Mary Kostka, Author at Ohana OT Pediatric Therapy in Wenatchee

‘Ohana OT’s Roots, a Tribute to Mary’s Father

October 15, 2015 By Mary Kostka Leave a Comment

Today is my Dad’s (Dick Dunphy’s) 75^th birthday and if he was still alive today he would be so excited about our two ‘Ohana OT clinics and all the great progress the kids are experiencing! There would be no ‘Ohana OT without the huge impact my parents and younger sister have had on me. Since it is my Dad’s birthday today I want you all to know how he influenced me.

I was raised with the idea that anything is possible! I was born into adventure in Southern California and lived there my first 10 yrs. My Mom and Dad met skydiving. Dad was my Mom’s skydiving instructor.

He was always building something. He built a lot of dune buggies and raced them with Mom as a co-pilot.We spent most weekends camping in the desert by the fire under the stars and chasing kangaroo rats at night.

I was basically a tomboy with my Dad teaching me how to use power tools from a young age. I learned a love of photography from him. We developed black and white photographs in our darkroom. I loved watching them magically appear. My Mom and Dad were very inventive and creative. Dad’s friend Ron Hawthorn, who was a very outgoing paraplegic and gave me lots of wheelchair rides growing up, wanted to learn to skydive. My Dad said “sure we will just have you do an ocean landing”.

My sister, Christy, was born with Cerebral Palsy and my parents made sure that her disability did not slow her down one bit. She now has two Master’s degrees! When she had a major surgery in 1^st grade and had to stay lying flat, my dad adapted a wheelchair with a board so that I could wheel her around the neighborhood and hang out with our friends. When she was 9 and still was unable to ride a bike he built her a special 3 wheel bike.

I also remember my dad adapting a golf cart and adding an engine lift to act like a Hoyer lift so that a family member, who used a wheelchair for mobility, would be able to be independent and safe going down the street. He was always full of creative and innovative solutions.

When I was 10 we moved to Romeoville, IL near Chicago. I continued to hang out in the garage learning from my dad. When I was 11 my he taught me to gas and arc weld. He always challenged me to solve problems and to be creative. He always thought in terms of “how CAN this be done” and never “it can’t be done”. Dad always enjoyed being out on the water and he adapted his pontoon boat so that a friend who was in a wheelchair could easily get on the boat and go with him. He named his boat “The Accessible 1”.

As I got older I toyed with many different career ideas from being a National Geographic Photographer , Mechanical Engineer, Forest Ranger to Marine Biologist. My mom helped me realize OT would be a great match for me. My Dad influenced me with his entrepreneurial spirit. He was almost always self employed in mechanical work. He was a risk taker and without that influence I would have never taken the leap of faith and huge financial risk to be in private practice. During my 20’s my parents had a business making homes and businesses accessible by installing ramps, stair glides and porch lifts. They enjoyed this business so very much because they could see such an immediate positive impact on the families.

When my parents closed their business, they moved to Washington to be closer to us. During the many years I worked in the schools, my Dad was always there to help me with whatever project I came up with. One of my favorite projects he did was to build a jig for Daniel (who has Down Syndrome) to build bird houses. Daniel has built over 1000 bird houses since then on that jig! The other day I was playing with the bubble machine and smiled when I looked at the handle that my Dad adapted for me 10 years ago to make it easier for the kids to turn the crank.

Dad loved to have fun and made sure others were having fun as well. If there is one word I hear our kids describe ‘Ohana OT and that is FUN!

He believed in us. He believed in others and persisted until they succeeded. My dad died of throat cancer when he was only 66 years old but he lives on through ‘Ohana OT everyday. It simply would not exist without his influence on my life. Thank you Dad and Happy Birthday! I love you!

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

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

5 Reasons Why Your Child Won’t Sit Still

March 16, 2015 By Mary Kostka Leave a Comment

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There are many reasons why a child will have difficulty sitting calmly in a chair. These are the most common problems I see that cause those wild wiggles!

1) The Chair Does Not Fit

Just like Goldilocks our children need a chair that is “just right”. The table or desk also need to be the correct height. Your child’s feet and back need to be supported. Have your child scoot back and see if if their back is supported and if the feet touch the ground. Just like us, children are not comfortable if their feet are dangling and they can’t lean back to rest. The correct table / desk height is even with your child’s elbow (with arms are down at their side). When the chair and desk do not fit children will get into all kinds of funny positions to try and get comfortable including: sitting on their leg, kneeling up in the chair, squatting in the chair or standing up. An easy fix for a chair that is too high is to add a foot rest. You can use old books duct taped together, a plastic box, or a short foot stool. If the seat is too deep you can add a pillow behind your child’s back. To keep it from slipping off the chair, hold it on with a T shirt or Sweatshirt over the pillow and back of the chair. This is an extremely common problem I see in schools and in the home at the dining table. A few small changes to make the chair and table or desk fit can make a world of difference for your child.

2) Poor Core Strength

Many children are not strong in their trunk which causes them to move a lot or slump and slide out of the chair. It takes more strength to be still than to move. You can screen your child’s core strength by seeing if he can lift up their arms and legs straight up off the floor while lying on their tummy and hold it for 20-30 seconds.

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The check for abdominal strength see if he can hold a curled up position while lying on his back for 20-60 seconds (knees and head up off the floor while hugging his body – not hugging the legs).

If this is difficult for your child see an Occupational Therapist for an evaluation.

3) Expecting your Child to Sit for Too Long

With academic expectations increasing with younger and younger children we are seeing a rise in the expectations for young children to sit for longer than what is appropriate for their age (both at home and school). Young children (elementary age) need to get up and move frequently. Ideally, children would not sit for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. A simple break from sitting such as getting up and jumping 10x does wonders for waking up the body and mind. In general, children need to move as much as possible in order for their bodies and brains to develop properly

4) Problems with Body Awareness

Sitting calmly requires and strong sense of where the body is in space. Receptors in the muscles and joints called “proprioceptors” tell the brain about the body’s position. This allows us to operate our bodies without having to pay close attention and watch ourselves move. This is a very automatic process that is not automatic for many children who have Sensory Processing Disorder. When the body is moving, these proprioceptors are more active than when the body is still. Some children simply need to move to have a sense of where their body is. An Occupational Therapist who specializes in Sensory Processing Disorder aka Sensory Integration Dysfunction can evaluate your child to see if this is the case. She can also help this important sensation mature and give you activities to help your child at home.

5) Problems with Sense of Balance and Movement

Many children have a very poor sense of balance and movement. This important sensation is located in the inner ear and it is called the vestibular sense. It is basically our inner compass that tells the body what direction it is moving, how fast, if we are tipping over and how much the muscles need to be active to support the amount of movement. This sense also tells the muscles what to do in order to hold us still. When this sensation is under responsive, children will be constantly on the move literally “bouncing off the walls’ in order to feel balanced or they may just seem to “melt” and let gravity pull them to the ground. They will often slide or fall out of the chair and appear lethargic or sluggish. An Occupational Therapist who specializes in Sensory Processing Disorder aka Sensory Integration Dysfunction can evaluate your child to see if your child has problems with the vestibular sense. She can also help this important sensation mature and give you activities to help your child at home.

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

How to Make a Ninja Stress Ball

January 24, 2015 By Mary Kostka Leave a Comment

This is a wonderful fine motor activity for both children and adults, you will need:
1) 4 Large balloons
2) 1 Plastic bag
3) Superglue
4) Scissors
5) Flour
6) 2 Plastic bottles

(See written instructions below the 2 videos.)

We learned this fun activity from our OT Katie Gallik today. Start by pouring the flour into the bottle up to the line (about 2″ from the bottom). Tap and squeeze the bottle to help it move. Blow up a balloon and twist it to hold in the air. Attach it to the bottle of flour. Tip the bottle over and shake the flour down into the balloon. Detach the balloon. Cut off the neck of the balloon. Put Superglue around the upper edge (it is OK if it drips). Cut the neck off another balloon and put it on over the first balloon covering the whole with the flour. Cut the neck off the third balloon and put it over the opening of the second balloon.

Finally, take the last balloon which will be the ninja “Mask” and cut the neck off of it then cut small holes in it. Place this balloon over the opening of the third balloon and your ninja ball is now complete!

This fun activity works on so many wonderful skills including:

Fine Motor Skills– Pinch and grip strengthening, cutting, and motor planning

Sensory skills– Touching different textures, a variety of smells and increased position sense (proprioception) with stretching the balloons and squeezing the Ninja Ball

Cognitive Skills– Following multistep directions, following precautions, memory, sequencing and sustained attention

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

Zip Tip! Easy way to teach zipping to kids

December 6, 2014 By Mary Kostka Leave a Comment

Our wonderful Occupational Therapy Assistant, Sandi Hendrickson, demonstrates a great way to teach zipping to children.

Filmed by Eli Mc Kernan, Viper Productions

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

Easy way for kids to put shoes on the correct feet

November 22, 2014 By Mary Kostka Leave a Comment

Filmed by Viper Productions (one of our OT clients )

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

‘Ohana Occupational Therapy

‘Ohana OT’s Roots, a Tribute to Mary’s Father

5 Reasons Why Your Child Won’t Sit Still

1) The Chair Does Not Fit

2) Poor Core Strength

3) Expecting your Child to Sit for Too Long

4) Problems with Body Awareness

5) Problems with Sense of Balance and Movement

How to Make a Ninja Stress Ball

Zip Tip! Easy way to teach zipping to kids

Easy way for kids to put shoes on the correct feet

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‘Ohana OT’s Roots, a Tribute to Mary’s Father