by Cara | Jun 24, 2019 | 4th of July, anxiety, caregiver tips, childhood stress, FREE, freebies, games
Please share: Does anyone know what holiday is coming up? BINGO! You’ve got it…..it’s the 4th of July. I’m so excited to offer my readers this fun free download! What a great way to bring family and friends together over the 4th of July...
by Cara | Jul 9, 2018 | ASD, Aspergers, autism, behavior, brain body connections, caregiver tips, children, development, eight senses, emotion, for OTs, helping caregivers, mindfulness, Occupational therapists, occupational therapy, OT, PT, PT. COTA, senses, sensory, Uncategorized
Please share: Interoception is the new ‘buzz word’ in the special needs universe. What is this thing and why do we need to know about it? Here is an ‘Out of the Pocket’ blog post to give you the fast facts. Individuals with sensory processing...
by Cara | Apr 22, 2018 | activities, activity cards, anxiety, ASD, Aspergers, autism, behavior, brain body connections, brain breaks, caregiver tips, caregivers, childhood stress, classroom movement, clinic, communication, Down Syndrome, downloads, emotion, executive function, fidgets, fight or flight, for OTs, function, gross motor, hearts, helping caregivers, homeschool, interoception, LD, learning disabilities, learning disorders, life skills, loud noises, mindfulness, movement, movement breaks, Occupational therapists, occupational therapy, organizing, OT, OT treatment, parenting, pediatric, preparation, printables, processing emotions, products for therapists, PT, PT. COTA, resources, school, School OT, school therapy, self-care, senses, sensory, sensory bins, sensory processing, sensory processing disorder, social, social skills, SPD, SPD 101, special education, supporting special needs, teacher, teachers, teaching, teaching successfully, therapist, therapist information, therapy, therapy tools, treatment ideas, weighted, weighted blankets
Please share: Children show behavior when they are trying to communicate but either cannot find the words or do not understand the appropriate way to calm themselves. Simply saying, ‘Calm Down!’ is not helpful. I encourage you to consider how you might...
by Cara | Feb 16, 2018 | Active kids, activity cards, ADHD, behavior, brain body connections, brain breaks, caregiver tips, caregivers, childhood stress, clinic, cognition, continuing education, development, eight senses, emotion, for OTs, FREE, freebies, helping caregivers, interoception, life skills, movement breaks, Occupational therapists, OT, parenting, resources, self-stimulation, senses, sensory, sensory processing, shopping, special needs, supporting special needs, teacher, Trauma
Please share: One of the biggest questions I receive as a pediatric OT is, ‘how can I tell the difference between sensory and behavior?’ Identifying whether it is sensory or behavior is much more complicated than you might think. In fact, my...
by Cara | Apr 22, 2014 | ADL, ASD, autism, empathy, occupational therapy, parenting, processing emotions, sensory processing disorder, SPD, special needs
Please share: Since I work (and live with) children who have sensory integration difficulty, I try to have empathy and put myself into their shoes. I can envision a cockroach in my bedroom or the sound of nails on a chalkboard. Both examples evoke a physical reaction...
by Cara | Sep 9, 2019 | ADL, ASD, autism, building a child's confidence, occupational therapy, parenting, processing emotions, sensory processing disorder, special needs, supporting special needs, teaching successfully
Please share: While most families look forward to the warm spring weather, there are some of us who look at the transition in weather with anxiety. Similarly, many kids love the cold weather and can’t wait for snow! Other children prefer not to wear any...