Personal
Maladaptive Coping
I had a kid recently who is not on my caseload. Their teacher asked me offhandedly about something they do, what I would call a stim. In their case, they pick at the skin on […]
Personal
Activities
Following A Child’s Interest…
Sometimes “following a child’s interest” means taking 5 minutes before the session starts to use the beanbag animals that they’re extremely passionate about and set up a diorama of bunnies participating in fine motor activities. […]
Humor
Insult to Injury
Pro tip: Knee-sliding across the floor underneath an obstacle, in a footrace with a child, will just as surely split the knee of your pants when you’re an adult as it would have when you […]
Humor
Totally Legit OT Work
(as with any time I tell a story from work, some details are changed for privacy reasons) I have a teenager on my caseload with physical disabilities that make writing prohibitively hard. As part of […]
Personal
If The Sock Fits
I went to get dressed yesterday. We were going to be out walking outdoors for a few hours of the day. I put on some socks that I haven’t worn in a few months, since […]
Personal
Biting Nails
A really common sensory question that I get is “How can I stop my kid from biting/picking their nails or skin around their nails?” or sometimes even, “How can I stop doing it?” Ever since […]
At Home
Learning to Argue
A story of mediating conflict between young siblings, rather than solving it for them. My then-2yo “Summer” was lying on the ground in the middle of the living room floor, playing with toys underneath her […]
Humor
Restaurant Review
This morning my kids invited me to a restaurant. Let’s start with the positive. The owners are clearly passionate about this restaurant, and even about personalizing it to their customers—as soon as I stepped up […]
Personal
Crunchy Needs
I noticed that I was struggling with eating the food that I had available for myself for lunch. When I thought about needing to get up and get my lunch, I would think of excuses […]
Personal
Wouldn’t It Be More Fun…?
A few days ago, I was holding one of my children, who was distressed and melting down. We were sitting together on the couch while they sobbed, and then settled down, and then would remind […]