review

A natural part of every body’s daily life! Toilet training is a massive milestone when it is achieved.  There are so many factors that can affect a child’s ability to use the toilet consistently.  Whether they are developing at a typical rate or not, we can use a range of strategies to help with the process. …

Fun! Engages a child’s imagination! Physical movement! Core strength and gross motor skill development! Sensory motor input to the muscles and joints! Regulatory benefits! No prep!  Every therapist, teacher and parents should have “animal walks” in their toolkit to use with individual children and groups (even classes).  There are so many benefits to participating in…

  I almost failed.  Importantly, I didn’t fail. I tried again. I succeeded.  I wish I had paid more attention in that first semester of OT school. ​ Neurobiology. Ironically, the study of the brain and how it works  – was hard on my brain! The fact that I could learn new things, make mistakes and…

Autonomy and agency. Autonomy is the ability to make independent choices. Agency is the capacity to exert individual influence, be authentic and express one’s self. As we listen to Autistic adult voices; autonomy and agency allow individuals to make choices in their own way, including choices about their daily lives, communication methods, and environments, is essential. …

Imagine you are a bubble. Keep your body still as you let your bubble float to the surface.  Do you take part in any meditation or mindfulness activities for yourself?  Traditional mindfulness practices guide your still body to become aware of parts of your body. In turn you learn to relax muscles and let your…

Executive functioning skills … using them is a process.  All activities need executive functioning skills.  We need to know the goal (ie. the challenge, the purpose, the point). We need to know the plan (ie. what equipment do we need to organize, what are the steps and the sequence, what previous knowledge or experience can we…

Parenting is a tough job.  We learn as we go.We learn from our own parents.We learn from our peers. We learn from social media or mainstream media. We read books, blogs, biographies. We make mistakes. We keep learning.  Whether you have a neurodiverse child or not, parenting is hard. Every child has their own unique strengths and difficulties. …

OK time for some truth telling. I started my OT BINGO challenge this year to get myself into a routine and bring some consistency to this blog. Even though I have been blogging for 10 years, this is the first year that I’ve posted something every month. I am time poor but don’t want to…