Starfish Therapies
Starfish Therapies Newsletter
Jump for July!July 2012
Volume 44
In This Issue
Updates
Out and About
Just For Fun
The Way Your Feet Hit the Ground
So Many Ways to Crawl
Starfish Updates
starfish
Blog: Check out our most recent blog posts!  This month we talked about playing with a lycra tunnel, and how easy it is to unconsciously compensate with movement.  We will be more active with our blog this month and would love to hear any ideas you have for blog topics please email Stacy with your ideas.     

Congratulations:  We would like to congratulate Katie Callicotte on her newly achieved status of Board Certified Pediatric Clinical Specialist. 

Motor Smart Kids
Motor Smart Kids: 
Just a reminder that we are holding group every Tuesday in July and August from 2:45-3:30.  The cost will be $20 per session.  In the fall we will resume our normal 6 week session increments.  For any questions or to sign your child up please call or email Corinne at 650-638-9142We hope to see your child at group!

Fine Motor/Handwriting:  If you are interested in some extra help with handwriting or fine motor over the summer for your child please let us know.  We are looking to put together a fine motor and/or handwriting group.  Please contact Corinne at 650-638-9142 for more details or if you are interested in one on one sessions.

New Staff:  We would like to welcome Jenn Giblin our newest PT.  Jenn has moved here from the St. Louis area and is excited to be back in the Bay Area.  Jenn has experience with working with kids in a variety of settings and is excited to be part of Starfish Therapies.  We are very excited to welcome her to our team and her bio should be up on the web site shortly.

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Out and About
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Local Events: 
Here are some upcoming events in the Bay Area that are geared towards kids.  For those of you not in the Bay Area here are some great ideas to incorporate with hiking for kids to keep your family active and get outside this summer!  Here are some resources for activities for children with special needs so they can get out and about and enjoy the summer!
Just For Fun
Finger Paint  
 
Summer Crafts:  Here are some great resources for summer craft ideas.  Let your kids explore their imagination and creativity this summer by providing them with options!  Family Fun is always a great place to get craft ideas as well as other activities.  Here are 50 ideas from The Long Thread.  And even more options from Busy Bee Kids Crafts.  We would love to hear what your favorite summer (or anytime) craft is.  Maybe we'll feature it next month!!  Just email ideas to Stacy.
Greetings!

Welome back! We hope you are enjoying your summer and find some time to check out what is new with Starfish Therapies.  Enjoy!
The Way Your Feet Hit the Ground...  
footprints   

The way a child's feet contact the ground can affect how they stand, walk, and play. Many questions arise when a new walker appears to be walking differently than their peers. Some of the common questions asked occur when parents or caregivers notice that their child is walking on the inside of their feet, the outside of their feet, or clinching their toes while standing and walking.

 

Developmentally there are periods of time where infants walk on the inside of their foot, on the outside of their foot, or clinch their toes gripping the floor that can be normal for where they are in their development of walking skills. However, these deviations can also indicate the need for orthotic intervention when present at a greater magnitude or outside a period of time where it is developmentally appropriate.

 

When a child walks on the inside of their foot it is called pronation. Developmentally, children pronate when they first start standing, cruising, and walking. This happens for a variety of reasons including that infants have not yet developed the small muscles in their foot yet and they stand with their feet farther apart in order to improve their stability. When an infant widens their stance to increase their stability and does not yet have developed muscles in their foot their weight falls to the inside of their foot resulting in pronation. While it is normal in a new walker/stander to pronate until they develop strength in the small muscles of their foot and are able to walk with their feet right underneath them, infants who are unable to walk due to pronation or continue to pronate despite progressing through the normal developmental stage may benefit from orthotics to help them align their feet.

 

When a child walks on the outside of their foot it is called supination. Infants, toddlers, and kids can supinate their feet while walking for a variety of reasons and can produce increased rigidity in their foot. Supination can occur because a child is tensing their foot either voluntarily or involuntarily or due to a lack of motion in the foot. In many cases, when a child supinates their foot, whether voluntary or not, they are not aware that they are doing it. This can be because they do not have the ability to relax their foot or because they are subconsciously activating all the muscles in their foot, or co-contracting, in an attempt to produce stability. While kids generally grow out of co-contraction as their stability and coordination improves kids that do not may also benefit from orthotics the help them relax and align their feet.

 

If you notice your child having difficulty walking due to pronation or supination that does not appear normal you should ask your child's health care professional to help you determine if intervention is necessary.

 


So Many Ways to Crawl 

 

crawling baby

 

Many times when an infant begins moving on the ground it is referred to as crawling. But there are a lot of ways a child or infant can move on the ground. These include: sequential rolling, belly (or commando/army) crawling, creeping, bunny hopping, and even scooting on their bottom all of which are different motor skills. This can get even more confusing when the terminology used by parents, teachers, and health care professionals differ.

 

Sequential Rolling or Rolling as a form of mobility generally refers to the use of continuously rolling in one direction to move across the floor. Many infants begin using this method of mobility when they begin attempting to move across the floor before they develop other mobility skills

 

Belly Crawling, also referred to as commando crawling or army crawling is often referred to as just crawling by many healthcare professionals and on many pediatric standardized assessments. This refers to when an infant/child uses their arms opposing arms and lets to push and pull their body across the floor. In this form of crawling the infant/child's belly remains in contact with the floor the entire time. Many infants begin belly crawling to move before they are able to get onto their hands and knees.

 

Creeping, commonly called crawling refers to crawling on hands and knees where the opposing arm and leg move together to produce forward mobility. This is the most common and efficient method of crawling for many kids; however, some kids that have difficulty producing alternating movements in their legs will move both arms together followed by both legs together in order to move on hands and knees. This is often referred to as Bunny Hopping.

 

Scooting, or bottom scooting, is another form of moving on the ground that infants use. Most children learn how to scoot on their bottom and will do it if the task demands it, but rarely use this a true form of mobility across a room. However, infants/children that have difficulty learning to get on to their hands and knees, perhaps because they avoid tummy time, often end up relying on scooting in sitting to move across the room. While this is a normal developmental skills, if these infants/children continue to avoid getting into hands and knees they often have difficulty moving on to pulling to stand, standing, and cruising and may need help to progress to the next developmental stage.

Thank you for reading this month. Your support is always appreciated. See you in August!
 
Sincerely,
 

Your Friends at
Starfish Therapies