Category Archives: Occupational Therapy

Meet Therapro’s Occupational Therapy Authors & Creators

April 11, 2023Occupational Therapy, Uncategorizedexecutive functioning, fine motor, hand skills, Handwriting, Occupational TherapyAllyson Locke, M.S., OTR/L

Therapro is celebrating its occupational therapy authors and creators during Occupational Therapy Month. Read on to learn more about these great occupational therapists and their creations!

Jenny L. Clark, OTR/L, BCP is the creator of the “Learn to Move” curriculum and Therapro’s Letter Treasure Hunt. Jenny has helped children over the past 25 years as a licensed pediatric occupational therapist working as a speaker, consultant, private practitioner at her own clinic (Jenny’s Kids, Inc.), school-based occupational therapist, independent contractor for early intervention services, author, and inventor. Jenny’s creation, Letter Treasure Hunt, is a fun and engaging game that targets handwriting skills while weaving in fun gross motor activities.

Linda Merry, OTR is the co-creator of the functionalhand. She has many years’ experience and extensive knowledge working with children and adults who have disabilities and teaching on a variety of topics. She is a senior therapists at Easter Seals DuPage & the Fox Valley Region in Villa Park, IL and co-owner of Thera-Solutions which designs programs, coaches’ professionals and develops products for therapists, educators and caregivers. Her creation, the functionalhand is an innovative tool to assist with grasping objects for everyday fun and function!

Polly Benson OTR/L is the creator of LegiLiners, “the patent pending, cool little tool to quickly draw handwriting lines”. Polly is a school based occupational therapists with many years experience working with students of all ages. The idea for LegiLiners grew from her love for helping students with functional handwriting. LegiLiners are available in in a variety of styles to help learners of all ages.

Barbara Smith, MS, OTR/L is the author of From Rattles to Writing: A Parent’s Guide to Hand Skills. Barbara has been an occupational therapist for over 40 years working primarily with children and adults with developmental disabilities. Barbara’s book From Rattles to Writing: A Parent’s Guide to Hand Skills is a groundbreaking guide that describes the songs, games, toys, activities, and adaptations that help children develop the visual-perceptual skills needed to read and the eye-hand coordination to write.

Jayne Berry, OTR/L is the author of Fine Motor Skills in the Classroom and creator of the Therapro Hand Tool Kit. Jane was a pediatric therapist who worked extensively with preschoolers and school aged children. The Therapro Hand Tool Kit contains all your “hand tools” in a convenient kit! Fine Motor Skills in the Classroom is a hand skills program developed as a tool to facilitate consultation in the classroom.

Diane Long, EdD, MOTR/L is the creator of the game Trunks. Dr. Diane Long is an associate professor and serves as the Chair of Occupational Therapy at Ithaca College. Trunks is an innovative game that targets working memory; players move their bodies, make sounds and perform actions from memory!

Carolyn Murray-Slutsky, MS OTR, C/NDT, FAOTA has co-authored many publications including: Is it Sensory or is it Behavior? 2nd Edition (2022), Autism Interventions: Exploring the Spectrum of Autism, Developing Visual Motor Integration, and the Sensory Modulation Laminated Card Series. Carolyn is certified in sensory integration (SI) and neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) for pediatrics, infants, and adults and director of Rehabilitation for Children, Inc, a pediatric private practice. Her latest publication, Is it Sensory or is it Behavior? 2nd Edition (2022) answers many questions about the relationship between sensory and behavior.

Marcia Bridgeman, MHA, OTR/L is the author of Fine Motor Olympics. Marcia has been a pediatric occupational therapist since 1977, specializing in school based services for students from preschool through 22. Fine Motor Olympics is a program designed for an occupational therapist to provide inclusive and consultative services to teachers, volunteers, parents, and staff.

How to Build a Sensory Room at Home, Tips from the Experts

March 14, 2023Autism, Occupational Therapy, SensoryOccupational Therapy, sensory, sensory room, tactile sensoryAllyson Locke, M.S., OTR/L

Porch, the home services platform, recently reached out to Therapro for help with their latest article, How to Build a Sensory Room at Home, Tips from the Experts. The question needing an answer was, what are the best tactile sensory tools to include in home sensory rooms? Therapro’s team of experts had a lot to say on this topic! Read on to see what Therapro shared and be sure to check out the full article.

Tactile sensory tools offer a rewarding experience. There are many options to choose from. Therapro’s top picks include:

Assortment of tactile sensory tools for home sensory room

Fidgets: Fidgets are small, portable and versatile tactile sensory tools that are a great edition to home sensory rooms. Fidgets can offer calming or alerting input depending on their characteristics. To help users better decide which fidget is best for them, the team of occupational therapists at Therapro has put together a free handy guide, Find Your Fidget that is available for download at therapro.com! Pro tip: Fidgets are also a great transition object to help with the move into and out of the sensory space!

Happy senso tactile sensory gel in
a bottle and sensory gel in the palm of two hands

Happy Senso: Happy Senso is a sensory gel that offers a unique multisensory experience. It can be sprayed directly into the palms of the hands or on a flat surface (like a table). Squish, press, and slide hands along the cool gel and listen to the crackling and popping sounds it makes. It is available in four different scents and colors for an enhanced sensory experience.

Green gel filled tactile sensory tool with fingers pushing small black chips inside the gel pad through a maze

Gel Activity Pads: Gel pads are exactly what they sound like, gel filled pads that can be pressed and squished with the hands, fingers, or even feet! Available in four different styles, activity ideas are endless; play games (like tic tac toe) or simply enjoy the combined visual and tactile sensory experience. As an added bonus, these gel pads offer slight weight and so can double as a weighted lap pad!

Theraputty Microwavable Exercise Putty: Exercise putty is a great fidget option that can offer a calming/ grounding experience to users. Theraputty Microwavable Exercise Putty is a unique putty that is microwavable allowing users to experience a calming warmth sensation while they knead, roll, or squish the putty.

The system calm strips, five rectangular strips with dark blue background and the planets arranged in a line

Calm Strips: Calm Strips are textured sensory stickers with a special reusable adhesive that are designed to be picked, touched, scratched, and peeled over and over again. These tactile sensory tools are a perfect addition to home sensory rooms. They can be adhered to any surface to add an additional tactile sensory experience and help regulate restless energy.

When it comes to building your sensory space, Therapro is the resource for families and professionals, be sure to check out all of Therapro’s sensory resources at therapro.com!

Promoting Independence In Teens With Diverse Learning Profiles

March 8, 2023Accessibility, Assistive Technology, Autism, Daily Living, Executive Functioning, Occupational Therapyactivities of daily living, assistive technology, autism, executive functioning, independence, Occupational Therapy, OTAllyson Locke, M.S., OTR/L

The ability to independently complete essential daily living tasks becomes increasingly more important as individuals near the pre-teen and teen years. For teens with diverse learning profiles the ability to master these critical skills can be challenging. However, there are readily available tools that can help promote independence! In this post we are covering a few low to mid tech solutions that can be a game changer for teens struggling with the ability to independently complete critical self care tasks.

Elastic Shoe Laces. There is nothing more frustrating than a loose shoe or tripping over untied laces but asking for help can be even harder. The good news is there is a simple solution, elastic shoe laces! Simply replace standard shoe laces with elastic shoe laces. Once in place, secure with a double knot and standard bow. The elastic shoe laces provide enough stretch to simply slip on and slip out of shoes, eliminating the need for tying.
Schedules & Time Cues. Remembering when to do something or remembering the correct sequence of a task can be difficult for teens who struggling with executive function deficits. These teens often rely on a support person to provide prompts for task initiation and sequencing which decreases their overall independence. The good news is there is a variety of readily available assistive technology tools that can support a teen’s ability to manage time with greater independence. Check out our previous post, Assistive Technology for Time Management, for ideas!
Picture Adapted Cookbooks: Preparing a simple meal or snack is one of the greatest acts of independence for pre teens and teens. This simple right of passage can be missed for teens who struggle with reading or have difficulty with multi step tasks. Picture supported cookbooks can help users with limited reading abilities prepare simple meals and snacks. The Stepwise Cookbook series takes this concept a step further and truly simplifies the process. Each cookbook has a set of picture supported recipes that are presented in a simplified, easy to follow format.

Schkidules visual schedule display — SchKIDules

White shoe with white elastic shoelace a low tech solution for independence with self care — SchKIDules

Small modifications and the use of mid to low tech assistive technology can be a powerful tool for independence. Be sure to visit to assistive technology section of Therapro’s website to see all of the available tools!