Pediatric Occupational Therapy Tips

Fine Motor Activity: Forming Letters and Words with Beads

2012-03-05T12:49:00.002-08:00

I had quite a few beads left over from the Fun Fusion activity that I posted about in February, and I've been trying to figure out what to do with them. I decided to work with several students on letter formation while also addressing their fine motor skills. All you need for this activity are some tiny beads or dried beans, tweezers, a paper clip, glue, and a piece of construction paper or a foam sheet (found at craft stores).

On the construction paper or foam sheet, you can use a pen to write some practice letters, a word, or even the student's name. Then have the student squeeze out a line of glue to trace over each letter. For students who are really good at forming letters, you don't even have to write the letters first. The student can just form the letters using the glue. The student can then use tweezers or the pointed end of a paper clip to align the beads on top of the glue to form the letters. As you can see, this is a great work out for the radial side of the hand!

Give the glue time to dry and you have tactile letters or words that the student can trace using an index finger. This would be a great activity for practicing spelling words!

Tummy Time Article

2012-02-16T14:43:00.000-08:00

The education of parents regarding the importance of tummy time is the responsibility of all health care providers, including physical and occupational therapists. It is critical that all of us as health care workers join together as a team to communicate the tummy time message to parents and caregivers.
Do you agree? Check out my article "Why Tummy Time Matters" in the most recent issue of Advance for OT Practioners.

OT Fine Motor Valentine Game

2012-02-14T09:47:00.001-08:00

One of the wonderful teachers that I work with had her students play this Valentine's game in class today. It was so awesome, I asked her if I could share it with you. Thank goodness, she said yes!
What you will need:
Dice
Pink or Red Construction Paper
Googly Eyes
Pipe Cleaners
Small Pom Poms
Stickers or something to use for a mouth

-Begin by writing the directions of the board. Every student gets a turn rolling the die, and as they roll a number they get the "body part" that corresponds with the number on the die. When someone rolled a 6, they got a candy "Peep". If you roll a number twice, you miss your turn. :(

The number one corresponds with the heart, which is the body of the Valentine bug that we were making. So each student had to wait to roll a one before they could start putting their bug together. Great for addressing patience! The student in the video below had just rolled a one, and she's using her adaptive scissors to cut out the heart (which is the body of the bug!)

After that, she added a body part each time that she rolled the die that corresponded with the body part that she needed. She peeled a sticker for the mouth, glued on the googly eyes, taped on the antennae, then glued on the pom pom for the nose. The first student to finish their Valentine bug wins the game. How fun!

As the teacher pointed out, this is a great teaching activity because when using the die, the kids are working on counting. They also work on cutting, gluing, and fine motor skills when cutting out the heart and adding the nose, antennae, and eyes. Finally, each student has to practice turn taking while waiting for classmates to have a turn. Happy Valentines Day!

OT Fine Motor Valentine Activity

2012-02-11T10:33:00.000-08:00

Here is a great little fine motor activity that my friend Lori showed me for Valentine's Day. All that you will need for this craft is red, pink, and white construction paper, scissors, Wikki Stix- or something else to use as eyes, and glue. Start out by cutting out a small heart and have the child trace around it. This is great for bilateral skills!

Then have the child cut out the heart. Be sure that the student holds the scissors correctly and keeps both "thumbs up" while cutting. I often remind them to take "baby snips" (short snips) which gives them more control of curves and corners. You may need to demonstrate a "baby snip" so the student understands what you mean. You can even do this "hand-over-hand" so they can feel how small the snip is. You will need six small pink hearts and one red heart of the same size.

Now it's time to have the student place glue dots on the tips of each heart, then glue the hearts together to make a body for their Valentine caterpillar! I often use a pencil and make a small circle where the glue dot should be. Tell the child to cover the circle using only a small squeeze. That way they will be able to see if they use too much glue. (Also, I like clear glue for this reason.) Have the student glue the head on the caterpillar- this is the red heart turned in the opposite direction. See photo below.

Now it's time to make the eyes. I like to use small pieces of wikki stix and have the student roll them into small balls or spirals...a challenging fine motor skill! You could also use beads, googly eyes, or just a magic maker to make the eyes.

Once the eyes are ready, glue them in place. Then you can make
the tentacles using small strips of white paper. Have the child fold the paper "like a fan", then glue the tentacles in place. Now have the child use a marker or to draw a mouth.

What a cute Valentine Caterpillar!

Awesome New OT/Parenting Blog: Embrace Your Chaos

2012-02-06T06:20:00.000-08:00

I want to tell you about a great new OT blog that includes parenting tips and fun developmental activities. You've got to check it out! It's called "Embrace Your Chaos", and here is a note from the author:

I am so excited to introduce my first blog! Through my experience working as a pediatric occupational therapist, I have built up a wealth of knowledge about children’s sensory-motor development. One of my biggest professional and personal goals is to share this knowledge with parents around the world. As an occupational therapist and as a mother of a young child, I worry about how today’s society is influencing our children and their ability to build the skills they need to be successful. With our technological emphasis and the increasing expectations of our school system, it is important that we, as parents, expose our children to many opportunities to build their sensory, motor, and cognitive skills. The most basic but important activities are ones that get your kids moving, touching, exploring, and manipulating the world around them. Join me as I share tips, advice, and weekly activities to foster play, creativity, and skill development! Also, when you visit my site, click on the Facebook link to read other parents’ ideas and share your stories.

I thought I'd share one of my favorite posts on this new site. It's called "Snowflake Fun"...just check out these adorable hand and footprint snowflakes! To get the instructions for this awesome multisensory activity and many others, just click here @ embraceyourchaos.com.

OT Activity for Pincer Grasp

2012-02-02T12:34:00.000-08:00

I ran across this activity kit at Michael's craft store, and the OT in me couldn't resist! As you can see, it's called fun fusion, and the kit consists of tiny beads and several tiny pegboards that come in different forms, such as the form of a dog, cat, fish, or monkey. (Also available at Amazon)

The child uses a pincer grasp to place the beads on the pegboard. The pegboard actually comes with several small pieces of ironing paper, and after the beads are in place, an adult can "iron" them on permanently. HOWEVER, we skipped that step!

I had the students practice making glue dots...placing a glue dot on each of the pegboard points. This was VERY challenging, and many of the students needed help (that's why I didn't get a picture!)

The students then picked up the tiny beads and placed them on the points of the pegboard that had the glue dots.

It was hard work, and it took several therapy sessions for some of them to finish, but the completed product was worth all of the hard work.

How cute is this? :)

The best part is that the kids LOVED them!

Coloring Inside the Lines

2012-01-23T12:40:00.000-08:00

Do you ever struggle with teaching a child how to stay within the lines when coloring? Coloring inside the lines can be a tough skill to teach, especially if the child has visual motor or perceptual challenges. One technique that I've found to be helpful is to provide a tactile "cue". Just take some clear Elmer's glue or a hot glue gun and outline the edges of the picture. This provides a nice tactile "ridge" that the crayon will "bump" against when the child is coloring. I've found that it is also helpful to glue the coloring picture to a poster board to keep the child from ripping the paper while coloring.

I also like to teach the child how to color in small circular strokes rather than using large back and forth strokes, as this gives them more control. First I demonstrate how to do this, then I move them through the motions with "hand-over-hand" guidance, then I let them give it a try with verbal and gestural prompts. This takes a lot of practice, but they eventually get it!

Valentines for Veterans

2012-01-19T14:12:00.000-08:00

A special education education class at one of the schools where I work came up with a wonderful project idea that I'd like to share with you. It's called "Valentines for Veterans!" The students are making these very special Valentines card for local veterans. Aren't they awesome? Of course, the OT in me loves all of the skills that were addressed as the students were working on the project. First of all, they worked on bilateral skills and hand strengthening when punching the stars in the blue construction paper.

They practiced cutting skills when cutting out the hearts as well as the stripes, and they worked on gluing skills, as you can see in the photo below. We practiced making glue "stripes" and glue "dots", as well as lining up the construction paper stripes on the glue line. (Great for visual-motor and perceptual skills!)

Aligning the stripes and using both hands together was somewhat challenging for some of the students, but everyone did a great job! The teacher and paraprofessionals in this class are always coming up with great project ideas like this. I'm so happy to have the opportunity to work with them!

Don't you think this Valentine is going to make a veteran somewhere very happy? :)

I do!

The Tumzee makes Tummy Time More Fun!

2012-01-14T12:05:00.001-08:00

If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you know that I am a big proponent of tummy time! I was recently contacted by the company that makes a product called a Tumzee, offering to let me try it out with some of the little ones that I work with. I was so excited! So, let me tell you all about the Tumzee.

Basically, a Tumzee is a product that is made to a support a baby during tummy time. It is designed with an incline to provide a good view around the room while baby is positioned on his stomach. It has contoured sides to keep baby in a nice, comfortable position, and a “T” support at the base to keep him from sliding down. It is made from non-toxic Eva foam, which is comfortable, yet supportive.

As I stressed in an earlier post, tummy time plays a critical role in strengthening the neck, back, and trunk muscles, which are necessary for important milestones in infancy, such as rolling over, pulling up, and crawling. In one of my research studies, approximately 50% of parents reported that their infants do not tolerate tummy time! That is probably because so many babies are not used to the position and have limited head control and upper body weakness. It's good to remember that tummy time can be carried out in a variety of ways, such as on a parent’s lap or chest (see tummytimetips.com).

Incorporating the Tumzee into baby’s tummy time routine might be just the solution for those infants who resist the position. That is because the incline allows baby to stay visually stimulated, and it also seems to make tummy time more comfortable for baby. Be sure to encourage baby to put plenty of weight through her hands while in the Tumzee in order to develop arm and hand strength. You can do that by placing a variety of toys in front of the Tumzee. Overall, I really like this product. It would make a wonderful gift for any infant, and if you hear a mom say that her baby really dislikes tummy time, please tell her about the Tumzee.

I believe that Tumzee also has wonderful potential for use with the special needs population. For right now, it only comes in one size, probably fitting babies up to around 2 years old. However, I spoke with the owner of the company and shared with her how I think that it would be a wonderful positioning device to use with special-needs children who are non-ambulatory, and that I wish they would consider making the product in larger sizes. She said that they have been considering doing this, and that they have been thrilled at how the product has been received by the special needs community! Evidently, a number of OT’s and PT’s are already using the Tumzee in their practices! So if you are a therapist and you work with babies, you may want to give the Tumzee a try! For more information go to www.tumzee.com.
GIVE AWAY!

I have drawn name for the Tumzee and the winner is Abby! Click here to visit my other website...Keep your name on the newsletter list as I will be having more give-a-ways very soon.

Kids Activity for Following Directions

2012-01-13T06:35:00.000-08:00

This was a simple activity that I carried out with a group of student to work on following directions. I began with a sheet of red construction paper. I prepped ahead of time by gluing a blue stripe across the center and a green and yellow stripe running up and down. (See photo)

You can use a variety of small items for the rest of the project. I decided on the following: I had the students cut a circle out of purple construction paper, they cut a piece of string in half, a small orange square sticker, a small bead, a small sponge. For the activity, I just gave them simple directions. "Cut out the purple circle and glue it under the blue line." Then I told them, "Cut your string in half." This was a challenging concept for some of them! Then, "Put one piece of string beside the green line," and "Put the other piece of string on top of the yellow line." For fine motor skills, they had to peel the back off of the orange sticker, then I told them, "Put the orange square above the blue line." Finally, "Glue the sponge on top of the purple circle." As you can see, this is a great kids activity for following directions. It also works on a variety of concepts as well as colors, cutting, gluing, and other fine motor skills. Give it a try...it's lots of fun!

Visual Perceptual Skills Activity

2012-01-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

Visual perceptual skills allow a person to understand what he or she sees. Visual perceptual skills include recognizing and identifying shapes, objects, colors, and other qualities. A person with functional visual perception is able to make accurate judgments regarding the size, configuration, and spatial relationships of objects.

Visual Spatial processing falls under the umbrella of visual perception and is the ability understand directional concepts for organizing visual space. It is the ability to perceive the position of two or more objects as they relate to each other and as they relate to your own body. For example, if you are walking through a room, you must know where you are positioned in relation to the walls, floor, other people, and furniture in that room. If you have visual spatial problems, you may have challenges with maneuvering through space, with ball skills, and with writing and spacing between words and letters.

Recent research reveals that the spatial language that parents use around their children causes the children to better attend to spatial information. For example, toddlers who frequently heard words such as "over, under, beside, tall, round, and short" from their parents scored better on spatial tasks at an older age! Additional research tells us that skills practice can improve spatial abilities. Since spatial processing is related to success in science, technology and math, as parents, we might as well expose our children to spatial language and activities.

In recently discovered the game Equilibrio that I have been using in therapy and I absolutely LOVE it. It is great for working on visual perceptual skills and it also requires dexterity, planning, patience, and persistence! These are all important skills to address, and believe me, the kids always have a blast playing Equilibrio! Check it out, it is available on Amazon.

Sensory Processing Disorder Support Group

2011-12-27T13:56:00.000-08:00

I've recently become the group leader for a wonderful sensory processing disorder support group at MDJunction.com. If you have SPD or have a child who struggles with this disorder, you may want to join the support group. First you'll have to join MDJunction then join the Sensory Processing Disorder Support Group. It's all free. There are lots of conversations already going on, or you can start your own. I hope that you'll check it out...it's a wonderful resource! While you are visiting MDJunction, check out the many other amazing support groups available. It's an awesome website!

Handwriting Without Tears

2011-12-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

There are a number of different handwriting programs for children. One special needs writing program that I really like is Handwriting Without Tears (it can also be used with typical children). This handwriting program was developed by occupational therapist, Jan Olsen. It is a multi-sensory program designed to help children who have problems with legibility and fluency. I usually recommend Handwriting Without Tears if a child has moderate to severe perceptual or visual-motor problems, because of the multi-sensory nature of the program. There are various components of the program that can be purchased separately, such as a set of wood pieces that the children can use to construct letters, letter cards that can be used with putty or play dough, a slate chalk board, workbooks, as well as CDs. All of the products use the various senses to teach handwriting with a focus on positioning, directionality, spacing and sequencing, making it a great special needs writing program! Click HERE for more information about the Handwriting Without Tears Workbooks including details and pricing, etc.

Visual Perceptual Give Away!

2011-12-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

GIVE AWAY: On my new website, I’m going to be giving away several visual perceptual workbooks, so if you would like to qualify, please click here. (The winners of the visual perceptual workbook give away have been contacted. Congratulations! Stay tuned for future give aways…be sure to “like” my Facebook page and sign up for my newsletter and you will automatically be entered when I have one!)

Tactile Board

2011-12-18T13:37:00.000-08:00

I’m excited to share this "Tactile Board" that my students and I made during our therapy sessions. Making it turned out to be tons of fun and an amazing multi-sensory experience! Here are the instructions for making a “tactile board”.

What you will need:

1 foam board, poster board or large painting canvas

Hot glue gun

Finger paints, water colors or acrylic (if you use a canvas)

Scraps of various types of fabric (make sure that they have a variety of textures)

Scraps of string/ribbon/yarn

Cotton balls

Sponge

Pipe cleaners

Aluminum Foil

Rice/beans

Beads

Glitter

You name it…get creative!

Decide on a theme for the board. We chose an ocean/Little Mermaid theme. Use your imagination and come up with something really cool. Some examples are a vegetable garden theme, a flower theme, a city theme, etc.

Paint the background on the board. You can have the children finger-paint it for a multi-sensory experience. Use the scraps of fabric, foil, sponge, etc. to create the components of the picture and glue them on using the hot glue gun. Here are some examples of what we did.

· Cotton balls for the clouds

· Shaggy fabric for the whale, a bead for the eye and string for the mouth

· Silky fabric for one of the fish, corduroy fabric for the fins, a bead for the eye, and satin ribbon for the mouth.

· Green glitter for Arial’s fin and orange string for her hair.

· Aluminum foil for the eel and a bead for the eye

· Sponge for the shell

· Silky fabric for the octopus body and pipe cleaners for the tentacles

· Rice for the sand

· You get the idea…the final result is a sensory board that is a really cool piece of art and the best part is that the students can touch and manipulate the various textures on the board.

Fun Occupational Therapy Painting Activity

2011-12-14T13:53:00.000-08:00

This week I tried another activity that turned out to be a big hit with my students, as well as their parents! To get started, you will need a set of finger paints, a small canvas, a small paint brush, and a spray bottle of water.

Have the child finger paint on the canvas, covering as much as the surface as possible. (I placed the canvas on a vertical surface while the children painted.) This was a great tactile experience! Be sure that the child covers the edges of the canvas as well as the front. You can work on finger isolation, having the child point with their index finger to paint the narrow edges.

Once the surface is covered, have the child mist the canvas lightly with water. You can place the canvas flat, or keep it horizontal. (Squeezing the spray bottle is great for hand strength. You could also clean the blackboards while you're at it!) Allow the painting to dry completely. Once it's dry, take the paint brush and paint the child's hand completely with a contrasting color. Then have the child press their hand against the canvas. You now have a sweet piece of artwork that any parent would be excited to hang on their wall! Fun, fun!!!

Handmade Christmas Ornaments

2011-12-13T05:47:00.000-08:00

Check out these simple ornaments! They are so easy to make and you can incorporate all sorts of therapeutic techniques while making them. Start with Crayola Air Dry Clay. Take out as much as you think you'll need and have the child use both hands to squeeze the clay and roll it into a large round ball. (This is a great sensory experience and also works on hand strength!) Then use a rolling pin or smooth drinking cup to roll the clay out to about 1/4-inch thickness. (Working on bilateral skills!)

Then use your favorite cookie cutters to cut the clay into different forms/designs. If the child's manipulation skills are pretty good, they can even form the clay into their own preferred shape or design. Be sure to use the tip of a pen or paperclip to poke a hole in the top of the ornament for the hooks! Now allow the ornaments to dry for 24 hours.

Now all you have left to do is paint them! You can put them on an easel to work on wrist extension during painting. You can make them as fancy or simple as you'd like. We kept ours pretty basic...with just the date, but they turned out pretty cute!

Guest Post: What is Sensory Processing Disorder?

2011-12-09T06:20:00.000-08:00

This past year I wrote a guest post for Our Journey Thru Autism, titled What Exactly is Sensory Processing Disorder? I just found out that it was ranked in the top 10 articles for 2011...it was #3! Here is a link to the article if you want to check it out!
What Exactly is Sensory Processing Disorder?

Transition Strategies for Children with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome

2011-12-04T10:16:00.000-08:00

Students who are diagnosed with autism or Asperger’s syndrome frequently deal with anxiety when there are changes in routine, at home or school. This is because this syndrome influences the frontal lobes of the brain, which controls executive functioning. Executive functioning controls the ability to alter one’s mental mindset, or transition from one task or place to another. This area of the brain also sends a message to wait. Today, I am going to share some suggestions that will help prepare these children for transitions.

When a student struggles with transitions between activities due to anxiety related to changes in routine, this can sometimes lead to tantrums and emotional meltdowns. Here are several techniques that can help transitions go more smoothly for autism and Asperger’s students.

· Timers can also be helpful when dealing with transitions. The timer is set, giving the student a visual of how much time is left until their present activity has to end.

· Picture Charts/Visual Schedules- A chart that plainly show each activity that occurs during the school day. It is best to have an individual picture for each task or activity. These pictures can be attached or removed by using Velco. Every time a task ends, the picture can be removed. It can be easier for the students to deal with transition if preferred and non-preferred activities are alternated.

· Verbal prompts- these work with will older students who understand the concept of time. For example, as statement such as "Reading ends in five minutes, then it will be time for lunch." Student should be informed when an unpredictable events like a fire drill or assembly can is to take place. Such activities can be added to the visual schedule, or the teacher can write the information about the event on the board.

· Natural ending times- provide reminders that a transition is eminent. For example, "when the classroom lesion is over, it's time for us to get ready for lunch."

Try some of these strategies and be willing to work with the unique needs of these students when it comes to transitions.

If you've found this post helpful, please like my Facebook page in the upper right corner! Thanks!

Fun Fine Motor Activity

2011-11-30T13:01:00.000-08:00

Today I tried an activity that turned out to be great fun, and I'm excited to share it with you. Here's what you'll need:
1) Construction paper
2) A 3-hole punch
3) A blank piece of paper or paper with designs, shapes, or letters on it
4) A glue stick or bottle of glue

Begin by having the child use both hands to punch holes in various colors of construction paper using the 3-hole punch. This is great for arm and hand strengthening.
Remove the construction paper "dots" from the hole punch.
Take the paper with the design, shape, letter or number and have the child outline the design by gluing the "dots" onto it. This is great for fine motor skills, and especially addresses the child's pincer grasp.

You can also have the child use blank paper and form their own letters, shapes, numbers, or designs. Just use your imagination!

Have Fun!

Pull-Out vs. Inclusive O.T. in the School Setting

2011-11-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

To all school-based OT's,

I had a great question from a fellow OT, Jackie, that I'd like to share with you all. Jackie is dealing with some challenges that many of us as school therapists face. (see below) If you have any input or suggestions, please comment below, or email your responses to me @ anne_ot (at) hotmail (dot) com and I'll post them. Thanks!

Hi Anne,
I love your blog! I am a school based OT for a district that is inclusive. We are not supposed to be pulling students out of the classroom for special education services. I am struggling with feeling productive while I'm in the classrooms. A lot of times, I help my students with their writing assignments/center time, etc but I feel more like a teacher's aide vs an OT... Are you struggling with this in your district? Any suggestions for improving my effectiveness for handwriting/fine motor skills in the classroom? I would also love any suggestions for sensory activities (alerting and calming) for both the classroom and the sensory room.

Looking forward to hearing from you!
Thanks

Jackie

Response from Abby Brayton:
I think this is a very common experience for school-based OTs. In my experience, it takes some time to figure out the scheduling to make sure you're in the classroom at a time when you can work on something productive with the student. It also takes some time to establish rapport with the teachers and to get them on board with your suggestions.

With that said, I think teachers are more likely to follow through with something you recommend if they see it in action (this is especially true with pencil grips and adapted paper). For younger students, you can help the teachers set up fine motor centers. I've found teachers are often open to group handwriting lessons, using a curriculum such as Handwriting Without Tears. You might find out that the more time you spend in the classroom empowering the teacher, the less time students need direct OT services.

I found AOTA's self-paced clinical course "Collaborating for Student Success" to be helpful. If the course is too expensive, you can purchase only the book, for much less (you just don't get CEUs).
Good luck!

Another Response:
I got a little smile on my face in reading your reader's comments about feeling like an aide. I recently had a very similar conversation with a colleague. What I decided to do, was come into class when the students are already writing one week and the next I plan a craft that focuses on the foundational skills needed for adequate handwriting skills. This way I get to see how the students are accessing activities involving written work and then offer any advice or suggestions that I have. Then the next week, we work on improving handwriting skills through more fun, play-based and motivational activities.

What Abby said about rapport building is the most important thing we can do in our practice, with both teachers and students. When you have good rapport, there is more "buy-in" from the teachers and generally more active participation with the students. If you are successful in building rapport, it will make your job easier.

Parenting Website

2011-11-19T07:06:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!
    I have a new website that contains a collection of all of my articles, along with additional resources, and parenting tips. Be sure to check it out when you have a minute! :)

                                                      http://drannezachry.com/

Technology for Special Needs Students

2011-11-13T08:47:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I was excited to be a guest of Dr. Kari Miller on Blog TalkRadio.com. The name of the radio show is Special Kid School Talk, and the topic today was technology. Click here to listen to the broadcast and be sure to read all about Dr. Kari's show @ http://www.blogtalkradio.com/specialkidschooltalk.

When it comes to technology for special needs students, there are low-tech and high-tech solutions that can meet an individual’s particular needs. The high-tech solutions can be really cool, but they are not necessarily always work out best for the child. On the show, I hope to provide several examples of low-tech options that have helped students be successful, such as pencil grips, splints, and picture exchange systems. I will also talk about several app that I really like:

Model Me Going Places- (the basic app is free but the layout can’t be changed)-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad- You can build social story slide shows for the ipad, about going to the mall, the grocery store, the doctor, and getting a haircut.

Social Skills- ($6.99...it can be modified)- iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad- includes 6 social stories that deal with reciprocal play, task avoidance, turn taking, gestures, recess, and school rules.

Proloquo2go- ($189.99)- iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad-Has a vocabulary of over 7000 items; provides a full-featured augmentative and alternative communication solution for people who have difficulty speaking; provides natural sounding text-to-speech voices; high resolution up-to-date symbols.

iCommunicate- ($49.99)- iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad- Creates pictures, flashcards, storyboards, and visual schedules includes. 100+ pictures, and you can add your own. It includes a task completion component. You can actually put a check mark on top of each picture when completed.

Tap to Talk-(Free)-iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad-The app is free but has only one communication board comes with and it cannot be altered. If you subscribe to their online site for 99.95 you can alter boards and customize it.

Smart Pens-Basically a computer in a pen. Go to their website for more info. The site has nice informational tutorials. Also available on Amazon.

Speech-to-Text- Dragon Naturally Speaking- Go to their website for more info. Also available on Amazon.

Alphasmart & Fusion- Cool portable word processing devices. Go to their website for more info and see my earlier post.

Technology can open so many doors for students with special needs. There are many different products available on the market, some that are reasonably priced, and some that are extremely expensive. Please understand that it is critical to have your child's individual needs assessed by an assistive technology team before making decisions about which technology is most appropriate for your child.

Although it is not necessary to have an AT evaluation conducted by certified professional, you may want to see if there are any in your area. To see if there are any certified assistive technology personnel in your area through RESNA click HERE.

Here are a few more references from the radio show:
Daily Living Aids
Computer Access Aids
Environmental Aids
Prentke Romich Devices

If you've found this post helpful, please like my Facebook page in the upper right corner! Thanks!

Sensory Writing Group is a Great Success

2011-11-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

I just had an article published in our profession's trade magazine, OT Practice, titled "Sensory Writing, A Team Approach to Handwriting Instruction". The article describes a multi-sensory writing group that we hold in a classroom once a week. The special-needs students, teachers, paraprofessionals, and even peer-tutors are all involved. Oh, and I lead the group! :) The group has been a great success and so much fun!

If you get a chance, check out the article. Just click on the link below:
Sensory Writing Article

Parents of Special Needs Children: We Need Your Help!

2011-11-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

Calling All Parents of Special Needs Children and Adults!

Dear Parents,

I have a guest blogger today who is going to share some information about a program that he is hoping to start and he needs your feedback. You do not have to live in the Memphis, TN area to participate. Please read on:

Hello. My name is Christopher Myers and I am a Dad of a special needs son, Taylor who has autism, cerebral palsy and mental retardation. He is 20+ years old but functions like a 2-year old. Although he is ambulatory, he has no speech and takes 3 different medicines daily.

My day job is working in a marketing department for a large company here in Memphis, and I recently wrote a book about my son, Taylor, called "Taylor’s Way". My passion is to help improve the quality of life for each and every special needs child, teenager and adult in the Mid-South community. That is why I am asking for your feedback on this survey. The need in our community is so great and will only get more significant.

I have an idea that I am researching and need your thoughts. I am not asking for money or donations. Just candid feedback. The name of my concept is LifePlan. It will be:

a web-based consultancy that leverages technology resources to provide a customized plan for every individual with special needs to include opportunities to interact, tailored list of local resources, educational considerations, etc.
Parents and caregivers would receive customized information for their respective child/adult based on an approved profile of personal data including age, abilities, interests, opportunities, etc. (based on frequency and monthly fee).
Again, the purpose of LifePlan is is simple: help parents and caregivers make informed decisions for their child/adult with special needs based on a “clearinghouse” of information, and not have to guess on where to access resources, programs and services that are mostly not relevant. This information could be available to you at your fingertips.

Please answer these questions and email all answers to Chris @
clmyers1229 (at) hotmail (dot) com or leave answers in the comment box below - What do you like about the concept? Dislike? If there were a fee charged for a customized plan, how much would you be willing to pay per month? Quarterly? Annually?

Thanks for your feedback!

For information on Chris' book, click on the link below:
Taylor's Way