I have a child on my caseload who is Autistic and a “gestalt language learner” — a descriptive term for children who learn to speak in phrases or scripts (as opposed to learning to speak one word at a time). There’s many categories of gestalt language learning, and this isn’t meant to be a whole … Read more
I see children on my school OT caseload who are three, and four, and five, and six. They are behaving in all sorts of inconvenient ways for traditional schooling. They touch things when they pass by them in the hallways. They stand up from chairs and move around the room, or they fall out of … Read more
Kids need room to play, unimpeded and unhelped, on materials that are at their level and above their level and below their level of ability to climb and interact with. They interact with things at their level and below their level to explore mastery. Their body learns what it has already learned, and reinforces and … Read more
I was talking with another OT recently about our experiences when we were newly graduated and working at our first jobs. She shared a story with me about the first school she worked at. She found the former OT’s list of “Rules for OT” in the therapy room…which basically amounted to a personalized list of … Read more