The Benefits of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy can help kids with physical, sensory or cognitive disabilities. Therapy can help kids with their school performance and daily activities.

For kids needing help with fine motor skills occupational therapy can help them with grasping and releasing toys and help them develop good handwriting skills. Occupational therapy can also help kids with hand-eye coordination to improve kids play and school skills.

Occupational therapy is especially beneficial for kids with severe developmental delays and can help with learning basic tasks. Tasks like bathing, getting dressed, feeding themselves and brushing their teeth. Occupational therapist can also create in home programs for you to practice with your child at home. Therapy can help kids who have sensory and attention issues, which can help improve focus and social skills. Kids with behavioral disorders can benefit from learning positive behaviors for all environments.

Occupational therapy can last for months or even for a few years. It all depends on your child’s individual needs and goals. Matching your child with the right therapist is important to. If your child was in need of any type of specialized equipment, your occupational therapist can evaluate and help you in the direction of how to get the equipment needed.

The Benefits of Speech Therapy

Speech therapy can help kids learn to speak more clearly and be able to communicate with others. This helps kids feel more confident and less frustrated about speaking. Kids who have language issues can benefit socially, emotionally and academically from speech therapy.

For kids with reading issues such as dyslexia, speech therapy can help them hear and distinguish specific sounds in words: the word cat breaks down into c, a, and t sounds. This can improve reading comprehension skills and encourage kids to read.

Speech therapy is especially beneficial when kids start therapy early in life. Studies have shown that the earlier kids went through speech therapy the sooner they can improved their language skills.

Speech therapy may last for months or even for a few years. It depends on your child’s needs. Your involvement can make speech therapy more effective for your child. Your child’s therapist can give you and your child strategies to deal with obstacles more effectively. Therapist can provide activities to practice at home to reinforce the skills your child is learning. Kids who make the most progress tend to be those who get involved in their treatment.

It’s important that you find a speech therapist that is a good match for your child. The speech therapist should have experience working with kids with your child’s specific issue. Speech therapy is just one way to help a child with learning issues related to language and speech.

Torticollis

Our Occupational Therapy Department at Sonoran Sun Pediatric Therapy can help treat children with Torticollis. Infant Torticollis, also known as “wry neck” or “loxia,” occurs when a baby’s neck is twisted, resulting in the head tilting to one side while the chin points upwards. In newborns, Torticollis can happen due to positioning in the womb or after a difficult childbirth. This is called Infant Torticollis or Congenital Muscular Torticollis (CMT). It happens when your child’s neck muscles are especially tight on one side, or if something has caused scarring on one side of the neck. The tight muscles or scarring can cause your child’s head to tilt to one side.

Torticollis is relatively common in newborns. Boys and girls are equally likely to develop the head tilt. If you infant has a difficult time turning their head to one side but not the other side, this could be a sign of Torticollis. Infants with Torticollis may also have developed flat spots on their head (Plagiocephaly) or have Facial Asymmetry meaning their ears may be at unequal levels or it may appear that one of their eyes is more pronounced then the other.

If your infant does have Torticollis your doctor may teach you how to do stretches at home with your infant. It is also recommended that you receive an Occupational Therapy Evaluation for your child to help treat their Torticollis. The good news is that through intensive therapy (typically 2-3 times per week), Torticollis can typically be treated. The sooner you are able to come in the better when it comes to Torticollis treatment.

Commercial Insurance Plans

With the New Year can come Insurance changes for you and your family. If you have a Commercial Insurance plan, be aware of your plan on whether it is based on a calendar year or different. If you have a calendar year plan then your deductible will reset for the New Year. Don’t be afraid to call your Insurance Company if you ever have questions on your medical insurance coverage. Insurance coverage and plans can be complicated. Stay in the know of your individual coverage and your family coverage. Typical Commercial Plans have a deductible, co-pays and then a co-insurance. Which means after your deductible is met, you then share the financial responsibility of covered services with your Insurance Company. There is a lot of plans out there and it all can be confusing. Stay educated and know your policy coverage so there is no unknown cost to you that you don’t know about. Sometimes your Insurance will say a service is covered but there may be “exclusions”. If you ever have billing questions don’t be afraid to ask for help on your coverage from either your Insurance Company by calling their customer service or even speaking to someone in the billing department of your medical office that you currently go to.

If you have a HSA account, don’t forget to use it up before the beginning of the New Year. Insurance policies can be complicated but if you stay educated on your policy you will be able to plan ahead.

Holiday Tips & Sensory Strategies

With the holidays here, there is much to be anticipated and much to be excited about for your little one. From what presents will they get, to who will come visit, to enjoying having time off from school, etc.

Here are some quick & easy simple strategies/tips to help decrease your little one’s stress during the holiday season:

Stick to schedules/routines as much as possible

The majority of humans draw comfort from routine. Not only is it normal for our schedules/routines to be thrown off a little bit during the holidays. It is a great lesson for children to have as it teaches them that while it is great to have and follow a schedule, we need to practice flexibility as well, because things change. Try your best to stick to schedules/routines as much as possible during holidays. But know that if your schedule/routine does get thrown off, that’s ok and it’s a great time to teach your little one about flexibility.

Provide guidelines with presents/gifts

Along with changes in schedules/routines Holiday traditions such as gift giving can create new situations that children may not know how to appropriately act with. This can simply be addressed by providing guidelines with gift giving/receiving prior to the activity. Things such as “we can only unwrap presents with our name on them”, “when we give someone a gift it is their turn to unwrap and play with it”, “everyone gets a turn to unwrap gifts and presents, so we may have to wait and be patient when someone else is unwrapping their gifts.”

Provide opportunities for calming & relaxation

With all the changes that the Holidays can bring, it is sometimes necessary that we give our little one time to calm down. As all the changes in routines, visitations from family members we don’t see too often, the lights on houses/building, etc. can sometimes be overwhelming. A good way to help with this is giving your little one time for calming & relaxation away from other people and commotion. Better yet, you can try to schedule opportunities for calming & relaxation during the day, so you can be pro-active in an effort to prevent meltdowns.

The Holidays often give us lots to be excited for, unfortunately they can give us lots to be overwhelmed with. Following these simple strategies can help make your holidays go successfully and smoothly. If you still have concerns or are in need of additional strategies don’t hesitate to reach out to your therapist for help & guidance.

Michael Jankowski, MS, OTR/L
Occupational Therapy Director

5 tips to help with stress during the holidays –

The holiday season can be exciting and stressful at the same time. Especially if you are a family with children. Being organized and prepared for the holidays can be very helpful.

Tip #1 – Set a Budget

With the holidays comes financial pressure. Help relieve that pressure by setting a budget and sticking to it. It helps to set a limit per person. You should include 3 categories in your budget, gifts, groceries and holiday activities. The price of a gift should not be the importance, it should be the thought behind the gift. Something I like to do with my children is if they really want an expensive item that is not in my budget, I let them know for that item they should save up their own Christmas money to purchase the item. This takes the pressure off of you and teaches your children to appreciate the item they bought themselves.

Tip #2 – Plan Ahead

Don’t over book yourself and set expectations that are not realistic. Make a “To Do List” on just plain old regular paper or use your phone to create your “To Do List”. Often, there is so many fun holiday activities going on in the community and with friends and family, that you may not be able to do them all. You can always do some activities next year. When you plan to many activities you don’t fully enjoy them. Stop obsessing over doing it all yourself. Include your family in helping with the “To Do List”. This will make them feel important and useful and appreciate all that you do.

Tip #3 – Pick Your Battles

The holidays are not only stressful for you but for children as well. It can be sensory overload for some children. Remember to have patience with your children and if your child is just not having a good day or not enjoying a planned activity, then leave the activity. If you know dinner time is a time where your children like to pick fights with each other then maybe eat out, or let your child choose a different spot to eat that night. The holiday season is not the time to fight with your children, it just adds unnecessary stress.

Tip #4 – Make Time For Yourself

Don’t forget about your day to day routine. It is so important to fit in exercise, eat well and get plenty of sleep. When you are at your best, then your children and family around you will be at their best.

Tip #5 – Think Positive

Keeping a positive mind set is key to keeping stress at bay. Don’t try to be a perfectionist during the holiday season. Make your gifts and holiday planning your own. Remember it’s time to celebrate with family and friends and look forward to the New Year!!!

Are you thinking of getting your child a board game this Christmas? Board games can be a great tool to use to learn and have fun at the same time. There are tons of board games to choose from when you hit the toy aisle in stores. One of the go-to games in therapy is ZINGO by Thinkfun! This game is fantastic for building vocabulary, articulation and turn-taking. Another great thing about Zingo is it can also help answer yes/no questions, by simply asking your little one, “Do you have a cat?” and so forth. Who knew one game could be so interactive! It’s a very fun game, that kids absolutely love!  

Why should practicing your feeding skills at home be boring? While you don’t want to have to go out and spend too much money on a bunch of plates, cups, utensils, sometimes having a few novel items can help eating be a little more enticing. Here are a few of my favorites to use:

• Num Num Pre-Spoon by Gootensils – These pre-feeder spoons are great for early feeders. When children don’t quite have the dexterity and fine motor skills to scoop, rotate their wrists, and balance a spoon to get the food to their mouths, these pre-spoons can be very useful! All the child does is dip it in puree and the pre-spoon catches/holds food much easier than a regular spoon. They can get lots of practice with the hand-to-mouth motion of eating without too much food sliding off.
• Offer a variety of forks and spoons to use at the dinner table – For older children who are more proficient with fine motor skills, offering a variety of utensils (maybe 2-3) at mealtime might build some novelty into the meal. Kids love being independent, so if they are given the power to choose which utensil they will use, they might be more willing to use it to pick up some new foods. They might like a choice as simple as which color utensil they will use! I have also used small coffee stir straws and toothpicks as a novel way of picking up small pieces of food. It can make it new and exciting to try something on their plate.
• Dinner Winner Plate – This plate has been one of my more successful tools to date! A small portion of food it placed into each section and at the very end of the plate, the child gets a special treat of their choosing. It is so useful because the child sees a clear start and end to what they are eating, plus it is fun to know there is a “prize” at the end. You can find this plate on Amazon or at Kohl’s or Bed, Bath and Beyond!!

For Your Thanksgiving Picky Eater

Thanksgiving can undoubtedly be a stressful time for a picky eater and his/her family. A regular mealtime with familiar family foods can be difficult to get through. However, when you have a whole day centered around foods you may only serve once per year (plus the potential activity of seeing lots of family members and friends), this can cause the picky eater AND family to experience a whole different level of stress. Here are some tips to keep in mind from “All the Moms” and “Parents“ to help you get through the holiday weekend!

• Involve your child in getting the meal ready, such as setting the table and preparing some of the foods (to the best of their ability level). This could even be putting napkins on the plates or mashing up some of the potatoes. If they can have experiences around the foods without actually eating them, this can help to decrease some of the anxiety.
• As much as possible, stick to your usual meal routine. For example, if at your regular dinner time your child is only expected to try one bite of each food on their plate, keep this consistent. It would likely add stress if they are suddenly asked to completely clean their plate when it has not been the usual expectation.
• If there are some stand-by foods that help get your child through a meal (ketchup or ranch are my favorites!), then considering having those available. It might not be your idea of a traditional Thanksgiving side dish, but if your child will dip just about anything in ketchup, then they just might be willing to give that turkey or sweet potato a taste.
• As much as possible, limit pre-meal snacks. A child is far more likely to sit and eat some food at the table if they are hungry! If they are filling up on crackers, pretzels, or sweets before the meal starts, it will probably be much more difficult to keep them at the table for a meal full of foods they may not usually eat.
• Try making up fun names for the foods! “Cornell University researchers found that when 4-year-olds were served ‘X-Ray Vision Carrots,’ they ate nearly twice as much as when the food was simply labeled ‘Carrots.’” — Parents
• Keep servings small! Especially with so many foods that are typically served at a Thanksgiving feast, you may only offer a tablespoon or less of each food that you would want your child to try. It is much less overwhelming for your child to look at a plate of small portions than a heaping plate of food. Plus, they can always ask for seconds if they find something they like!
• Overall, just try to be as relaxed as possible. This is not the time to put too many expectations on one meal. If your child does not like one of the foods on their plate, give them praise for the other foods that they did try. The important part of the day is to enjoy the company around you and not to stress over finishing every last bite of food.
  Kristina Burnham, MS, CCC-SLP-Language Pathology Director

What is Proprioception and Why is it Important?

Proprioception is the body’s ability to receive input through receptors in the skin, muscles and joints, and transfer the information to the brain through the nervous system so that the body can sense itself. To put it simply, proprioception is the sense that tells the body where it is in space. Proprioception is very important to the brain as it plays a big role in self-regulation, coordination, posture, body awareness, the ability to attend and focus, and speech. Many children with sensory processing disorders, Autism, and ADHD struggle with one or more of the areas listed above because of their body is not processing the proprioceptive input effectively. Signs of proprioceptive dysfunction or under-registration include:

• Poor Motor Planning/Coordination & Poor Body Awareness (difficulty understanding personal space or understanding boundaries when playing with others, presents with delay in gross and fine motor skills, bumps into people and objects frequently, difficulty riding a bike, difficulty going up and down stairs, difficulty with speech)
• Poor Self-Regulation Skills (emotional, difficulty attending to task, mood swings, frequent meltdowns, difficulty with sleep)
• Sensory Seeking Behaviors (plays rough, taps or shakes feet while sitting, chews, bites, likes tight clothes, pushes or hits others, writes too hard)
• Poor Postural Control (slouches, rests head on desk while working, leans on everything, poor muscle tone, unable to balance on one foot)

Children that have difficulty sensing or processing proprioception often try to self-regulate by engaging in activities and/or behaviors that provide intense or frequent proprioceptive input. Proprioceptive dysfunction can be addressed and improved by Occupational Therapy through the use of sensory integration and developing a healthy sensory diet. If your child has difficulty with sensory processing or demonstrates difficulty with any of the above signs, contact Sonoran Sun Pediatric Therapy to schedule a free Occupational Therapy screening.