Serving Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee
Making AAC Motivational and Fun for Kids and Families: Realistic Expectations, Tips, and Tricks Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems play a vital role in enabling individuals with communication difficulties to express themselves effectively. While AAC can initially seem daunting, especially for children and their families, creating a motivating and enjoyable environment can make the […]
Think about how we develop our bigger (gross) skills before we can hone in on our smaller (finer) ones. As children become more coordinated with gross motor skills and bigger movements, such as crawling, walking, and climbing, the next step involves fine-tuning smaller movements. These smaller, finer movements can include holding a pencil, grasping small […]
What is a Sensory Processing Disorder? Sensory processing disorder (SPD) is a type of neurological disorder in which the brain cannot properly process or integrate sensory information. As a result, a child can be hypersensitive or over-responsive to stimuli or hyposensitive or under responsive to stimuli. If a child is experiencing hypersensitivity to sensory input, […]
What is nocturnal enuresis and when is it a problem? Nocturnal enuresis is a fancy term for bedwetting. (Nocturnal meaning nighttime, and enuresis meaning involuntary leakage of urine). Typically, a child will achieve nighttime dryness 6 months-1 year following daytime potty training OR by age 6. Many professionals consider bedwetting beyond the age of 6 […]
Narrative language refers to the ability to use all parts of language (vocabulary, grammar, pragmatics) together to tell a story. Narrative skills, or storytelling skills, are a complex and important part of communication. These skills begin to develop as early as 2 years of age! We use our narrative language skills several times a day […]
Summer is fast approaching! The sun is out, heat and humidity rising, and we look to have some fun and cool off at the pool or swimming hole. It is time to also think about how to maintain water safety for our children while cooling off and having fun this summer. Roughly 10 drowning deaths […]
What are executive functioning skills? Executive functions are a set of mental skills we use to learn, play, and successfully participate in day-to-day activities. 10 Key Executive Function Skills What Does Executive Dysfunction Look Like? How Can Occupational Therapy Help? Executive function skills play a big role in our ability to complete day-to-day tasks. Therefore, […]
Both motor and vocal tics can significantly interfere with one’s quality of life. For example, a child may feel embarrassed or anxious when all eyes are on them (i.e., sports, reading in class, etc.), get in trouble for disrupting class, or avoid tasks that cause an increase in their tics. Because tics can impede a […]
Preschool aged kids range from 3-5 years old. During this time, children go through a period of learning and refining gross motor skills, starting with basic skills such as running and jumping to advanced skills like skipping and jumping while turning. The checkpoints listed below are loosely taken from a standardized test, in which each […]
What are Primitive Reflexes? Automatic motor responses that originate from our primitive or survival brain. Why does Integration of Reflexes Matter? Integration of primitive reflexes lay the foundation for higher level learning. Retained primitive reflexes or active primitive reflexes can interfere with the development of more mature, voluntary movement patterns including postural reflexes, balance, ability […]