30
Sep
2013
OT Kids say the Best Things….
A little boy with a significant speech impediment corrected my speech today during our occupational therapy session. I told him to pass me a crayon which I have always said “crown” and never even realized was incorrect or that people might be confused. He looked at me and condescendingly said “It is CRAYon not CROWN”. He can’t say his R’s though, so it was “CWAYON not CWOWN.” Yep.
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I was walking up to our room with my two OT kids. The girl volunteered to me that she was Irish and German. The little boy piped up “I’m Irish because I like to dance like this,” and with a serious face, started bouncing up and down with his legs in a jig while his arms stayed by his side. Very Lord of the Dance. Loved it.
Love these stories…my kids make me laugh and teach me new things every day!
Category: laughs, Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
27
Sep
2013
OT kids say the awesomest things
One of my moms told me this story about our little OT boy. She was talking to her son about me and she referenced me as Miss Awesome. He (who is also in speech therapy) said indignantly to her, “It’s Miss AwesomeNESS, Mom. She’s a girl!”
Category: laughs, Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
27
Sep
2013
Antonyms, Ants, Aunts: How awesome our OT kids can be
A little boy (the same one who witheringly corrected my pronunciation of “crayons” while having his own “R” speech impediment) and an aide and I were working together on a worksheet as a form of us learning from each other – I needed to see the kinds of things they work on, and the aide needed to see ways to work with him from an OT standpoint.
The worksheet said “An aunt crawled up my arm” and the boy needed to figure out what was wrong.
Us, hinting: “There are two kinds of aunts…” (we pronounce both like the bug here!)
Him: Red and black?
Us: Yes, that’s true….how about one is a name starting with ant….
Him: Antonym???
The aide and I looked at each other and laughed. He was right each time. Finally we got into the description, but awesome the way his brain versus ours was working – such an insight into how all our brains perceive things so differently.
Category: laughs, Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
21
Sep
2013
Sweet moments even in frustrating therapy sessions…
Recently I had a 2nd grade boy who was reaching the limits of his and our patience at the end of a day. The speech therapist and I were checking in with him.
He was stamping and the speech therapist asked him “Which stamp do you think is my favorite?’ He promptly handed her a butterfly.
She asked him, “How did you guess it was my favorite?” He often has trouble expressing himself and using his words, but his answer was immediate:
“Because it is beautiful.”
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
19
Sep
2013
What’s the Magic Word? OT Kids Say Awesome Things :)
Being an OT can be so funny/fun sometimes. I’ve really been amused lately by the “magic word” answers I’ve been getting….I think I’m going to ask all my kids and write down their answers. Most know the answer is “please”, but the ones that don’t always crack me up.
Story 1, School Occupational Therapist and student.
Young child, ie 6ish: Open this for me?
Me: What’s the magic word?
Child (tentatively): iPad?
Story 2:
Young child, ie 5ish: Open this for me?
Me: What’s the magic word?
Child: Open?
Me: Not qui—-
Child: Open sesame?
Category: laughs, Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
17
Sep
2013
snaps/buttons and how to modify for child after toileting, in school OT…?
I have a 7 year old needing help with snapping or buttoning his pants after toileting.
Yes, they can aim for elastics or easier versions when possible. Yes, we can work on the skills using easier methods. But for right now, my question is modifications while still keeping the snaps or buttons. Full fine motor control overall, but perhaps some strength/positioning/need for visuals, etc, affecting his ability.
I read some modifications on http://askville.amazon.com/Helping-kids-snap-jeans/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=17969460 in terms of using baby oil/wax etc to try and make the snapping easier so that can be a start. I haven’t seen him do it yet as it was reported so I’m not sure where exactly the problem lies.
For buttons, I keep feeling like I’ve seen a very cheap/easy/genius way of doing it for jeans, something to do with looping the button rather than actually buttoning it. But I did a bunch of searches and didn’t find an easy answer. I’m sure I could eventually find one but in the interest of time I thought maybe somebody could comment on either a thought or experience.
Thanks!!
Karen
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 4
12
Sep
2013
OT rule 4,230: stamps are magical
My kids will do so many things to play with stamps in occupational therapy. We can do sequencing and patterning and counting and colors and matching lids and spatial orientation etc. :). I do tons of things but never knew the stamps were so powerful. And I’m focusing a ton on classroom tools this year over all. Staples and tapes and backpacks etc.
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
12
Sep
2013
Classroom seating
Experimental in classrooms at one of my four schools. Love those wobbly stools!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
8
Sep
2013
Parent/Teacher Conferences + Crazy Hair Day = Awesomeness
I wrote this a while ago on a blog….
Today was crazy hair day at one of my schools. The principal was wearing these massive, blatant, birds in her hair. We had a kind of intense parent/teacher conference and the principal left the meeting after a while. I leaned over and said to the mom, “It’s crazy hair day” and she looked relieved and said ‘I was wondering why she had birds in her hair, but I wasn’t going to say anything” ahahahahahahaha
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 2
6
Sep
2013
“Hold your balls while I’m talking to you….” Wait….whoops. OT/ball bloopers.
I want to talk about balls. Balls are super awesome and we use them all the time in occupational therapy. Yesterday I got a pamphlet for a “Therapeutic Balls” course and while I can totally see its value and importance, I still snickered.
I am so sad that we can’t use the word balls in sentences without it sounding dirty. For example, I gave my 3 little boys Yuk-E balls the other day, which are funky balls with weird stuff in them so they feel fun. I was going to be talking for a few minutes and wanted them to have something to hold onto while listening. I said to them, “Okay guys, you can continue to hold your balls as long as I can tell you are listening.”
The boys were too young to realize what I said, but I realized it after I said it and felt mortified. I also had to keep from laughing hysterically.
I’ve also done it with a boy who kept picking out a blue colored ball. I exclaimed, “You really like blue balls, don’t you!” and once again, realized what I said. I think that time I had an aide with me and we did a sideways glance and tried not to laugh out loud but our vital organs were bursting with amusement.
I truly, 100%, do not do it on purpose but when it comes out and I hear myself I cringe. I am so glad I almost never work with the older ones that would understand the implications.
The worst one was this child who enjoyed having this spiky ball rubbed on his back, it calmed him. During the IEP meeting a few years ago I discussed that the child could potentially go to the LRC and ask for a “ball massage”. As soon as I said it I was like AUGH and everyone laughed as they realized what I had just said and how horrible it sounded. Then the dad chimed in, “I wish I could have a ball massage!” At least the IEP team and family had a sense of humor, although that last part was a little much for a meeting. AHAHAAHHA
I thought it was hilarious. I love balls (the kind we use with kids!!). But I wish it wasn’t so easy to mess up when talking about them.
Category: laughs, Occupational Therapy | Comments: none