Tag Archives: OT

Let’s Stop Tip-Toeing Around Toe Walking!

Posted on

 

What is toe walking? 

Toe walking can be described as walking on the toes or the balls of our feet without heel contact on the ground. It commonly can be described as your child always on their “tiptoes”.  Some children with diagnoses such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, or autism may be seen walking on their toes. If a child is toe walking for an unknown cause, it can be described as idiopathic toe walking. Idiopathic toe walking is characterized by toe walking that is not occurring because of an underlying anatomical or neuromuscular cause. Factors that may play into idiopathic toe walking include;

Read More ›→

When Their Storm Meets Our Calm: The Art of Co-Regulation

Posted on

 

Has your cheerful child ever quickly become a ball of tears when a near-by peer begins crying? Have you ever lost the pep in your step after spending time around a grumpy co-worker? This is because the feelings and behaviors of people in close proximity to us, directly impact how we feel, and respond to our own emotions. In the same way adults are impacted by others actions, children pick up the moods of others around them. However, being able to regulate emotions effectively and efficiently is not an innate skill. A child’s capacity to manage their big emotions relies on their brain development and their experiences. Therefore, when feeling upset or overwhelmed children look to their caregivers for help with regulating their emotions and appropriately respond to external stressors. Read More ›→

It’s Reflexive! Retained Reflexes and Their Effect on Development

Posted on

 

Retained primitive reflexes are immature movement patterns that can often have effects on a child’s overall development. Naturally, these reflexes should “integrate” or disappear during infancy. When a reflex is retained, more mature movement patterns are not developed, which can have an effect on sensory integration, posture, executive functioning skills, and overall neuroplasticity. Recognizing and treating these retained reflexes can have a big impact on a child’s overall development. 

Read More ›→

Spot the Difference: Understanding Vision and Perception

Posted on

 

Your child is sitting in the exam room chair for their annual eye check-up, and they are asked the notorious question that you always seem to overthink: “Which is better… 1… or… 2…” Did you know that optometrists are testing for visual acuity when they ask that question? But did you also know there are many more aspects of vision than just visual acuity that could be influencing your child’s ability to learn and play? Read on to learn more about how to spot the difference between visual skills!

Read More ›→

Crawling, Can My Child Skip It?

Posted on

 

Why is crawling such a big deal? What if my child doesn’t seem interested in crawling? These are all common questions that are brought up by parents. Crawling is much more than just a means of mobility. It provides a child with some important strengthening, coordination, and cognitive benefits that will help them much later than the baby and toddler years.  

Read More ›→

Criss Cross Your Midline!

Posted on

The crowd goes wild! Your child has just swung and hit their first home run! They run around the bases and go to touch home plate. Your child is showered with high-fives from teammates on the left and right. Among other things, in order for your child to have successfully swung and hit a home run, run around the bases, and give high-fives to his teammates, your child would have to have done one really important thing… cross midline! The ability to cross midline and interact with all areas of our environment is an important skill for all of us to learn. Let’s explore!

Read More ›→

Little Yogis: Benefits of Yoga for Children

Posted on

These past 2 years have been a whirlwind. With the transition from in-person to virtual and back to in-person school, less opportunity for socialization, along with the uncertainty of what life will look like each day; it’s no surprise that we are seeing an increase in childhood stress and anxiety. So, what strategies can we provide to ease the stress our kids are facing today?

Read More ›→

Brush It Off! Brushing Protocol for Sensory Integration

Posted on

Therapeutic brushing may be recommended for your child due to tactile defensiveness, or difficulty tolerating a variety of textures. However, engaging in a therapeutic brushing protocol may also help to ease sensory-based anxiety, promote falling asleep, increase attention to task, increase coordination, and overall self-regulation.

What is Therapeutic Brushing?

The Wilbarger Deep Pressure and Proprioceptive Technique (DPPT), also known as the Wilbarger Brushing Protocol, is often used by occupational therapists to promote sensory integration. It is typically used with children demonstrating sensory defensiveness, or children who exhibit signs of over-responsiveness in the protective responses of the nervous system. Oftentimes, it is used with children who exhibit tactile defensiveness, or difficulty being touched by people or a variety of textures.

What Does the Protocol Look Like?

DPPT begins with systematic brushing of the body, followed by joint compressions to a child’s arms, legs, hands, feet, and head. Brushing is completed using a soft surgical scrub brush, often called a Therapressure brush. The correct brush is required in this protocol, as it provides a specific type of sensation to the nerve endings in the skin. Firm, even pressure is used to sequentially brush the arms, back, legs, and feet. Areas such as the stomach and chest are always avoided, as they are particularly sensitive. Following brushing, 10 joint compressions are provided to the child’s hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, and feet using gentle pressure. This provides the child with deep pressure proprioceptive input which is calming to the nervous system. The protocol is repeated approximately every two hours while the child is awake. DPPT must always be taught by a trained therapist to ensure that it is safe, effective, and beneficial for the child.

What Does Brushing Do for Sensory Integration?

The brushing portion of DPPT stimulates the nerve endings of the skin, generally serving to “wake up” the nervous system. The joint compressions provide the body with deep pressure proprioceptive input, which typically calms nervous system. Performing the two elements of the protocol helps the central nervous system to better utilize information from the nerve endings of the peripheral nervous system more effectively. This can result in increased overall regulation, decreased anxiety to sensory triggers, and improved ability to transition between challenging tasks.

Who Would Benefit from Therapeutic Brushing?

Your child may benefit from DPPT if he or she:

  • Demonstrates difficulty being touched, wearing a variety of clothing, or tolerating a messy play.
  • Becomes reactive with grooming activities, including having his or her hair washed, or fingernails clipped.
  • Demonstrates difficulty maintaining a calm, alert, and organized state.
  • Experiences difficulty calming down and falling asleep at night.
  • Demonstrates difficulty transitioning between activities
  • Appears to have trouble noticing when he or she is hungry or needs to go to the bathroom.

Questions or concerns?

If you think your child could benefit from DPPT, please reach out to your occupational therapist or  us at info@playworkschicago.com or 773-332-9439.

Natalie Machado, MS, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist

References:

OT-Innovations.com. (2018). Therapeutic brushing techniques. Retrieved from https://www.ot-innovations.com/clinical-practice/sensory-modulation/therapeutic-brushing-techniques/.

Keep Calm and Messy Play On!

Posted on

Ever wonder why most of us have a baby photo with food all over our hands and faces? An important part of processing our world is through touch, even from a young age. Our sense of touch gives us information about our environment and the characteristics of our surroundings. We are able to determine if something is hot, cold, sticky, dry, soft, smooth, and so on! Messy play is a vital part of child development as our touch processing feeds into our skills such as motor planning, body awareness, visual-motor skills, fine motor skills, and more. At the moment with our schools and businesses closed many of us may be stuck indoors as we quarantine at home. While our current focus might be keeping our hands and homes clean, we can find ways to continue promoting our tactile sensory processing and get messy safely!

Our sensory processing abilities determine how we respond to tactile input. Your child may demonstrate sensitivity or avoidance to tactile input, such as withdrawing their hands when they get messy or splaying their fingers outward when they engage with wet textures. Maybe your child craves tactile input and you have a hard time keeping their hands clean or to themselves. Either way, incorporating messy play or multi-sensory experiences into their day can help them learn to process and respond to tactile input in order to better participate in grooming, meal time, bath time, and other daily routines!

Sensory Materials from Home:

You can always try to repurpose materials that you already have in your home to promote messy play. Try filling up a plastic bin at home with any of the following. You can switch out the material weekly to continue providing a range of tactile sensory experiences.

  • Cotton balls or pom poms
  • Feathers
  • Dried foods: pasta, rice, beans, oats, corn, seeds, coffee beans
  • Wet media: shaving cream, frosting, whipped cream
  • Slime, Gak, Flarp
  • Kinetic sand
  • Beach sand
  • Potting soil
  • Beads
  • Small rocks
  • Shredded paper
  • Water with ice cubes
  • Packing peanuts

Messy Play Activities at Home:

  • Have your child help you cook or bake
    • Roll dough, wash vegetables, mix batter
  • Art
    • Finger paint! Paint your child’s hand and make hand prints on paper
    • If your child has a hard time using their fingers use cotton balls, Q-tip, or a paint brush
    • Use halved apples, peppers, or celery to make vegetable stamps with paint
  • Homemade PlayDoh
    • Add essential oils for a multi-sensory experience
  • Hide puzzles or activities inside of a sensory bin
  • Make a mess with shaving cream in the tub during bath time
  • Practice letter formation in wet messy play such as whipped cream
  • Have your child help you garden by planting seeds or flowers in soil
  • Have your child wash their toys in soapy water
  • Hide beads inside of Theraputty or PlayDoh
  • Play barefoot in grass or sand
  • Blow bubbles and encourage your child to pop them with their fingers or toes
  • Make spaghetti or pasta and color with food coloring for edible messy play
  • Make clough dough or moon sand at home
  • Make homemade gak or slime
  • Go on a nature hunt and collect leaves, sticks, rocks for a nature sensory bin

Make messy play part of your child’s daily routine by adding it to their sensory diet activities or designating a day for messy food play at meal time. Increasing your child’s experience with messy play will help them learn how to process and respond to tactile input and tolerate a variety of textures and materials. It can also be a motivating way to engage children when you are stuck indoors.

Questions or concerns?

If you have questions or concerns about your child’s responses to tactile or sensory input, please contact us at info@playworkschicago.com or 773-332-9439.

Robyn Geist, MS, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist

Photo Credit: JBryson via istockphoto.com