WonderKids OT Pediatric Occupational Therapy
2888 Franklin St V5K 5B1 Vancouver, BC, Canada

The holidays can be a challenging times for children (and adults) with sensory processing disorder. Have a read of the following for some tips and tricks to help survive the holidays. http://www.thesensoryspectrum.com/tips-for-helping-childr/

https://www.socialthinking.com/en/Articles

Another amazing course. Yes it’s a bit longer but so worth it for parents with or even without adopted children! Rebecca is an amazing presenter and really helps parents with simple explanations and great strategies!

If you have or know somebody with life threatening allergies this is a great course to take!

Simon Says is such a great game to increase body awareness AND get a movement break with a cognitive component! Try out some of these ideas.

At WonderKids OT, at times we work on building healthy eating habits and expanding a child's food repertoire with clients and their families. CBC recently had a podcast on their parental guidance column regarding picky eating. Within their discussion, some suggestions to take away are: -The Division of Responsibility (Ellyn Sater): the parent is responsible for what, when, and where AND the child is responsible for how much... and whether. -Involving children in the whole baking or cooking process, and even involving them in the shopping process. Increasing their exposure to foods in non-eating times increases the likelihood tat a child may taste or eat a food. -Presenting foods in different ways and multiple times, as some children will need many exposures to a food before feeling ready to try a specific foo. -Not adding pressure to eating, either positive or negative pressure. Be non-judgmental in how a child approaches a food, but continue to expose them to those foods. -There is no quick fix for picky eaters, and usually is a work in progress, is something that a family needs to work on and focus on over time As OTs, we are also aware of the difference between picky eaters and problem feeders (as per Dr. Kay Toomey). A picky eater tends has a decreased repertoire of food, but tends to have approximately 30 foods that they are able to eat on a consistent basis. A problem feeder has a restricted range of foods, usually less than 20 foods that they will eat. If you have a picky eater or a problem feeding, getting support and strategies early on will enable you and your child to expand their repertoire. Either way, we agree that there is no quick fix and that over time, with strategies and support, gains can be made no matter what type of eater your child tends to be.

Here's a way to learn more about sensory processing from a child's perspective. The description of sensory over-responsive vs under-responsive has a great visual to go along with it, and is a great way to learn more about sensory processing skills. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1G5ssZlVUw

This is a very good reminder to have a closer look into what sort of social media and iPad time kids are involved in. Her thoughts are a bit extreme, but I agree with the concern! We cannot say NO to all technology but we need to shield our children from getting involved in themes which are way past their prefrontal cortex development ( in time and age). I do feel that a guided approach with lots of discussions is the way to go rather then just saying no to all social media.... but I also feel that most kids have way to much access without their parents knowing enough on what or how they are involved in social media. https://www.facebook.com/meike.vare/posts/10156547552951111

Here is another great parent support evening coming up this week! ANXIETY is a big topic for children and a lot of parents. Tamara VanWyck will spend one evening to help shed some light into anxiety, how this might affect children in daily life and share helpful strategies in how to support your child. Tamara is an experienced counsel who has been working with children and families for many years.

We love how this commercial highlights the importance of eating together. Children learn so much from parents and caregivers when eating together, such as how to react to a new food. By the time a child is 6 months old, they have seen food modeled to them approximately 600 times! Family meals can look different, but eating together is what is important, even if it does not happen at a table at every meal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWTdX_WxzJA

Free Podcast with Michelle Garcia Winner! For those just starting on the social thinking journey, Michelle Garcia Winner is the founder of the Social Thinking Curriculum. In this podcast, Michelle touches on the relationship between social thinking and emotional regulation, whether or not social skills groups actually work, what kinds of kids struggle most in developing their social thinking skills, the difference between social learning problems and negative behavior, and so much more. Thank you Tilt Parenting for sharing!

Choices can be like parking spots, if there are too many available, you end up circling the lot as you can't make a decision. But if there are only two or three parking spots, you tend to make a decision fairly quickly before you lose out. As parents and caregivers, sometimes we give too many choices and then our children struggle to make a decision. But giving a smaller range of choice (generally 2-3) still lets our children have some control, but within the boundaries that we are setting out for them.