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,…
If you have a young child, you almost certainly have seen developmental charts in books or on the internet – you may have even spent a great deal of time comparing their recommendations to your child’s abilities. These charts detail expected speech and language milestones, gross motor milestones, fine motor milestones, feeding milestones, and so many others to…
Although many “official” fireworks displays have been canceled for 2020, some remain. It’s hard to give up a tradition that’s long been associated with a national holiday, so even if your favorite show has been canceled, some families may choose to host their own neighborhood fireworks show at home this year. Fireworks can be an…
Often, parents want to know what the difference is between occupational therapy and physical therapy. Should your child see an OT, a PT, or both, and if so, why? I’m here today to help clarify how they are similar, but more importantly, how they are different! It can seem confusing at times, because the roles…
Now that school’s out for the summer for most children in our area, opportunities for handwriting practice in the classroom are on hiatus, but don’t let the more laid back days of summer lead to an absence of practicing handwriting skills. As with most skills, practice makes perfect, so be sure children continue writing during the summer…
Has your dentist or orthodontist mentioned that your child or teen might have a “tongue thrust?” Has your child been in speech therapy for some time with little gains toward increasing ability to make new sounds/words or increase intelligibility of speech? Does your child produce a lot of speech sounds with their tongue too far…
The benefits of most of the tools that physical therapists use are easy to see. It’s obvious that stretching and strengthening exercises are intended to, well, stretch and strengthen a child’s muscles, and it’s often easy to see an immediate positive change in a child’s ambulation when he gets a new pair of ankle-foot orthotics…