Pediatric occupational therapists have vast experience of working with children who have written language disorders. Symptoms of written language disorder can include problems with grammar, spelling, organization and handwriting. School based therapists see how far reaching this problem can be. In many school districts, teachers and administrators primary focus is how to improve reading skills. Why is it that reading is the focus? Perhaps because previously there were no epidemiology studies on written language disorders. In the May 2009 issue of Pediatrics, researchers report on the “forgotten learning disability…written language disorder”.
The researchers found that written language disorder was present in 6.9% to 14.7% of the 5718 children followed depending upon the formula used. Boys had written language disorder 2-3 times more often than girls. Of the children identified with written language disorder, 25% did not have a reading disability.
This study reveals that a large amount of children are affected by this disorder. Although there are some limitations – the children had similar demographics (white, middle class Minnesota children. Regardless, this indicates that written language disorder is more common that society perceives it to be.
Pediatric occupational therapists can help to spread the word about written language disorder by: 1. Educating school staff on the signs of written language disorder. 2. Teaching staff how to prevent some of these problems early on through different handwriting instruction methods. 3. Encouraging school staff and parents to address written language disorders along with reading and math disabilities. 4. Introducing assistive technology at an early age to help students with severe written language disorder.
References: Katusic, Slavica K., Colligan, Robert C., Weaver, Amy L., Barbaresi, William J. The Forgotten Learning Disability: Epidemiology of Written-Language Disorder in a Population-Based Birth Cohort (1976-1982), Rochester, Minnesota Pediatrics 2009 123: 1306-1313
Looking for handwriting activities? Check out our electronic books for fine motor, visual motor and handwriting activities at www.YourTherapySource.com
Stretch Break for Kids: This is a free download to put on computers to remind children to take a break from computer time and stretch. There are a few great things about this program: 1. It’s free! 2. You can program the sequence and frequency of the stretches. 3. There are a few stretches that are great proprioceptive warm-ups for children. 4. It can be done with no adult assistance. 5. Did I mention it is free! Here is the link to get it: http://www.paratec.com/sbform/kidsform.htm
The Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation needs to get 20,000 signatures in support of continued research to get diagnostic recognition of sensory processing disorder (SPD) in the DSM-V (Diagnosis and Statistical Manual). Most therapists are aware that SPD is not a recognized diagnosis. Others may not be aware which causes confusion among health care providers, parents, teachers and insurance companies. It makes it very difficult to get reimbursement for therapy sessions for people with sensory processing disorder. If you support Sensory Processing Disorder in the DSM-V, please take the time to sign their petition at http://www.spdfoundation.net/petition.php
Here is some motivation to get children with disabilities to express themselves through art. The Anne Carlsen Center is sponsoring Accessing the Artist Within. This purpose of this program is to introduce children with disabilities various ways to express themselves through art using assistive technology. The submitted artwork will be displayed on a website. In addition, 10 works of art will be chosen to be exhibited at the Closing the Gap Conference in October 2009. Two important rules are that the children must be ages 5-21 years old and use some assistive technology to create the art. Artwork submitted can be of various types such as paintings, digital art, music compositions (try www.creatingmusic.com), photographs and more.
This seems like a great project for school based therapists to promote. This is an opportunity to practice using assistive technology tools while creating a piece of art. In addition, you will be teaching the child a life long leisure skill.
The current issue of Pediatric Physical Therapy has published research on sensory motor groups for children with Down Syndrome. The researchers compared 2 groups of children with Down Syndrome (10 children total ages 13-29 months of age). One group received only individualized interventions and the other group received the individualized interventions along with 10 weekly sessions of a sensory motor group. Children in the cluster that received the weekly sensory motor group interventions exhibited significant improvements on the Gross Motor Function Measure in the following sections: lying and rolling, kneeling and total score. Significant improvements were also seen in Goal Attainment Scaling. The researchers concluded that sensory motor group interventions resulted in greater improvements when compared to only individualized interventions. They recommended further research in this area.
Reference: LaForme Fiss, Alyssa C. PT, PhD, PCS; Effgen, Susan K. PT, PhD; Page, Judith PhD, CCC-SLP; Shasby, Sharon PhD, OTR/L Effect of Sensorimotor Groups on Gross Motor Acquisition for Young Children with Down Syndrome.Pediatric Physical Therapy. 21(2):158-166, Summer 2009.
Once again thank you @pediastaff on Twitter for finding this video. This is very motivational and inspirational. It is also a huge reminder. Therapists, teachers and health professionals should NEVER say or assume that a person can not accomplish something.
Found out about this news story from @pediastaff on Twitter. For gait training, this takes treadmill training to the next level. Worth a look for any therapists who works with stroke clients or children who have cerebral palsy.
Perhaps this is not news to some of you, but I found this product so innovative that I wanted to share it. The Wijit Voyager is a a driving and braking device that is attached to the wheelchair wheels. This device allows wheelchair users to manually propel the wheelchair with greater ease and ergonomic positioning. It can be mounted on a 20″ size wheel making it available for children and teens. Here is a video of someone using them on her wheelchair. I have not seen this product is action myself but I can think of quite a few children who would benefit from using the Wijit system. Does anyone have any comments to share on this product?
Here is a sample activity idea from our electronic book, Motor Magic: Turn Fine Motor Skills into Gross Motor Skills. This is a fun, outdoor activity that encourages fine motor skills, eye hand coordination, motor planning, gross motor skills and balance. The electronic book has 25 activity ideas incorporating fine and gross motor skills and is available at www.YourTherapySource.com/motormagic.
