Thriving in School

A nice animated video using the voice and words of a 14 year old boy named David.

                                     Grab while you can... Toca Tailor Fairy Tales (Another great app by Toca Boca - Design and style y...

Taking the first step is key in a lot of areas of life.  Take for instance our morning running group at Hosmer.  Typically we start it up ea...

Every spring the big field by our school wakes up and beckons us to romp on it before the school bell rings.  Twice a week about 10 - 30 stu...

I love using my finger on the iPad to write and draw.  How about you?  There may be times you want a stylus to draw, write and navigate.  ...

Toca Kitchen Monsters , another great app by Toca Boca, is free today.  Cook food for two monsters.  Play with your food.  Do you have ...

Autism Track by HandHold Adaptive ® is free today (April 2) in honor of World Autism Awareness Day.  Typically i...

I am constantly amazed by the iPad.  Part of the reason is the apps that are being developed for it.  I came across this one just this mor...

I find that many people want to give.  All you need to do is ask.  Here is my latest request.  I handed this container to my husband on his ...

Light Board puts your message in lights as a scrolling marquee.  How engaging that would be for students to practice their name or spelli...

Okay.  You have kids who struggle drawing a heart.  Your goal as an OT in the school is participation.  How can they quickly learn this so t...

Valentines Day is tomorrow, so don't let it pass you by without using it for hand skill development.  Have your students imitate hand ge...

"Learn by Doing" is the foundation of occupational therapy.  Mary Reilly said this best in her statement, "M an, through t...

Help students take risks.  Embrace mistakes and let kids learn from them.  If they fall, help them back up again.

Kids have passions.  One common one is sports.  I often try to encourage writing around a child's particular area of interest.  Starting...

Mission Accomplished!  Well, when I wasn't looking, I surpassed by 30 day challenge.  A post a day for over 30 days.  I confess.  I a...

I hope your enjoyed this series on matching apps to sensory preferences.  In review, here are the patterns of relating to our sensory world ...

Martin Luther King, Jr. encouraged everyone to participate in civic life, so a wonderful way to remember him is to give something to your co...

Established routines are comforting and supportive of Sensory Avoiders.  It helps them know what is going on and what is up next.  Consisten...

AMagill  http://www.flickr.com/photos/amagill/193798416/sizes/l/in/photostream/ The overall approach to intervention for Sensory Avoide...

Never underestimate the power of stories.  Try adding a tale to deal with upsetting noises and events.  The Off We Go book series fit the b...

Perhaps there is just one sound you need to target: The loud industrial school toilets, particularly bothersome to those with sound sensit...

One fourth grader at my school is particularly sensitive to gum smacking.  As I observed her in PE recently, she was trying to avoid a peer...

Even the most everyday sounds can be bothersome to Avoiders.  Part of Avoiders' ability to handle noise is through control.  They can pr...

Being an Avoider does not stop at childhood.  These sensory processing patterns tend to stay with us throughout life.  Hopefully the more ...