Here is a short video about how ‘Ohana OT got it’s name 🙂

The word “’ohana” is part of of Hawaiian culture and means “family in an extended sense of the term including blood-related, adoptive or intentional. It emphasizes that family are bound together and members must cooperate and remember one another.

” ‘Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten” Lilo and Stitch

Did you know that many children with developmental delays in emotional, language, motor and social skills are not identified at very young age (3-5 years)? There are many factors that are leading to major complications among children such as:

• Feelings of lack of self-worth
• Anxiety
• Attention problems
• Developmental delays and problems associated with it
• General feeling of lack of success

All the Major Factors

There are lots of factors that play a pivotal role in all these problems. It starts with developmental problems and one of the major contributing factors to the developmental problem is our ‘back to sleep’ program. It is obviously good for the SIDS (Sudden infant death syndrome). But the thing is that we have to counteract all that time on the back with tummy time.

For good development, children need as much time on their tummy during the day that develops all their neck muscles, back muscles, and hand muscles. It is highly important because it affects their vision. As a matter of fact, it affects everything.

Another contributing factor are baby carriers (I call them baby buckets). In baby buckets, babies are basically just lying back with their eyes up and they are not using their trunk.

This means that there is less human interaction because their eyes are not looking at faces. They are not using their muscles because they are just sedentary in their carriers. Therefore, it is important to get the kids up, have them on your hip or wear your baby, so that they can feel the natural movements.

It is best because this way kids are developing their neck, trunk, eyes, and different other muscles in the body.

Now that the child has grown up a little bit, his/her next phase starts. I am really concerned how much we are pushing academics at kids at very young age. I recently had a mom crying in my clinic because her preschooler didn’t know how to form every single letter. And it is utterly absurd. It is because developmentally you don’t have the eye-hand coordination to form an angled line until you are 5 or 6 years old. Therefore, preschoolers need to be doing much more gross motor movements such as painting on easels, using their whole arm, pretend play and other activities that lay down the foundation for academic learning.

Academics are being pushed at a much earlier age now. If you look at kindergarten class, it looks more like first or second grade class. It is imperative to understand that while some children can learn to read and write at an early age, there are many others who can’t. Even the ones that can, they are not developing other skills that they need for a good solid foundation for when the academics get even harder. And their social skills are not developing either. This means that children are not being allowed to play much and it is completely neglected that children learn through playing. It is actually really heartbreaking to see how much learning opportunities are neglected just because we are not letting them play.

In general, we have just a lot more sedentary lifestyle. Screen time is a huge problem. For example, in a restaurant, children should be learning from their role models, by looking at their parents and by observing how they interact, but they are not doing any of that. Instead, children are on their phones, looking down and not learning from watching their parents. There are so many concerns for parents. Children are not moving as much and one has to realize that if you are not moving, you are not developing your muscles that you need for a solid foundation. On top of all this, you are not developing your sensory systems and this means that you don’t know where your body is in space. The vast majority of children that we serve at ‘Ohana OT have very weak core strength. They have strong arms and legs but the weak core which causes them to not be able to sit still and be always running around. It is because it takes more strength to be still. Most of the children we evaluate don’t really have a good sense of where their body is in space because the sensation in their muscles and joints is not matured. For academics, you really need a very strong sense of where your body is in space. This includes being able to write, to be able to sit, to be able to learn and to be able to decipher body languages.

The increase of homework isn’t helping much because children need to come home and move – not come home and sit to do more work. And the eyes are not fully mature until you’re 7 years old. Some countries don’t even start reading instructions until 7. I firmly believe another contributing factor is that we are so much more concerned about the safety of our children. Back in the old days, children would go out and ride their bicycles for hours. I am not saying that don’t be cautious, but we need to have situations where children can move that much without so many limitations.

A couple of other points that I find interesting is that since our back to sleep program, our Movement Assessment of Infants developmental norms have changed. The children are actually developing milestones later and like I said, we need to counteract that with a lot of tummy time. Now, crawling is taken off of the key developmental milestones for physicians to check and this is just crazy. In my opinion, it is an essential thing that cannot be neglected. And yes, some kids start walking early but it is still beneficial even for those kids to do a lot of exploration, build forts, and crawl through tunnels. Crawling works on so many skills for the body that it is still a really important part of the development.

And Then It Backfires

So, in a nutshell, what I see happening is that the children’s physical being is less mature. Hence, it results in a weaker foundation. The dilemma is that much higher social and academic demands are being put on that weak foundation which causes it all to come crumbling down. As a result, lots of different complications start to appear such as Anxiety, Behavioral problems, Attention problems, Hyperactivity problems, and the list goes on and on.

What You Need To Do

There is no better answer than letting your children play and explore things on their own. All in all, we need to help our kids move more and develop their skills as a result of activity and interaction with others. There is no need to put so many academic demands on your children so young. Make their childhood fun and energetic and rest assured there won’t be complications such as childhood stress, anxiety, and developmental delays.

 

Mary Kostka is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist specializing in Sensory Processing Disorder at  her  private practice, ‘Ohana Occupational Therapy, LLC,   in Wenatchee and Leavenworth Washington, USA

OhanaOt.com
‘Ohana Occupational Therapy, LLC
1139 N Princeton Suite B
Wenatchee, WA 98801
Ph: 509-888-7435
Fax: 509-888-7674

Here at Ohana OT we serve over 100 children per week with sensory processing disorders. Most of these children have a hard time changing and transitioning to a new activity or place often resulting in a meltdown.  Transitions are challenging for them because all the sensory input changes with each transition and they have a great deal of difficulty habituating or adapting to the changing stimuli (visual, auditory, tactile, movement, smells etc).  Think of when you are in an unfamiliar place and how much energy it takes to adapt and get used to it. Nothing is on automatic pilot from where to reach to turn on lights to getting used to the odd sounds and smells.  Once you are there for a day or two everything becomes natural and automatic, not effortful or distracting. Our children with sensory processing problems have great difficulty habituating or getting used to changes which can often result in behavior problems and meltdowns. The great news is that there are many things we have found that are very effective in making transitions less stressful for our sensational kids!

We find transitions work best when it’s not the adult telling the child what to do. For example when it is time to end our therapy sessions the transition work best when there is a transition object that initiates it (such as a visual timer), then the transfer of blame is placed on the timer telling the child “all done” and not on the adult telling the child about time. I like to have the child take responsibility (even non verbal children with Autism) by saying “How are we doing on time – is there time for one more thing?” It is amazing how much they are able to manage the transition themselves when there is a tool to do so.

Here are our favorite TOP 6 Transition Tools:

1)  VISUAL transition tools

1. Visual Timer- we use these two visual timers all the time. The first one is the Time Timer and it is available in 3 sizes on Amazon. The largest size has the most audible beep.
2. We also use a free app on our phones called the Children’s Countdown Timer. It has a variety of pictures you can use to reveal and you can customize with any photo you want to use such as the next activity.
   
3. Visual Schedule (e.g. schedule of all activities to know when all done will occur). 
4. Visual Checklist (e.g. what do to list when its time to go)
5. First, Then visual. This is two boxes  (“first” and “then”) with only two activity cards showing them what they are doing now and next.

 

2)  TACTILE transition tools

It is amazing to see the magic of something to hold in the hands that has to be taken from one spot to the other. It can be as simple as a post it note from one teacher that says “hi” to the other teacher. Children respond really well to having a delivery job to do.  There is also something about having a consistent object with them from one environment to the other (such as a plastic animal to hold onto). Another example would be to give them a book to put on a shelf in the room you want them to move to “put the book on the shelf”. 

3)  AUDITORY transition tools

Songs are wonderful ways to help children transition. For example the “clean up song” and the “goodbye song”.  Auditory timers work well too. Even a simple kitchen timer is great. See also the visual timers above.  The countdown app has some fun and exciting sounds to choose from.

4)  COGNITIVE transition tools

1. First, Then language (e.g. prep with verbal 5 minute warning, then 3 minute warning, 1 minute warning)
2. Develop a transition mantra “when the timer goes beep beep, it’s clean up” or “when the timer goes beep beep, be nice to mom and put on shoes”. Ask child through the day “what happens when timer beeps” in order to prepare them for the transition.

5) KINESTHETIC/ Physical Position transition tools

1. Do the last activity in a transition room (e.g. lobby, front porch, near door, etc.)
2. Make it fun, “How fast can you put on your shoes?” and time them ,”Oh no, the door is closing, will you make it???” or “WOW look what over here”. Pretend to be Momma Duck, and the kid is Baby Duck, and they have to follow you. quack quack.

6) ROUTINE / Predictability transition tools

1. Practice using 1 transition technique, so the child gets into a routine, routines give us predictability. It must be consistent. Routine transitions are easy, unplanned routines are tricky.
2. Create a social stories on what will happen next. A social story is a simple book with pictures that explains step by step what to expect.
3. Show video on what will happen such as  going to a new place.

Let us know if this article was helpful at marykostka@ohanacenter.com

 

There are two other articles in this series:

Blog Article: Sensory Smart Classroom Secrets Part 1 – Classroom Environment  covers changes to the classroom environment to make it more sensory friendly and Blog Article: Sensory Smart Classroom Secrets Part 2 – Calming the Student’s Body  covers how to provide the body with calming sensory input in the classroom.

Next Step:

If you need additional help contact  us at  (509) 888-7435 or at marykostka@ohanacenter.com to set up a Skype consultation and pay here.

 

Mary Kostka is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist specializing in Sensory Processing Disorders at  her  private practice, ‘Ohana Occupational Therapy, LLC,   in Wenatchee and Leavenworth Washington, USA She has over 29 years of experience with assisting teachers with making their classrooms sensory friendly.

OhanaOt.com
‘Ohana Occupational Therapy, LLC
1139 N Princeton Suite B
Wenatchee, WA 98801
Ph: 509-888-7435
Fax: 509-888-7674

At our clinic we see over 100 kids per week with sensory processing disorder. Most of these children have a hard time with the “Big Three Power Senses” of position, movement and touch. Position receptors are in the muscles and joints (proprioception sense) and are activated by joint compression and muscle contraction. Movement receptors (vestibular sense) are located in the inner ear and respond to movement in all directions. Touch receptors are located in our skin. Together the Big Three Power Senses give us a remarkably accurate sense of where our body is in space and allows us to not have to think about our bodies when we are performing higher level tasks such as school work. For example, a 5 yr old should be able to touch the tip of their finger to the tip of their nose with eyes closed within 1 cm. This allows us to go into automatic pilot for everything from sitting to holding a pencil. When children are not getting precise information for position, movement and touch they will seek out information they need (e.g. bouncing, running, touching everything, spinning, pushing, frequently getting up out of their seat, chewing on pencils, crashing into objects or people, and holding a pencil too tightly). There are ways to provide this much needed sensory input to their bodies in productive and non distracting ways which in turn will increase the child’s ability to pay attention and be productive in the classroom.

 Sensory Input to increase attention

 1) Seating

Most classroom furniture does not fit your students. Start by making sure their feet can touch the floor while their back is supported. If not, provide a pillow behind their back to fill the space (attach it with a T shirt pulled over the pillow and back of the chair) and put something under their feet such as a plastic tub filled with books. The desk should be elbow height (desks are usually adjustable).

Often these changes are enough to provide the sensory input they need to stay in their seat. If not, provide alternate seating such as:

• Exercise band on the front two chair legs allows the child to kick against it and get a lot of resistance to the muscles (and they have to be seated to push against it)

• Move n’ sit cushions allow the child to move in their seat (can also make one with a beach ball partially inflated)

• Exercise ball (can place in a box so it stays put) the vertical bouncing will increase attention

• Rocking chair
• Tennis balls on 2 chair legs to make it wiggle
• Porch swing (Costco has a low profile one)
• Allow students to stand to work (at the counter, or tape work to the wall)
• Allow students to lay down on their tummies to work (also helps with core strength and flexibility)
• Bungee chair

• Office chair for spinning (caution: child needs to spin it themselves and stop if getting dizzy).

2) Table top activities to increase attention

 

• Figits – (e.g. Koosh ball) busy hands help kids listen better. You can tie them to the desk or chair so if they are thrown they don’t fly. (Caution: stay away from fluid filled balls, usually end up breaking and contents are usually unknown). Click here  to make your Ninja ball figit. Chewelry is another great figit helping with students who like to put items in their mouth which helps them focus.

• Textured items (e.g. textured ruler, Velcro under desk, pokey pencil grip)
  

• ARK’s Tran-Quill Vibrating Pencil 

• Write spelling words into play do, modeling clay or silly putty
• Wind up toys

• Kinetic sand (our favorite for easy clean up!)
• Rice bin, find hidden objects
• If your students put things in their mouths you can put it in a zip lock bag (e.g. play do)

3) Physical activity to increase attention– Children were designed to move and not to sit all day. There are many ways to increase movement in your classroom without loosing control of it. 15-20 minutes should be the maximum time spent sitting at a time.

• Include jumping to count or say the alphabet
• Divide worksheets into thirds and when one is done they get up to get the next part
• Include a dance break with some music, even 1-2 minutes can make a big difference

• For the child that needs more have them run an errand (carrying a box of books, pushing or pulling heavy cart to really activate their muscles)
• Classroom chores (washing desks, empty garbage, cleaning white boards)
• Standing desks

• Desk Cycle

• Stand and stretch
• Passing out papers

Sensory Smart Classroom Secrets Part 1 covers changes to the classroom environment to make it more sensory friendly and in Part 3 I will cover tricks for smooth transitions .

Blog Article: Sensory Smart Classroom Secrets Part 1 – Classroom Environment

Blog Article: Sensory Smart Classroom Secrets Part 3 – Transition Tips and Tricks

Next Step:

If you need additional help contact  us at  (509) 888-7435 or at marykostka@ohanacenter.com to set up a Skype consultation and pay here.

 

Mary Kostka is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist specializing in Sensory Processing Disorders at  her  private practice, ‘Ohana Occupational Therapy, LLC,   in Wenatchee and Leavenworth Washington, USA She has over 29 years of experience with assisting teachers with making their classrooms sensory friendly.

OhanaOt.com
‘Ohana Occupational Therapy, LLC
1139 N Princeton Suite B
Wenatchee, WA 98801
Ph: 509-888-7435
Fax: 509-888-7674

At our ‘Ohana OT pediatric clinic we see over 100 children per week with Sensory Processing Disorder. Most of these children are overly sensitive to light, visual clutter, sound, and touch. This oversensitivity triggers a neurological flight/flight/freeze/or shut down reaction similar to suddenly discovering a spider on your body. You might smack it off of you (fight), panic and run out of the room (flight), panic and not be able to move (freeze), or completely shut down /pass out. Your students who have sensory processing disorder are reacting in this way to ordinary environmental stimulation in the school setting. They are unable to control this neurological reaction and it looks exactly like naughty behavior (e.g. hitting, running away, hiding, yelling, not answering you, not paying attention, staring).   Here  are some simple things that can be done to help to create an ambiance in your classroom that will reduce this neurological reaction and promote learning.

1) Turn off florescent lighting and replace with natural lighting and lamps whenever possible. Sensory kids hear the buzzing and see the flicker that we do not notice and it stresses them out all day leaving their nerves frazzled. In our clinic we see the positive effects of turning off florescent lighting everyday. You can also decrease the brightness of florescent lighting with light covers such as the one below.

 

2) Reduce visual clutter. Make sure there is some part of your classroom where the eyes can rest. Leave some areas blank with nothing on the wall. Sensory kids will also benefit from having an “office” made from taping two folders together to make a visual block from their peers when needing to focus on their work. This is a great tool for all kids.

3) Reduce noise in the classroom with sound absorbing rugs, curtains and furniture such as bean bags and an upholstered chair. Sensory kids have supersonic hearing and it is as if the volume of every sound is turned way up.

4) Have noise reduction headphones available hanging on a hook for student to use whenever they need to. This is especially helpful when there is a fire alarm (which tends to be very traumatic and painful for sensory kids) and anytime where there is too much noise for the student (e.g. assemblies). Here are the ones we use in our clinic

5) To avoid unexpected touch, allow your sensory kids to be first or last in a line and at the end of a row of desks. Also do not seat them near the noisy parts of the classroom such as by the door or near a fan.

6) Create a safe cozy spot in the classroom to retreat to in order to get away from the light, noise and other children. This could be created with bookshelves in a corner, a folding pup tent, or a sheet draped above the area for “shade” from the lights. Put in a soft rug and some big pillows and you have a place for your kids to feel comfortable when they are feeling over stimulated. It is important that sensory kids can have access to this space when they need it.

In Parts 2 and 3 I  address how to provide the body with calming sensory input in the classroom and tricks for smooth transitions.

Blog Article: Sensory Smart Classroom Secrets Part 2 – Calming the Student’s Body 

Blog Article: Sensory Smart Classroom Secrets Part 3 – Transition Tips and Tricks

Next Step:

If you need additional help contact  us at  (509) 888-7435 or at marykostka@ohanacenter.com to set up a Skype consultation and pay here.

Mary Kostka is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist specializing in Sensory Processing Disorders at  her  private practice, ‘Ohana Occupational Therapy, LLC,   in Wenatchee and Leavenworth Washington, USA She has over 29 years of experience with assisting teachers with making their classrooms sensory friendly.

OhanaOt.com
‘Ohana Occupational Therapy, LLC
1139 N Princeton Suite B
Wenatchee, WA 98801
Ph: 509-888-7435
Fax: 509-888-7674