Video Activity: Salt Letters
Here is a video of a suggested activity to do with our newest electronic book – Alphabet, Number and Shape Cards.
Collaborate with Teachers To Develop Multi-Sensory Lessons
Traditionally, 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 […]
Upper Extremity Splint Compliance and AT Use
Here 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 […]
Motor Planning and Graded Movement Activity Idea
Here 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 […]
10 Things to Do to Celebrate OT Month
There 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, […]
Search Engine for Visually Impaired
Did you know Google has a special search engine for the visually impaired? This was news to me. Anyway, the benefit it that it attempts to find websites that work the best with screen readers. Here is the link http://labs.google.com/accessible/This has potential to be a nice resource for the visually impaired, as well as auditory […]
Hyperbaric Oxygen and Autism
BMC Pediatriccs has published an interesting study on hyperbaric treatment for children with autism. According to the authors of this study, this is the first randomized, double blind controlled trial using hyperbaric oxygen in children with autism. The study had 62 children with autism ages 2-7 years old. The treatment group consisted of 33 children […]
Free Hands Free Camera Mouse
Heard about this one on Twitter from @assistivetechguru – www.CameraMouse.org. This is a free download for a mouse that works using only head movements. This is for children who can not use their hands but they do have reliable head active range of motion. For the program to work you do need a standard USB […]
Are Schools Exacerbating ADHD?
Previously, I have discussed how important physical activity is for school children (podcast, articles and blog posts). In my opinion, physical activities are being ignored as a potential reason for decreased test scores and behavioral problems in school districts. When children are made to sit all day long, they will act out, be inattentive and […]
Water and Risk of Being Overweight
Brain Gym proponents as well as some pediatric therapists have been promoting the concept that drinking water can help learning. One of the 4 components of the PACE program from Brain Gym is to drink water to provide energy for the brain. The current issue of Pediatrics reports on another benefit of water for school […]