For children who have difficulty with muscle tone, movement and motor skills, they may lack the hand control to hold writing utensils. This may impact their ability to complete academic skills at the level they are capable of. Participation in learning is made easier with the functionalhand®. It reduces fine motor demands allowing your child to focus on discovering letters, numbers, counting skills and so much more.
Children learn through a variety of sensory experiences. Processing auditory and visual cues in combination with movement enhances cognitive or academic concepts. The functionalhand® reduces the physical demands of academic tasks and allows the child to have more energy to focus on learning. Tracing and copying activities are completed with less effort.
The functionalhand® allows children to participate in formal writing programs that teach letters such as “Handwriting without tears”.
Dot markers are another “tool” that the functionalhand® assists children to hold and practice number recognition and matching skills.
In addition to number recognition, there are a variety of activities a child can participate in that supports math skills. This universal device enables individuals who cannot hold a writing utensil in their hand, to complete academic skills.
Linda Merry, OTR/L, NDT/C and Celine Rosati Skertich, PT, MS, PCS, NDT/C, creators of The functionalhand®.
Increase structure – Especially
with students (e.g. sensory seekers) who trash your therapy room getting
increasingly dysregulated, increase the structure. One way is by starting the session with all the toys locked up, and listing or assembling pictures of all the activities the client will do in order, before starting the session. Praise the client and check off each activity after they complete it and clean up, then unlock and begin the next activity. Another option for motivating clients when developing the activity list is to alternately have them choose the first activity and the therapist chooses the next one. Groups can also be structured with pictures listing the activities in order, or by having group members draw and review a praxis comic depicting the group activities in sequential order.
Preferred Activities & Choices – Clients will work better if given choices between 2 or more activities, and presented with tasks they like to do. To assure that therapeutic goals are addressed you can present 2 choices addressing the same therapeutic goals (e.g. for deep pressure to reduce arousal offer wheelbarrow walking or wall pushups).
Alternate seated with preferred gross motor tasks – For evaluation and treatment sessions it is often helpful to alternate seated fine motor writing tasks with preferred gross motor activities.
Intersperse Easy – Instead of giving 10 challenging tasks, help improve the client’s motivation and effort in trying challenging new tasks by presenting 5 new tasks (covering all the concepts in the original 10 tasks you were going to teach), and alternating so every other task is something the client likes to do and has mastered, then reinforce him for doing it correctly.
Reduce distractions – Especially in groups or the classroom, minimize problematic sensory distractions to improve attention. Study carols help minimize visual distractions, while noise canceling headphones are useful for auditory distractions. It often helps to give the teacher noise canceling headphones to help a student who has difficulty behaving appropriately due to the loud sound of fire drills.
Increase sensory stimulation of challenging therapy tasks – Particularly for students who are under-responsive it can be helpful to add sensory input that accentuates therapy and academic tasks. This can be done by highlighting important print, plus signs, emphasizing the guide lines of the paper, or simultaneously having the student listen to and read a story.
Getting clinic clients to leave – Many skilled clinic therapists who use sensory integration strategies have a problem getting clients to leave when their session ends. While it’s a compliment showing the client enjoys and can learn better during therapy, it’s a problem because the therapist has another client waiting and aggressive behavior in the clinic is bad for business. Think about this ahead, and if it is a problem structure the last task in a special room with only the door leading outside unlocked. Use this as a last activity room with their parent present (a good place to review home programs), give five and two minute warnings, do deep pressure calming sensory activities, then escort them out and give them a prize if they leave appropriately.
John Pagano, Ph.D., OTR/L is an occupational therapist who developed FAB Strategies® to help students with complex behavioral challenges. He just completed his first book called FAB Functionally Alert Behavior Strategies. Dr. Pagano has been presenting FAB Strategies® workshops internationally for over twenty years, and is known for his humorous interactive presentations and website www.fabstrategies.org
He will be offering a free Therapro webinar on
Tuesday, 10/29/19: Integrating Behavioral, Sensory, &
Mindfulness Interventions in your Pediatric Therapy and a seminar at
Therapro on Saturday, 11/16/19: Advanced Treatment Strategies for Youth with Complex Behavioral
Challenges. For more information about these events,
please refer to the Therapro website at www.therapro.com
and click on the News & Events tab.
Sometimes OTs only consider conferences aimed at OTs for their
CEUs, but there are other (and sometimes cheaper) ways to get your CEUS, and
learn something new and different at the same time. In November 2018 we were
invited to participate in OCALICON, the annual conference in Columbus OH,
sponsored by OCALI (Ohio Center for Autism & Low Incidence). OCALI is
a wonderful organization whose mission is to inspire change and promote access
to opportunities for people with disabilities. OCALICON is directed towards
parents, physicians, educators, therapists, administrators and other
professionals working with children and young adults with disabilities
especially autism. The conference is a dynamic and inspiring milieu that
attracts attendees from all over the United States and even the world.
We had the pleasure of meeting this year’s keynote speaker-
Christopher Gillberg, MD, PhD of the Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre at the
Sahlgrenska Academy. Dr. Gillburg holds professorships at universities
and hospitals in Sweden, Japan, the United Kingdom and Paris. His keynote
speech was highly compelling.
Dr.
Gillberg’s address was titled AUTISM AND ESSENCE, NEURODIVERSITY AND AUTISM:
THE ESSENCE OF ESSENCE. ESSENCE is an acronym coined by
Dr. Gillberg that stands for Early Symptomatic Syndromes Eliciting
Neurodevelopmental Clinical Examination. The ESSENCE
diagnoses include the ADHDs, Language Impairment Disorder, Developmental
Coordination Disorder, Intellectual Disability, Autism/ASD, Tic Disorders/OCD,
Selective Mutism and Reactive Attachment Disorder. Dr. Gillberg maintains that
autism always coexists with one or more of the ESSENSE conditions. His
major point is that pediatric practitioners should screen for these
comorbidities early on or they may be missed. Dr. Gillberg asserted
that correct diagnosis followed with early intervention leads to success.
Lack of intervention results in negative outcomes including academic failure,
social exclusion, substance use, psychiatric disorders, empathy problems,
antisocial lifestyle and criminality later in life.
We were pleased to have 150+ people attend our presentation on Self-Care
with Flair! Our audience consisted of educators, parents, social
workers and OT/PT/SLP. The session was well received. We especially
appreciated the parents who shared their children’s self-care challenges &
successes with the group.
One of our favorite sessions was called Strategy Smackdown. This was a total audience participation session, where attendees shared their favorite resources/strategies/evidence. A summary was shared with all participants. OCALICON was a marvelously inclusive, collaborative experience that school-based practitioners could consider for CEUs from a different than the usual perspective.
Bhanu Raghavan, MS, OTR/L
A graduate of Indiana University and The Ohio State University, Bhanu has over 25 years of experience in pediatrics. She is certified in pediatric NDT and the READY Approach (Bonnie Hanschu) for Sensory Integration Disorders. Frequently, she presents workshops on topics related to self-care independence, sensory processing disorders and fine motor/handwriting skill development to therapists, teachers and parents/caregivers. She works at Centerville City schools, OH. She is a firm believer of the following Confucian principle: “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”
Ginger McDonald, OTR/L
A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Ginger has practiced Occupational Therapy for over 30 years. She is certified in SCSIT. With an eclectic background of working in hospitals, schools and geriatric settings, Ginger believes in promoting self-care independence at all levels. While working with Bhanu in the Centerville City Schools, they conceived the idea for Self-Care with Flair!
