The Link Between Posture and Handwriting in Children: How Sitting Up Straight Can Improve Penmanship As parents, educators, and caregivers, we often focus on helping children develop good handwriting skills. We provide them with the best pencils, practice sheets, and handwriting exercises. However, one crucial aspect of handwriting that is often overlooked is posture. Proper…
Why Joint Attention Is Crucial in Pediatric Therapy What Is Joint Attention?Joint attention is the shared focus of two or more individuals on an object or event. It has always been a strong focus in pediatric therapy, especially for children with developmental delays, autism, and other communication challenges. Here’s why joint attention matters: Foundation for…
What is Pediatric Occupational Therapy? Pediatric Occupational Therapy (OT) is a specialty designed to help individuals with developmental, physical, and cognitive delays. Occupational Therapists help children develop, recover, or maintain skills needed to perform their everyday activities (occupations). A child’s occupation is to play, dress, groom, bath, and perform school work. We focus on improving…
Tips and Tricks for Teaching Kids How to Tie Their Shoes Learning how to tie shoes is a key developmental milestone for children and an essential life skill. While Velcro shoes are widely available, mastering shoe tying remains important for overall fine motor development and independence. Occupational therapists often incorporate shoe tying into therapy sessions…
Everything You Need to Know About Retained Reflexes How Retained Reflexes Affect Learning and Development Primitive reflexes are controlled by the central nervous system and start developing in the womb. Reflexes play a key role in survival for infants, but they begin to disappear as your child begins mastering more complex motor skills. When these…
What is Sensory Integration? Sensory integration is the process where the nervous system organizes sensations from one’s body and from the external environment and makes it possible to use the body successfully in the environment. Children with sensory processing deficits may experience hindrances with their activities of daily living (ADLs) such as dressing, eating, socializing,…
Creative Uses for Halloween Candy: Fun Activities to Boost Your Child’s Skills After a big night of trick-or-treating, many parents wonder what to do with all the leftover candy. Instead of just eating it, try using it for fun activities that encourage the development of fine motor skills, visual processing, cognitive processing, and sensory exploration.…
Pumpkin Washing Station: A Fun Sensory Activity for Kids Are you looking for a sensory-filled activity for children to enjoy during the holidays? During the fall, pumpkins are everywhere, so why not take advantage of these fall favorites for a therapeutic activity? You can easily add pumpkins to your list of sensory items and create…
Why Sensory Regulation is Important for Language Development in Pediatric Therapy The Role of Sensory Regulation in Pediatric Therapy Sensory regulation is commonly a goal in occupational therapy, but it is also an important concept in speech-language therapy. Occupational therapy assists in the participation and function of “occupations” and daily activities. A child’s job is…
Hand Manipulation Skills in Child Development Children are often referred to pediatric occupational therapy for concerns related to fine motor skills. Generally thought of as the movement and use of hands and upper extremities, fine motor skills include reaching, grasping and manipulating objects with your hands. Fine motor skills also involve vision, specifically visual motor…
