Interventions to Help Students Maintain Personal Space

The personal space and body awareness survey results are complete.  Two hundred sixty pediatric therapists, teachers and parents weighed in on the best modifications and interventions to help students maintain personal space.  Each participant in the online survey answered the following question: When a child has difficulty with personal space, what modification/intervention do you find to be the most successful? (listed in alphabetical order) –

Alternative seating
Body awareness exercises and activities
Movement breaks throughout the day
Physical cues ie holding hula hoop, adaptive seating, etc.
Proprioceptive input and activities
Recess
Sensory diet
Social stories
Video modeling
Visual cues ie picture symbols, circles, etc.
Other

The 260 participants who completed the survey reported that when a child has difficulty with personal space, the following modifications/interventions are the most successful:

• 25% indicated body awareness exercises and activities.
• 20.4% indicated physical cues ie holding hula hoop, adaptive seating, etc.
• 18.8% indicated proprioceptive input and activities.
• 11.9% indicated visual cues ie picture symbols, circles, etc.
• 7.7% indicated movement breaks throughout the day.
• 5.8% indicated social stories.
• 5.4% indicated alternative seating.
• 1.9% indicated sensory diet.
• 1.9% indicated other.
• 1.2% indicated video modeling

Overall, the 260 pediatric therapists, teachers and parents reported that body awareness exercises and activities were the most successful interventions to help children who have difficulty with personal space.

Here are the comments that were posted:

Movement breaks that typically include proprioceptive input. If it is not a true sensory processing issue, social stories are most helpful and practice or reminders.

I think a combination of many of these works best.

I usually begin with a presentation to the entire classroom using a hula hoop to illustrate the concept of what “personal space” looks like in our culture. And then have each of the children step inside while a partner is outside the hoop to give them a concrete example of what it looks/feels like to give someone else their “space”. I’ll ask the student who may have difficulties be one of the first to step inside the hoop and then have him pick a peer to be on the outside, and continue with the whole group until everyone has had a chance to be on the inside and outside. I’ll often leave the hula hoop in the classroom for the students to play with and experiment with for a week before retrieving. It allows the teacher to use it to demonstrate further in the week as necessary.

Short term, visual cues such as arm’s length or tape on the floor. Longer term body and environment awareness issues need to be addressed.

all of the above

This depends on the child; as more than one approach is often needed

We are new to this and just getting started. Our OT is Awesome and has helped so much. Thank you to all the warriors fighting for our kids.

If you are looking for personal space and body awareness activities check out Personal Space Journey.

Personal Space Journey is a digital collection of activities to teach children about personal space. You can choose how to utilize the materials. Some children may benefit from reading the story first with follow up. Others may need to work on body awareness activities in order to maintain personal space.

This collection includes the following: 

1. Personal Space Journey Board Game
2. 24 Body Cards – the child has to make his/her body look exactly like the body on the card
3. 24 Challenge Cards – complete the body awareness and motor planning challenges written on each card
4. 16 Movement Cards – complete the movement cards to practice body awareness moving through space
5. Body in Motion Challenges Worksheet – try to complete the 16 motor skills moving your body in different ways
6. Self Portrait – practice drawing a self portrait and remember to include many body parts
7. Color the Body – identify and color in various body parts
8. Personal Space Journey Letter for Home – letter written to parents about developing body awareness
9. Personal Space and School – a 12 page social story about maintaining personal space in school
10. “I Can” Statement Posters to compliment the Personal Space social story – 12 “I Can” posters to hang throughout the school to reinforce the personal space journey
11. Twelve Small cards of the “I Can” Statements – provide the child with these small cards to remind them to maintain personal space in different situations – i.e. tape to a desk, slip in a notebook, etc.
12. Personal Space Journey Certificate – complete this certificate when child has mastered maintaining personal space
13. Handwriting Practice – 8 pages of handwriting practice for the child to list ways to maintain personal space in different situations. Provided in dotted line format, double line format (Handwriting without Tears® style) and regular lined paper.

FIND OUT MORE.

 

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Weavable Toys – Focus on Therapist Small Business Owners

Our series continues today taking a closer look at small businesses that are owned and operated by Pediatric Occupational and Physical Therapists. Today, the focus is on Weavable Toys, created by Barbara Smith, OTR (whom many of you know as the “Recycling OT”).

Q:  First just tell a little bit about yourself – job experience, years on the job, etc. and about your product.

A:  I began my career working with developmentally disabled adults shortly after earning a B.A. in English. This was back in the 1970s when people were being moved out of institutions and introduced to community living. I worked in a group home and sheltered workshop before meeting my first occupational therapist and subsequently earning a M.S. at Tufts University’s Boston School of Occupational Therapy.

Over the past 30 years I have worked with children and adults with fine-motor delays in a variety of settings including schools, institutions, early intervention and even hippotherapy farms. I have learned the importance of adapting activities to provide a just-right challenge and to meet the client’s sensory needs.

Q: What made you come up with your product?

A:  When my son was little I noticed that many toys were made of plastic similar to what was used to make colorful and sturdy detergent bottles. I also noticed that the bottle handles were designed to be comfortable, very strong and came in a variety of sizes.

I began to design and fabricate my own therapy materials out of the plastic products that we normally recycled and this was great because the activities could then be individualized, made cheaply, available quickly and easily replaced when lost or broken. I cut plastic containers with leather shears to make many manipulation activities including lacing boards (with extra large holes) and flat donut shapes used in stringing activities. Many of my clients who did not have the motor control to string beads were able to successfully use these materials.

Weaving is a wonderful fine-motor activity that develops finger dexterity, strength, sequencing skills and spatial concepts such as under and over. These are important skills that help children to manipulate buttons, buckles and tie a knot. I made a variety of weaving activities out of plastic containers (see them on my website-RecyclingOT.com) and they were so effective and fun to use with my clients that I decided to ask a designer friend to make a prototype. The product he created is made of plastic that gives just the right amount of resistance to weave. They can be used in a variety of ways, allowing for open ended creativity and best of all- they do not have to be “Do-It-Yourself”, although that is always an available option.

Q:  How do you produce/manufacture the product?

A:  My friend works at an industrial design company that allows him to manufacture with their machinery using a somewhat slow process. I have not yet decided whether or not to invest in purchasing dies that would enable mass production and lower costs.

Q:  How you deal with liability and/or risk when creating a product for children?

A:  There is a warning on the packaging that this product has small parts. It is not recommended for children under 3 years of age or with individuals who put objects in their mouths.

Q:  Where can we find your products? 

A:  Weavable Toys are sold as a set consisting of 4 basic shape boards (square, rectangle, circle and triangle), strips that are woven through the boards and small shapes that are woven onto the strips to create designs. They are sold on Amazon and via paypal with free shipping. Information is on my website page http://ift.tt/25EhVk2

Need more fine motor activity ideas?  Check out the Your Therapy Source fine motor section for immediate delivery of electronic downloads.

Are you a pediatric therapist who owns a small business?  Let us know so we can feature your products.

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