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Halloween is such an exciting time for children, but often we find that children with sensory processing difficulties can experience challenges that create barriers to successful participation in what should be a fun and exciting experience.   Halloween can be challenging for several different reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that this deviates from a child’s normal routine. Halloween activities that may be new or unexpected, so children may need some support navigating this novelty. Halloween can also present unique sensory challenges, whether that be wearing uncomfortable co ..read more

Mindfulness exercises are not just for adults, but can also be beneficial strategies for children to support emotional regulation, reduce overall feelings of stress and anxiety, and improve confidence when engaging in challenging situations. Listed below are some great mindfulness strategies that the whole family can participate in!  What are mindfulness strategies and what do they help address?  Yoga with relaxing music This provides consistent proprioceptive input, which can help calm the body and support self-regulation. By pairing these static poses with deep breathing and so ..read more

Welcome to our Two Takes series!  We’re taking on hot topics and commonly asked questions from parents with a unique team approach. We’re putting our PT (Kendall) and OT (Sarah) brains together to bring you two perspectives on topics relevant to your child. Today, we’re sharing two takes on: aquatic therapy! See how we use our different professional lenses to answer frequently asked questions about aquatic therapy below:  Why provide therapy in the water? Water has some unique properties that have different effects on the environment, the body, and its systems.   Buoyancy ..read more

You may have heard your therapist suggesting to provide your child with heavy work activities at home when they appear to be sensory seeking and dysregulated. But what is heavy work? What if I don’t have a crash pad or other “sensory equipment” at home?    What is heavy work? Heavy work is just another name for providing proprioceptive input. Heavy work, or proprioceptive input, can be any task requiring your body to work against weight or resistance, such as pushing, pulling, or carrying. Through heavy work, we receive sensory input to activate the joints and muscles, telling us ab ..read more

Impulse control and listening are important skills for kids that are utilized in many daily occupations such as transitioning away from preferred activities, daily routines, and school. Frequent practice using games helps strengthen these skills so that they can generalize to other activities. Listed below are some fun games with little to no equipment needs!   Impulse Control Games for Daily Practice  Red Light, Green Light – The classic traffic light game where you move forward when someone says green light and immediately stop when someone says red light. Simon Says – Expl ..read more

As the winter season approaches, there are so many fun seasonal sensory activities that can be enjoyed. One of our favorites is ice skating! Not only is it a lot of fun for kids, but it can support many of the goals we focus on during our therapy sessions!  Ice skating can help improve: Motor planning Muscle strength Force modulation Coordination Postural control and endurance Balance Body awareness Cardiovascular endurance  Following multi-step directions Confidence Sensory processing  Skating also supports kids from a sensory standpoint to improve their sensory modulation a ..read more

It can be cute to see a picture of a baby with their head tilted a little to one side. But what if it’s always tilted to the same side? It may be an indication that the baby has torticollis. Torticollis is a condition that involves tightness of the sternocleidomastoid muscle in the neck, causing the head to tilt to the side of the tight muscle, and turn to the opposite side. Torticollis is relatively common among infants (up to 3 per 100 babies, according to some statistics) and may be present at birth (called congenital muscular torticollis, or CMT), or acquired later in infancy. It is often ..read more

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to see family and friends, enjoy family traditions, and enjoy cooking and eating together. But for some children, Thanksgiving presents unique challenges, like engaging with foods they might not usually eat, which can make the holiday more stressful for families. The following tips will help to make the Thanksgiving meal as successful and enjoyable for everyone!  Involve your child in meal prep: Even before the meal begins, you can help your child engage with new foods and textures without putting pressure on them to eat. Giving them a task that does not ..read more

How does breathing impact self-regulation? Breathing is a subconscious action, but when we consciously control how we breathe, it can impact our overall state of arousal, as well as our ability to learn, sleep, and self-regulate. When our bodies feel stressed, our sympathetic nervous system is activated, and we experience a stress response called “Fight, Flight, or Freeze.” During this response, the rise in stress hormones causes your heart rate and blood pressure to increase, while you may feel tense with a heightened sense of what is going on around you. Many children who have difficulty pr ..read more