Building Blocks

The holidays are a time for family gatherings, traveling, no school, and no routine.  For some that sounds fun, but for children with sensory processing difficulties, Autism, and other developmental delays, it can be a very scary time.

Children who have auditory and tactile sensitivities will likely struggle most during family gatherings.

Children who are sensitive to movement or need a lot of movement will have the most difficulty being couped up in a car or airplane while traveling.

Children who already feel like they have no control over their own body rely on routine to give them a sense of control and organization.  When their environment is unpreditable, these children will likely either shut down or act out.

Remember your child's needs when you are making plans this holiday season.  If you go to a family gathering, make sure that your child has a quiet space to go when they need a break from all of the commotion.  If you are traveling, make sure you are able to take frequent movement breaks to allow your child to more succesfully ride in the car.  Most importantly, remember to keep sleep, meal, and daily routines as close to typical as you are able.

Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday!

When you are shopping for your child this holiday season, take a look at this checklist to help you determine if the toy you choose is right for you child!

www.aota.org/Consumers/consumers/Youth/Play/Toy.aspx

For more information, contact your occupational therapist at Child and Family Development in Charlotte.

• begins pulling to stand
• creeps
• puts objects into and out of container
• enjoys placing things on head
• looks at and explores objects with hands

• push toys
• plastic nesting or stacking containers
• cups
• balls
• blocks - small and brightly colored
• baskets
• boxes - simple ones to open and close
  

• needs interesting variety
• likes to move and climb on things
• constantly on the move; short attention span
• more aware of people
• begins to talk more readily

• pull toys
• pots and pans
• sand toys
• water toys
• dolls
• hammer toys
• sturdy books with large colored pictures
• stuffed toys
• large blocks
• toy telephone
• large beads to string
• simple shape sorter

Why?
From a sensory processing perspective, your child may grind her teeth to help modulate or organize her sensory system.  She may be using this technique as a calming strategy.  Your child is likely under sensitive to the input she is giving himself and likely has no idea that she may be hurting herself.

What can you do?
Teach your child sensory activities that provide her with appropriate opportunities for strong sensory input to her jaw muscles such as chewing on chewy tube, straw, chewy foods such as gummies, gum.  Oral motor heavy work such as sucking thick liquids (i.e. shake, applesauce, pudding) through a straw or blowing bubbles in soapy water or whistles.

For more information on sensory processing related to this and other behaviors, please contact an occupational therapist at Child and Family Development in Charlotte.

Does your child struggle with reading, catching a ball, and other activities that require good visual treacking and scanning, convergence, and oculomotor skills?  Here are some activities that can support oculomotor skill development.
 

• “I Spy”
• Bingo
• Where’s Waldo books

• Flash light games

• Word searches (completing and creating)
• Hidden picture games
• Color by number pictures
• Dot to dot pictures
• Building replicas or from models (Lego’s, blocks, 3-D building, wooden shapes, etc.)
• Similar/different worksheets (discrete/minimal changes)
• Target shooting
• Puzzles
• Connect Four
• Checkers
• Tic Tac Toe
• Dominos

• Mazes (complete or create)
• Using map to find cities, states, geography locations, streets, mountain ranges
• Basketball

• Peg board designs

We have many specialized programs here at Child and Family Development.  One of the programs is called Handwriting Without Tears®. 

This program presents handwriting in a developmental, multisensory manner and has proven to be successful for a variety of children.  Handwriting Without Tears® was developed by an occupational therapist by the name of Jan Olsen.  It helps children learn to write in print and cursive and is appropriate for grades Pre-K through 5th grade.  Using wooden pieces for building letters, magnadoodles and chalkboards, play doh, and music, children learn how to form letters in a fun and educational way.  

Handwriting is such an important means of communication and should not be a tearful experience for any child.  If your child is struggling with handwriting, this program could help them succeed. 

For more information about Handwriting Without Tears ®, visit www.hwtears.com or talk to an occupational therapist at Child and Family Development.

Follow these steps for a shoe tying adventure!

 

• illegible writing (despite appropriate time and attention to task)
• inconsistencies in writing (ie: mixtures of print and cursive, upper and lower case; irregular sizes, shapes, or slant of letters)
• unfinished words or letters, omitted words
• poor use of margins; decreased alignment
• inconsistent spacing between words and letters
• cramped or unusual grip
• strage wrist, body, or paper position
• talking to self while writing, or carefully watching the hand that is writing
• slow or labored copying or writing - even if it is neat and legible
• content which does not reflect the child's other language skills

For many children, epecially those with Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder, routine is essential to daily life.  Routine creates structure and organization as well as a sense of confidence.  Children thrive on this structure because they know what is coming next and the uncertainty that comes with the unexpected is not present.

Regular schedules provide the day with a framework that orders a child's world. Although it may be very tedious for you as a parent to stick to a routine, children thrive on sameness and repetition.  Your child's behavior may often be a reflection of the amount of structure they have at home.  When a child knows what to expect, he/she will likely be attentive and well-adjusted.  When there is limited or no routine or expectations, your child will likely have difficulty focusing, be disorganized, and may be emotional and insecure.

How can you implement routine in your home?

• Plan regular mealtimes and eat at the table together
• Establish regular bedtimes and naptimes
• Wind down before bedtime - quiet play, story time
• Clean up after playing with toys - organization supports structure and routine
• Establish a homework routine to support your child's learning
• Differentiate between and allow both free play time and structured play time
• Be consistent, but flexible - too much rigidity to routine does not allow for your child to learn how to handle unexpected events.  Try to prepare your child for changes in routine such as an unexpected errand.  Keep your own emotions in check when change occurs as your child will pick up on your frustration or nervousness.

Is homework a constant battle for you and your child?  Has it become something you both dread?

Here are a few tips to "lighten the load".

#1 Allow your child to have a break

Many children are overwhelmed when they have to start homework as soon as they get home from school.  Allow your child to take a break and relax before beginning homework.  For example, have a snack, play a game, just talk about how the day went, participate in physical exercise, or play outside.

#2 Set aside a special place for homework

Try to eliminate distractions as much as possible to allow your child to complete homework assignments.  Don't do homework in a busy playroom or in front of the television.  Set up a special homework table in a quiet area of the house to give your child the chance to pay attention to his/her work.

#3 Set a time limit

Don't expect your child to work for hours on homework.  Set a time limit.  If your child knows they will be done at a certain time, they are likely to be more motivated to complete the work.  For Kindergarteners, 5-10 minutes of homework is appropriate for their age.  First graders can work for 10-15 minutes, second graders 15-20, and so on.

#4 Break it down

If there is an assignment that is overwhelming to your child and they immediately state that they can't do the assignment, try breaking it down into parts and allowing them to take breaks in between.  For example, if your child has to draw 12 pictures for an assignment, break it down into groups of 3-4.  Let them know that they can play a Wii game for 5 mintues before returning to the next set of 3-4. 

#5 Don't wait until the last minute

Some assignments are given over the course of one week.  Make sure you break down the assignment for your child and have them complete a little bit of it each day so that they don't have an overwhelming assignment on the day before it is due.  Also, don't wait until 30 minutes before bedtime to complete homework.  By this time, your child is already past the point of being able to focus and complete their work.

Does your child resist completing assignments that require handwriting?  Does he find ways to avoid writing activities?  

Handwriting is a complex skill that requires postural stability, fine motor strength and coordination, good visual perceptual skills, motor planning, higher level cognitive skills.  There could be several explanations for this avoidance as there are many skills needed to write.



What skills does my child need to be able to write?

1. Your child must have a strong base of support or core muscles to sit upright at a table to complete writing activities.
2. Your child needs adequate fine motor strength, coordination and grasping skills to write for any length of time
3. Your child must have strong visual perceptual skills to allow for visual memory of formation of letters, visual spatial awareness for spacing and alignment, etc.
4. Your child must demonstrate good motor planning or praxis skills and executive function in order to form an idea, organize his/her thoughts, and put his/her thoughts into writing

How do I know what area my child is struggling with?

One of the first steps you can take is to schedule an occupational therapy evaluation for your child.  An occupational therapist will assess your child, focusing on the skills identified above, to determine what area(s) might be impacting your child's success with writing.

An occupational therapist can then provide you with a list of recommendations to address the areas of difficulty that were identified during the evaluation. If your child does not qualify for occupational therapy services, he may be referred for a psychological/educational evaluation to determine if the he may have difficulty with executive function, dyslexia, dysgraphia, or another learning disability.

What can I do to help my child?

• Don't assume that your child is being disobedient or defiant in not completing his writing assignments
• Encourage and support your child, praising him for the work they have completed
• Help your child break down writing assignments into smaller portions so that they can handle them without becoming overwhelmed
• Provide your child with a way to help him organize their thoughts such as a "word web"
• Allow your child to type out his assignments to eliminate the handwriting portion while trying to put his thoughts into words
• Implement other strategies recommended by an occupational therapist, child psychologist or educational specialist

• Tongs/tweezers: let your child use kitchen tongs or strawberry hullers to pick up small objects such as small blocks, ice, pom-poms, sorting pieces, Don't Spill the Beans pieces, etc.
• Eye droppers: pinch to transfer colored water into ice cube trays or make a tie dye picture

• String beads, cheerios, fruit loops, etc.
• Break crayons into small pieces
• Pop bubble wrap between fingers
• pick up raisins/cheerios and put into container
• pinch small clothespins
• toothpick and packing peanut structures - let your child push the toothpicks into the packing peanuts and "build" structures, connecting the packing peanuts together
• wind up toys
• spinning tops
• pop beads
• building with small lego pieces

• gluing small objects to make a project - rice, macaroni, corn, pom poms, beans, buttons, fish tank pebbles, sand
• ripping small pieces of paper and gluing them to make a project
• tissue paper art- crumpling paper with fingertips and gluing on project
• push pin art