What is cerebral palsy? Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture. It is the most common motor disability in childhood. Cerebral means having to do with the brain. Palsy means weakness or problems with using the muscles. It is caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain that affects a person’s ability to control his or her muscles. The symptoms of Cerebral palsy (CP) vary from person to person. A person with severe Cerebral palsy might need to use special equipment to be able to walk, or might ..read more

What is AAC? AAC stands for Augmentative and Alternative communication. AAC are methods that can add to or be an alternative to our use of speech/mouth-word communication. AAC could look like… No-tech: a smile to indicate we’re happy, a cringe to show dislike, or pointing to indicate what we’re referring to Lite-tech: drawing a picture of what you want to share, or pointing to a picture or symbol of the item you want Mid-tech: pushing a button to hear a pre-recorded message when taking a turn in the conversation or activity High-tech: a dynamic display on a tablet or on a dedicated speech gene ..read more

First, let’s talk about WHAT IS FEEDING THERAPY The goal of feeding therapy is to help patients develop normal, effective feeding patterns and behaviors. A child may be referred for feeding therapist if it has: Difficulty chewing foods, typically swallowing food in whole pieces. Difficulty swallowing foods or refuses to swallow certain types of food consistencies. Refuses to eat certain food textures or has difficulty transitioning from one texture to another texture (ex: from bottle feedings to purees, from purees to soft solids or mixed textured foods). Gags on, avoids or is very sensi ..read more

When you are just learning about your child’s hearing loss, it can be overwhelming. There are many treatment options available to help your child at home and school. In this article, we will discuss signs of deafness, congenital hearing loss, and children’s hearing aids. Signs of Deafness Hearing affects children’s speech and language development. Treating your child’s hearing loss must be done appropriately and as soon as possible. In treating hearing loss sooner rather than later, you can reduce the impact hearing loss has on their development and education. There are several signs you can w ..read more

  Occupational Therapists work with children and adults to help them better understand their sensory systems and learn how various sensory inputs can positively or negatively affect the person. Sensory inputs come from the world and can affect each person very differently. For some people, sensory information can be over or under-acknowledged or over or under-responded to; in these situations, a person might have what would be considered sensory issues.  While most people are familiar with the basic 5 sensory systems (sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell), occupational therapists l ..read more

Puzzles are a great way to create a fun learning opportunity for kids. It helps children develop finger strength, perseverance and problem-solving skills. Picking up, moving and twisting the pieces of a puzzle helps children to develop finger strength and hand-eye coordination. As your child picks up and positions pieces, they also develop small-muscle control in their fingers. There are also lots of cognitive benefits that playing with puzzles can have for children too. One of those is that it allows children to develop their reasoning and decision-making skills, both of which ..read more

This question has a lot of weight and should be answered with the consideration of development, safety and convenience. Some experts believe that prolonged use of a stroller can result in underdeveloped gross and fine motor skills and a delay in how a child understands the world around them. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children between the age of 2-3 can stop using a stroller if they are strong walkers. One reason is because children benefit from the physical activity of walking and running. Children learn by experiences. Allo ..read more

Children reach developmental milestones at their own pace, and some move faster than others. Two siblings in the same family may reach milestones at different rates. Minor delays are usually no cause for alarm, but an ongoing delay or multiple delays in reaching milestones can be a sign that your child may have challenges later in life. Delay in speech, thinking, social, or motor skills milestones is called developmental delay. Developmental delay may be caused by a variety of factors, including heredity, complications during pregnancy, and premature birth. The cause isn’t always kno ..read more

Exercising in hot weather increases our body temperature. Our bodies have built-in cooling systems that help us adjust to heat. That’s why we perspire. But this natural cooling system can fail if we’re exposed to soaring temperatures for too long. The result may be heat exhaustion – that awful fatigue that makes you feel as if one more step could be your last – and even heat stroke. Consume Plenty of Water If the humidity is also way up, you’re in double trouble because your sweat “sticks” to your skin; it doesn’t evaporate as readily, which can send body temperature even higher. To keep cool ..read more

Occupational therapy may help individuals with ADHD in multiple ways. It can help a person identify barriers to success, develop strategies for tackling those areas, practice new skills or refine old ones, and brainstorm solutions when things do not go as planned. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic mental health condition that affects a person’s ability to pay attention and manage impulses. Experts estimate that 5% to 7% of school-aged children worldwide have ADHD, and around 63 million children and adolescents live with the condition worldwide. In the Unite ..read more