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Are You “Stuffed”? – Thanksgiving Mini Workout

I don’t know about you, but I know I always eat too much on Thanksgiving (and quite a few of the days leading up to the big feast).  Here is a quick, physical activity workout for the children, classroom, brain break, physical education class, therapy room or anyone who just ate too much on turkey […]

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5 Reasons to Provide Push In Therapy

Whether you work in the schools or in the home, here are 5 reasons to provide push in therapy within a child’s natural environment: 1. You have the chance to see first hand during each session what functional tasks or skills need improvement. 2. The child’s normal daily routine is not interrupted. If it is […]

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Teachers’ Perceptions of School Based OTs

The Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools and Early Intervention published research examining the results of a online survey completed by 47 teachers and how they perceive the role of the occupational therapist. The results revealed the following:  most of the teachers viewed occupational therapists as valuable team members.  the teachers reported limitations to the system […]

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Tips for Positive Communication with Parents

School and Home Communication Forms for Therapists

Parents are an integral part of the special education team. They know the most about their children’s strengths, weaknesses and personal preferences. Therapists and other school staff need to include parents in all decision making for children. Here are some tips on improving your communication with parents: 1. Always start off a conversation stressing a […]

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Electronic Medical Records – Pediatric Therapy

Are you familiar with electronic medical records abbreviated as EMR?  For most school based occupational and physical therapists, electronic medical records are not being used in school districts.  Some school districts do run software programs to generate and monitor progress for students’ IEPs. I recently had the chance to view a demonstration of an EMR […]

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Self Regulation Skills at School

Self regulation skills at school require the ability to tolerate sensations, situations and distress and form appropriate responses.  Simply stated, it is the ability to control emotions, thinking, behavior and motor actions in different situations.  In children, self regulation matures just like other developmental processes. Children get older and learn to think before they act. Research indicates […]

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Scheduling for School Based Therapists is NOT FUN!

When back to school starts, school based therapists have to hit the ground running.  There is rarely time to organize supplies, review IEPs or even go to the bathroom haha!  Most therapists start the school year off with scheduling.  This is BY FAR THE WORST part of being a school based therapists in my opinion. […]

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Concussion Guidelines for Returning to Activity and School for Children

As pediatric therapists we may be involved in helping children return to activity and/or school following a concussion.  Of course, you should always work in conjunction with a physician but there are specific guidelines to follow.  CanChild has done a great job of creating evidence based resources to return to activity and school for youth […]

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Manuscript, Cursive or Keyboarding?

The Journal of Writing Research published a study on developing writers in grades 4-7 to compare manuscript , cursive and keyboard letter formation.  One study instructed the children to write the alphabet from memory as quickly as they could without sacrificing legibility since previous research indicated that the number of legible manuscript letters in correct order during […]

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Push In, Pull Out or Consultation School Based Therapy Survey Results

The results are in from the survey on service delivery model for school based therapy.  There were over 500 responses to the questions!  You can read all the results at Your Therapy Source.   Please take a moment to answer the two question survey on evaluation tools.