October is bullying prevention month and we wanted to pass along a really great blog from the the website stopbullying.gov. While all forms of bullying should not be tolerated, kids with behavioral, emotional, or developmental disabilities are twice as likely to be bullied as typical kids.

Children’s ability to regulate sensation-the process of noticing, organizing, and integrating information from the environment and their body and then processing and responding appropriately-greatly contributes to self-regulation.

Typically, simple sentences emerge between 24-26 months of age. At this time, a child transitions from simply combining words (more please) to using short sentences that have a subject and verb (I eat). As they progress, you will notice…

Did your child eat their recommended amount of fruits and vegetables today? I am going to guess not, because the CDC stated that from 2007-2010, 9 out of 10 children did not eat their recommended daily value of vegetables!

Unsure of what to do with those empty shoe boxes or empty plastic milk jugs? What about the pressure of having the need to go and buy the latest and greatest toy? Have no fear! With the help of our Speech Pathologists, not only have we identified everyday objects found around the house but ways you can incorporate learning and language that will engage your child and hopefully, forget the need to buy the hot new toy at the store

Can you smell the food yet? It is that time of year already, the Great Minnesota Get-Together! The state fair offers a variety of food, rides, animals, shops and more. The Minnesota State Fair has been around since 1859, making it a family tradition for many.

When you think of daily occupations for your child, does your mind tend to wander towards activities such as them getting ready in the morning, working on homework, participation in school, eating meals, etc.? Sleep may not come to mind, but believe it or not, sleep is a daily life occupation, and a very important one at that!

A common concern that we hear at Therapy OPS is, “my child’s vision is fine, they have 20/20, so why are the still having a hard time reading, writing and learning?!” While 20/20 vision is great to have, there is quite a bit more that goes into vision than meets the eye (see what I did there?).

Social-emotional development includes a group of skills that are established at a very young age. These skills include the ability to create and maintain positive relationships with others and how the child experiences, expresses and manages their emotions.

Scooter boards are something you may see us use often at Therapy OPS. We use them frequently because they are not only a TON of fun and motivating for the kids, but they also promote a variety of skill building!

With summer time officially here, we are seeing many families heading up the cabin. Cabins are a time for family fun and a break from the real world…and didn’t you know, a great time to work on therapy?! While it is a great time to rest and relax, we need to remember that therapy is still important!

At Therapy OPS, we are always trying to improve our practices by googling, reading research, experimenting, and collaborating with others. This week, the speech department read an interesting article that reviewed some myths and recently disproven theories that affect language therapy.

Body awareness is a child’s ability to know where their body is in space and how it moves. Children who struggle with body awareness may appear clumsy, or uncoordinated, and may sometimes be described as ‘dare devils’. Signs that you can see or experience include:

Routines are simple and easy to keep.  But sometimes, we focus so much on keeping things routine that we get stuck in our familiar ways. This makes it hard to try something new or venture out of our comfort zone.

With 11% of children ages 3–6 having a speech, language, voice, or swallowing disorder, communication disorders are among the most common disabilities in children nationwide. During May, which is Better Hearing & Speech Month, Inver Grove Heights-based speech-language pathologist Rachel Kuenzli urges families to learn the early signs of these disorders and seek an assessment if they have concerns

This blog was written by Shawna, one of our great OT’s here at TOPS, before she went on maternity leave.

As a pediatric occupational therapist and soon to be mother, I have made the choice to try to only have non-battery-operated toys.

What are your goals after you graduate high school?  How many points do you need to score in tonight’s basketball game for your team to win?  Can you beat your big brother in an ice cream eating contest?  Goals can come in many shapes and forms.  They can be motivating, they can be fun or they can help us achieve milestones throughout our lives .

Getting around in our environment is an important life skill. It not only allows for greater independence, but it also lays a groundwork for many other skills such as exploration, vision skills, play and more.

Having children imitate is a large part of early language development. What happens when your child does not want to or is not able to imitate? 

Practice makes perfect, right?  We all heard (tuned out, whatever) that phrase from our parents and they heard it from their parents. And they were frustratingly, begrudgingly correct.