Your Therapy Source - www.YourTherapySource.com

Exciting research from the Journal of Neuroscience was published which indicates that is takes less effort for the brain to register predictable images than unpredictable images. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers determined that the brain is not static waiting to process visual information, but attempts to predict visual...

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Have you ever heard of Drums Alive? It is an aerobic fitness class using therapy balls and drumsticks. This is a great activity incorporating rhythm, aerobic fitness, crossing midline, proprioceptive input and muscle strengthening. In the Drums Alive classes they put the therapy balls on aerobic steps but you could...

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A recent study followed 76 males and 59 females with cerebral palsy with a mean age of 14 yrs. 6 months at the start of the study. The participants had quadriplegia (96), diplegia (32) and hemiplegia (1) with the majority having spasticity. For four years, data was collected consisting of:...

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The UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation is a non profit charity that offers grants up to $5000 for families to help pay for medical services and equipment for children with special needs. This can include physical and occupational therapy, wheelchairs, orthotics, eyeglasses and more. They will also help pay for...

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Leslie Cotrell, PhD, a researcher from West Virginia University will be presenting her research at the American Heart Association 2010 Conference on Health, Physical Activity and Metabolism. She studied the body mass index, fitness levels and standardized academic scores of 725 fifth graders and again when they reached seventh grade....

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In a recent study published in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 49 children with a mean age of 5 yrs 6 months were evaluated with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC). The children were diagnosed or at risk for developing ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), developmental coordination disorder (DCD)...

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Here is a FREE open source drawing software for children - Tux Paint. It is suitable for children ages 3-12. There are many drawing tools such as paintbrush, line tools, shape tools rubber stamps and magic tools. There is even sound effects. You can translate any text into many languages....

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There are so many free social story resources on the web. I just thought I would mention a few. If you are not familiar with social stories, here is a great article, Creating Social Stories, to start off with on the basics of social stories and how to create your...

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This fun activity encourages bilateral coordination, timing, eye hand coordination, visual tracking skills and upper extremity muscle strengthening. The key to this activity is teaching the child to hit each balloon or ball with the right hand and left in a rhythmic, controlled pattern. Have fun with it!Need more activity...

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Chronic fatigue syndrome is rare in children with estimates of approximately 0.05% have this diagnosis. The day to day lives of children with this diagnosis are greatly affected. Pediatric therapists should be aware of this disorder and how it effects the activities of daily living of children.Chronic fatigue...

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Research was published in the Journal of Attention Disorders to determine if sensory overresponsivity (SOR) impacts the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis in children with ADHD. Twenty four children with ADHD were divided into two groups (SOR and nonSOR) based on the Sensory Overresponsivity Inventory. The control group was...

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If you can not view the digital magazine go to www.YourTherapySource.com/magazine to download a copy....

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I came across two great articles written by Rachel Rudman,OTR/L to hand out to preschool teachers. The first one is entitled A Preschool Teachers Back to Basic Guide to Hand and Fine Motor Skill Development. This article is also appropriate to distribute to parents of babies and young...

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Here are two iPhone apps that I have tested out for letter formation. Either of these could be used as fun tools to encourage kinesthetic practice of letter formation.The first I tested was Letter Tracer. This app was $0.99 when I purchased it. I really liked the simplicity of Letter...

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Today there was an interesting article in the NY Times entitled "Watch How You Hold That Crayon" The article discusses occupational therapists helping children with handwriting. It is definitely worth a read to see what is happening in some areas of the Country and pediatric OT services. After...

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This is a great activity to encourage fine motor skills, tactile input and creativity. The big bonus - can be simple or very complex so it works well with kids of varying abilities. Here are the full directions for Fabric Creations. Give this one a try!...

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy...

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The recent issue of Pediatrics reports on a study of 235 infants with plagiocephaly ("flat head" syndrome). The researchers found a relationship between plagiocephaly and developmental delay. Infants with plagiocephaly were twice as likely to exhibit developmental delays compared to the control group. They could not determine...

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A large study by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies analyzed the data of 15,000 children in the United Kingdom. The data revealed that 1 in 10 children exhibited delays in gross and fine motor development at 9 months of age. The delay in motor development at 9 months...

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The Sensory Processing Foundation has provided information for OT's, PT's, parents, teachers or any professional with experience in sensory processing disorder on how to comment on the APA website to include sensory processing disorder in the DSM-5. Check out the SPD Foundation webpage to read sample comments and how...

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Lots of early childhood and elementary school celebrate the 100th day of school. For most schools this day is rapidly approaching(or perhaps past so you can use these ideas next year). Here are some suggested activities that celebrate the 100th day and encourage sensory motor skill development: 1. 100 Day Snack...

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There are constantly new iPod, iPhone and soon to be on the iPad applications for education. It is hard to keep up with them all or find them even. Here are 2 great compilations of applications for education.EUSD iReadiphone and ipod applications for (Special) EducationDo the children that...

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SafeLiftingPortal.com is a great collection of information and articles on safe lifting techniques for therapists. If you need to justify to a school district why they need to purchase special lifting equipment for a student here is a website to start gathering information. There are suggested links for...

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The FDA has approved the first clinical trial at the Medical College of Georgia, on the use of infused stem cells from umbilical cord blood to help children with cerebral palsy. Forty children, ages 2-12, will be enrolled in the study. Half of the children will receive the...

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New research regarding Fragile X syndrome and sensory hypersensitivity to touch has been discovered. Using a mouse model, scientists have determined that there is a delay in the development of the sensory cortex that responds to touch. The mice showed a delay in the development of synapses in...

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