With Earth Day this Monday (4/22/13) it seemed appropriate to bring up this topic.  No NDD is not an official medical diagnosis, but a description of “human alienation from nature.”  Upon the recommendation of a trusted OT friend, I have just downloaded the Kindle version of the book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from ...

Last week I presented at another conference for early childhood educators.  Entitled 10 Terrific Tips for DAP Fine Motor Skills the workshop  covered  important sensory and motor components needed for developing  good hand skills.  (See my blog from last spring on the AHA! Moment).  The room was packed and ...

As my year as your peds blogger comes to a close, I thought I would give you a rundown of the top 5 most popular posts.   5.  Weighing in at the fifth spot was the final update on the DSM-5 due out next May: SPD Excluded from DSM-5. 4. The AJOT published study on Speed and Legibility with Pencil Grasp had some surprising ...

This past week I presented a workshop to a child care provider network. This insightful group of mentors and educators were passionate about finding ways to adapt the current programs in many of their centers to include more sensory motor concepts.  As we talked about the importance of vestibular input and how gentle swinging can provide ...

As an OT with a background in SI, I think our sense of smell is often overlooked.  Here are some easy suggestions to use olfactory input as a fun way to supplement treatment activities: Add dry JELL-O®mix to watercolor or tempera paints. Or mix up the gelatin with only half the amount of water and have the child paint with the mixture. ...

So, we've ruled out any possible medical reasons that may cause a child not to eat.  What we have to do now is go back to our list we made when we began playing detective and see what else could be going on.  A few possibilities to keep in mind are: Sensory Issues: This is one of the most common reasons a child who has no medical ...

  ''Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go ...