Other

Behaviorist Allergy Plan

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DOCTOR’S REPORT PATIENT: Kelsie Olds DOB: XX/XX/XXXX CONCERNS: Patient’s family report that the patient is continually making annoying noises with their nose, mouth, and throat. These include: sneezing frequently, blowing nose frequently, making a scratching noise with throat and mouth. There are other behavioral concerns as well. The patient uses their hands to excessively rub … Read more

Immediate Obedience

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Immediate obedience is a fear response. There isn’t immediate obedience when you’re committed to parenting your children without making them afraid of you. Sometimes your kid just needs a second to process what you asked them. They’re not afraid of you, so they don’t fearfully freeze while they process, or override their logic brain that … Read more

OPT Study Groups

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Starting on June 29, this page will have the “storefront” where you can purchase access to the first launch of OPT (OccuPlaytional Therapist) Facebook Study Groups.

Here is the link to the storefront where you can purchase access to one of the groups.

There are 3 groups. They are named Octopi, Otters, and Owls. The only reason for the names is so that if you and a friend wish to sign up for the same group, you can (instead of me randomly assigning you). Otherwise, choose at random or which animal you like best. 🙂 

If you want more information about OPT Study Groups, feel free to read below. If you already received the email and are just waiting for June 29 to come, then I will see you then!

 

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Spring Conference Rules

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My conference this week was absolutely amazing. I have a million thoughts rattling in my head and they need some time to condense into ways to explain myself, to share with you about what I learned, what I was able to share, what all this week meant to me. I’m going to share this, though … Read more

When Siblings are Sensitive to Crying

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Someone asked me what to do when one of their children was distressed by the other child crying. Their kids were 6 and 4, and so are mine. The 4 year old especially would cry quite often, and the parent wants to give the child space to cry and feel like all their feelings are … Read more

First, Then

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Imagine that you sit down to watch a movie. You pop yourself a bowl of popcorn to go with it…maybe your favorite toppings, whether salt and butter or marshmallow or Parmesan cheese or something else…you pick up the remote, hit play, and get ready to watch the movie while eating your popcorn. Then somebody takes … Read more

self-reg is yelling at sheep on a fen road

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I’ve written before on here about my own strategy of enjoying yelling along to music, as a means of preemptively self-regulating. Because when I’m stressed out, I have a tendency to want to yell (at my kids), so I take that need, recognise it, and preemptively meet it in a non harmful way, when I’m … Read more

Your Kids Don’t Suck: Neurodiversity and OccuPLAYtional Therapy in School (Podcast Interview)

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We discuss: Kelsie’s Training and Approach: Rythea and Cara delve into Kelsie’s background as an occupational therapist, exploring what this means and how it shapes her approach to working with children. The Child-Centered Approach: Kelsie discusses her approach to working with kids, emphasizing child-led methods and its alignment with her non-authoritarian parenting style. She contrasts … Read more

Teacher Tom’s Podcast: Rethinking “Normal” in Child Development (Podcast Interview)

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A strong advocate for true inclusion and neurodiversity in schools, Kelsie Olds shares their expertise on therapy methods and the importance of children developing key skills — sensory, core strength, and fine motor — before diving into academics. Welcome to Teacher Tom’s Podcast, which is all about taking play seriously. In each episode, Teacher Tom … Read more

My Brain Won’t Stop

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One thing went wrong. And it led to another. And it was too many things. And he was MAD. I carried him into his room so that we would have a safe space to melt down. He screamed at me, “JUST GO AWAY FROM ME!” I have talked about this before (I’ll link that post … Read more