One of the most challenging things when it comes to working with a family who has a child who "won't eat" is figuring out how much of it may be due to the child's inability to eat (sensory problems, physical problems, processing disorders, etc) and how much may be due to the child's lack of motivation to eat.  The former is much easier to "fix" than the latter.

If a child has the desire to eat but is ...

My ...

One of the questions I get asked often is why I remain a COTA, and not further my degree to an OTR. This is a question I ask myself, and as much as the change would be nice sometimes, there are many reasons why I remain a COTA.

Of course the educational factor is first. As much as I enjoy school, the things that come with it such as homework, reading, and tests are not as enjoyable.  Attending ...

Our Twitter following is growing -- are you on the bandwagon? Our Twitter updates can keep you current on the newest features on our website, the latest news and stories about occupational therapy in the popular media, and issues in health care that affect you and your colleagues. Find us here: http://twitter.com/advanceforot

Hello, everyone!  I hope you are having a great day!  It's so wonderful to know that each day the sun will rise and that once again, we will be provided with opportunities to connect with someone.  Just this morning, I connected with my mom to wish her a Happy Birthday!  We had visited her in Central New York this past weekend to celebrate her birthday in person.  But I don't think ...

When Aisling was two years old, she started going to speech therapy.

I wasn't sure what to expect, at first. The only word she used appropriately with any consistency was the word "no." She'd been evaluated, and she had severe speech delays for her age. Even though she would babble happily for hours, her babble was non-functional, and it was difficult to get her to pay attention to anything to help get her ...

There's a ton of great content on our website -- so where do you start? We'll periodically blog the five most popular content items on OT Advance online. See what your fellow OTs are reading on www.advanceweb.com/OT!

Tops this week is our new autism ...

Hi, again!  I'm afraid you caught me in another "I wonder how people can BE that way" mood!  I'll try to keep the frustration from weasling its way into my "voice" today; but it will be difficult.  So, let me tell you my story and get it over with.

As an occupational therapist, I have had the distinct pleasure of working in both the adult and pediatric populations.  It has been ...

I wanted to thank everyone for their encouraging comments and posts to my latest entry. It always helps to know that I'm not alone in this, and to hear some reassurance from others who have their own history of experience to pull from. I imagine all parents need validation at certain points in their life, and I'm grateful I have such a strong resource to pull from in the readers of this blog. I appreciate always your ...

One of the challenges of working with toddlers and their independent self-feeding skills is that you are sometimes challenged to work with a toddler who doesn't have the skills to be independent but is at that age where they are striving to do it all themselves anyway.  They want to do everything themselves and are not always welcoming when it comes to hand over hand assistance or, for that matter, any ...

Happy Fall, fellow bloggers!  Brrrr...I have finally switched the summer clothes (oh, how I love them!) for the warm, cozy fall and winter ones (oh, how I NEED them!).  Actually, to be more accurate, my husband did the switching since our clothes are stored in the attic.  There was a time when I could have done this myself; however, the shoulder is healing rather slowly and I cannot get myself ...

Are you on Twitter? ADVANCE for OTs is! Our Twitter updates can keep you current on the newest features on our website, the latest news and stories about occupational therapy in the popular media, and issues in health care that affect you and your colleagues. Find us here: http://twitter.com/advanceforot ...

It's often difficult to write about the bad days.

This past week has been one struggle after the other. Aisling has been honestly feeling extremely under-the-weather due in large part to sinus drainage and allergies, but I finally discovered on Wednesday morning that she had been using her illness as an excuse to get out of going to class and to avoid school. She had a full-fledged emotional meltdown on ...

Good day, everyone!  I hope you are all keeping warm (no comment from you all in the perpetually warm climates!).  Keeping warm...now there's a challenge!  I have lived in cold climates for the majority of my life, which began in Rome, New York.  I remember the snow blizzard of '62 (that's 1962 for all of you born after 1970!).  The snow banks were so high that we could not see the ...

Hi All!  Sorry I did not post on Friday - I was a bit under the weather with a stomach bug.  Thankfully it didn't last more than 48 hours but that is one of the "hazards" of working with children for a living - you are bound to catch something every now ...

Early Monday morning, Aisling's school nurse called me to let me know she was complaining that her ears were hurting really badly. I tied up a few loose ends at work, made a doctor's appointment for later in the day, and rushed to the school to pick her up. She was sleeping soundly on the cot in the clinic, which was my first clue that she actually was feeling just as bad as she claimed.

A little backstory ...

There's a ton of great content on our website -- so where do you start? Each week, we'll blog the five most popular content items on OT Advance online. See what your fellow OTs are reading on www.advanceweb.com/OT!

Tops this week is our webcast ...

This question was posed by an OT student in her comments on my assertion that advocacy groups such as the Icarus ...

And we meet again here in blog land, my friends!  I trust that you and yours are finding this fall season to be calming and peaceful after those busy, hectic days of summer!  (Remember when they used to be called the "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer"?)  I am using this season to re-connect with family and friends.  Our summer gatherings were wonderful; but they were often squeezed in ...

Several of the companies in Knoxville sponsor a Halloween-themed event each year called Boo at the Zoo, where kids can go trick-or-treating along a "treat trail" set up along the zoo's main routes. There are many other activities available as well, including dancing, party games, and various characters you can have your ...

Healthcare reform, the economic depression, reduced insurance reimbursements, Medicare and Medicaid cutbacks, how will this affect the future of the COTA?

            Some people are quite nervous right now, thinking that Obama's healthcare reform will eliminate the COTA position. Others are worried that the reduced reimbursement rates will decrease ...