There are many things to love about traveling to another country. Learning about different cultures is very exciting, because there is always something new to discover. Yet, what I like more is identifying the similarities – it is always fascinating to find out about what makes us the same across different cultures. I recently had…
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “speech therapy”? Many people think first of children who stutter or mispronounce words (like when “sister” becomes “thith-ter”), and may imagine that speech therapy involves hours and hours of word repetition until they get it “right” and graduate. But in truth, speech therapy is much more.…
Things I love about my profession include getting to hear a child’s first word, seeing the “light bulb moment” when a child has figured out how to do something that was really difficult for them, or being able to dismiss a child because they have mastered all goals (even though it makes me sad at the same time). These are…
There was a single moment when I “fell in love” with being a therapist. I was in college, working with my very first patient. He was two years old and had very few words. I had been given family pictures to work with, so along with other words, I worked diligently on teaching him to say “Daddy.” At the…
Have you ever gotten a “crick” in your neck (or back)? If you have, then you probably noticed that though the pain and restricted movement may have been specific to one small area, it affected your body in other ways. – you may have walked differently or been more careful about turning your body. When…
Have you ever seen children wearing headphones in a therapy clinic? Did you wonder what they were doing? There’s a good chance they were using a “listening” (or “sound”) program as part of their occupational therapy. Listening programs are used in treating autism, addressing sensory, learning, and attention deficiencies, and optimizing performance. What is a “listening program?”…
One of the most common questions I hear from parents is “How do I respond to my child that stutters?” Many parents worry that if they attract attention to their child’s stutter it may get worse. Let me put your mind at ease: stuttering is neurologically based and does not develop from an outside influence, so you…
Do you ever feel like there is a missing piece in your child’s language development, especially in the areas of reading and listening comprehension? Have you been unable to find the key to unlock the mystery of why he continues to experience difficulty despite therapy, extra help, and tutoring? If so, then keep reading –…
Several years ago, I attended a continuing education program to give me more insight into treating children with a very limited diet. It totally changed my perspective on treating the “picky eater”. The Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) treatment method uses a systematic desensitization approach to address the feeding/eating skills of a child, and it takes the family into account, as well.…
Can you believe it’s almost time for school to start? With the first day looming, we thought it would be a good time to discuss concerns physical therapists have about school backpacks. Every day, children use backpacks to carry books and supplies back and forth from school and between classes. Many children carry very heavy packs,…