10 Oct 2012

The concept of time – Visual Timers to help understanding + Experimentation

Most OTs, including me, use timers ALL THE TIME with our kiddos. For example, “first we do X for 5 minutes, Y for 3 minutes” or “We have 10 minutes before you go back to class” or whatever. We verbally explain time to them as well as set timers so they see an ending. For kids working on non-preferred tasks, having an end in sight is super important. Or for kids with slow processing and/or difficulty with transitions, the timers can be super important to avoid melt-downs, ie if a child is playing with free choice and we walk in and say “Time to go back to class”, it can cause a meltdown instantly. I have watched parents with neurotypical kids do this and the kids (frequently) obey and it always amazes me. For our kids, there’s always the timer as well as usually a preview or two, ie “Okay, first you have 5 minutes of free choice, then you go back to class.” “I’m setting the timer for 5 minuts, here it is next to you” and then usually “The timer says you have about 45 seconds left…” or whatever the amount is if I walk past.

With all that being said, I think timers are super helpful (and Susan Burwash, an OT talks a lot on Facebook about “pomodoros” which I recommend you google in regards to time management for adults) but ANYWAY sorry about that tangent (and secant haha), the point is, most kids don’t have a great concept of time. So to set a timer is only helpful to a limited extent as the numbers can be quite “abstract” in a sense to our younger kids….Which is where VISUAL TIMERS come in. These are usually timers that have a bright color to show the passing of time, ie if you set a timer for 20 minutes, then there is that wedge of color and as the 20 minutes disappear  so does the red color. One “beef” I have is that the timers are almost always red and I feel like that’s an aggressive color. BUT very helpful, especially for our younger kids, in grasping what is happening with time. It used to be you had to buy them and they cost like $30 or more and that’s super aggravating and expensive. Now, however, there are free and/or cheap iPad and iPhone apps that allow you to do the visual timer. Many of my classrooms put the visual timer on their iPad and then project it onto the screen during free choice time. I use “Time Timer” and it works well. 
Moving on, I had a child yesterday who was very concerned about time. He wanted to make sure he got back for “buddies” and didn’t want to miss anything. When he found out there was only 10 minutes left until buddies, he became worried, saying “We only have ten minutes to get back!” He was in an upstairs classroom and buddies was downstairs, but seriously it was probably a 2-3 minute walk MAXIMUM. I realized that while he was quite aware of time, he didn’t necessarily have a good grasp of how fast things take. So next time I see him, we’re going to “experiment” with the timer. For example, I’m going to ask him, how long do you think it will take us to get from here to your classroom? Let’s say he says 10 minutes. Okay, fine. I’ll set 10 minutes on the timer and we’ll walk down. Then we’ll see how much time is left. Or “How long do you think it will take you to write this sentence?” Etc. So that he can see his concept of time is probably quite skewed. Sometimes I’ll ask a child, “How long do you want to jump on the trampoline” or whatever and they respond “20 minutes!” and I know in reality they probably can handle about 45 seconds. For whatever reason, being an accurate estimator of time is important to me, so in those cases we also work on adjusting chronological reality. 🙂 
In conclusion. Use Visual timers that show the passage of time in color, as appropriate, and consider using timers for children who need an end in sight, and also consider time experimentation to help kids understand how long things TRULY take.
In post-conclusion: Beyond the app “Time Timer” (and there may be better ones and if you know of them please share), I also recently heard about one called “Lickety Split” by one of my kid’s moms. They use it during clean-up and its music speeds up as you near completion of a time and she imitated it and it sounded super adorable. I haven’t had a chance to download it yet but she loves it and I bet it rocks, so consider checking it out 🙂 
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 2
10 Oct 2012

OTs as Healers of the Heart…

I just got home from the store and almost cried (don’t laugh) when I find out the one thing I wanted, lemon pepper tuna, was all out. So then I realized with my BRILLIANT mind that probably lemon pepper tuna was tuna with lemon and pepper. So I set out to make the salad I had wanted. Spring mix, then a layer of albacore tuna, then a bunch of squeezed lemon and a ton of pepper, then some white balsamic vinegar (white balsamic is my fav), then half an avocado, and finally, the part that made it all worth it….salt and vinegar potato chips on top. Yes, not the most healthy choice of croutons, but I’m eating pretty healthy these days….things like nonfat greek yogurt with fruit, nuts, salads, protein shakes….trying to get back on track. I also went to Pilates tonight, but a higher power loves me, because it was cancelled. 🙂 I was so tired, I was very grateful.

Today I got to stay at one school – treated a bunch of kids, consulted with a bunch of teachers, and got interviewed by a student, Shelby, who works in an after school program and is taking an anthropology course on healing. She had set up a time with me to be interviewed about OT as it was an assignment in her class to seek out a profession she was interested in. I was running a little late, whoops, but she was very nice. I was frantically cleaning up the room while we talked. 
Some food for thought from that interview. And by food for thought, when you consider the IQ of an eggplant, I don’t feel like that’s a very good expression. 
1) She asked me if I considered myself a healer. That was an interesting question. We can talk about downright physiological healing, but I see OT – in its highest forms, as healing the heart, through the hands, to semi quote Ora Ruggles. 🙂 Speaking of hands, my cat just bit me. 
2) She asked about whether or not OT evolved. I told her every day brought new discoveries and that if you thought you knew everything as an OT, that you were stupid. 🙂 Because I’m a super diplomatic person….
By the way, Susan B., an OT friend on Facebook, recently posted a link to the full copy of The Healing Heart, 
ou can supposedly read this online. It’s one of my favorite books and it really inspired me as an OT. My mom also read it while she was recovering from recent ankle surgery and she really liked it. It’s really hard to get your hands on a copy that isn’t super expensive, so I hope the link works for you all. 
PS – my great-grandma’s name was Ora – coincidence? 🙂
PS2 – super is my new favorite word. I am super sorry about that and will be super careful in the future to not use it so often….. 
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
9 Oct 2012

OT Moments of the Day…

This past wekend I got to go to a family wedding, a family baby shower, volunteer holding hospital babies, and go to a coworker's barbecue, and also do a ton of errands, and oh yeah Piloxing (Pilates/boxing, I nearly died). But I paid for it because I had to work until 3am Sunday night to be ready for Monday. 🙁 It was rough as 3.5 hours of sleep was not nearly enough of course. Plus oh man, the nightmares. Today I treated kids at School A, then treated kids at School B, then back to School A for a meeting, then to School C for another meeting, etc, then a bunch of stupid errands after work. Plus the worst Pilates class in the world because I was so tired. I only went since they charge you if you don't go. So I did the worst job ever. You know a half-assed job? I did a quarter-assed job at best, maybe even an eighth-assed job. Then I walked up the hill with a neighbor friend. That wasn't quite as torturous as the Pilates/TRX. Tomorrow should be busy but only at one school so that's a plus, I get tired of being a snail and carting my shell around with me everywhere I go. I think I'm finally getting my organization tactics down too. Post to come soon on that I think. 

It kills me so bad that I don't have more time for the fun OT stuff in my spare time. It also kills me so bad it's 11pm right now. I better go to sleep but first I wanted to post at least a tiny bit. Like I need to remember to post about my sweet babies on Sunday. And how I tried out Shelby's Quest (an OT app, giveaway to come soon) today with my kiddos 🙂 And that Morphology Jr came in the mail for a review so I will be trying it out tomorrow with some kids who need some help with creativity/flexibility! (I think flexibility and creativity are BFF, you can not really have one without the other….)

A few stand out moments of the day…

A kindergarten boy earnestly told me today he liked my necklace …a few minutes later I was gently holding his wrist down while he was working to show him how to use just his fingers and not his “windshield wiper” (ie sweeping from his elbow) to color. He said “You have such soft skin” and I was like um thanks? (very startling to hear from someone so young) and then he said “Do you live here?” (referring to the learning center room we were in). 
It was super cute. AHAHAHAHAA. Yes. Yes I do. I do live in the LRC. 

Other moment was when I told a child with autism who has rather low verbal skills, that he was awesome. He said “Yes, it is a choice”. I was like omg, what an great quote. “I make the choice to be awesome” . So I posted it on the dry erase board. This kid also randomly busted out the word “abundant” today. Lol. No context. 

Hey if I ever had a pet ant I would name it Abund 🙂 And if I got another one, I would name it “Exuber”

And if I had a hot sauce festival, I would call it “No Chile Left Behind”

And if I had a brain, I would go to sleep. Luckily, I kind of have a brain, so I will do my best to turn off my brain for the night. It's kind of sad because I have so much I want to do, like work on my beading of lariats, drawings, product inventions, etc. Wish there was more time in the day.


Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
9 Oct 2012

The Cool (and Mobile) Factor: iPad Use in the OT Clinic [Article contributed by WebPT.com]

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
8 Oct 2012

Let your kids make mistakes!

I read this post today about the importance of letting children make mistakes, by Mama OT. I enjoyed it a lot. I know that I have learned to “sit on my hands” quite a bit although I also know I am often impatient and quick to move things along when I should let things be more “organic”. I’m still perfecting this art, but for whatever reason I ended up writing the longest comment in the history of the world, back to her. It’s currently awaiting comment moderation but I copy/pasted it because gosh darnit, if I am going to write a freaking essay before 7am in the morning, it’s going to not get wasted 😉 By the way I started editing below a little as I was re-reading it then forgot I was supposedly copying a comment, so um, slight variations. You get the picture. 🙂 

Here was my comment response:
I love this! I think as OTs we learn to sit on our hands but a lot of people don’t. I remember once watching a man who had a stroke trying to put on a shirt and it took him like 40 minutes (we were students watching him work with an OT) and I wanted to start screaming because it was so hard not to help. :) I think it’s hard to watch their kids make a mistake without jumping in to fix it before it happens, and when the consequences of that kind of mistake are a pain, it’s even harder! I tend to try to use a middle ground – if I see a mistake about to happen for a kid with a low frustration tolerance, I may intervene just slightly, but if it’s a kid with great problem solving skills, I go ahead and let it happen. Also, I happen to be an OT with lots of my own challenges in the spatial realm, so for example, I had a 1st grade kid recently want to make a “cootie catcher” out of a book he had, and following the directions was hard for both of us. We worked together to problem-solve, with me thinking out loud and showing him what I was trying and why, and him offering his own suggestions, and eventually it worked and we were both thrilled. It was great for him to see us as a team and to see even grown-ups can struggle with things, and that problem-solving can be the key. I should probably be embarrassed I had to be on a team with a 1st grader but A) I have no shame (okay, that’s a semi lie), and B) I know it was a good experience for him.
Finally, I do like to give my kids the opportunity to make plenty of easy mistakes and/or expoloration that doesn’t really have consequence, because as you point out, they learn from their mistakes. Sometimes they may ask me, “Is this right?” Or “Can I Do this?” and my response is usually “Let’s find out and see what happens!” or “Let’s experiment!” so let’s say they try to put a round peg through a triangle hole, to follow along with your thoughts. It may fit, so then it’s great they saw a different way to do something or it may not, and then we can say well I guess that one didn’t work, what can we try next?! :) Pretty much if the child questions something, if the consequences aren’t dire, I have them try it. I don’t just tell them the answer. 
One thing that drives me crazy is when, let’s say, I try to help a child make a minor correction to something, and they instantly let go of the object, ready for me to do the rest for them. It’s clear they’ve learned to give up or get help. I usually help with the minor correction and then make sure they take it back and do it themselves. Or, for example yesterday, I had a little kindergartener girl who decided she wanted to do the gluing, but wanted me to place the cut items on the glue, after she fatigued a little. So rather than argue in this particular case for various reasons, I kind of paused and did it slowly, kind of hovering the pieces near the glue like I had some uncertainty, and she instantly took over for each piece as I went slowly, not even realizing she was doing what she hadn’t wanted to do.
Sometimes “playing dumb” is the best thing you can do – move slowly, seem confused, don’t instantly step in, and let the child either lead or take back the situation. Not to the point that the child assumes you’re insane, but just not using your adult powers to step in and instantly fix an issue.
Well it’s not even 7am and I had no idea I had so much to say on this topic. AHAHAHAHA. I’m going to link it to my blog. Thanks for the post.
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
7 Oct 2012

My 30th Birthday Wish List of Awesomeness Which Includes Lots of OT Stuff.

I have been stressed and working super hard lately and then had a busy weekend with a lovely wedding and baby shower (both wonderful, but tiring!) and this morning I did nothing but play online and get inspiration, therapeutic relaxation, and excitement as I added like a thousand things to my Amazon wish list for my 30th birthday coming up in a few weeks. It’s a combination of OT stuff for my kids, unicorns, sparkles, glitter, etc etc. Miss Awesomeness is sparkly, I can’t help it. I was made that way.  I’m not sharing as a hint for gifts since 99% of you who read this don’t really know me (but if you have like a million dollars lying around, feel free) but because I do have a ton of OT stuff on there I want that may jog your own memories or ideas for OT stuff (kind of near the end of wish list) that I just haven’t gotten around to sharing on the blog. And it gives you valuable insight into my insane personality. I blame my mother. Just sayin’. 🙂

Karen’s Wish List

I also just took a lot of image captures on my computer as I got ideas for new crafts and projects. Some for my own “occupational balance” that just make me happy, and others for my OT kiddos…

PS: I typically write up a few posts at a time and schedule them throughout the week. So I have a few going up that were pre-scheduled, but I haven’t forgotten about all the things I have left to do. I guess I can’t say “I didn’t have the time” since I just admitted I spent like 3 hours staring at unicorns and rainbows. But how about “I didn’t make the time right now because I’ve been working so much that I desperately needed to do something solely for my own enjoyment and while I do love blogging and OT so much, sometimes it still doesn’t count as “me” time”, and I like run on sentences, and the end”

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
6 Oct 2012

Blast from the past…

I was reading some old emails from 2009 and found some personal e-mails with a good friend/mentor of mine…from my first few months as an OT. Wow, I had a lot to review/learn about on a daily basis back then. Gotta pull up more from those archives to share for all you peeps who don't care about school based or peds OT 🙂

“things good overall, i had my car accident patient this morning and we did some belly dancing 🙂  next in an hour i have my post polio syndrome lady, then a hand eval of someone with trigger finger/UCL repair, then my young kid with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. augh. lots of learning.”
Today I rested, went to Piloxing (a Pilates boxing combo), ended up with so much sweat on me I looked like I had just gotten out of a shower. Sexy, I know. TMI? Sorry. Moving on. Then went to a small independent hardware store and chatted with them about partnering up some ….Like I wish I could go find a San Diego area Boy Scouts troop or high school work shop or something that wanted to do some very simple, cheap projects for me that I could use with my special ed kids…Like the PVC pipe stuff, nuts and bolts in wood, washers and dowels, etc etc, maybe make some T-stools….etc etc. I would be willing to pay for the cheap supplies if someone else would just do the volunteer easy labor. None of it's rocket science, but when it comes to that area, my IQ is negative five thousand. Like I envision a grandpa doing this with his grandson or something….Win win. Easier said than done to find this scenario. 
ANYWAY I am getting off track. Then I started thinking about what i want for my birthday  – I TURN THIRTY!!!!!!! along with my twin sister of course, on October 21st. 🙂 AUGHHHHH. And then I forget why I ever started writing this post. Oh well. The point is….I have no point, besides that I'm turning super old. I guess part of turning super old is forgetting my points. So look, I'm advanced at this aging business.
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
5 Oct 2012

Days of our OT Lives are Spinning Rapidly…

I've been working quite literally about 12-15 hours a day at least five days a week if not more, so um, to say it in an understated way, I AM SUPER SUPER STRESSED and EXHAUSTED…

But there is light at the end of the tunnel
A joke
Why are New Yorkers always so depressed?
Because they can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's New Jersey
AHAHAHAHA
Anyway. I'm semi figuring out strategies to organize things. I perhaps, may or may not, mostly may and mostly for sure, have visited Staples tonight  (after getting to work at 720am and staying until 740pm with a 15 minute lunch) …..I still have some REALLY basic things I still need to do to make life easier, but things like different types colored plastic envelope thingies for each child I am currently evaluating or monitoring or having an IEP for within the next week or so, are coming in handy. Etc etc.
My friend Tonya of TherapyFunZone.com was approached to do a Pinterest OT course at an upcoming conference in Anaheim…Sometimes I get jealous of her awesomeness but she's been an OT roughly – quite literally – ten times longer than i have, so I guess I'll try to just remind myself that maybe I will approach her level of awesomeness in 20+ years 🙂 
I ordered 1,500 pages of my lava paper through a groupon with vistaprint.com….I am excited about it. It was SO MUCH CHEAPER than how I normally do it, printing out colored copies little by little
I am about to go to bed and have a busy weekend ahead with a wedding, baby shower, baby cuddling at the hospital, a barbecue, etc so I need my beauty rest, but I wanted to briefly mention three things that amused me…
1) A first grade kid got super mad at me when his free choice time was up and it was time to transition back to class. I had filled out the laminated “First, Then” strip with “First, Angry Birds, Then, Class”….He took the strip and was beating it and messing with it in anger and when he finally left and I saw it, it said “First Angry Birds, Then Ass” because the C and L somehow got erased. This is a very innocent little guy so I think it was an accident but it made me laugh. 🙂
2) A little boy who has some serious challenges and has been quite the handful, did say to me today “I like the paint on your eyes” . It was adorable. I was wearing some pretty intense gold eyeliner today….But of course a few minutes later I enforced a playground rule and I was now a big fat stupid teacher…
3) I realized how much I approach things from the OT standpoint in life….Like if a kid jumps off a moving swing and is all proud I am like wow great job! But then I find out later that's against the rules. Or a kid will tell me or show me something cool, and then a teacher walks by and is like “Stop playing around and get back to work' and it always startles me. I see everything the children can do as either a physical gift (ie jumping off a swing) or a mental gift (ie having great imagination) and forget that maybe I should be enforcing rules….lolol
4) We had an OT meeting the other day and the three of us were all just sprawled out on the floor and I realized how “OT” that was……On our stomachs, or “criss cross apple sauce” aka the now politically incorrect Indian style, or on a ball or T stool or whatever…we accept it all, whatever our bodies need and feel like…And we definitely tend to be floor creatures. How many professional, even small group meetings, can you think of where everyone was on the floor? 
5) I can't count
Ok, delirious me is off to bed…
Giveaways to look forward to are Morphology Jr, PointScribe for the PC, and Shelby's Quest for the iPad, by the way…and other things, but first I need to get a little sleep and rest….work is kicking my butt. Luckily I STILL LOVE IT!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
4 Oct 2012

Alien hat aka colander and pipe cleaners

 
I originally saw this idea on Pinterest, putting pipe cleaners into colanders. My OT kids love it because I call them “alien hats” and they get to put it on for a second when they are done. Be wary of the metal sharp pieces poking through if they put it on their head, be careful. But they beg for me to bring alien hat for one of their quick non-academic fine motor breaks.

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Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
2 Oct 2012

"Enjoying Halloween with Sensory Challenges"

http://aota.org/Consumers/consumers/Youth/Halloween.aspx?FT=.pdf&emc=lm&m=661492&l=4&v=2724938

Great tip sheet by AOTA that will help teachers/parents etc understand how to best prepare their child for Halloween if the child has any sort of sensory preferences/needs. 🙂 
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
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