GROSS MOTOR SKILLS AND CLOTHING FASTENERS Buttons, zippers, snaps and buckles are all clothing fasteners that require finger dexterity and fine motor skills to open and close. Did you know that they also require gross motor skills? In order to be able to open and close traditional clothing fasteners one must have proper stability, postural […]
When you think of children and mealtime, the first things that come to mind may be related to the hand and mouth – ie the ability to use a spoon or fork, bringing food to mouth and getting food inside the mouth. What you may not realize is that the child’s postural control and gross […]
The majority of individuals shower or bathe independently for personal hygiene reasons and as a stress reliever. The calm, peaceful warm shower or tub can be very relaxing and purposeful. When motor skill deficits are present in children, bathing can be a very complicated, arduous task. When you stop and think about bathing and showering, […]
The Journal of Pediatric Urology published research on interviews regarding 346 children with bilateral cerebral palsy (BCP) to describe the age of bladder and bowel control, intellectual impairment and severity of motor disability. The results indicated the following: median age for daytime bladder and bowel continence in BCP children was 5.4 years compared with 2.4 […]
If you work on cooking skills with children, it can be very helpful to use simple, step by step, recipes with picture images. There are several websites that offer free step by step picture recipes. One of the best, in my opinion, is Your Special Chef. This website was created by a girl scout gold […]
Focus on Autism and Other Disabilities published a small, preliminary study on using video prompting with different fading procedures to teach daily living skills to two students with developmental disabilities. Video prompting shows a short video clip of one step of a task, then the participant completes that step before showing the video of the next step. […]
As school based therapists, we are required to work towards IEP goals that will help students reach their educational goals. Many times we know there is so much more we can help to teach children beyond just educational goals. Have you ever considered starting a recreational or leisure program for children? How about plan a […]
Physical Therapy published research on the differences between 25 children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and 25 of their peers with typical development for activities of daily living (ADL) performance, learning, and participation, and the predictive values of these aspects. All of the children’s parents completed the DCD Daily-Q. The DCD Daily-Q is a 23 […]
Here are 10 tips to help teach children to be independent with self help skills and everyday routines: 1. Make sure you have time to give the child your undivided attention when you are first teaching a new skill or routine. Likewise, make sure that the child is paying attention when learning the skill. Minimize […]
American Journal of Occupational Therapy published a systemic review on the effectiveness of work, activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) education, and sleep interventions for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The author found a total of 23 studies: 9 work related, 11 ADL/IADL, 3 education-related interventions and 0 sleep studies were […]