The American Journal of Occupational Therapy published research on the effects of neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT), sensory integrative therapy (SI) and perceptual motor (PM) therapy for children with mild mental retardation. One hundred sixty children were randomly assigned to one of four groups: NDT group, SI group, PM group and control group. After interventions, the three […]
In a study published by Early Human Development, researchers studied the predictive values in very preterm children and small for gestational age of the Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (PDMS). The researchers concluded that for very low birth weight children, the PDI and […]
Here is an example of a water obstacle course that you can create with your client or child. Therapy does not get any more fun than this. This activity encourages gross motor skills, muscle strengthening, eye hand coordination, trunk rotation, crossing midline, balance and motor planning. Whew! That is a lot of developmental play with […]
Some of you have already started the school year and some of you will begin over the next few weeks. Get to know your new students with these 5 ice breaker ideas:1. Write a letter to your students telling them about yourself. Perhaps let them know your favorite food, color, movie and more. Tell them […]
Here is a fun game to play with young children to encourage tactile input, proprioceptive input, fine motor skills and eye hand coordination. Visit www.YourTherapySource.com for more sensory motor ideas.
Here is an interesting sitting gadget for children with and without special needs called the Nada Chair. The Nada Chair is a sling that you wrap around the child’s back (or adults) and knees. The knees are used as a helper to stabilize the back. There are also stretch straps that you can purchase to […]
Survey results on standing frame prescription and implementation by school based physical therapists was published in the latest issue of Pediatric Physical Therapy. The survey results indicated that most school based PT’s prescribe standing programs based on ambulatory status and specific needs. The benefits of standing programs were rated very important for social and educational […]
Here is a great news story about an innovative summer program idea. They raise the money to provide therapy services over the summer for free for children with special needs. Heard about this from @AdvanceforOT on Twitter.
The Journal of Pediatrics published research on children with ADHD (Type C) and sensory organization. The sensory organization of standing balance of 43 children with ADHD-C was compared to typically developing children. The children with ADHD-C scored significantly lower equilibrium scores, somatosensory, vestibular and visual ratios on the Sensory Organization Test(SOT). The largest difference was […]
Two recent studies once again recommend that television and screen time should be limited for all children. Pediatrics recently published research on Vitamin D deficiencies in children. Over 6,000 children were studied with 9% being Vitamin D deficient and 61% being Vitamin D insufficient. Low levels of vitamin D are associated with a higher risk […]