10 Tips to Help Children with Toileting

10 Tips to Help Children with Toileting

Whether it be toilet training a young child or helping a school-aged child with a bathroom routine, there can be many obstacles to overcome to reach full independence in the bathroom.  There are many factors to toileting such as body functions, age, physical environment, motor skills, communication skills and routines.  Here are 10 general tips to help children with toileting.

1. Use a visual schedule with pictures to indicate the steps involved in using the bathroom.
2. Follow the same routines each time the child goes to the bathroom whether at home, school or in the community.
3. Encourage the child to wear clothing that is easy to manipulate.
4. Modify the physical environment if needed.  For example, does the child have the postural control to remain seated or does the child need external support?  Does the child prefer his/her feet to be on the ground?
5. Play calming music in the bathroom to relax the child.
6. Use timers if needed to encourage the child to sit for a certain amount of time.
7. Be mindful of sensory preferences regarding noise levels.  The noise of flushing a toilet can be very scary for some children.  Public bathrooms are very loud.  If able, look for a quite bathroom with only one person at a time.  Use earplugs if necessary.
8. Be mindful of sensory preferences regarding tactile preferences.  Does the child prefer softer toilet paper or warm wipes?
9. Use a reward chart to earn a prize for independent toileting.
10. Make sure you and your child are ready and motivated.  Sometimes this can be hard to determine, but it can be very difficult to work on toileting if the child is not biologically ready and motivated.  For children with special needs, independence with toileting can be a difficult task.  Parents and teachers need to be patient as children progress with their skills.

If you need more information to help children with toileting check out these resources:

The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone (digital document) written by CathyAnn Collyer, OTR, LMT,  provides a complete explanation of the motor, sensory, and social/emotional effects that low muscle tone has on toilet training. It helps parents and therapists to understand whether a child is ready to train, and how to start creating readiness immediately.  You will learn how to pick the right potty seat, the right clothes, and how to decide between the “boot camp” or gradual method of training. A child’s speech delays, defiance or disinterest in potty training are addressed in ways that support families instead of criticizing them.  FIND OUT MORE.

Bathroom Social Stories   This digital document created by Thia Triggs, OTR,  provides 7 book covers, 76 separate book pages with a corresponding visual to aid understanding, and eight visual sequence strips for posting. Pick only the pages for your student’s needs. Specific sensory aversions that make it difficult for children with autism or anxiety issues to use new bathrooms are included. Clear, consistent visual expectations, as well as specific accommodations, help make bathroom use successful!  Editable text is available on one cover and four pages so that you can add your student’s name and specific circumstances that are important in your situation.  Available for boys OR girls.    FIND OUT MORE.

The post 10 Tips to Help Children with Toileting appeared first on Your Therapy Source.

How To Help Students Take Organized Notes

How To Help Students Take Organized Notes

Do you work with students who need help taking organized notes?  Do you have students who struggle with working memory?  The Cornell Note Taking System helps students to take effective, organized notes and study the material.

The Cornell method was a system created by Walter Pauk, an education professor at Cornell University, to provide students with a systematic format for condensing and organizing notes.

The Cornell Note Taking System is divided into several steps:

Step 1:  Record Notes – Write notes in the note taking column on paper that is divided into different sections.  See below to download your FREE copy of the template.  Use short sentences or phrases for the notes.

Step 2:  Key Points/ Questions –  When the class period is over, write the key points or questions in the left-hand column on the paper.  This step helps students to clarify meaning, strengthen memory skills and assist with studying.

Step 3:  Recite – Cover the notes section and in your own words recite out loud the answers to the questions that you formulated in step 2.  This step helps students with understanding the material and long term memory.

 Step 4: Reflect – Think about the material you are learning to make connections with previous facts, ideas, and experiences.

Step 5:  Review – Write a summary of the notes at the bottom of the page in your own words.  Review all the material weekly to prepare for future tests.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CORNELL NOTE TAKING TEMPLATE

Looking for more note taking templates?  Check out the 11-page packet of Cornell Note Taking Templates.

Reference:  Cornell University.  The Cornell Note Taking System.  Retrieved on 9/8/17 at http://ift.tt/2gaj4w4.

The post How To Help Students Take Organized Notes appeared first on Your Therapy Source.

5 Reasons to Use Rubrics for School Based Therapists

Rubrics are an excellent tool for school based therapists to utilize throughout the school year for ongoing assessment of a student’s skills.  A rubric is a scoring guide to judge performance on a specific task. A skill is broken down into different components and a numerical value is given to each component. The performance is then scored by totaling the sum of the numerical values.

Here are 5 reasons why you should use rubrics for school based therapists:

1. A rubric informs the individual of what is expected of a task.  It clarifies step by step what is required for proficiency.  The student will know all the steps that are needed to complete a task.
2. It provides a standard to assess the quality of how a task is completed.
3. The score on a rubric can determine if changes (improvements or regression) have occurred over time. It is a great tool to use after a long weekend, absences or school vacation to determine if regression has occurred to justify summer services.
4. It can help increase the consistency of scoring.  Instead of documenting minimal, moderate or significant progress, you can document an actual score to have a more quantitative measure.
5. Use a rubric to compare the abilities of a student with a peer to determine if the student’s skills are functional.

Need some examples?  You can download some free rubrics:

1.  Dressing Rubric – Putting On and Taking Off Socks
2.  Overall Personal Hygiene Rubric
3.  Meal Time Rubric – Using a Spoon
4.  Mobility Rubric – Walking in a Line
5.  Overall Handwriting Rubric
6.  Proper Positioning for Keyboarding Rubric

 

For a limited time, you can also download free Scissor Skill Rubric today.  It’s the perfect tool to have on hand to measure baseline performance as well as progress over time.  You’ll have a way to quantify performance in this area and to show that your scissor skill strategies (and the child’s hard work) are paying off.  This is all to get ready for the launch of The Scissor Skills Book on May 1st.

The post 5 Reasons to Use Rubrics for School Based Therapists appeared first on Your Therapy Source.