April 2015

April is Occupational Therapy Awareness Month in the USA and there has been much excitement and sharing among OT bloggers in the last few days!

So I have been getting caught up in the enthusiasm and thought I would share some here!

The best quote of my occupational therapy career came from a little boy in first grade, who was in therapy for his poor gross and fine motor skills.

After doing some activities with the big therapy ball, we settled down to do a scissor cutting activity. And the conversation went like this:

Boy: “Do you have a real job?”
Me: “This is my real job.”
Boy: “You mean you just play all day?!?!”

I still laugh out loud when I think of the incredulous way he said that! I loved the fact that I got to have fun with kids to help them!

There has been much chatter among fellow OT bloggers about what makes an occupational therapy activity different from a regular activity, and why doing a “therapy activity” at home does not mean you are doing therapy at home!

I have written my thoughts on Occupational Therapy vs Therapy Activities at Home. Please pop over and see what you think!

Still on the same wave of thought…There are lots of awesome mommy bloggers and teacher bloggers out there who have incredibly creative and resourceful ideas for activities that use fine motor skills. I could never hope to emulate those brilliant ideas!

But if your child is struggling with fine motor skills, those “fine motor” activities may not necessarily help them get better.

An occupational therapist, on the other hand, will analyze which components of fine motor skills your child is struggling with, and then comes up with an activity that is just right to meet those needs.

If you have not already read it, please read my article on why some fine motor activities are just plain frustrating to your child! Or to be put another way – why some “fine motor” activities don’t "work”!

Why Some Fine Motor Activities Help But Others Don't!

So, What's New?

I have shaken up my visual perception pages, though, so you can head over to read my refreshed, revised and revamped Visual Perceptual Skills page.

And you can be the first to read my new page about Visual Processing Disorder.

Exclusive Discounts!

They have generously given us a 30% discount on the regular prices through the bundle deals!

I've written reviews of each visual perceptual e-book and indicated how it can be used to help your kids strengthen their visual perceptual skills.

You can check them out on my own pages over here:

Visual Perceptual Printable Activities (for preschool and early kindergarten)

Visual Perceptual Worksheets (for kindergarten and early elementary)

Visual Motor Worksheets (from preschool to early elementary)

These are a worthwhile investment if you have any children who need to practice visual perceptual skills as you can print as many copies as you need for the kids in your home/class/therapy setting. I have used them a LOT and highly recommend them!

I have enjoyed writing this chattier-than-normal newsletter and sharing some of my love of occupational therapy with you!

A quick shout out to MamaOT, who has written about the 5 best things about being an occupational therapist. You can read them over here if you are interested!

Be blessed as you help the children in your life!

Tracey