The journal entitled Nature Neuroscience recently published research on how autistic children use proprioceptive information and visual information. The researchers concluded that autistic children relied much more on the proprioceptive information to learn new movement patterns rather than external visual cues when compared to typically developing peers. In addition, they found that the children who greatly relied on the proprioceptive information exhibited greater deficits in social and motor skills.
The researchers hypothesize that this coincides with previous research. Since proprioception is more closely linked to motor areas, this could indicate that autistic children exbibit an over development of short range white matter connections and an underdevelopment of long range connections (visual motor information in this example).
The researchers recommend that motor skills should be taught early on to autistic children with a focus on external visual motor associations.
Reference: Kennedy Krieger Institute (2009, July 10). Difference In The Way Children With Autism Learn New Behaviors Described. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 13, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/07/090706113647.htm
Monday, July 13, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
New Handwriting Program
We are very excited to announce a new handwriting program that we are offering on our website. Handwriting on the Wall© and the W.I.N. TM (Write Incredibly Now TM)program has been developed by Susan N. Orloff OTR/L.
Susan N. Orloff, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 1971. She has had extensive experience both in schools and in the clinical setting. As licensure chairman for the state of South Carolina, Susan worked hard to establish guidelines for occupational therapists in the school setting. She is the author of the recently published book, Learning Re-enabled , a guide for parents, teachers and therapists. She is the owner of Children's Special Services, LLC a provider of comprehensive therapy services for children aged 3-15.
She graduated from the University of Maryland earning a BS in education, with continued graduate studies in occupational therapy at the University of Pennsylvania. She participated in the early standardization of Ayers Southern California Sensory Integration Tests, a nationally used teat for discerning sensory issues with children.
Susan was recently awarded the 2004 GA Woman of Distinction by the Crohns and Colitis Foundation for her contribution to the betterment of the lives of children with disabilities.
She also was awarded the "Outstanding Educator Award" from the South Carolina Occupational Therapy Association in 1981, and "Therapist of the Year" from Advanced Rehabilitation Services, Inc. in 1994.
Here are the key point of the Handwriting on the Wall© program:
This is delivered as an electronic document therefore you will receive an email to download the program immediately after payment. Shipping is free worldwide. For more information visit YourTherapySource.com.
Susan N. Orloff, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 1971. She has had extensive experience both in schools and in the clinical setting. As licensure chairman for the state of South Carolina, Susan worked hard to establish guidelines for occupational therapists in the school setting. She is the author of the recently published book, Learning Re-enabled , a guide for parents, teachers and therapists. She is the owner of Children's Special Services, LLC a provider of comprehensive therapy services for children aged 3-15.
She graduated from the University of Maryland earning a BS in education, with continued graduate studies in occupational therapy at the University of Pennsylvania. She participated in the early standardization of Ayers Southern California Sensory Integration Tests, a nationally used teat for discerning sensory issues with children.
Susan was recently awarded the 2004 GA Woman of Distinction by the Crohns and Colitis Foundation for her contribution to the betterment of the lives of children with disabilities.
She also was awarded the "Outstanding Educator Award" from the South Carolina Occupational Therapy Association in 1981, and "Therapist of the Year" from Advanced Rehabilitation Services, Inc. in 1994.
Here are the key point of the Handwriting on the Wall© program:
Reduces manuscript to 3 universal symbols
Reduces cursive to 4 universal symbols
Uses games and activities
Focuses on automatic responses
Is not a trace/write/repeat program
Works on kinesthetic and proprioceptive skills
Is sensory based
Limited verbal cues; is color coded
Works with letters within "shape groups"
Helps with children who have visual processing issues such as dyslexia,dysgraphia, etc.
One-time purchase~Pages can be copied; no need to buy additional programs
Materials used are easy to purchase from local stores such as Target, Wal-Mart,etc.
Separate pdf download is included so that the program can be explained to teachers and parents. Can be used by occupational therapists, certified occupational therapy assistants, teachers, etc.
This is delivered as an electronic document therefore you will receive an email to download the program immediately after payment. Shipping is free worldwide. For more information visit YourTherapySource.com.
Yoga in the Classroom
Found out about this free resource on Twitter from @lloydcrew - thanks! This is a post on OT Connections about the benefits of using yoga in the classroom. If you scroll down there is 4 pdf documents that you can open and print. Each document is a yoga routine to use in the classroom. This is a great, free resource ready to use right away. Not only are the yoga routines available, the post also includes her experiences using the routines in different types of classrooms. Here is the link to Yoga in the Classroom.
Want more yoga ideas for kids? On the YogaKids website you can sign up for a free pose of the week.
Want more yoga ideas for kids? On the YogaKids website you can sign up for a free pose of the week.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Parents' Endorsement of Vigorous Team Sports Increases Children's Physical Activity, Say Researchers
PARENTS’ ENDORSEMENT OF VIGOROUS TEAM SPORTS INCREASES CHILDREN’S PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, SAY RESEARCHERS
But Parents Push Girls Less Toward Sports and Vigorous Chores, According to New Study
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON—Parents who value strenuous team sports are more likely to influence their children to join a team or at least participate in some kind of exercise, and spend less time in front of the TV or computer, a new study says.
Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Duke University studied a sample of 681 parents of 433 fourth- and fifth-graders from 12 schools in Houston. They found that those parents who conveyed the importance of high-intensity team sports to their children had more active children. Both the boys and girls watched less TV and spent less time on their computers.
The findings appear in the July issue of Health Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association.
Endorsing all types of exercise - both team sports and individual sports - increased boys' activity levels but not girls', the study said.
"The difference between activity levels in the girls and boys had to do with the parents' attitudes toward the types of activities. Parents encouraged sons to partake in vigorous- and moderate-intensity team and individual sports, and vigorous-intensity home chores, such as heavy yard work, more than they encouraged these activities for their daughters," said lead author Cheryl Braselton Anderson, PhD. "There still is gender bias on encouraging boys to participate in certain sports and strenuous activities more than girls."
Vigorous team sports included basketball and soccer, and moderate team sports included baseball/softball, volleyball and football. Intense individual activity included running, cycling, swimming and skating, and moderate individual activity included walking, biking around the neighborhood and golf.
Household chores were also included as a form of physical activity. Vigorous household chores included heavy yard work and moving furniture; moderate household chores included cleaning, raking leaves, weeding and carrying groceries.
Parents' attitudes toward household chores had unexpected influences on children's attitudes and activity levels, the researchers said. "Cleaning house and doing laundry was associated with a decrease in boys' sport team participation and more TV watching," Anderson said. "Right now, we do not know why, but it could be that active boys spend less time inside and more time outside, so staying inside may detract from outdoor activity with friends. Boys shared their parents' attitude about the importance of vigorous household activities (yard work, moving), whereas girls did not. Parents did not believe girls should do these activities, but girls did not agree."
Demographic and ethnic factors also played a role in attitudes toward physical activity, both in sports and chores. Hispanic parents did not value strenuous household chores for children of either sex. Families with more children valued chores more, and families with more education (and money to pay for housekeeping and yard work) valued them less, the study found.
Hispanic parents encouraged their sons to play vigorous team and individual sports but did not encourage their daughters, Anderson said. African-American girls, but not boys, placed less value on exercise that required light to moderate effort, like riding their bikes, and both African-American girls and boys watched more TV.
More educated parents placed higher value on both vigorous- and moderate-intensity individual or team sports for boys but did not place as high a value for girls, Anderson said. And having more children in the family influenced whether the parents valued sports for girls: More children led to more interest in the girls' being active.
"Playing team sports, especially the more strenuous ones, really makes a difference in decreasing both boys' and girls' media use and making them more active," Anderson said. "It is a good idea for parents to adopt a positive attitude toward all types of vigorous physical activities for boys and girls and know that girls can and want to do them."
Article: "Parent-Child Attitude Congruence on Type and Intensity of Physical Activity: Testing Multiple Mediators of Sedentary Behavior in Older Children," Cheryl B. Anderson, PhD, and Sheryl O. Hughes, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine; Bernard F. Fuemmeler, PhD, Duke University Medical Center; Health Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 4.
Full text of the article is also available from the APA Public Affairs Office.
Contact Cheryl Braselton Anderson, PhD, by e-mail and by phone at (713) 798-6773 or cell (832) 978-4290
Source: Retrieved from the web on 7/6/09 from the American Psychological Association at http://www.apa.org/releases/parents-exercise.html.
But Parents Push Girls Less Toward Sports and Vigorous Chores, According to New Study
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON—Parents who value strenuous team sports are more likely to influence their children to join a team or at least participate in some kind of exercise, and spend less time in front of the TV or computer, a new study says.
Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Duke University studied a sample of 681 parents of 433 fourth- and fifth-graders from 12 schools in Houston. They found that those parents who conveyed the importance of high-intensity team sports to their children had more active children. Both the boys and girls watched less TV and spent less time on their computers.
The findings appear in the July issue of Health Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association.
Endorsing all types of exercise - both team sports and individual sports - increased boys' activity levels but not girls', the study said.
"The difference between activity levels in the girls and boys had to do with the parents' attitudes toward the types of activities. Parents encouraged sons to partake in vigorous- and moderate-intensity team and individual sports, and vigorous-intensity home chores, such as heavy yard work, more than they encouraged these activities for their daughters," said lead author Cheryl Braselton Anderson, PhD. "There still is gender bias on encouraging boys to participate in certain sports and strenuous activities more than girls."
Vigorous team sports included basketball and soccer, and moderate team sports included baseball/softball, volleyball and football. Intense individual activity included running, cycling, swimming and skating, and moderate individual activity included walking, biking around the neighborhood and golf.
Household chores were also included as a form of physical activity. Vigorous household chores included heavy yard work and moving furniture; moderate household chores included cleaning, raking leaves, weeding and carrying groceries.
Parents' attitudes toward household chores had unexpected influences on children's attitudes and activity levels, the researchers said. "Cleaning house and doing laundry was associated with a decrease in boys' sport team participation and more TV watching," Anderson said. "Right now, we do not know why, but it could be that active boys spend less time inside and more time outside, so staying inside may detract from outdoor activity with friends. Boys shared their parents' attitude about the importance of vigorous household activities (yard work, moving), whereas girls did not. Parents did not believe girls should do these activities, but girls did not agree."
Demographic and ethnic factors also played a role in attitudes toward physical activity, both in sports and chores. Hispanic parents did not value strenuous household chores for children of either sex. Families with more children valued chores more, and families with more education (and money to pay for housekeeping and yard work) valued them less, the study found.
Hispanic parents encouraged their sons to play vigorous team and individual sports but did not encourage their daughters, Anderson said. African-American girls, but not boys, placed less value on exercise that required light to moderate effort, like riding their bikes, and both African-American girls and boys watched more TV.
More educated parents placed higher value on both vigorous- and moderate-intensity individual or team sports for boys but did not place as high a value for girls, Anderson said. And having more children in the family influenced whether the parents valued sports for girls: More children led to more interest in the girls' being active.
"Playing team sports, especially the more strenuous ones, really makes a difference in decreasing both boys' and girls' media use and making them more active," Anderson said. "It is a good idea for parents to adopt a positive attitude toward all types of vigorous physical activities for boys and girls and know that girls can and want to do them."
Article: "Parent-Child Attitude Congruence on Type and Intensity of Physical Activity: Testing Multiple Mediators of Sedentary Behavior in Older Children," Cheryl B. Anderson, PhD, and Sheryl O. Hughes, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine; Bernard F. Fuemmeler, PhD, Duke University Medical Center; Health Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 4.
Full text of the article is also available from the APA Public Affairs Office.
Contact Cheryl Braselton Anderson, PhD, by e-mail and by phone at (713) 798-6773 or cell (832) 978-4290
Source: Retrieved from the web on 7/6/09 from the American Psychological Association at http://www.apa.org/releases/parents-exercise.html.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Why?
Just a quick, brief commentary on some recent observations...
Why do we have child sized spoons, forks, knives, cups and scissors but most children use full sized pencils when learning how to write?
Why do children have to learn to write their names at age 3? Please tell me how this is a functional skill for a three year old.
Why is penmanship not a subject in elementary school anymore?
Anyone want to comment?
Why do we have child sized spoons, forks, knives, cups and scissors but most children use full sized pencils when learning how to write?
Why do children have to learn to write their names at age 3? Please tell me how this is a functional skill for a three year old.
Why is penmanship not a subject in elementary school anymore?
Anyone want to comment?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Guess the Object Video Activity Idea
Guess The Object:
Purpose: Encourage fine motor skills and stereognosis (using only your sense of touch to determine what an object is).
Materials: cardboard box, scissors, stapler, fabric scraps, small objects
How to Play: Show child a tray of small objects. Place one small object inside the box. The child reaches in and guesses what the object is using only his/her sense of touch. No peeking!
Visit www.YourTherapySource.com for more sensory motor activity ideas.
Purpose: Encourage fine motor skills and stereognosis (using only your sense of touch to determine what an object is).
Materials: cardboard box, scissors, stapler, fabric scraps, small objects
How to Play: Show child a tray of small objects. Place one small object inside the box. The child reaches in and guesses what the object is using only his/her sense of touch. No peeking!
Visit www.YourTherapySource.com for more sensory motor activity ideas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
