tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91171603612288881912024-03-08T02:28:43.386-07:00pediatricOTNotes from the trenches from a practicing pediatric occupational therapist -- because everyone is entitled to my opinion. With gratitude and appreciation to these visionaries: A. Jean Ayres, Barbara Knickerbocker, Sheila Frick, Patty Oetter, Colleen Hacker, Julia and Patricia Wilbarger, Jan Z. Olsen, Mary Sue Williams and Sherry Shellenberger, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Sally Goddard Blythe, Andrew Taylor Still, Lawrence Jones, and F. Matthias Alexander. RIP Steve Jobs.Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-54669062080553375122013-03-27T19:09:00.000-07:002013-03-27T19:10:24.577-07:00Help For the Anxious ChildThis article is written for colleagues, but parents may also find it of interest:
http://www.pediastaff.com/blog/ot-corner-help-for-the-anxious-child-13415Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-78600286852159053182012-05-10T11:50:00.004-07:002012-05-10T11:50:38.746-07:00Who Needs Sensory Integration Therapy?In my last post at Minds in Bloom, I help teachers identify who in their classrooms would benefit from sensory integration therapy.Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-57765556818006585602012-05-03T13:07:00.000-07:002012-05-03T13:07:36.337-07:00Why Some Children Pay Better Attention at SchoolThis week on Minds in Bloom, I talk about the necessary components of the ability to pay attention in the classroom:Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-92208187877745924212012-04-25T17:30:00.003-07:002012-04-25T17:32:01.943-07:00The series at Minds in Bloom continues. This week I give advice to classroom teachers on how to teach handwriting.Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-8413610415137307972012-04-18T17:55:00.000-07:002012-04-18T17:55:20.711-07:00Recess and PE Are Crucial to Academic SuccessGo here to find out why recess is a vital part of education!Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-2983073745540456762012-04-11T15:22:00.002-07:002012-04-11T15:22:35.134-07:00Good Sitting Equals Good Learning!Go over here to see what I have to say about posture and learning...Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-25723041427784266732012-04-03T20:06:00.002-07:002012-04-03T20:06:43.345-07:00Helping Children Sit Still in ClassI'm guest blogging over here for a few weeks...Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-71411035351320712062012-03-08T18:33:00.000-07:002012-03-08T18:33:04.865-07:00Getting the Most out of Sensory Integration TherapyWant to know how to get the best out of your relationship with your child's OT?
Follow me...Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-60513085144000437872012-02-15T08:33:00.000-07:002012-02-15T08:33:36.299-07:00To Sleep, Perchance to DreamI briefly treated a little girl earlier this school year who unfortunately did not make much progress while participating in occupational therapy. She missed many sessions because her mother could not persuade her to put on her coat and shoes and leave the house to come to the clinic. Most days were met with severe temper tantrums, with the child refusing to allow her mother to dress Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-52790034276192942312012-02-01T05:14:00.000-07:002012-02-01T05:14:04.246-07:00Inside Moves, Part ThreeMore ideas about playing inside when the weather does not permit. However, I urge you to brave the weather and take them outside anyway, even when it's freezing out -- kids don't seem to mind the cold nearly as much as we do!
Hullabaloo is a fun game that preschoolers enjoy. You could probably make your own version. The instructions are to hop, crawl, spin, jump, skip, orLoren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-78024241470662979752012-01-25T05:13:00.000-07:002012-01-25T05:13:10.187-07:00Inside Moves, Part TwoMore ideas about staying sane while staying indoors. {If the weather at all permits, please, take your children outside to play!}
A therapy ball is invaluable for a young child who needs a lot of intensity but insists on maintaining control of the activity. The child can sit and bounce to his heart's content, with the added bonus of strengthening up the intrinsic Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-73553041958517278552012-01-18T05:19:00.000-07:002012-01-18T05:19:23.718-07:00Inside Moves, Part OneI can't urge parents strongly enough to make sure that their children get outside to play every single day. It's critical to their health and to their neurological development. A body that is not strong, stable, and healthy does not adequately support the work of the child's brain, eyes, and hands, and can't be counted on to keep him effortlessly upright against gravity. A weakLoren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-48526543409038396552012-01-04T05:41:00.001-07:002012-01-16T20:05:45.084-07:00Twenty Four Reasons Why a Child Can't Sit Still1. The child does not get enough exercise. Children require huge amounts of movement, preferably outside, every single day. Movement and exercise is as essential as food for children in order to stay organized, develop and mature their nervous systems, improve their coordination, strength and motor planning, and to be healthy! So many of us live in cities now and Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-72982171863621286342011-12-14T05:15:00.007-07:002011-12-15T18:20:50.928-07:00Thinking Outside the XBox {An Old Curmudgeon's Guide to Holiday Shopping}Why don't I think electronic toys are a great choice for holiday gifts? Let me count the ways...
Electronic toys are addictive, violent, and don't require or encourage creativity.
Children don't acquire critical skills like depth perception, hand eye coordination, problem solving, motor planning, joint stability, or balance while playing video games.
Electronic toys encourage isolation, Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-8123415973162027252011-12-07T05:11:00.000-07:002011-12-07T05:11:06.895-07:00Battle Hymn of the Tiger Therapist, Verse FourThis series is divided into four parts. The first, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Therapist, suggests that instead of automatically shielding children from the inevitable obstacles, failures, and disappointments that they will face in their lives, we instead teach them to be strong, resilient, and able to handle adversity. The first step in this process is basing our actions and Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-34226281358848631432011-11-30T05:13:00.002-07:002011-12-10T13:12:53.934-07:00Becoming Obsolete, Part IIStrategies for helping your child be independent and resourceful, and to maximize his ability to learn and to think critically.
The ability to learn and to think is grounded in movement. As a baby begins to move through, and to explore, his environment, he develops his understanding of the world based on his physical relationship to everything and everyone around him. Around the age Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-32219109758199068942011-11-16T05:15:00.000-07:002011-11-16T05:15:02.019-07:00How to Achieve Planned ObsolesenceMy job as a therapist and a teacher is to make myself obsolete, and so is a parent's. We know we have succeeded when those who have depended on us for guidance, support, and help no longer need us, because we have provided them with the tools to be able to manage without us.
If you are a habitual reader of advice columns, you have undoubtedly come across the same letter over Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-58115027314902397002011-11-09T05:17:00.000-07:002011-11-09T05:17:58.707-07:00Battle Hymn of the Tiger TherapistIn her book The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua outlined her methods for raising her two daughters, and they were extreme. She never allowed them to watch television or go on sleepovers or playdates, drilled them incessantly on their academics, forced them to spend hours and hours practicing their musical instruments, locked them outside in the middle of winter for disobeying her,Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-36018339027044982582011-11-02T04:16:00.000-07:002011-11-02T04:16:13.985-07:00The Joy of Cooking"Patriotism is the love of the food one ate as a child." -- Lin Yutang.
I have a little boy on my caseload whose parents come from Jamaica. They have a large extended family here in New York, and get together frequently. A few weeks ago, I asked him what he did over the weekend, {hoping to hear that his parents had taken him outside to play, which, despite my constant Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-14203796453940475622011-10-26T04:00:00.000-07:002011-10-26T04:00:40.374-07:00A Life in the BalanceThe way in which we perceive the world directly determines how we respond to it. Here is the story of a little boy I started treating at the beginning of the school year. He was uninterested in other people, lined up his toys instead of playing with them, and had almost no expressive language. Despite how impaired he seemed initially, he made an immediate, remarkable turnaround Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-70618511602519619382011-10-19T04:13:00.000-07:002011-10-19T04:13:08.792-07:00The Role of the Sensory Integration TherapistA few weeks ago, a reader asked me how exercise could help a child who could not function at school. Last week, I talked about how the sensory integration approach works. This week, I thought I would continue the discussion by explaining what sensory integration therapy has to offer, and talking some more about how we go about accomplishing our objectives.
A sensory integration Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-25352376266478208592011-10-12T04:23:00.003-07:002011-10-14T23:01:41.047-07:00How Does Sensory Integration Therapy Work?A reader left me a great question in the comments after I described a little girl who was struggling in her daily life. She asked how exercise could solve this child's problems.
A. Jean Ayres, who founded sensory integration therapy, was an occupational therapist and developmental psychologist whose work was based on the theory that learning problems and behavioral issues were caused by faulty Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-81687448862105236302011-10-05T03:43:00.000-07:002011-10-05T03:43:42.412-07:00Peter Pan Was Wrong Here in America, we seem to have taken being sensitive to children's feelings into account to such an extreme that we have allowed them to take over. Being kind and polite to small children is certainly important, but we have to be careful to maintain the role of the grown up while doing so. It's not only all right for the grownups to assert their authority, it's crucial to a Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-42895637635314631782011-09-28T02:52:00.000-07:002011-09-28T02:52:46.316-07:00Look Before You LabelI would venture to guess that virtually every child with a diagnosis of ADHD is living in a body that doesn't support learning. Before we label and medicate, we should assess and treat the impairments in the child's structural, metabolic and neurological functioning.
We also need to be sensitive to what we are demanding of a child. If we are constantly expecting the Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9117160361228888191.post-13547051855221136902011-09-21T04:12:00.001-07:002011-09-21T20:24:20.423-07:00The Hurrieder We Go, the Behinder They GetThe habitual use of strollers, car seats, carriages, playpens, and strap on baby carriers forces a child into the role of passive observer instead of allowing him to be an active participant in his surroundings. This interferes with learning, delays his neurological development, and negatively impacts language, balance, motor control, socialization skills, vision, and academic Loren Shlaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04203511067195560724noreply@blogger.com3