Phone: 800-376-3440App of the Week – Headspace
Headspace is a free app that acts as a “gym for your mind” that utilizes guided meditations to promote mindfulness, stress relief, & peace of mind.
Mike – Occupational Therapy Team
Preparing a Child for Toothbrushing: Ideas from an Occupational Therapist
Pediatric Occupational Therapists work with children to make participating in their daily occupations more independent through adaptation or skill building. An important occupation for children is brushing their teeth or at least allowing an adult to brush their teeth. For children with special needs, this can be challenging because toothbrushing requires one to be able to grasp and sustain a hold on the toothbrush, accurately bring the toothbrush to one’s mouth, cross midline to brush teeth on the opposite side of the mouth, wrist rotation to brush all surfaces of the teeth, sequencing of steps for toothbrushing, oral motor coordination to spit toothpaste out versus swallowing it, and tolerance of oral sensory input. Who knew there was so much involved in a simple, but important 2 minute task of brushing your teeth?
Below are some ideas to help introduce, adapt, or prepare a child for toothbrushing:
- Play with a toothbrush so that this tool is no longer intimidating – Use a toothbrush as a paintbrush, brush a favorite stuffed animal’s teeth, or brush “wind up chatting teeth”. There are many ideas on Pinterest if you are feeling creative.
- Read about brushing teeth – Read to your child daily a social story for brushing teeth that has been created by your child’s Occupational or Speech Therapist. Also, there are MANY good books available that are kid friendly and talk about brushing teeth.
- Provide visual support for sequencing this task – Discuss with your child’s Occupational Therapist the benefits of having a visual/picture schedule to organize multiple steps necessary to brushing teeth.
- Positioning – Look at the best positioning for your child to complete the task of brushing teeth since standing on a step stool at a sink requires balance and core strength. A supported sitting position may allow your child greater independence with this occupation.
- Use a timer – There are a variety of timers to choose from including a sand timer, toothbrushing app timer, and singing the song “This is how we brush our teeth…” for a specified number of times. For example, start with singing the song 3 times, but each week gradually increase the number of times the song is sung until you reach the 2 minutes necessary for brushing teeth. Just verbally prepare your child with how many times you are going to sing the song so your child knows your expectations. The same concept can be applied to using a timer in that you want to start your child at a small increment of time, say 30 seconds, and slowly build up to the 2 minutes.
- Routine – Children thrive on routine and the task of brushing teeth is important to not only include within a morning/evening routine, but to also develop a routine for the specific task.
- Adjust water temperature – Some kids respond more positively to luke warm water versus cold water.
- Try different toothbrushes – For some kids, toothbrushing independence is all about having the right tool. There are many options to try including a finger toothbrush, vibrating toothbrush, light up brushes, cartoon character brushes, firm or soft bristles, and a toothbrush with a short vs. long handle.
- Toothpaste – Some kids do not like the task of brushing teeth simply because of the taste/texture of the toothpaste. There are a variety of flavors of toothpaste to try. If toothpaste is the trigger to unsuccessful toothbrushing time, then start with water only and slowly introduce toothpaste with a dot the size of a grain of rice.
– Lisa, Occupational Therapy Team
Teaching Children About Emotions and Social Skills: Games and Ideas Inside
Is your child struggling to learn about emotions? Emotions are actually a pragmatic skill often referred to as social skills. Pragmatics are the social rules for language in social interactions. Such interactions include greetings, eye contact, taking turns in conversations, being polite, and the social cues for verbal and nonverbal communication etc. One skill that will be addressed today is EMOTIONS! Learning about emotions can be challenging for some children to comprehend. Here you will find a simple way to teach emotions using basic pictures and some games to go with them!
Using Pictures:
When teaching your child about emotions, use the basic emotions first so they don’t become overwhelmed. Print off some pictures of children expressing specific emotions like happy, sad, angry, tired, and silly. Print multiple copies. Before you start playing games with your child, explain each emotion to your child with a scenario they will comprehend. Once they start to understand, let’s start playing!
Games:
- Memory -Place all the emotion cards upside down (emotion hidden). Each person takes turns flipping over two cards to find a match. While you flip them over identify the emotion. Whoever has the most matches wins!
- Go Fish -Make sure to have multiple copies so there is a match. Play it exactly as the regular game “Go Fish” but using emotions. As they guess for the emotion, see if they can give you an example of what that emotion is.
- Simon Says “Feelings” -Once your child can identify the emotions, play Simon Says. This will allow your child to identify the emotion but also be able to associate the emotion in action!
Please remember that there can be a multitude of ways you can teach emotions. Always consult your Speech Therapist if you have additional questions or concerns about your child’s development.
Happy Playing!
-Chelsea , Speech Therapy Team
Encouraging Physically Fit and Active Toddlers
We are asked quite frequent: What you can I do at home to help my toddler be physically fit and stay active? Take a look below at some ideas to help encourage your toddlers activity around the house!
▪ Offer play equipment and toys that help toddlers get moving. Provide large blocks, construction toys, riding toys, balls and beanbags, and climbers.
▪ Schedule at least 60 minutes daily for active free play. Toddlers need more than an hour of unstructured physical play in a safe place every day. Let them set their own pace! They can walk, run, roll, climb, slide, pull, push, throw, and jump until they’re tired.
▪ Turn off the TVs, DVDs, and computers. Toddlers should not sit in one place or lie down for more than an hour at a time except when sleeping.
▪ Plan ways to make exercise fun. Up to 60 minutes a day of structured physical activities can be good for toddlers:
▪ Lead them in creative movement. Toddlers practice skills and learn new ways to move by pretending to be animals, workers, or machines.
▪ Make an obstacle course. Indoors or out, toddlers can take turns going over, under, around, and between furniture, boxes, and climbing equipment.
▪ Move to music! Bounce, sway, clap, march, dance, or play rhythm instruments. Teach musical games like “Ring around the Rosie.”
▪ Exercise together. Make it a part of your routine. Do stretches before lunch. Play in the park or take a walk before the sun goes down (but not too close to bedtime!). Set a good example. Let toddlers see you walk, run, bike, build, dance, climb, or play ball…and HAVE FUN!
– Josh, Physical Therapy Team
(Information provided by the American Physical Therapy Association)
Creating Verbal Routines for the Late Talker
Most parents can’t wait to hear their child’s first words. It is so exciting to finally get a peek into what they are thinking isn’t it? For parents of late talkers anxiety can start to build when the words don’t seem to be coming when they should. Creating verbal routines is one tool that Speech Language Pathologists use to encourage speech in the late talker. Verbal routines are made up of words that are repeated at a predictable time during an activity. A verbal routine occurs any time a person says the same words, in the same way, for the same things, every time a specific activity occurs.
One common verbal routine is saying “ready, set, go.” For example, when pushing your child on a swing or when they go down a slide. We can also find verbal routines in books that have a repetitive nature such as “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See,” or in your child’s favorite songs, such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or The Wheels on the Bus. You can even create your own verbal routines with your child that fit into your everyday routine. The key is to invest the time to create these routines with your child and make them fun! As your child learns the routines, pause at key points to see if they will fill in the blanks. I have included a link to a great website with some fun songs and printables to help you establish verbal routines in your home. These printables are great because they help to link the vocabulary in the song with the picture. If you are concerned about your child’s language development call Team 4 Kids to schedule a speech therapy evaluation with one of our wonderful Speech Language Pathologists.
Link for songs and printables to help you establish verbal routines in your home:
http://www.aromaofhim.com/2013/10/encouraging-speech-with-songs-rhymes.html
Katie, Speech Therapy Team
13601 N. Litchfield Rd Suite 124 Surprise,
800-376-3440
