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- Dr.Joni Redlich PT,DPT
With kids returning to school soon, do you find yourself having sleepless nights worrying about how they’ll handle it?
And do you worry that they are going to fall behind their classmates further?
Lots of parents go through these emotions.
But it’s often much worse for parents of children with special needs.
And it can be a lonely time too.
Because as a parent of a child with special needs, it’s hard to find people who truly understand what you’re going through.
And that’s before we even consider how your kid is feeling…
Special needs children have to deal with the normal challenges every child faces in school, plus the additional challenges their conditions create.
Perhaps they struggle to concentrate in class, which means that they find it difficult to learn at the same pace as the other students.
Or they might have a hard time coping with the busy corridors, packed cafeterias, and hectic playgrounds.
And it can leave your child feeling isolated, getting upset, or unable to learn.
One reason that kids struggle for longer than they need to is our first myth…
This “wait and see” approach is incredibly frustrating for both parents and children because it’s so passive.
Even if your child will improve if left to their own devices, wouldn’t it be better to support them to accelerate their development, and help them become independent sooner?
For a lot of children with special needs, unless they get the right support, they will remain stuck.
Unable to progress.
And this is why the myth that your kid will grow out of it, or improve on their own is so harmful and misguided.
This is a damaging myth because alone, this won’t work for many children with special needs.
While it is great to have your child enjoy a sport, play with the neighbors’ kids, and get outdoors, it’s unlikely to be everything they need.
A child with special needs deserves special care, and a unique approach is where the real progress happens.
So if your child is struggling in school, forcing them to join a sports team or packing your calendar with playdates isn’t the answer.
The final myth is another frustrating one because it’s so unfair.
Most children are trying as hard as they can, using their all energy, and failing.
And over time this really wrecks their confidence and self-esteem.
I’ve heard so many stories about parents and teachers motivating children by giving them rewards and pushing them to try harder, and not seeing any progress.
But what you want to do instead is start to focus on what your child can do.
And working on their strengths, as opposed to focusing on their weaknesses.
When we do this in our clinic, progress is often surprisingly quick because we take an approach that your child hasn’t experienced before.
And this also helps to rebuild your kids’ confidence if they’ve spent years being told that they need to try harder.
At our specialist clinic, we have a proven track record of helping children with special needs and a team of leading experts to help your family.
But we appreciate parents want to find out more before deciding on visiting us.
That’s why we offer Free Telephone Consultations where you can speak to our friendly team and share your story.
From this point, we can give you personalized advice, and let you know about the best options available to support your child’s development.
So if you’re child is struggling in school or having tantrums on the way to school, we can help!
And because this is a telephone consultation, you can speak to us from the comfort of your own home!
What are you waiting for?
Simply click HERE to arrange your free telephone consultation now, or call us on (908) 543 4390
Read our blog – Why The School-Based Therapy Your Child Receives Doesn’t Seem To Be Helping
Read our blog – Struggling To Focus In The Classroom? 6 Tips To Help Kids Stay Focused
On social media? Then Like Our Facebook Page or Follow Us On Instagram for more helpful tips and advice.
What happens when your child is ill?
Have you ever thought you were going crazy when it came to your kids? Sure, we all get stressed out by the demands parenting requires of us whether they be mundane, daily happenings (“No you can’t have another cookie!”, “Stop teasing your brother!”) or extreme, unlikely circumstances (Hello pandemic-looking at you!)
But, what if there was something wrong with your child, (who also happens to have neurodevelopmental delays or another neurodivergent diagnosis) and no experts had any answers for you? What if you took your kiddo to all the “BEST” doctors out there and they either had no answers, their diagnosis conflicted with one another, or worst of all, they just didn’t believe your child had a problem?
Misdiagnosis happens.
I am here to tell you that it happens. And when it is your child who is struggling and suffering, it is exquisitely painful. You feel like you are living in a nightmare that you simply cannot wake from and that somehow, those around you are seeing a distorted view of reality. A 2019 article* states that, “the mindset that young children are rarely seriously ill is one of the main reasons that they are more likely to be misdiagnosed than adults are. That’s on top of all of the ways that approximately 10 percent of American adults are misdiagnosed every year. When doctors and nurses expect to see a healthy child with a common short-lived illness, they may miss the uncommon ones.”
The article goes on to list the main reasons for children receiving a diagnosis that’s wrong or delayed:
Experts may give you the brush off.
However, there are cases where a parent’s concerns are dismissed, as I was when my daughter presented with a long, puzzling, seemingly unrelated laundry list of symptoms that spanned years, nearly a decade by the time a diagnosis was finally rendered. During that time period, I was given advice from some well-meaning individuals who said things like:
Did any of this help my daughter get better or me find answers? That would be a resounding no. Oh, and by the way, that last piece of “advice” above was given to me, in front of my child, by a supposedly well-respected doctor. He dismissed all the hundreds of pages of tests, scans, medical records and prior diagnosis, didn’t help my daughter, and charged for it!
So what DO YOU DO? You don’t give up- you trust your gut! Parents know their children best and what their “normal” looks like, even if it doesn’t match the textbook image. Remember to believe in yourself and your ability to help your child. Make a bulleted list of every symptom, even if it does not seem totally related, and the date the symptom started. Research the heck out of your child’s symptoms and any test results you have, using the best and most trusted resources you can find. Become well acquainted with clinical research papers, societies for various branches of disease types ( think brain, stomach, nervous system, etc.) Join an online group for other parents who may be seeking answers for their child or who may have information to share.
The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine says not to get overwhelmed by the risks of misdiagnosis. Rather, recognize there are a few key things to do, to assist in getting an accurate and (hopefully) prompt diagnosis. These tips also help if your child is in the middle of a diagnostic journey today.
In closing, you, as a parent, are the most trusted authority on your child. If you feel that something is wrong with your child and it is not getting resolved, don’t be afraid to speak up. Your child and your family deserve answers and the best possible care. Be brave and know that what your GUT is telling you, may be right. (If you have a question for Melanie (author/Kid PT Marketing) email her at info@kidpt.com)
*References
Savvy parents know that every child has their own sensory preferences and things they avoid. Whether it is picky eating, not liking the seams in socks, or having a hard time sitting still because the child’s body has the wiggles, every child has their own sensory world. Every adult has their sensory preferences too, but we learn to manage our needs by taking walks when we need to wake up a bit, chewing gum to stay focussed, or shaking our foot while listening to a speech.
Every child will have their own personal sensory profile, but when is it time to get help. When sensory preferences are impacting daily life, that’s a good time to seek help from an occupational therapist or a physical therapist.
Below we’re going to introduce the difference sensory systems and give you some tips to start figuring out what sensory strategies will help your child.
Kids who seek out rough play, jumping and/or crashing, or our kids who like to lie down on the ground a lot may need more input to this system. It helps us to sense movement and organizes our bodies to help with coordination, body awareness and spatial awareness.
TRY activities that involve:
Kids who appear to seek constant movement, are risk takers and like to be upside down may need more input to this system. Some kids may look more sedentary or lethargic and may also need some vestibular activation! This is another movement sense, it is related to our head position in space, and gives our bodies information about balance and is closely related to our visual system.
TRY activities that involve:
Kids who are constantly touching and fidgeting may need more input in this area. Kids who are extra sensitive to seams or clothing, or avoid getting messy might be on the opposite side of tactile processing. It refers to our sense of touch, and can impact all areas of function from eating to walking to feeling the nuances of toys and materials during self-care and play.
TRY activities that involve:
Kids who are constantly humming, yelling, and making other noises, they may need more auditory input than other children. Kids who zone out, seem to ignore you, or struggle to shift from one listening to another listening cue/instruction (or for example, respond to their name).
TRY activities that involve:
Kids who require more visual input may look closely at objects. They may seek out moving or spinning objects. They may have difficulty focusing on information presented visually. On the other end, lights might be too bright or the child may struggle to adjust to lighting changes, or become overwhelmed incertain lighting, like fluorescents.
TRY activities that involve:
Kids seeking out input to these systems may lick or smell objects like crayons or toys. Chewing also provides proprioceptive input, so kids may bite or chew on objects (think pencils or shirt collars). May be averse to tastes or smell, picky eaters tend to be sensitive in this area.
Links to some of our favorite sensory products:
Need some more help finding sensory savvy solutions for your child! Reach out to us at info@kidpt.com and schedule a FREE Discovery Visit with one of our therapists to learn more.
What does movement have to do with Autism, you ask? In short, EVERYTHING! Movement is the way we interact with our environment, one of the ways we make sense of all the information around us, and the way we turn our will into action! Even something that seems so based in the brain, like writing or typing our thoughts down, involves movement to actually get those thoughts onto paper or into a computer.
But what if the wiring in your brain telling your body to move a certain way wasn’t communicating that information effectively?
Or what if the information you were getting from your environment, like the sights or feelings around you were coming in as too bright, too sharp, or not clear enough?
What if you couldn’t necessarily tell where your body was in relation to your environment or where your legs and arms were while walking around?
It would be so much harder for you to get around without knocking into things, to react to your environment in the safest way, move the way you wanted, and keep your stress level down while doing all of these things, right?!
These are just some of the small or large mountains that a person with Autism needs to climb on a daily basis to feel like their normal selves and to engage with our crazy world. Movement can be overwhelming and difficult to coordinate or extra movements may be necessary to feel where their bodies are in space. With the many lenses we can look through from a therapy perspective, we often land on the tie between Autism and movement and want to discuss the connection and why children with Autism may be inclined to move more and to move in their own individual way.
Movement to meet sensory needs:
Movement that is Difficult to Coordinate:
Now add extra distractions of daily life to the Mix!
These are just some of the big reasons why movement can be tricky and discoordinated in autistic children and how it can impact os many areas of daily life, from getting dressed in the morning to social interaction. We know this is A LOT of information to take in, but this connection is an important one to make because when movement is hard, it makes coping with everyday life hard and stressful! If you feel like coordinating movement or movement with other daily tasks is sometimes tricky for your child, call (908) 543-4390 or visit our website at www.kidpt.com to schedule a FREE Discovery Visit today!
Extra reads:
There are so many reasons why the Spider Cage is a powerful therapeutic tool to integrate into your child’s physical therapy program. If you worry about your child not having all possible opportunities to develop new movement skills, you should try out the Spider Cage during a trial session at our office to see firsthand what your child can do!
Why is the Spider Cage so powerful? Let’s look at 7 reasons that the Spider Cage gives children access to developing new skills and abilities, by supporting them to increase strength, balance, motor control, endurance and sensory processing, all while having sooooo much fun. Remember, fun is really important when it comes to children- if they’re having fun, then they’re LEARNING! Let’s get into those 7 reasons now.
The Spider Cage is setup where the child wears a belt and the bungees connect to the belt. There are 8 bungees that can be attached to the belt with 2 on each corner.The child can be sitting, on hands and knees, standing, walking on a treadmill or moving between positions. The bungees in the Spider Cage provide support, but they’re also dynamic, so it is a different experience for a child that has been in a stander or a gait trainer. It is also different than having a parent or therapist helping. The child can try out new skills with just enough assist, but they are initiating the movement and responding to what worked and what didn’t work to learn from the experience.
In the video below, you can see the boy practicing standing up by himself without using his hands, which he can’t do outside of the Spider Cage. Over time the bungees can be lowered or only 4 bungees can be used to build more independence, which can then generalize to outside of the Spider Cage.
2. Confidence Building
Many children with movement delays or disabilities develop a learned helplessness from frequently experiencing things being difficult or impossible. Learned helplessness is when you have learned that you can’t do something, so you stop trying. It is an understandable reaction, but one we have to mindful of when guiding children to develop new skills and abilities. The Spider Cage is a fantastic tool for children to experience that they are capable of doing, with just the right support. This can be basic gross motor skills like sitting, standing and walking, or it can be more advanced skills, like hopping and balancing on dynamic surfaces.
The boy in the video initially needed hands on help to perform this motion. He didn’t try to initiate it on his own and needed help to complete the motion. After several times in the Spider Cage, he learned how to transition from hands and knees to standing with the help of the bungees alone. He was so proud of himself and this transferred to him helping more with transitions off the floor outside of the Spider Cage.
3. Safety to Try Higher Level Balance Skills
Children will limit attempts at new skills if they know their body isn’t going to be able to do it reliably and safely. Knowing they can’t fall, the Spider Cage gives the opportunity to try all sorts of challenging balance tasks without the risk of falling and hurting yourself. This way, the kids can work on those advanced skills, flood their brains with novelty and develop more advanced movement control.
In the video below, she challenges herself to move from standing to half kneel while standing on a bolster that rolls side to side. What a challenging task! This would be a risky thing to try holding maybe a trapeze overhead and would have allowed her to rely mostly on her arms, instead of her hips. Doing this activity in the Spider Cage let her work on a high level of hip and balance control and no rely on her arms for help.
4. Sensational Sensations
As we said before, the Spider Cage is a DYNAMIC place to be! The bungees provide resistance and assist to movement, giving intense proprioceptive/deep pressure input to the children’s bodies. All of the movement is very stimulating to the vestibular system in the inner ear as well. The Spider Cage is a great place to put together the postural system with the eyes, vestibular (inner ear), and proprioceptive (information from joints and muscles) to work on improving body awareness and regulation skills.
In this video you will see a boy doing intense jumping, having a BLAST, and regulating his system to do focussed work afterwards!
5. Hands Free Movement
Children who use crutches or walkers for mobility are always using their hands to help manage the rest of their bodies. The problem is that they then become limited in using their hands for other activities, such as carrying something, and they rely on using their arms to initiate movement, rather than using the pelvis, the cornerstone and powerhouse of our bodies.
In this video you’ll se a boy playing basketball where he typically needs a person to help or his hands on an assistive device to be able to do an activity like this.
6. Speed & Power
The Spider Cage gives the support a child needs to be able to work on moving at increased speeds than they could do outside of the cage. It also lets them work on their power with jumping and leaping. The dynamic assist on the bungees give greater access to new skills while decreasing risk of falls at the same time. This allows motor control, strength and endurance to build to support the use of increased power and speed outside of the cage in the future.
In this video, the boy walks 2mph, when he usually walks at a slow pace with crutches, he’s able to explore increased speed. You can see how proud he is at his acomplishment!
7. Play
Play is how babies and children learn! Play in the Spider Cage gives access to children with a limited play repertoire to develop more advanced play skills. Children can jump, kick a ball, throw a ball, and knock down towers. There are so many games children with limited play skills can try out in the Spider Cage!
In the first video below, the boy initially needed assistance from the therapist to stop on the target. With practice he was doing it all on his own and laughing so hard each time!
In the second video, we used the Spider Cage in a completely different way to make a ninja obstacle course with the bungees! The boy is working on his midrange postural control to move over and under while trying not to touch the bungees.
In the 3rd video the boy is playing t-ball! He has the opportunity to be hands free using the support of the bungees to play the game!
Participation in the arts are a way for someone to express themselves. It creates a window into the soul and an escape all in one. Some turn to painting, drawing, music, drama, or dancing to find their sense of self or to relieve stress after a long day, and this is no different for kids and adults with Cerebral Palsy (CP). Taking part in the arts is a wonderful thing for children with CP to do, no matter their level of disability, and here’s why!
Self Expression Without Limits
The arts allow for a place to explore what you are thinking or feeling. Whether you are verbal or non-verbal, participation in an art form is a way to get your feelings out! Society often tries to put us in boxes that may make us feel limited. But when you are creating art, you get to make the rules. Bend the rules to work for you
Adaptability
With the free form nature of many arts programs there are no rules that have to be adjusted to make it work for your body. If your dancing includes, moving your head side to side to make your wheelchair turn to the right and the left, do it! If you need something to secure a paint brush to one of your hands or to your head to paint your beautiful picture, why not! It’s your masterpiece, so the environment can be set up to make creating your art that much easier.
Community OR Solitary Art
Many arts are performed in a group setting for those who love being social, like Drama. You can find your Drama, Dance, or Visual Arts community if that floats your boat. BUT the cool thing about the arts is many forms don’t have to be done in a group, they can be done alone too if you’d prefer to work that way.
Confidence Booster
For many kids and adults, taking part in the creation of something beautiful, or something they made themselves, is a huge confidence booster. When the right adaptations are in place to support each child or adult, either with motor or intellectual considerations, the child can make something by themselves (or with a little bit of teamwork if needed) and feel proud of themselves for doing so!
Types of Art
Visual Arts
Dance
Drama
Music
But where is there to go in NJ for my child with CP to participate in the arts? Check out these links to find out more!
Dance:
http://kayelynndance.com/chance-to-dance/
http://www.danceinnovations.org/dipf
http://kayelynndance.com/chance-to-dance/
http://www.danceinnovations.org/dipf
Theater:
https://papermill.org/access-for-all
Art:
Music:
https://www.theconnectiononline.org/com
References:
https://www.cerebralpalsy.org/information/activities/arts
When you think of a child with Attention Deficit Disorder you picture a child who can’t sit still, pay attention or follow directions. Maybe you picture a little boy bopping around the classroom or a little tazmanian devil running circles around his mom and dad. Read more