Introduction: Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is a condition that affects the way the nervous system processes sensory input and translates it into motor skills or behavioral actions. When someone has SPD, their sensory signals may not be received or processed correctly, which can impact their daily activities. Fortunately, there are various activities that can be incorporated into a child's routine to help them overcome some of the challenges associated with SPD. Identifying the affected senses is crucial, and seeking professional assistance, like the services provided by the Speech & Occupational Therapy of North Texas organization, can be beneficial in this process.

Understanding SPD and its Effects: SPD can affect any or all of the senses, including touch, taste, sight, smell, and more. Everyday tasks like pushing a grocery cart or biting into a sandwich can become difficult due to improper sensory processing. A child with SPD might exert more strength than necessary or struggle to use enough force, making simple activities challenging or overwhelming.

Incorporating Activities into Daily Routine: The key to helping children with SPD is to incorporate sensory activities into their daily routines. By making these activities predictable and expected, children can gradually adapt and benefit from them. However, it is essential to be mindful of the child's reactions to each activity and be open to trying different ones if they are not comfortable with certain exercises.

Examples of Activities to Help withSPD:

1.     Grocery Shopping: Allow the child to push the grocery cart within their physical abilities, helping them build strength and confidence. Encourage them to help carry heavy groceries and assist in putting them away at home.

2.     Bath Time: Use different textured items like washcloths or bath brushes during bathing to expose the child to various sensations. Experiment with different shampoos and soaps to engage their senses of touch and smell.

3.     Cooking: Involve the child in cooking tasks, especially those that require mixing thicker ingredients, as this can help strengthen their muscles.

4.     Cleaning: Let the child participate in household chores, such as vacuuming or carrying the laundry basket, to improve their sensory integration and motor skills.

Conclusion: Sensory Processing Disorder can present challenges in a child's daily life, but with the right approach, it is possible to help them overcome these difficulties. By incorporating specific activities into their routines and respecting their reactions, parents can support their child's development and enhance their ability to engage with the world around them. Seeking professional assistance from organizations like Speech & Occupational Therapy of North Texas can provide valuable guidance and support for families dealing with SPD in the North Texas area. Remember, every child is unique, so finding the right activities that suit their specific needs is crucial in helping them thrive despite SPD.

June 30, 2023

 

Dyspraxia, also known as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), poses challenges for students in schools. It affects motor skills, making tasks like writing and sports difficult. Students with dyspraxia struggle with organization, planning, and time management. Speech and language development may also be impacted, hindering communication and social interactions. Sensory sensitivities can lead to difficulties concentrating and coping with stimuli. Emotional and behavioral challenges, such as frustration and low self-esteem, can arise. To address these issues, individualized support is crucial. Accommodations like assistive technology and sensory-friendly environments can enhance learning. Collaboration with occupational therapists and personalized instruction further assist students with dyspraxia, ensuring they reach their full potential.

June 14, 2023

 I am a mother of two children with special needs. Both of my children attend Speech and Occupational Therapy of North Texas. My oldest , who is almost 8 years old has been attending for almost 3 years. He has been doing OT with a therapist who has changed his life! He also had speech therapy for 2 years and made amazing progress.

My younger child who is just over 3 years old goes to the facility for speech therapy and he LOVES his therapist. He looks forward to his visits each week.

I have found all the staff supportive, caring , and invested in my 2 children. They are willing and capable of communicating to their families, schools, and any other staff that the children work with outside of the clinic. We have seen progression in their lives and a large part of thanks goes just to this clinic.

Lindy F

Scours:https://www.speechandot.com/testimonials/

June 08, 2023

 

A Parent’s Guide to Apraxia

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) can be a startling issue to confront at first. Everyone’s brain develops a muscle plan for the mouth, jaw, and tongue as they are learning to speak the language(s) they are raised around. In contrast to other speech impediments, the ability for the brain to perform this task isn’t weak but rather confused – there is an overall difficulty in coordinating the shapes and movements required to make the sounds. This can cause a distortion in how they pronounce vowels and consonants, distinct separations between syllables (within a single word or an entire sentence), or confusing similar sounding words, such as saying ‘batch’ instead of ‘patch’. This, however, is only a base line of examples, and can be confused with other language problems.

Symptoms to Look For

A lot of symptoms around CAS are present within other disorders, which can make it difficult to diagnose.  Articulation or phonological disorder is one where the child has trouble learning to make the sounds, but not any difficulty coordinating them. This creates a lot of substitutions in speech, such as ‘fum’ for ‘thumb’. To help distinguish CAS for other disorders there are a series of characteristics to look out for, such as trouble moving from one sound to another, distorting vowels, stressing the incorrect part of a word, using equal emphasis on all parts of the word, trouble mimicking simple words, and inconsistency within errors made in a word. To properly evaluate the condition, a series of tests will need to be conducted to identify a pattern of problems along with all their medical and family history to help determine any causes.

How to Discover the Issue

Unfortunately, the cause of CAS isn’t always easy to determine as doctors haven’t found a clear issue in the brain from case to case. Neurological injuries, such as stroke, infections, or trauma, are one cause, but CAS can also form from a genetic disorder, syndrome, or metabolic reasons. While the miscoordination within the brain may always be present, there is a slue of treatment options to help those with CAS work around the errors.

Speech therapy helps by focusing the child’s attention on the sound and how it feels to make the sound. A speech-language pathologist, like those of us here at Speech & Occupational Therapy of North Texas, can guide a child through paced learning, speaking practice, and sound and movement exercises before the practice is continued at home. This helps children impart their skills on a daily basis in real-life situations. Your physician can suggest other helpful tools for your child’s specific needs. Don’t give up hope! If you want more information, please contact us. We are glad to help!

Scours:https://speechandot.com/a-parents-guide-to-apraxia/

May 27, 2023

 During the first three years of your child’s life, he or she is going to undergo constant stimulation from new experiences. This can be exhilarating for most children, and even stimulate their growth and improve the development of their brain. However, for other children, this constant stimulation can also be a little overwhelming. Instead of letting them get to where they withdraw, there are options. Occupational therapy allows your child to explore these stimulants in a safe, non-threatening way which can help them grow in many different ways.

Early Intervention and Early Stimulation Can Help Children Grow with Their Peers

The goal of these early intervention programs is to expose children to stimulants that will often be a part of their daily routine. It allows them to see things as normal when exposed to them the right way, which can help them overcome any feelings of discomfort when exposed to those same things down the line. Here are a few things you can do to help increase these stimulants at different ages, to help your child with proper development.

As infants, children need to be encouraged to explore. They should have tummy time and learn to crawl instead of going straight to walking whenever possible. They should also be given opportunities to explore tactile items, like crayons and chalk.

Toddlers have slightly larger needs in that they are larger children. They should be learning to converse with those around them, with the goal of learning to use full sentences. The more they can describe what they want or need in detail, the better. Writing, copying, and drawing should be a regular part of their routine. These fine motor skills are very important as children develop.

Large motor skills also need some work during this time. Giving your child the ability to maneuver an obstacle course can help them here. Consider things to climb over, under, or through, as well as having areas to run around or tiptoe across gives them multiple things to do. You can also incorporate kicking, using a baseball bat, and jumping into this course.

Role-playing and playing pretend is also a way to help increase early stimulation. Let your child pretend to be what he or she wants to be. Allow them to dress up, pretend to cook, care for others to develop empathy, and anything they can safely imagine. This helps develop the brain and allows them to safely explore their emotions.

If you are looking for other ways of helping with early stimulation in your child’s life, give our office a call. We would love to give you some extra ideas to help your child learn to love learning.

May 12, 2023

 Children with sleep disorders can quickly find themselves with problems including learning impairments and poor behavior. Children with sleep disorders should be treated as soon as possible to manage the condition and to prevent damage to the childrens’ development. Our staff at Speech and Occupational Therapy of North Texas is trained to diagnose and treat a variety of childrens’ sleep disorder

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea – also known as OSA – is a condition where the patient’s airways are blocked or restricted during sleep. OSA occurs most often for children when they have enlarged tonsils. However, other causes such as excessive soft tissue near the airways, obesity, and distortions in the airway size can also cause or contribute to OSA. Up to 5% of children could be affected by OSA.

Parasomnias

“Parasomnias” is a blanket term for behaviorally based sleep disorders, including sleepwaking, nightmares, and talking during sleep. Roughly 50% of children have some form of parasomnia. Parasomnias can be influenced by genetics, and lack of sleep can aggravate or catalyze parasomnias.

Behavioral Insomnia

Behavioral insomnia is a learned or acquired inability to either fall asleep or remain asleep. Up to 30% of children could have some form of behavioral insomnia. Sleep-onset insomnia is any condition where a child refuses to fall asleep or remain asleep until a demand is met, or a condition is fulfilled. Limit-setting insomnia is the result of parents not setting or enforcing limits regarding childrens’ sleeping habits and times. Unlike most other sleep-related disorders, behavioral insomnia can be prevented through mature definition to, and adherence of, rules regarding sleeping accommodations and bedtimes.

Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder

Delayed sleep phase disorder occurs when childrens’ circadian clocks are offset by external stimuli. Exposure to light is the most common stimulus that interferes with childrens’ sleep cycles. Other factors, such as body temperature, timing of meals, and timing of physical activity can also interfere with childrens’ sleep schedules. Controlling or reducing the factors that interfere with childrens’ circadian clocks is a crucial part of treating delayed sleep phase disorder.

Restless Leg Syndrome

Children with restless leg syndrome have the uncomfortable urge to move their legs, triggered by an uncomfortable or even painful sensation. Factors that may trigger restless leg syndrome include hyperactivity, iron deficiency, and genetics. Restless leg syndrome can be difficult to diagnose in children, and there is no medication that remedies the condition. However, there are treatment plans available to mitigate the effects of restless leg syndrome.

If you’re seeking help to treat your childrens’ sleep disorders, please contact us at Speech and Occupational Therapy of North Texas to schedule a consultation and establish a treatment plan for your child.

April 25, 2023

 Fine motor skills are essential for child development. Therefore, always make sure your child is involved in different home activities to help in her growth. Experts believe that kids of this generation have weaker motor skills compared to previous generations. This could be due to the changes in the ways toddlers are brought up. Some children also experience delays in how their fine motor skills develop, so it is important to have ideas on ways of improving their skills.

How Do Fine Motor Skills Help Your Child?

For your child to be active and have a healthy cognitive function, he or she needs to develop excellent motor skills. These skills help a toddler to enhance the body strength as well as be able to move the different parts of the body, such as whole hand and whole arm, pincher grip, and Pincer grip. That makes it easy for your child to hold something, climb, or run up and down. This is not a stage as many parents think it’s a skill that should be developed through different activities at home or school.

What Are Some of the Home Activities That Can Help Improve Fine Motor Skills?

As much as you love your child, make sure he or she undertakes different activities at home to enhance their fine motor skills. There are various home activities that you can use to improve fine motor skills which include:

• Sorting small objects at home, such as buttons, beads, or dried beans – choose the objects that can be sorted either by size, shape, or color, then give it to your child to do the sorting work and provide a small bowl or a tray where to sort them.
• Placing pipe cleaners or straws into a bottle.
• Pouring water from one container to another – here, your child will get better by the way she holds the small jugs and eventually develop grip.
• Hanging clothes with pegs, this is quite a great skill. Get your child to help you in laundry and allow him or her to hang the doll clothes with pegs.
• Putting coins into a money box – kids love the sound coins produce when they get into the money box. Give them that job of placing the coins through the small hole in the money box.
• Drawing or writing. While you are doing your work at home, you can get your kid a pen and a drawing board. Kids like doing what others are doing, so while you are writing something or making some notes, allow your child to use his or her pen also to write.

Your child should be actively involved in various home activities for natural motor skill development. Do you want to have some help for your child to develop these motor skills? Contact us and let us help.

April 24, 2023