Your Therapy Source
Disclaimer: These pages are not intended to provide medical advice or physician/therapist instruction. Information provided should not be used for diagnostic or training purposes. Consult a therapist or physician regarding specific diagnoses or medical advice.
Contact Us
Email: info@yourtherapysource.com
Phone: (800) 507-4958
Fax: (518) 308-0290
Author Spotlight: Ileana S. McCaigue OTR/L
Ileana S. McCaigue, OTR/L is a nationally certified/ registered and licensed Occupational Therapist, author, program developer, holistic clinician and educator with 40 years of experience. Her professional career and expertise include a continuum of care. These range from the neonatal intensive care unit to pediatric concerns in the home, school and community for developmental delays, […]
Bumble Bee Breathing Break – Deep Breathing Exercise
Did you know that deep breathing exercises can help to alleviate stress, reduce anxiety, strengthen the attention span and sharpen the ability to focus and learn? In addition, deep breathing helps certain physiological responses as well such as slow the heart rate and decrease blood pressure. Seems like an easy fix right? Well, maybe not […]
10 Suggestions to Reduce Pencil Pressure When Writing
When students press too hard during handwriting tasks, the hand can fatigue, paper can rip and legibility may decrease. Recently, a reader asked for tips and suggestions to help decrease pencil pressure for when students press too hard during handwriting tasks. Here are 10 suggestions to help children reduce pencil pressure when writing: Write on […]
Fidget Spinner Workout – Exercise While It Spins!
Right now, fidget spinners are everywhere. Whether they are banned from your school or not, here is a fun way to add in some overall exercise while your spinner spins! You can download your FREE fidget spinner workout below. Years ago, I created a fun printable with a different DIY spinning top (you can view […]
10 Activities to Get Children Ready for Prewriting Skills
The fingers, hands and shoulders require hours and hours of practicing different skills to get ready for the actual job of picking up a pencil and making marks, lines, shapes and letters on paper. Prewriting skills include the ability to write straight lines, curved lines, zig-zags and shapes. These skills are building blocks for letter […]
Proprioceptive Activities for the Classroom
As pediatric therapists, we all know how beneficial proprioceptive activities are for children. These heavy work exercises help provide students with sensory information about body awareness and positions. They help to calm and regulate a student. Proprioceptive activities can also help to wake up the muscles getting our bodies in an alert state to be […]
10 FUN Self Control Games to Practice Self Regulation Skills (No Equipment Needed)
Self-regulation skills help children to control emotions, thinking, behavior and motor actions in different situations. Throughout the day, children need the ability to tolerate sensations, situations and form appropriate responses. It requires that children control their impulses to stop doing something if needed and to participate in something even if the children does not want […]
10 Sensory Quick Fixes to Increase Attention Span
As the end of the school year approaches, the weather gets warmer, the kids get more antsy and attention spans decrease. Sometimes our bodies need a little extra sensory input to help us maintain an appropriate level of alertness for optimal learning. Here are some simple, sensory, quick fixes that may help children to increase […]
Slide Bag Quiz – Fine Motor and Bimanual Skills
If you need to sneak in some bimanual and fine motor skills practice with academic material, the Slide Bag Quiz is perfect! I was reading a blog post by Dr. Jean (excellent blog) on individual response techniques and she suggested a slide bag. It seemed like a creative idea so I gave it a try. […]
What Have You Learned From Other School Staff?
What have you learned from other school staff this year? As school based occupational and physical therapists, we can learn so much from teachers, teacher assistants, administrators, school nurses, school counselors and other staff members. We may know lots of information on fine motor skills, gross motor skills, visual perceptual skills, sensory processing and coordination […]