Edibles

Oh my goodness--where did those two weeks go????? Don't know about you, but I spent most of my Christmas break avoiding my mom's cooking!!! Here is a sample of her pecan tarts--I call them "Happy Tarts" because they're glowing (with golden butter!!!)

Back to reality. Note the fidget/chewey belt that has been working for a young student with tuberous sclerosis who likes to swing and fling his typical chewies. Now he can spin his soppy chewies closer to his center of gravity and spray everyone at a lower level. When he drops them, they just hang around his waist on the belt until he feels them bumping against his leg. It's a win-win. Well, he can wiggle the belt up to his shoulders or push it down to his knees, but the adults can often distract him with other fun activities before the belt completely leaves his body. Try it and let me know what chewies work for your students.

Turkey Surprise

Although these sculptures are created from clay, we can use flour/salt/water dough to produce our sculptures. Remember to poke a few holes where the tailfeathers will be inserted once the dough has hardened.

The surprise for parents is the "I'm thankful for..." note tucked inside, where the gizzards should be.

These friendly fowl were the idea of a middle school art teacher who truly enjoys working with students with "differing" learning abilities.

We all learned the correct name for the wobbly skin that drapes under the turkey's neck--do you know what it's called???

No Money for Classroom Equipment? Be Creative

When the money you raise with the classroom bake sale doesn't quite meet your needs, it's time to get creative.

Enjoy these photos, and one short movie clip, that feature an activity board designed and fabricated by a teacher for elementary students with severe disabilities. All of the toys came from the local 99 cent store.

There are many adults in this classroom and the students who use the activity board are closely supervised.

In addition to the expensive, custom equipment we use with students in classrooms, remember that we can often use everyday, reasonably-priced positioning devices as well.

This preschooler has difficulty sitting independently and tends to lean into any person or other support he can trust to keep him secure. When I noticed how attentive and cautious the classroom instructional assistants were in this particular setting I thought we might be able to wean him a little from his dependence on others for sitting balance.

If you look closely you'll see that he is sitting on a wide-based, plastic footstool. It's the perfect height for him to be 90-90-90 at his hips, knees and ankles. His aide does not leave him when he's on the footstool. After modeling how to physically cue him to sit uprightly for several story times in the classroom, I worked with the aide on doing the same for him. The next week she proudly told me how much his balance had improved. Did I already tell you that she never leaves him alone? That's the key--you have to get a good sense of what the adults will do when you're not around.

One nice feature of using this small footstool is that it allows him to get close to activities, as shown by him putting those famous pumpkins on the fence, right next to a standing classmate.

Set Your Sinuses Free Soup

It's the end of the first grading period--have you had your first cold yet? Getting colds or the flu is a traditional perk of being a school-based therapist. Forget the OTC drugs to clear up your head--this is a great short-term fix. The more curry you add, the more you forget about your problems.

Clear Your Sinuses/Curry Lovers Soup

Assorted colorful vegetables totaling approx 4 cups, chopped
2 cups cooked brown rice
*Chopped, cooked chicken or other meat, approximately 1-2 cups.
32 oz. reduced-sodium chicken broth
Kosher salt, coarse-ground pepper, muchi curry powder** or other variety

1 Tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar (optional)
2-3 Tbsp. olive oil

Heat oil in soup pan, add salt, optional lemon juice or vinegar and curry powder—stir frequently to avoid burning curry.
Add chopped vegetables, rice and pepper and stir frequently at medium temperature.
After vegetables are slightly tender and coated with spices, remove ½ vegetable/rice mixture and set aside to cool.
Add chicken broth (less ½ cup to aid in next step) to soup pan and simmer mixture.
Puree or partially-puree cooled vegetables (adding a little broth in the food processor or blender), then return them to soup pan. This thickens the soup a little.
Simmer until tough vegetables are tender and serve with crisp, dunking bread, if desired. Vegetables will still be slightly crisp the first time you serve it.


*Tastes great without the meat.
**Use 1 tsp. of curry powder the first time you try recipe and adjust to taste the next time. The curry taste is deeper if the vegetables and meat are coated and cooked with it, not if you just add it to the soup.

At the Ladybugs Picnic

"One, Two, Three--Four, Five, Six--Seven, Eight, Nine--Ten, Eleven, Twelve--ladybugs (whew hoo!)--at the Ladybugs Picnic."

Quick, quick--can you remember what TV show that song is from?????*

Here is the latest in the series of recycled art concoctions from Cameron the Creative. His exact quote:

"I did dis! Dere is a lady bug in dere and he goes trew (through) da flowas and in da holes."

Note the slices of foam pool floaties and who knows where the foam flowers were found. The green accents are really leftover pieces of crepe paper reborn as crinkled flower petals.

*Answer=Sesame Street circa 1980's--click the link below for a trip down memory lane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr8vUTm64h0

What's Your Choice?

Our current events activity this month features the two categories of 1) the Presidential Election and 2) Fall Celebrations.

Students used clip art "stickers" to categorize the photos and then placed the photos on construction paper.

Our Speech-Language Pathologist made sure the students understood the concept of voting by having everyone sample red and green apples, then vote for which flavor they liked the best. The students received a red and a green apple shape then slipped their choice into an empty coffee can "voting machine."

Let's hope the best candidate wins!