited from a population registerSN – 1751-8423
2009 Developmental Neurorehabilitation 12 (2): 92-99 URL – http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/17518420902783223
Motor Planning and Graded Movement Activity Idea
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009Here is a new activity video to encourage grading of movements, motor planning and eye hand coordination. You will need balloons, cardboard tube or soft bat, and old box to do the activity. Reminder: Balloons can be hazardous to children. Do not allow children under 8 years old to use balloons unsupervised. The child pretends to guide the pretend animals (balloons) behind the fence (cardboard box). This is an activity from our ebook 50 Sensory Motor Activities for Kids!
10 Things to Do to Celebrate OT Month
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009There is a lot of buzz going around about OT Month. Here are 10 suggestions to celebrate OT Month in a school or pediatric setting:
1. Host the Occupational Therapy Olympics – invite school staff, parents and students to participate in the OT Olympics. Try relay races to get dressed, get down objects using reachers, wheelchair obstacle courses, scooterboard races, sculpt objects with clay and more.
2. Have an OT Art Exhibit – showcase OT projects that the children have made. Hang up signs next to each projects describing what skills the child worked on to complete the project.
3. Create an OT Contest – For example – Put a bunch of beads in a jar. Guess how many beads are in the jar. The closest to the number of beads wins an OT t-shirt.
4. Create an OT Quiz – Distribute an OT quiz with many questions regarding what OT is and how it helps children. Every person who fills out the quiz gets a small prize.
5. Do an in-service on the benefits of OT to the school staff and parents.
6. Plan an OT Month Party! – Allow the kids to vote on a party theme such as fine motor, sensory or activities of daily living. Create games around that theme.
7. Volunteer for the Career Fair at the school. Educate prospective college students on what OT is.
8. Have an Adaptive Equipment and Assistive Technology Fair – demonstrate different types of equipment that OT’s recommend for students to school staff and parents.
9. Hang up a large poster in the hallway about occupational therapy.
10. If you do not have time for any of the above ideas here is the easiest – just ask to make an announcement over the loudspeaker of the school about OT month. Inform the school in a few sentences about occupational therapy.
Check out our motivational section on our website for certificates, awards and signs for occupational therapy.
Any one else have any ideas? Please comment.
Motor and Mental Skills in Toddlers with CP
Monday, April 6th, 2009Developmental Neurorehabilitation published research on the association between mental and motor functioning in children with CP. This study looked at 78 toddlers with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy with GMFCS I-V. The researchers determined that when motor and mental functioning did not develop at the same time, it was always motor functioning that was more delayed than mental functioning. No children performed better on the motor section than the mental section.
This study can help therapists in everyday practice. I think first and foremost NEVER assume that a child’s mental age is equal to their motor age. It is our job to inform parents and school staff of this important information for young children with cerebral palsy. Any other thoughts on how the information can be put into practice?
Reference: Lotte Enkelaar ; Marjolijn Ketelaar; Jan Willem Gorter Association between motor and mental functioning in toddlers with cerebral palsy Developmental Neurorehabilitation, Volume 11, Issue 4 2008 ,pages 276 – 282 .
