Handwriting for Heroes

One of the authors of this book was interviewed in Wired magazine, discussing handwriting.   Interesting that she and co-authors have the book in its third edition:

http://www.handwritingforheroes.com/

What Do You Like About Your Teacher?

A fellow OT was telling me about her daughter's wonderful school and how the school emphasized social-emotional development, throughout the grades.  Recently, she asked her daughter about her teachers and what they did to help her keep moving forward, past the rough patches in her day.

Her first-grade daughter's answer:  "They don't let me live in my bad day; they help me move on to my next day."

Sounds like a wise kiddo to me!

Gel or Goo?--Students Want to Know What's in Their Sensory Bags

Ziplock bags, hair gel, food coloring, small items, duct tape and a communication board/sheet--we're all set to
make sensory bags.  Thanks to my SLP buddy for all the work on creating the communication board. 
Students also used their augmentative communication devices to request items.

This morning, one of our students would not touch the bottle of hair gel because she thought it was hair goo.  Once we convinced her it was gel, life got a lot better and she felt comfortable enough to participate in the activity.  Mind your descriptive words.

Don't fret about how neatly the duct tape is applied to the edges--it'll all work out in the end.

Tearing the tape can be a four-handed job.  Pulling the tape off the roll is a lovely activity for motor planning
and pinch strength.  Oh, and tolerating the smell, sound and stickiness of the tape.

Want some confetti in your sensory bag?  You'll have to pinch very carefully to pick it up.

It's a little hard to see the pretty shells and other items in the bag when you squirt a boatload of deep purple food coloring inside, but it still feels nice when you squeeze and explore the sensory bag.  Be sure to add a final edge of duct tape across the zipper, so the gel doesn't all ooze out over time.

Bags like this would feel nice and soothing on a hot day.  Try keeping some in the refrigerator to hold after a sweaty physical education class or walk outside the building.

Students on a Special Eating Plan? Make Your Own Ice Pops This Summer

 A friend with significant food sensitivities uses a product like this to make frozen smoothie popsicles for herself and her family--I had never heard of these before!!!

https://www.amazon.com/icecandybags-com-Ice-Candy-Bags-100-Piece/dp/B007V79B6Y

Keeping Safe at School

Have you worked with a student and started to realize that, maybe, you might not be safe?

Maybe it's a student with autism who unexpectedly comes up behind you and puts her chin on your shoulder, then starts rubbing her face across your sleeve.  She hasn't tried to bite you before and she seems calm and self regulated, but you just get this weird vibe.  You don't want to startle her by standing up too quickly, but you have this feeling in your gut that you better change your position fast.

Perhaps it's a high school student who uses everything as a drumstick or a drum--the table, his fidget tool, the therapy ball, sometimes your hand.  You're working side-by-side and he suddenly takes  your forearm and starts using it as a drumstick against the table edge.  He's "drumming" faster and with more force.  Do you pull away and risk upsetting him or do you wait a few seconds longer while you attempt to redirect him?

It might be a student who won't stop touching you while you sit at a little elementary table and work on fine motor skills or self feeding.  She's touching your arm, your leg and sitting closer and closer to you throughout the session.  You keep nudging her chair back to its original spot and clarifying her need to ask "permission to touch other people" but now you find that she's putting her hand in your pocket--to look for those gummy bears???  Maybe not.

Many readers will be surprised at what predicaments we hyper-friendly, gushingly-compassionate OTs get ourselves into.  Go ahead, sink your teeth into us, smack us, pull our clothes--we bear it all for the sake of helping a student improve their skills.  No kidding.  Teachers are as tolerant of this as we are.

Teachers get injured by students and we do, too.  Listen to your instincts and follow them.  Work with students in places where you can get help quickly.  Make sure other adults have a clear line of sight to you and your student during sessions, in case any questions arise concerning an "event."

But, don't put yourself in a bubble.

          

Creating Sensory Bags

Just found this wonderful blog while looking for activities to use with middle school students who have significant cognitive impairments:

Making Sensory Pouches

Great video for step-by-step demonstration.

Let's All Take Turns Now

About 8 more weeks of work left in the school year—sounds excellent to me!

About this time of year I start wondering, “What have I left undone?  What should I do differently between now and when that happy, final bell rings?”

So, I look at my students’ goals and objectives once more, to see how I can help them be more independent with what they need to do in school.  My calendar gets a thorough review, to find things I have left undone, and then schedule when I will do them.  I ponder whether or not I’ve recently helped my fellow therapists on staff, to share ideas for summer home programs or great resources for therapeutic activities.

There’s another area I don’t consider very often but it does come to mind during our staff meetings when we discuss continuing education or policies and procedures—how much am I contributing to our group discussions?  This may seem like small change in the big picture of working in public schools, but it has a lot to do with being a good team player.  Frequently I look around and notice that several therapists share information in almost every staff meeting yet many other therapists rarely say a word.  The latter folks are the very ones I go to when I have a question about how to help a particularly needy student, and they always have good advice.  They are also the ones who produce top-quality, relevant classroom and home programs.  Why don’t they participate more in our group discussions?

I think there are many reasons for their silence.  First of all, they are using some of the time to write their progress notes.  In any discussion there is some down time, and that’s when I see them hard at work finishing up their notes.  Second, they tend to not be the type of person who anxiously waits to interject their comments into a discussion.  They’re happy to let others do the driving.  Finally, they want to help our boss keep the discussion down to a reasonable length of time and they know that by offering their thoughts, it may send the more loquacious members of our staff into new tangents.

So, am I offering too much input into staff meetings, too little or is it “just right?”  Am I doing my fair share or perhaps taking turns away from others who have something to contribute?  There’s a simple way I’ve used during meetings to find out.

When the meeting gets underway, I wait for the first comment and write down that person’s initials.  Later on, when they make their next comment—even a brief one--I start a tally next to their initials.   This continues with each person, except my boss, who speaks during the meeting.  I figure my boss can have as many turns as she needs.

At the end of the meeting I tally up how many turns I’ve had and compare the sum to the average number of comments made by everyone present at the meeting, including the folks who made zero comments.  That way I can see if I’ve been a little too talkative or if I might have contributed more.  Not every meeting topic is the same so it would be crazy to think a person would offer the same amount of comments at every meeting, right?

Where would you fall if your number of comments was ranked this way?  Are you speaking up and sharing your experiences and concerns?  Are you dominating the discussion?

There are all kinds of ways for us to continue developing our teams and our professionalism.  I challenge you to count your “turns” in a meeting you frequently attend and analyze your input—not just frequency but quality.  Your colleagues just might appreciate it.