Holiday craft

This week the students in our SMI classroom did a fun project of making wrapping paper.  It was something that everyone could do and the end result was beautiful!  We have done this in years past and many of the families look forward to wrapping their gifts with their child's artwork. 

Using pine tree branches I wrapped the end in tape to avoid sap and needles getting on their hands.  For the students that have a weak grasp I added a foam grip.  We dipped the branches in 2 to 3 different green paints and the students tapped the branches on butcher paper.  After the paper is covered in green they then put their thumb or index finger in red paint and make "berries" all over the paper!

Sensory Room

Our district finally has a sensory room (make that 2)!  I have set both sensory rooms up in 2 different elementary schools and it has been quite an experience.  We have 5 stations: oral, visual, auditory, touch and movement.  We continue to gather equipment and supplies and I have used several websites to gain insight into what may be needed for the space.  I have included the links below.

We plan to have the sensory room be used in 3 ways: students have scheduled breaks through out the day prior to academics that are difficult for them or require sitting/concentrating for a long period of time, providing breaks when it appears they are beginning to feel frustrated or anxious before demonstrating negative behavior and it will be used as a reward for good work.

When entering the sensory room the student checks in by retrieving their own sensory card that will have the 5 stations on it, they will pick one of the stations, take the visual cue to the station area and remain there for a determined amount of time.  When their time is up they can chose to leave the area and return to class or chose 1 more station.  The student will only visit up to 2 station for each visit in the sensory room.  When they return again that day they will need to chose whatever stations remain on their card until all 5 stations have been visited.  At that point their card can be reloaded with all 5 stations.  This encourages exploration of all stations and a variety of activities.

Staff that accompanies the student to the sensory room will chart each visit by date/time/initial, what station they visited and the students response.  This will help us track what is effective for the student in preparing them for learning and in calming them.

I have also set up a communication board between staff to learn about the curriculum, "How Does Your Engine Run" where I will post a "tip of the week", new sensory room activity ideas and a "parking lot" for staff to leave questions and comments for me and/or others.

I took pictures of the sensory room at one of our schools, it still looks a little bare but it is in the early stages of the project and we hope to get more equipment soon!  (When there is money, and we all know how little of that there is!  Time for ingenuity!)

Occupational Therapy Innovations

Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs

How Does Your Engine Run

I have been using the curriculum, "How Does Your Engine Run", for several years to assist in teaching our students to identify where their body is running (high, low or just right) and what are some activities they can do to prepare their body for learning.  I love how easy the curriculum guides the students and how quickly they catch on to the terminology and understanding what their bodies need.  To support the curriculum I made a PowerPoint presentation to show our junior high students during a class.  I have now been using this 1:1 with students and with our smaller Engine Groups.  I am having difficulty uploading the PowerPoint to this post, so please email me and I can send it to you.  I apologize for the inconvenience! I have also included the link for the curriculum.  I highly recommend this for students with autism and sensory integration disorders!

How Does Your Engine Run Program

Handwriting made fun

I purchased a Crayola Dry Erase wipe off board and it has proven to be a total blast in our OT sessions!  I am sliding the Handwriting Without Tears worksheets in and have the students practice their writing on the wipe off board before slipping out the worksheet and trying it in pencil.  The kids love it, I'm saving paper and it's very motivating!!

Looking for help!

I'm reaching out for some tips today.  I have a visually impaired girl who will be going to the junior high next year.  We need to work on hygiene issues to improve her independence with taking care of herself.  Any ideas?  We need to work on facial care, hair, clothing selection, bathing, menstruation, etc.  She does not have a female at home to help her although dad is willing to do whatever is needed to help her.  Thoughts anyone?

A BLOG!

I have just started a graduate course on using technology in the classroom.  I am very excited about the idea of learning more about technology and how it can be useful to me and my students.  BUT...I am so nervous!  I have never heard of a blog before.  Much less how to use it.  So my 14 year old son sat down with me to help me get started (thanks Austin!).

I have a lot of ideas on how to use a blog, but to start I am hoping to use it as a networking site for all OT's, parents and teachers to come together and share ideas on how to best serve our students.  I have so many questions and many things to share with others and this will be a fun way to do this!

I am an OT in our school district.  I serve students K-9 with a wide range of diagnosis; autism, learning disabilities, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, moderate to severe cognitive disabilities, etc.  I absolutely love my job and feel very blessed with the staff, students and families I work with.

Today I did a craft activity at the junior high with my students in the SMI classroom.  I am pretty excited about our project and thought for those of you that incorporate craft into your time you may want to try!  We made tissue paper bowls and I have included the website link on my directory of resources.  Check it out!  We had a ton of fun today.