Check out this video. Toyota has created a way to drive a motorized wheelchair using only brain waves. The wheelchair user wears a cap that sends brain scan signals to a computer which then steers the chair. Would love to see this tested on children. This would change lives! More info…
Pediatrics reports in the current issue that children who were born at 32-36 weeks gestational age are at greater risk for special education services than full term children at 8 years of age. Of the 377 children studied who were moderately preterm (with no NICU care or congenital malformations), the special education rate was 7.2% […]
Your Therapy Source has just published a new book – Sidewalk Chalk Fun and Games. Here is a video of one of the activity ideas in the book. Get outdoors and enjoy this fun activity to encourage physical activity, gross motor skills and muscle strengtening in the hands. To order Sidewalk Chalk Fun and Games […]
Summer is officially upon us. For some therapists, this means time off or reduced caseloads. If you are looking for some summer work (which I doubt you are but figured I would offer) how about plan a new, unique program to start up during the next school year. Maybe you have a special talent that […]
This website, www.gcflearnfree.org/everydaylife/, offers interactive lessons for daily life skills such as cooking, banking, shopping, schedules and more. The lessons allow learners to practice life skills to be successful in everyday life. This is definitely worth a look for any occupational therapist especially those that work with older children and young adults. Best part…all free!
OT Ghana 2009 is a a collection of blogs from an OT professor and several OT students who traveled to Ghana. They blog about the people they meet, the culture and of course OT. There are several student blogs on it as well. These are listed on the right side of the page. It is […]
After writing many previous blog posts on the importance of physical activity in all children, I wanted to list some specialized programs for children with disabilities that encourage physical activity. These activities are not available everywhere but it does offer some suggestions of what you could be proactive in starting in your community. Hippotherapy – […]
More and more research continues to be published supporting the idea that children need to be active. The benefits of physical activity are numerous. The American Journal of Preventive Medicine recently published research on early physical activity in young children and its effects on body fat mass. Boys and girls (333 children) physical activity levels […]
The current issue of Pediatrics has published a systemic review on the therapeutic management of congenital hemiplegia in children. Twelve studies and 7 systemic reviews were analyzed. Intramuscular Botox A injections and occupational therapy, neurodevelopmental therapy and casting, constraint induced movement therapy, and hand arm bi-manual intensive training all showed small to medium treatment effects. […]
There are many benefits to animal assisted therapy for children with special needs. Hippotherapy is one of the most common therapies we hear of but there are plenty of other animals involved in this caring therapy. Here is a link to an informative video of the use of animal assisted therapy for children with sensory […]