occupational therapy

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

I Trust Your Body

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When some kids come to me, they don’t know how to break outside of the school model. They aren’t sure what to explore, with the freedom to explore whatever they want. They aren’t sure what to create, given access to loads of art materials and free time and space to do it. They aren’t accustomed … Read more

Caution Around Language

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I have noticed some of my language shifting when I write notes, evaluations, progress notes, etc, in an ongoing effort to be more true when I describe what children are doing—since it’s so easy for my bias (positive or negative) to creep in, and since my assessment of what their body is doing carries so … Read more

Pirate Adventures

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The child saw a giant cardboard box and suggested it was a pirate ship. Even if pirate fiction wasn’t one of my own special interests, I would have been on board immediately (ha ha, pun intended), but since it *is*, I was all over that idea. I didn’t know where the game would take us, … Read more

It Only Makes Sense To Us

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Modeling writing authentically and meaningfully and delightfully doesn’t always have to be, like, great works of prose or poetry. They don’t even have to make sense or be meaningful to someone who wasn’t using them for play. That’s what academic writing is for. Notes jotted down in one’s own notebook, words scribbled out as part … Read more

Six Ways to Play with Vacuums

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At my lecture last Friday, during the Q&A session, somebody asked me if I had any ideas for connecting meaningfully and playfully in therapy with a child whose special interest was vacuums, and who spent most of the session searching the clinic in hopes of finding a vacuum. I gave a few ideas right off … Read more

Finding Treasure

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A few years ago, I was working as an occupational therapist for a group institution/foster home for older children with disabilities. I could basically come once a week and do a group activity that anyone could participate in if they wanted to. It needed to be accessible to a wide range of ability levels. This … Read more

Making Myself Busy

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This post has an audio and video recorded version for those who prefer to learn by hearing rather than by reading. Scroll to the bottom for the video of me reading it. On a recent post, I mentioned that I wanted to see if a child could do a particular task—I think it was cutting … Read more

Strengths-Based Evaluation

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“Strengths-based” evaluation, goals, or treatment is something of a brand-new buzzword in the field of occupational therapy. And sometimes OT professionals feel threatened by this phrase, or feel like it leads to euphemistic evaluations where we just have to gloss over things that are legitimately difficult for the child. I think there’s some merit to … Read more