Summer is here! Trade your backpacks for beach bags!
The car is packed, the family is excited, and chances are everyone is bored 30 minutes into the ride. If your family is taking a vacation from technology as well, try these “unplugged” options to keep your kids thinking while passing the time.
Classic license plate games
The options to play games using license plates are endless, depending on the age of your kids.
Younger kids can call out letters in alphabetical order; the first one to Z wins.
Ask your child to identify the letter and provide the correct sound.
Older kids can "collect" out-of-state plates they see. (Make it tougher by going in alphabetical order.)
Write down the numbers and letters you see on license plates. Ask kids to make words and number sentences using the numbers and letters you wrote down.
Create a scavenger hunt
Create a scavenger hunt list before you leave. Kids can search for everything from farm animals to popular landmarks. Keep a running tally of what you see to practice math vocabulary with younger children. Who has the most, least, equal, how many more do the have?
MadLibs!
Who knew grammar could be so fun! Children can take turns practicing parts of speech while creating silly stories. MadLibs are available at most bookstores and have even been spotted at the Dollar Store on occasion.
The Picnic Game: Practice working memory skills!
One player says, "I went to a picnic and brought” (then name a picnic favorite that begins with the letter A, like apples). The next player repeats the opening phrase, and then adds one that begins with B: "I brought an apple and some bread." Make it challenging for older kids by naming objects they see along the way. For example, A is for armadillo, B is for barn, etc.
An recent article on Medline Plus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, examine the value of regular physical activity for children. This article highlights objective research that shows without a doubt that there are big benefits to this heavy work activity that we recommend for our kids. The benefits are not just for the kids with sensory or self-regulation challenges, but for all kids.
Here is an excerpt: “Since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed in 2001, 44 percent of school officials have cut back on physical education to devote more time to reading and mathematics in the classroom," according to the report.
However, research suggests that regular physical activity may actually improve academic performance, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) noted. For instance, aerobic fitness is linked to working memory and problem solving.Recess offers children the opportunity to develop social skills and use their imaginations. Benefits of physical activity during the school day are greater than the benefits of exclusive use of classroom time for academics, the authors concluded.”
This is especially relevant to OT because we frequently treat children who have difficulty with self-regulation. These are kids who are getting all of the sensory inputs that the world has to offer but they can’t seem to handle it all and so their systems get disorganized. This results in all kinds of challenges for them to function successfully in their daily settings. We frequently recommend what we call “heavy work” activities to help with this outside of what we do in the clinic environment.
Heavy work is essentially physical activity that grown-ups would call exercise. It’s generally anything that makes your heart beat faster, makes you sweat, and makes you breathe heavier.
In my work as an Occupational Therapist at Child and Family Development, I hear often from children that they “didn’t have to do anything” in gym class or they didn’t have to participate. Even if your child has a regular hour of gym class every day, which is not so common anymore it seems, it is still important to help them move around outside of school.
Tips for getting more exercise in
Try to go for a walk after dinner or right when you get home. It doesn’t have to feel like work to count as exercise, any movement is good movement. That exercise will actually help them sit better for homework time. It may be beneficial to delay homework time for 30 minutes to go for a walk. I know it’s hard to work full time, take care of everything else in your child’s schedule and still even find time to feed yourself something decent let alone to add something to that schedule.
Start small, start by just going outside in the yard to play catch or basketball for 5 or 10 minutes at a quiet point in the day. Work your way up from there.
The research shows exercise is not just good for your children’s physical health but perhaps even more importantly it’s beneficial for their emotional and mental health as well.
Is your child 2 years, 3 years, or 4 years old, and having difficulty walking up or down stairs? Watching your toddler master stair climbing can be a nerve wrecking experience. As your child becomes more curious and adventurous, it is critical that they have the proper strength and coordination to safely climb up and come back down stairs. What many parents may not realize is that, for a toddler, going up stairs is much easier than coming back down. Therefore, you may notice your toddler make their way up a staircase, but have no way to get themselves back down. Most toddlers will master walking up the stairs before they can walk back down. Here is a general timeline that most children follow when it comes to stair climbing.
Timeline:
On average, by 9 - 12 months, children can crawl up stairs.
On average, by 18 months - 2 years, children can take steps two feet per step, while holding a rail or one hand.
On average, by 2 years - 2 years 6 months, children can walk up stairs independently, two feet per step, without any support.
By 2 years 7 months - 3 years, children can walk up and down stairs, one foot per step, while holding a rail.
On average, by 3 years, children can walk up and down stairs, one foot per step, with no support.
As a general rule, most children should be able to walk up and down stairs independently and alternating feet by the end of their third year. Here are some warning signs that indicate a developmental delay among toddlers relating to stair climbing.
Learning to climb stairs should be done under the close supervision of an adult. Provide close by assistance as your child climbs up or down stairs. Here are a few ways that you can help your child master stair climbing.
How to help:
When first learning to climb stairs, children are most supported when both hands are held by an adult. They will then progress to success with one hand held with the other hand holding a rail. Children can then move onto holding only a rail, followed by one hand placed on the wall, and eventually will walk up and down stairs with no support.
Often children want to keep both of their hands on the rail when they are learning stairs. If you want your child to practice with only one hand on the rail, give them a soft toy to hold in one hand so that only one hand is free to hold the rail.
Before attempting an entire staircase, practice going up or down the last one or two steps up or down the stairs first. When your child is comfortable walking up or down the last couple of stairs of a staircase, slowly start to add in more stairs.
When walking up or down stairs, children often arch backwards, relying too heavily on a nearby adult for support. Help them keep their head over their lead foot when walking up and down stairs.
If your child is practicing hands free stair walking, always stay close below your child as they climb up or descend stairs in case they lose their balance and fall.
To help your child walk up or down stairs while alternating feet, tap each leg as a physical cue and point to the next step.
As a general rule, children lead with their stronger leg when walking up stairs and lead with their weaker leg when walking down stairs.
If you notice that your child always prefers to lead with one particular leg, try placing a sticker on the shoe of the non preferred leg. When it is time to step, tell them it is time for “sticker foot” to take a step.
Need help?
If you want help with these suggestions or notice any of the above mentioned warning signs, a Physical Therapy evaluation can determine if your child is simply showing normal variability in gross motor development or if your child can benefit from intervention. Call me today at (704) 332-4834 ext. 114 to set up an evaluation.
Author Paul Gilbert of ADDitude: Living Well With Attention Deficit magazine recently featured Cogmed in an article titled, Brain-Training Tools for More Attention, Less Deficit: These ADHD therapies offer fun and games with a serious purpose: increasing your child's focus.
Here at Child and Family Development, Joy Granetz, Ph.D. offers this program. She is one of a few trained Practitioners in our area. Dr. Granetz is a North Carolina licensed psychologist and has over thirteen years of extensive experience. Dr. Granetz is based at our South Charlotte clinic where she provides neuropsychological assessment and psychoeducational evaluations of children and adolescents with special focus in working with children and adolescents with learning disabilities, attention disorders, head injury, tic disorders, and epilepsy. Dr. Granetz also provides therapy for children and adolescents with emotional and/or behavioral difficulties. To find out if Cogmed Working Memory Training is right for you, call our South Charlotte office to schedule an initial appointment.
Visit their website, http://www.cogmed.com/, for more information about this state-of-the-art intervention. A free parent webinar is available.
Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a presentation given by Dr. Derek Brugman, D.O., also known as the “ADHD doctor”, at The John Crosland School. Dr. Brugman gave two very clever examples of the ADHD brain that have been helpful in explaining ADHD to parents.
The ADHD brain functions like a pilot light on a gas oven that is continuously going out while someone is trying to bake a cake. Meaning that the ADHD brain has to work really hard to keep its “pilot light” lit while trying to accomplish daily tasks. Moreover, the ADHD brain’s pilot light likely keeps going out and has to be continuously relit numerous times while trying to complete a task, especially tasks that are hard or not interesting.
The ADHD brain functions like a gas grill that can only stay lit if you continuously keep pushing the ignition button. It would be like trying to cook hot dogs on a grill, while flipping them over at the appropriate times and continuing to push that “little red button” while doing so. This explains why the ADHD brain may often choose to just “eat cold hot dogs”. This leads to frustration, a sense of failure and possibly others viewing the ADHD brain as just plain lazy.
So, the next time you encounter an ADHD brain that has been “relighting its pilot light” all day at school and has tried to “continuously push its little red button” to perform academically, don’t be surprised that when it comes to homework time you may experience the ADHD person acting like an unhappy grizzly bear!!
The Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation is looking for parents of young children to take part in a 20-25 minute online research study. The survey is for the parents of babies 0-3 years old (0-47 months) and/or preschoolers 4-6 years old.
The SPD Foundation hopes to hear from parents of both typically developing children as well as those with a diagnosis of:
ADHD
Autism spectrum disorder
Anxiety disorder
Sensory Processing Disorder
Furthermore, if you have an older child with any of these diagnoses we are very interested in their younger siblings.
The goal of this study is to understand how differences in sensory processing are related to a number of personality and behavioral characteristics, in both clinical disorders, such as Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), but also within other disorders and within typical development.
The researchers also want to better characterize the sensory processing differences within SPD to better understand the various subtypes. The information collected could be useful to further understand the causes of sensory dysfunctions, leading to better therapies to improve the lives of children and families who are affected.
For more information and to participate in this study, click here.
We had a wonderful experience with the teachers at Davidson Day School this month when we led their Professional Development Day.
Members of our pediatric therapy team -- including Dr. Chris Vrabel, Dawn Keller, Jessica DeLing, Ellen Bruce and Michelle Pentz -- shared information about ADHD, autism, executive functioning skills, gross motor and language development.
Happy second C&FD Anniversary to Melinda Bumgardner, Speech Therapist. One of her colleagues, Amy Gossett, summed up how a lot of us feel about working with her.
3 words to describe Melinda: HELPFUL, KNOWLEDGABLE, FUN
Expertise: I admire Melinda's skills with programming augmentative communication devices! They are tricky sometimes and she seems to always have the answers.
C&FD Contributions: Melinda has great SUCCESS with the children she sees for speech therapy. I referred a client with Apraxia to her. I hadn't been around him in quite awhile and when I saw him again, I noticed a big improvement!
Fun Fact: Melinda loves Hello Kittytoys! I got one from my Happy Meal and couldn't wait to give it to Melinda to add to her collection.
Melinda, you are the cat’s meow! We are glad you are part of the Child and Family Development team.
Looking for pediatric therapy services near Lancaster, South Carolina?
Child and Family Development has an office in South Charlotte that is less than 5 miles from the border and easily accessible from I-77 and the 485 loop.
Our multi-disciplinary clinic has been helping children and families since 1980. The team of experienced therapists can assess and treat a wide range of childhood concerns, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities or special needs.
We participate in many insurance plans.
The Contact Us tab on our website will link you to our address and Mapquest.
Did you know that Child and Family Development's office in South Charlotte is less than 5 miles from the state line and easily accessible from I-77 and the I-485 loop.
Our multi-disciplinary clinic has been helping children and families since 1980. The team of experienced therapists can assess and treat a wide range of childhood concerns, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities or special needs. We participate in many insurance plans. Also, some of our Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy providers accept South Carolina Medicaid.
The Contact Us tab on our website will link you to our address and Mapquest.
Looking for pediatric therapy services near Gastonia, North Carolina?
Child and Family Development has an office in South Charlotte that is less than 30 miles from there and easily accessible from I-77 and the 485 loop.
Our multi-disciplinary clinic has been helping children and families since 1980. The team of experienced therapists can assess and treat a wide range of childhood concerns, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities or special needs.
The Contact Us tab on our website will link you to our address and Mapquest.
Child and Family Development has an office in South Charlotte that is under 20 miles from there and easily accessible from the 485 loop.
Our multi-disciplinary practice has been helping children and families since 1980. The team of experienced therapists can assess and treat a wide range of childhood concerns, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities or special needs. Our core services include Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, Child Psychology and Education. In addition, we offer specialty services, including aquatic therapy, feeding groups and social skills groups.
The Contact Us tab on our website will link you to our address and Mapquest.
At Child and Family Development, our psychology team offers AD/HD evaluations for college students.
Sometimes bright students make their way through high school without being diagnosed. Other times, a college requests an updated evaluation. Either way, a comprehensive psycho-educational evaluation can provide a college student with a wealth of information about their learning style, strengths, and weaknesses. Our evaluations include a cognitive assessment, an educational assessment, standardized AD/HD rating forms, a performance-based measure of attention, a detailed history interview, and other psycho-social data. A report can be taken to the student’s college office of disabilities in order to establish accommodations. Accommodations in college are fairly easy to acquire and can be essential to academic success. An evaluation can take several weeks to complete.
Holiday breaks or Summer can be optimal times to schedule an evaluation before returning to college for a new semester.
Chances are, schools today are not quite how you remember them. Just as educators are evolving from a "one size fits all" method of teaching, classrooms themselves are undergoing a transformation. From the pre-kindergarten classroom, to the college lecture hall, our students have far more resources available to them then every before. Chalkboards have been upgraded to SMART Boards, spiral notebooks have given way to laptops, and tablets are no longer just for practicing penmanship. Now your #2 pencil is even taking a back seat.
Looking for a product that will support a number of different learning styles, including Dsygraphia, ADHD and Dyslexia, to name a few? Maybe you just want to be a "smart" note taker. If so, check out the SMARTpen, by Livescribe.
Follow www.livescribe.com to learn more about Livescribe products, watch how-to videos, shop for free and budget-friendly apps to use with your SMARTpen or to join your first Pencast! The SMARTpen is also available locally in Charlotte, at Best Buy and Target stores.
Technology is supposed to make your life easier...isn't it? At Child and Family Development, we often recommend technology to accommodate various learning styles. There are some great products that can be found online or right here in Charlotte that will support the unique learner in your family. You never know, technology just might make life a bit easier after all.
Learning accommodations, by definition, are meant to support and enhance learning. When accommodating a student in a specific area, it is important to remember that you are not changing the content or expectation; you are providing the tools needed to support a unique learning style. Technology can make learning easier in a number of ways. Many products are especially useful for individuals diagnosed with ADHD, Autism, or Learning Disorders. Some learning styles require accommodations; however, many products can enhance or maximize the learning potential of any student.
So whether you're seeking tech savvy tools for the child diagnosed with Dsylexia, or you're on a quest for the latest and greatest educational software, stay tuned for future blogs about tools that may provide the perfect accommodation for your special learner.
A weighted vest is a vest which has had weight added and provides compression to the upper body or torso area. When an occupational therapist recommends adding a weighted vest in a therapy session or to a home sensory diet, it’s our goal to add more proprioceptive or heavy input (or “heavy work”). Heavy input impacts the proprioceptive system, which is read by our muscles and joints and tells our brains where our bodies are in space.
When an occupational therapist adds additional weight or work for the proprioceptive system, it can have a calming and organizing affect. It also helps to provide additional feedback about where our bodies are in space, which can help to make motor planning and coordination easier for kids with sensory processing difficulties. Weighted vests are beneficial for some children with sensory processing difficulties, but not liked by all of them! They are worn for short periods of time and their use should be guided by an occupational therapist.
If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of weighted vests and other pediatric therapy equipment, contact an occupational therapist at Child & Family Development in Charlotte.
Auditory Processing Disorder (also called Central Auditory Processing Disorder or CAPD) is a general term referring to disordered processing of sounds that takes place in the pathways between the auditory nerve, which connects to the ear, and the higher-level auditory pathways in the brain. It is important to know that auditory processing disorders are not the result of a hearing impairment – people diagnosed with APD hear normally, and a hearing impairment must be ruled out before an auditory processing disorder can be diagnosed. Auditory processing disorders are near to my heart because many of my pediatric speech therapy clients have either been diagnosed with APD or show symptoms of it!
What are the signs and symptoms?
Inconsistent listening skills are a common sign of APD, especially when environmental noise is present. Other signs include:
-needing instructions to be repeated multiple times
-saying “What?” or “Huh?” several times per day
-misunderstanding what is said often
-difficulty paying attention when someone is talking
-short attention span in general (ADD/ADHD often coexist with APD)
-difficulty with phonics / letter sounds
-being slow to respond to what has been said
-appearing to hear but not understand
How do I find out if my child has an auditory processing disorder?
Auditory processing disorders are typically diagnosed by an audiologist, who rules out a hearing impairment before diagnosing APD. A speech therapist can verify symptoms of APD and provide treatment after a child is diagnosed. They also evaluate and treat language processing disorders, which are similar to APD but involve how receptive and expressive language is processed in the brain rather than auditory input in general. Feel free to contact Child and Family Development if you have any questions about auditory processing.
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then there is some preparation you should do during the summer months.
Contact the college disability service center. Find out the documentation you need to receive services, as well as the services they offer.
Have an updated evaluation that documents your disability. Most, if not all, colleges/universities require an up-to-date evaluation or documentation of the disability. Some require the documentation be within 3 years, others within 1 year.
Meet with the staff at the disability service center and get a tour of the school. Discuss in detail your needs as well as what you feel you need to succeed and see how they can support you to reach your goals.
Two books (one for parents, one for students) that may further assist in preparation for this transition are:
Ready for Take Off: Preparing Your Teen With ADHD or LD for College, by Theresa E. Laurie Maitland, PhD and Patricia O. Quinn, MD
On Your Own: A College Readiness Guide For Teens With ADHD/LD, by Patricia O. Quinn, MD and Theresa E. Laurie Maitland, PhD
The Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement- Third Edition (WJ-III) is a widely used individualized academic achievement measurement. It includes assessments of basic reading, reading comprehension, written expression, math calculation and math reasoning. The WJ-III is often administered by public schools to determine eligibility for special education. It is also used in clinical settings to determine the presence of a learning disability such as dyslexia. The measurement is helpful in clinical settings when a clincian is trying to determine the presence of ADHD. Moreover, the WJ-III is often used to document annual progress for home-schooled students.
In addition to several other instruments, this standardized testing tool is a regular part of the comprehensive assessments offered by our team of child psychologists and educators at Child and Family Development in Charlotte.
As a Speech Therapist, I am always looking for new ways to motivate and encourage Speech and Language development. I use the IPAD during Speech Therapy, and often recommend apps to IPAD owning families.
My Favorite App to improve Speech and Language Development of the Month is...(drum roll please!)
I Like Books
Description: This app contains 37 "I like" picture books that contain engaging stories written by Miranda Paul paired with real pictures. The words are highlighted as they are being read. All the stories are customizable; you can add your own voice, your own photos and even your own ideas!
Why I like this app: I like this app for many reasons! During speech language therapy, I use this app to improve question generation/answering skills, story comprehension/literacy skills, and to increase vocabulary development! I love that "I like books..." uses "real" pictures, helping children learn and explore "their" world. This app makes story time fun! Try it and see!
General
The information contained in this website is intended to provide general educational information and client education on certain topics only and is not intended to offer healthcare/medical advice. This information should not be considered complete and should not be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice from a licensed healthcare professional. Child and Family Development is not liable or responsible for any advice, course of treatment, diagnosis or any other information or services you obtain through this website. If you have, or suspect you have, a health problem you should never disregard medical advice or delay seeking medical attention because of something you have read on this website. Never rely on information on this website in place of seeking professional medical advice. If you have questions about a medical condition or seek advice, see your healthcare professional immediately.
Links
Links from our website to other websites are provided as a service to help users find appropriate information. Absolutely no responsibility is taken by Child and Family Development or its employees for the accuracy of the information you may receive from any of the referred links. If you have questions about a medical condition or seek medical advice, contact your healthcare professional.
Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a presentation given by 
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