Tag Archives: webinar recaps

Trunks motor memory game for Working Memory, cognitive and motor skill development - available at Therapro

Recap and Review of Working Memory: A Refresher!

On November 17, Therapro was excited to host yet another successful webinar on the topic of working memory. Dr.  Diane Long, creator of the game Trunks, presented the webinar Working Memory: A Refresher.  Her webinar was full of resources, research, and strategies for this very complex topic.  

Dr. Long started the night off by defining what working memory is thought to be and reviewing brain structures related to the processes associated with working memory.  She did a great job illustrating these concepts by engaging audience members in various memory tasks.  

Next, Dr. Long jumped into the research. Audience members had great things to say about the wide breath of research she covered. Not only did Dr. Long cover the theoretical research, she also reviewed research related to ADHD and working memory.

Some of the best takeaways from the night were the intervention strategies and tips that Dr. Long shared with audience members. Dr. Long covered ADHD specific strategies as well as some very useful strategies to use within a classroom setting. Audience members had great things to say about the way that Dr. Long presented these strategies as they related to developmental appropriateness.  Dr. Long ended the night by reviewing games that are available to help develop working memory, including her own game Trunks! 

Check out the recording of this webinar here.  For more information on Trunks!, check out this great video

S’Cool Moves Webinar Review

On Tuesday, September 15, 2020 Therapro was happy to host another very successful and well attended webinar, S’Cool Moves, presented by Dr. Debra Em Willson.  Dr. Wilson is a reading specialist and founder of S’Cool Moves. To learn more about the S’Cool Moves program, check out the post, What is S’Cool Moves!   Webinar attendees left with some great strategies to use for both in person and virtual learning sessions, as one viewer stated:

S’cool Moves has changed the way I practice OT in school. Incorporating Deb’s movements with academics has allowed my students to be so much more engaged and motivated. Her activities can be adapted to every grade level. DF

During the webinar, Dr. Wilson covered her “Top 10 Superrmoves”; that she uses to help students “flip the learning switch”.  Some highlights included: 

  1. Checking In With Myself Tool.  Dr. Wilson shared a visual to use with students to facilitate the “checking in” process and demonstrated a  great example of how to use this visual to help students get out of a “funk”.  
  2. I Can Calm Myself Routine.  Dr. Wilson shared deep pressure activities  students can use for calming and shared a visual that can be individualized for each student.  
  3. Core Out the Door & Minute Moves for Fine Motor. For these super moves, Dr. Wilson demonstrated how she incorporated the Minute Moves activities to a whole class setting, a great resource for therapists doing ‘push in’ services.  
  4. Smiley Jumps, Arrows, & Quadrant Activities. For these super moves, Dr. Wilson demonstrated how she created a simple DIY magnetic board to facilitate using these movement activities in virtual lessons, making the learning session more interactive!

In addition to these great resources, Dr. Wilson shared some great research to support her approaches. As one viewer stated:

I will be taking all of the activities / resources /website, etc, directly to my Title One teachers tomorrow and know they will be interested and use! I have provided many suggestions, activities etc. and even though well received, are not always implemented. Now I can say this comes from a reading specialist. Teachers listen to teachers and I am thrilled as an OT to use anything that will help kids. Deb was wonderful! Generous heart and knowledgeable lady….thank you so much! BW

If you missed the webinar, be sure to check out the recap.

Self Care with Flair

Self Care with Flair: Webinar Recap

On Tuesday, July 28, Therapro was happy to host another successful webina, Self Care with Flair. Presenters Ginger McDonald, OTR/L and Bhanu Raghavan, MS, OTR/L spoke to viewers about Self Care With Flair and teaching independent living skills. These wonderful ladies have over fifty years of combined experience working with students across a variety of settings. Throughout the presentation they drew from these years of experience to provide illustrations of how a consistent, step by step approach works for teaching self care skills. Viewers left the webinar with helpful takeaways, including: 

Mastery of self care skills is critical for a child’s self esteem. The presenters spoke passionately about the importance of mastering self care skills early on and how this can  improve a child’s self esteem. To exemplify this they discussed toilet training: a skill needed for acceptance in a school setting, community involvement, and employability in later years.  

Use a team approach. The presenters described what they called the partiship triad, where parents or caregivers, teachers, and therapists work together in the teaching of both the self care skill itself and the prerequisite hands skills needed for successful participation. As one viewer noted, “Lots of information for both OT, teachers and parents. Love the team approach and having more information in the book will be an asset for every classroom.” – KF

Use a uniform approach. The presenters discussed the importance of consistency between everyone involved in the teaching process; from grandma, to the therapist, to the classroom teacher. Using consistent language and teaching approaches promotes learning and retention.  In the Self Care With Flair program, the same steps, the same pictures, and the same cues are used, leading to successful learning outcomes. Another useful aspect of Self Care With Flair is that the visuals can be shared with everyone working with the child, ensuring consistency across settings! As one viewer stated, “This is an excellent resource. The work has been done – rhymes, pictures, repetition. It speaks for itself!” – AH

Use rhythms. Rhymes are easy to memorize and make learning the steps of a task so much easier. Rhymes are also a great way to promote consistency across multiple environments and to help with self correction. The presenters pointed to research that supports the use of rhymes for teaching the steps of a task.

Teach Prerequisite Skills. Another important point that was covered in the webinar was the importance of addressing the foundational hand skills needed for success with self care tasks. In the book Self Care With Flair, each prerequisite skill needed for the given self care task is listed with the self care task itself. The final chapter in Self Care With Flair includes activity ideas  to address the essential hand skills needed (finger strengthening, finger to thumb opposition, forearm strengthening, lateral pinch, power grasp, thumb strengthening and wrist extension).  
The presenters also discussed modifications to meet the needs of all users, teaching tips to use when introducing these tasks, and ideas for personalization. Check out the recording of the webinar, and be sure to check out our free resources page for examples from the book!