Tag Archives: therapist resources

Explore curated resources for therapists, including intervention tools, educational materials, assessment supports, and treatment strategies. Designed for therapists and educators, these resources help professionals plan effective sessions, support diverse client needs, and stay current with best practices in therapeutic and educational settings.

Early Intervention to Preschool: Key Transition Insights

Community-Based Practice, Early Learning, Therapist Resources, ,

On a very snowy Saturday morning on Saturday, January 24, 2014, a small, but strong contingent donned their snow gear and ventured out to Therapro to hear Barbara Sanna Collins, OTR/L’s seminar. Barbara presented her talk, Early Intervention Today, School Tomorrow…What You Need to Know to the audience of therapists, teachers, and child specialists. As the Clinical Director of the Massachusetts Brockton Early Childhood Intervention Program, she adeptly led us through the EI process from eligibility, to programming, and then to preparing for the transition to preschool or other appropriate services when the child “graduates” at the age of three years.

Barbara Sanna Collins presenter of Early Intervention Today, School Tomorrow…What You Need to Know a Saturday Seminar on the topic of Early Intervention to Preschool: Key Transition Insights

It was astounding to hear that 337,000 children and their families receive early intervention services in the US per year, with 50,000 per year in Massachusetts alone! Barbara updated us on the nitty gritty of how services are paid and how the states differ in their provision of services under Part C of the IDEA federal grant program.

Barbara shared video clips of individual and group treatment sessions in her program that took place at her center as well as at the child’s home. She noted that in the transition to a preschool program, parents who are accustomed to having their hand held through those first 3 years of participation in a program miss this when their child enters the school system – a change from “family focused” services to “child focused” services occurs. The EI team prepares the family and child for this inevitable change in service delivery. At Brockton EI, the team ensures that every child participates in a toddler group before “graduation” so that he/she experiences some typical preschool activities, i.e. transitioning from one activity to another.

Early intervention providers have several unique roles that include the provision of services that help the child with special health care needs reach their highest potential at age three and helping families gain confidence as parents and advocates for their children.

The following testimonials attest to the valuable information Barb presented in her seminar:

“Very informative – A window into the work of EI professionals. Loved the videos of the therapeutic work. Presentation was fantastic!” Marisa G.

“Wonderful presentation. So much good info. Thanks.” Anonymous.

“Very informative and motivating!” Julia H.

“Very informational – I loved the treatment videos!!” Meghan C.

Thank you, Barb!

Filomena Connor, MS, OTR/L

Clinical Music Therapy for Children with Special Needs

Events & Conferences,

“Music is a universal language,” explained Kayla Daly, MA, MT-BC, LMHC at Therapro’s recent Saturday seminar entitled: Clinical Music Therapy with Children Diagnosed with Special Needs.  In addition to being a board-certified music therapist, Kayla, like many other graduate-level trained therapists in her profession, is a licensed mental health counselor. Kayla provided a glimpse into the practice of music therapy, described as a “multi-modal approach.” She utilizes a goal-oriented, developmental approach to treatment. In her presentation, she dismissed a common myth that many may associate with providing music therapy, namely that it is purely aesthetic. It is a “process-oriented” therapeutic modality rather than being “product-oriented.” The video clips she showed of treatment sessions, as well as live use of her guitar and voice during her presentation, were both enlightening and fun.

Music therapy is IDEA regulated. Since the passage of Public Law 94-142, 35 years ago, credentialed music therapists have been providing services to children with disabilities. In 2010, the US Department of education clarified the recognition of music therapy as a “related service” under IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Music therapy can be an integral component in helping a child achieve educational goals that have been identified on his/her IEP.

Music therapy is a service that can work closely and cooperatively with other more traditional therapies to benefit a child. Kayla discussed the value of co-treating with therapists of other disciplines (like occupational therapists and physical therapists) to ensure teamwork and the best outcome for each child.

Music therapy can make a difference for young children with special needs!

Those who attended this seminar were primarily occupational therapists and educators from a variety of school settings. Attendees echoed a common positive response to Kayla’s presentation:

“Excellent speaker – excellent presentation, interesting”

“Excellent material, fun & well presented”

“I would recommend this seminar because it benefits everyone and so we can all be on the same page – knowledge is power, which creates success.”

Thank you, Kayla!

Filomena Connor, MS, OTR/L

September 20, 2014

The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales Test

Assessments, Fine Motor & Hand Skill Development, Motor & Movement, , ,

The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales Test-Second Edition (PDMS-2) examines both gross motor and fine motor skills. This test is for children from birth through age 5. The evaluation assesses a child’s development, and also provides training and treatment to improve motor skills. The assessment generally lasts about 45-60 minutes, and provides an in-depth analysis. The Second Edition has been in use since 2000 and is a statistically reliable and valid norm-referenced assessment.

The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (PDMS-2)When you order the PDMS-2 COMPLETE Kit, you’ll receive an Examiner’s Manual, a Guide to Item Administration, a Picture Book, 25 Profile/Summary Forms, 25 Examiner Record Booklets, the Motor Activities Program Manual and a Peabody Motor Developmental Chart. The PDMS-2 is also offered without the Motor Activities Program Manual (PDMS-2 TEST Kit).

You will also receive the Object Kit and the Shape Cards Kit which both contain sets of test objects to help achieve a standardized administration of the test; the Object Kit includes a black shoelace, six square beads, a wooden pegboard, three wooden pegs, 12 one-inch cubes, a large button strip, a bottle with a cap, a formboard with shapes, a lacing card, a measuring tape, and a roll of masking tape. The Shape Cards Kit includes blackline masters and three shape cards.

The test scores consist of a Gross Motor Quotient, a Fine Motor Quotient, and a Total Quotient. The Gross Motor Quotient is made up of the Reflexes, Stationary, Locomotion, and Object Manipulation subtests. The Fine Motor Quotient includes the Grasping and Visual-Motor Integration subtests. Lastly, the Total Quotient combines both the Gross and Fine Motor subtests.

To reduce scoring and reporting time and errors, the new PDMS-2 Online Scoring and Reporting System has been developed and is purchased separately. It is web-based software that is PC, Mac and iPad compatible. Some of the software Scoring features include:

  • converting PDMS-2 item scores or subtest scores into standard scores, percentile ranks, and age equivalents
  • generating composite quotients
  • comparing PDMS-2 subtest and composite performance to identify significant intra-individual differences

The software Reporting features also include:

  • a printed report of the student’s identifying information and PDMS-2 performance including short-term and long-term treatment goals and objectives
  • score and print reports using as few as one subtest score or only Gross or only Fine Motor scores
  • save or print text or PDF file using two report options:
    • standard clinical report (2 page summary of test scores)
    • detailed clinical report (fully customized 6- to 8- page analysis indicating treatment goals and objectives

Additional features of this web-based software include:

  • pull-down menus to easily navigate among software functions
    fields for storing detailed examiner and testing information
    on-screen subtest and quotient comparisons

A first-time base subscription provides an entire year of unlimited online scoring and report access for up to five users.