The last 18 months have been like no other. We know that the impact of the global pandemic was different on each community. For individuals experiencing food insecurity, their world looked much different than the overworked executive who welcomed the change of pace. Working parents who were home with school-aged children had an entirely different …
Start with you. Learn to recognize and manage your own stresses. Take advantage of available support services to understand how your own feelings, experiences, and well-being influence your interactions with your child. Add mind-body activities to your daily routines. Simple activities, such as mindful breathing or yoga, can have big benefits. iCan Dream Center social …
For parents of neurodiverse learners, the “back to school” season usually brings with it one consistent emotion: feeling overwhelmed. Any kind of abrupt change, in general, can be difficult for learners with autism, attention deficit disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, or other neurodiverse diagnoses. Tack on navigating a post-pandemic world, and we are all facing challenges that are unprecedented, …
In the early intervention world, occupational therapists serve children by providing the services they need to support educational skills like handwriting, self-care activities like putting on and taking off their backpacks, and emotional regulation skills like learning to remain calm. Occupational therapists are truly like Swiss Army Knives in that we have a diverse range …
“So you help people get jobs?” The dreaded question that occupational therapists (OTs) hear all too often about their role as a practitioner. To us, the word ‘occupation’ is our pride and joy, and it is often misunderstood. In occupational therapy, “occupations refer to the everyday activities that people do as individuals, in families, and …
ACES, or Adverse Childhood Experiences, come in many forms, from physical and mental abuse to neglect and household dysfunction. In 1998, CDC-Kaiser Permanente published a groundbreaking study that investigated the impact of ACEs on physical and mental health problems in over 17,000 adults. Now that we understand how toxic stress affects the minds and bodies …
What we love most about a library’s summer reading program is that it brings the community together. Everyone has the same goal, which is to read, of course. And no matter what you read or how you read it (listening to audio books, e-reading, shared reading), everyone can participate and be included. Children with special …
Teaching students in special education classrooms can be a complex task with so many varying needs and challenges. Here are a few quick tips for working with special education students at home this summer! Autism Spectrum When working with students on the autism spectrum, every student will be unique. But there are common characteristics such …
The milestone moments of life — the kind of moments that people cherish forever — always call for celebration. The first time a family is able to take their child home from the NICU after months, the first time your child takes his first steps after being told he may not be able to walk, …
