| Surviving The Holidays | 
Gift Giving Time & Opening Presents
During the holidays, the opening of presents is an anticipated event by relatives. But our special needs child may not behave the way other children do during this time. Here are a number of tips and resources on getting your child involved in gift giving, getting meaningful presents from relatives and handling issues when opening presents.
While many kids love to go through a toy catalog and check off what they want, your child may have difficulty doing so. There are simply too many choices. So what to do?
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Special Needs Parenting
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Remember Those Courageous Moments
Are you looking for a little inspiration, a little motivation, or a little fuel to get you through the day or a challenging moment in your life? Look no further than your past for that jumpstart you need, that we all need from time to time. Recently, I was asked to give a motivational talk to Seton Hall University's Men's Basketball team and knowing that they are a fairly young and inexperienced team, I shared with them how important it is that they reflect on those moments of success, moments of courage, and moments of resilience to push them forward. The same applies to people with disabilities, the parents and siblings of people with disabilities, and even caretakers from time to time. No matter what challenge you are experiencing at this very moment, you have a huge arsenal of courageous moments from which you can use to combat those feelings of sadness, depression, unworthiness, hopelessness, you name it. In any moment, you can close your eyes and take yourself back to not just an ordinary moment, but an extraordinary moment in which you or the person with the disability has overcome some type of challenge and has emerged even stronger on the other side of it.
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Standing Article
|  Lifting Spirits: Prescribing standers for children can open a whole new world of interaction and purpose
"Most therapists can attest to the fact that treating children requires creativity and flexibility. Using standers to achieve therapy goals is no different. Why mobility? Many children don't like to stand still, and are innately driven to move themselves about. Thankfully, there are options to help achieve this. The terms "mobile stander" and "dynamic stander" are often used interchangeably in marketing; however, I like to think of them as distinct. A mobile stander moves because a parent can push it, or because the child can use self-propulsion (with their arms) or power propulsion adaptations to move it. By contrast, a dynamic stander enables the child to be dynamic or move his own body - for example, to move the legs or weight shift at the trunk." explains Karen Good, Senior Physical Therapist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. Her article "Lifting Spirits" was published in the November 28th, 2011, issue of Advance for Physical Therapy & Rehab Medicine. Read More |
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Pediatric Therapy
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Holiday Wish List
Here is a preview of the 10 things included in this pediatric physical therapist's holiday wish list.
1. Please move the accessible stalls closer to the restroom entrance. Why does someone with a mobility impairment who really needs a bathroom break have to travel 50 feet further than everyone else?
2. No more flat heads. Those little babies are so cute in their little custom-made multi-sport helmets, but in many cases a heaping helping of "tummy to play" and early detection can take the helmet from medical device to fashion choice.
3. Let the appropriate people qualify for a stander AND a gait trainer. I get to stand AND I get to walk. Both activities can yield therapeutic and functional outcomes, but each has its own special benefits. What a choice to have to make.
4. The most important wish is that you have the love and support you need to have the happiest and healthiest of holiday seasons. Read The Other 6 Wishes |
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