An Inside Look at Speech Therapy from the Folks at KidsCare Therapy

In May, KidsCare Therapy continues to celebrate our amazing therapists by partnering with Avant Garde Parenting for Better Hearing and Speech Month! Over the coming weeks, we’ll be featuring—you guessed it—speech therapy services. You’ll learn about a speech therapist’s scope of treatment and the various ways they help children overcome a wide range of developmental delays. By the end of the month, we hope you are equipped with the tools to identify a child that could benefit from speech therapy services.

Just as with occupational therapy, speech therapy’s scope of treatment is very broad and contains some surprises. As their title suggests, speech therapists treat speech and language disorders. What might surprise you is that speech therapists also treat feeding and swallowing disorders, called “dysphagia”. This is the same for both adult and pediatric patients, although the focus of treatment will likely vary. Speech therapy in adults is typically more rehabilitation-based, where as pediatric patients are typically learning skills for the first time.

As in occupational therapy, the goal is to help children develop into fully-functioning independent adults by developing necessary life skills—in this case, communication and feeding skills. By giving a child effective communication skills, he or she is able to express their needs and wants, especially those that are medical. Feeding skills are vital in allowing a child to gain nutrition for appropriate weight gain and growth.

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Occupational Therapy: Proactive Parenting Tips and An Autism Success Story!

A hot and humid “Howdy!” from KidsCare Therapy in Dallas/Fort Worth, where the temperatures are getting higher and higher! In our last post you learned all about pediatric occupational therapy—why and how an occupational therapist helps children. This week, we are going to review some of the things an occupational therapist regularly sees when treating patients.  We will also let you know about some of the most important developmental milestones your child should be reaching and at what age these milestones occur. You’ll also learn a few tips from our in-house OT clinical manager that you can use to ensure that your child continues to develop and thrive on target!  And, of course, we’ll have another inspiring success story where you can see the real-life benefits of home health services.

As you know, an occupational therapist treats a wide array of conditions—everything from sensory processing disorder to autism. As a review, below are some of the more common conditions treated by an OT:

• Developmental delays
• Cerebral Palsy and other neurologic disorders
• Autism and other spectrum disorders
• Down Syndrome and other genetic disorders
• ADD/ADHD and learning disabilities

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Family Traditions

I'm so excited to bring you a guest post from Dr. Abigail Brenner, the co-author of The Essential Guide to Baby's First Year. She's written a wonderful piece on the importance of family traditions and gives parents tips for creating and keeping traditions alive. Enjoy!

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5 Ways to Create Family Tradition and 5 Reasons Why We Should
By Abigail Brenner, M.D.
Co-Author of The Essential Guide to Baby's First Year

Life today is so fast-paced and demanding, it’s important that we find ways to reconnect with each other on a daily basis. Establishing family traditions helps us do just that. Traditions are those special times that bring families together, allowing us to express unity as a family and to create bonds that last a lifetime. Since every family unit is unique unto itself, the traditions created by each family are sure to be unique and special to the whole family unit as well as to each of its members individually.

Focus traditions around daily activities
You can utilize every day rituals, the activities and routine of daily living, to establish family traditions. These might include rituals surrounding bedtime. Talking, reading, snuggling up together, and saying a prayer are things to look forward to on a regular basis.

Spending time alone with each child, such as having dinner with individual children or doing a hobby or project together personalizes experiences and affords parents the opportunity to recognize and encourage each child’s special qualities. Weekly family meetings (perhaps with a favorite dinner) allows for discussion of upcoming schedules and activities for each family member and provides a forum to air differences, raise important issues, and plan ahead for the family.

Create a yearly family tradition
These outings can include camping, hiking, or going fishing at the first sign of spring. The first ballgame of the season is often an event anticipated weeks ahead of time. A picnic to a favorite place or a backyard BBQ for friends and neighbors can create an atmosphere of cooperation in the planning and preparation for the event.

The entire family can participate in a “spring cleaning” day around the house, or perhaps a day annually or monthly to lend a hand within the community.

Take an annual family vacation
Family trips can include traveling to reunions to visit with extended family. An annual vacation may be purely for rest, relaxation, and fun, or may have an educational bent, such as a visit to a cultural/historical site or one that reflects a specific place or event that is being studied in school.

What’s important is that each family member has an opportunity to weigh in on choosing where the family should go. Family trips can also have themes, such as ecology, learning about the environment, working on a farm or ranch, or “service trips” such as helping a community at home or abroad.

Use your family history
These traditions provide a sense of continuity and cultural identity and allow us to explore the similarities, the things that resonate within each of us individually, with our ancestors. Visiting the cemetery to the gravesites of family members is common to many cultures and affords the family a time to honor and remember those who have gone before us.

Beyond hearing stories about one’s ancestors, making a trip of “discovery” to the mother country, the home of one’s ancestors, puts families up close and personal with the land and landmarks of one’s relatives.

Family objects and artifacts, things inherited from family members (Bibles, wine cups, candlesticks, baptismal outfits, Christmas ornaments, etc.) can be incorporated into family rituals and ceremonies.

Start a holiday tradition
Birthdays, anniversaries, and other personal family events are occasions to establish any number of traditions, such as a favorite cake or meal, or visiting a place closely associated with the event.

Annual religious and national rituals and ceremonies provide unity in community, celebrating with those who share ideas and beliefs. Beyond what we have in common, though, families can learn together about other spiritual traditions by visiting local houses of worship and participating in holidays and celebrations of other traditions. This practice encourages tolerance, acceptance, and diversity.

There’s no doubt that the benefits of establishing family traditions go well beyond spending time together. These are five reasons why we should create family traditions.

1. Traditions establish and strengthen family bonds by providing a solid structure, a sense of continuity, and a feeling of belonging.
2. Family teaches values. Traditions support and communicate a family’s belief system. They instill faith and convey the family’s perspective on life experiences.
3. The immediate family serves as your witnesses through life’s transitions, sharing and committing to each other in times of joy and celebrations and lending support and comfort through crises, disappointments, and losses.
4. A healthy family unit is a vital force in the nurturing and molding of a child’s identity. Family traditions are a sound way to foster a sense of stability and security and this contributes to the emotional health, self-esteem, and self-respect of family members.
5. The family serves as the model for all interpersonal relationships. The way an individual is cared for, supported, encouraged, allowed to express and be themselves in the family, or not, enormously influences the choices and decisions an individual makes moving into the future.

Family traditions are part of the “language” of a family, a short-hand, symbolic way of relating that everyone understands. As life moves forward and people grow and change, family traditions keep us connected. For sure, they create memories for everyone to share for a lifetime, and even beyond.

Copyright © 2011 Abigail Brenner, M.D., co-author of The Essential Guide to Baby's First Year.

Author Bio
Abigail Brenner, M.D., co-author of The Essential Guide To Baby's First Year, is a board certified psychiatrist currently in private practice as well as an ordained interfaith minister who helps people design, create, and perform personally meaningful rituals. She is also author of  SHIFT: How to Deal When Life Changes, and the author of Transitions: How Women Embrace Change and Celebrate Life.

For more information please visit http://www.abigailbrenner.com and follow the author on Twitter or Facebook

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Happy National Occupational Therapy Month!

April is National Occupational Therapy Month! Here at KidsCare Therapy, we can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to partner with Avant Garde Parenting to educate parents all over the country about this incredible service we’ve been offering children in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Perhaps you’ll even discover how occupational therapy can help a child you know succeed in everyday life!

When you think of occupational therapy, what comes to mind? What do you think an occupational therapist does? (Hint: they do not help people choose a career!) Of the three disciplines KidsCare Therapy offers (speech, physical and occupational therapy), there seems to be the least familiarity with the role of occupational therapy, especially in pediatric patients.

In its most basic form, occupational therapy helps people fully develop the tasks that occupy their time. What do you spend most of your day doing? Most of you would say work occupies a majority of your time, whether that is in a professional environment or in the home. An occupational therapist assists in the development of skills that are crucial to success in this area. In pediatric occupational therapy, the goal is to help children develop into fully-functioning independent adults by developing necessary life skills. And what better way to accomplish this than through what occupies most children’s time—play! Playing is essentially the job of a child, after all. By creating games and activities that incorporate the development fine motor skills—grasping and pointing, just to name a few—occupational therapists are laying the groundwork for mastery of important tasks such as handwriting, using utensils to eat, and bathing.  

And because our daily interactions are not just limited to objects, occupational therapists also focus on how children relate to other individuals. Activities can be centered around learning to take turns and increasing comfort while engaging in social exchanges with another person. They will also address attention deficits and behavioral concerns. Therapy helps prolong attention to, and increase participation in, everyday tasks.

The ability to thrive requires problem-solving skills as well. Occupational therapy is instrumental in helping children not only recognize a problem, but also fully comprehend the issue and develop a strategy to overcome it. Occupational therapists also address trunk and upper extremity weakness, or a lack of strength in the shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, and torso. Without first developing the muscles in these parts of the body, everyday tasks are nearly impossible.

The very nature of occupational therapy makes the home an ideal setting in which to administer it—therapists are able to incorporate objects from the child’s own home into treatment. This means that a child is able to learn how to correctly use their own toys. In addition, they are learning to eat at their own table, with their own utensils, and they are potty trained in their own bathroom.

As you’ll learn in the following success story, many children seen by occupational therapists suffer from sensory-processing disorders. Home health has proved to be extremely successful for these patients, and one of our occupational therapists will explain how she worked in the child’s natural environment to overcome many of the problems he was facing.

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Three-year old Chris was referred to occupational therapy by his speech therapist due to concerns with his poor behavior, decreased attention, and possible sensory processing difficulties.  When he began OT services, he frequently bounced between activities, was overly focused on certain play items (Thomas the Train, Cars), used only a few intelligible words, was sensitive to touch (disliked brushing teeth/hair and haircuts; didn’t like messy hands), and was sensitive to sounds (held hands over his ears often).  He was a picky eater, delayed in potty training, behind on fine motor skills (grasp, drawing, snipping, & stringing beads), frequently threw tantrums, and preferred to play alone. 

OT treatment involved structured play which incorporated his special interests to increase his focus and motivation to try new things, alternating between sit-down and movement activities to increase his attention, play with textured or messy materials, and the use of songs involving touch (“Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes”) to decrease touch sensitivity. Also utilized were oral-motor/mouth activities (horns, whistles, bubbles, food play) to decrease sensitivity for brushing teeth and eating different foods, Therapeutic Listening ® (the use of modulated music on headphones) to decrease sound sensitivity and increase language and attention skills, practice of fine motor and self-care skills, behavior modification strategies (structure, choices, rewards, limits), and modeling of proper social interaction skills.  With skilled OT intervention, home activities, caregiver education, and coordination with his treating Speech Therapist, Chris was discharged from both OT and ST services after one year.  He is now able to participate in all age-appropriate tasks, has normal language skills, has fewer behavioral outbursts, attends well, and can play appropriately with his family and peers and with increased interest.

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Be sure to check back for our next posting, where we’ll talk about some of the more common conditions seen by occupational therapists, developmental red flags of which you should be aware, and some tips from our in-office occupational therapist to assist your child in proper development. In addition, we’ll be sharing another success story where you’ll learn about how OT services helped a child overcome some of the problems that come along with Autism. You won’t want to miss it!

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Series on In-Home Therapy and Special Needs

One of the questions I'm asked most often is about special needs. What are the red flags, what are good resources, what are treatment options? The quick answer is: special needs could be (and often is) an entire blog or website on its own! Truly, though, special needs is a topic that Avant Garde Parenting should cover, so guess what? I’m bringing in the experts! 

I couldn’t be more excited to announce a new collaboration with KidsCare Therapy. KidsCare are the home health experts in Dallas/Fort Worth- they provide in-home speech, physical, and occupational therapy to children with all sorts of needs. They’ve so kindly agreed to partner with Avant Garde Parenting to bring you top notch information regarding:

• Common and not-so-common conditions
• Benefits of in-home therapy
• State of the art treatment options
• Developmental milestones for young children
• Common warning signs to be aware of
• Success stories from real parents and children with special needs

So, in addition to the great posts about parenting and child development that you’re used to on Avant Garde Parenting, over the next three months you’ll also get to read about how three types of therapy- occupational, speech, and physical- enrich the lives of children every day. 

Get excited Avant Garde Parenting readers- and get ready for some great information!

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Is Your Child Serious? That's Healthy!

Today I have a guest post from Dr. Leslie R. Martin, a researcher from La Sierra University in California. She's the co-author of The Longevity Project, a book that chronicles a study that sought to understand precisely what makes some of us live longer than others - fascinating.


Read on as she describes why parents shouldn't necessarily worry if they have a kiddo who seems to be more serious than his peers - it may not be a bad thing!

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Is Your Child Serious? That's Healthy!

By Leslie R. Martin, Ph.D.,
Author of The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study

About a week ago I attended a party. Most of the attendees were parents and the discussion quickly turned to temperaments: whose babies slept through the night; whose little girls wore pants and whose refused anything but dresses; whose kids were cheerful and full of laughter and whose were more thoughtful and solemn. The matter of cheerfulness versus seriousness fascinated these parents because they saw it as something indicative of who the child was, and what he or she would become.

Science confirms that temperament is indeed present from the very first moments of life and can be seen in the different ways that babies react to things in their environments. Some infants startle easily while others seem nonplussed by sudden movements or loud noises; some infants are difficult to soothe once there emotions have been aroused while others are quickly mollified and return to whatever they had been doing before. Some toddlers are very cheery, with the infectious laughter of a gleeful or mischievous tot. Equally contagious is the toothy grin of a 10-year-old after telling a clever joke. Cheerful, laughing kids provide reassurance to parents that life is good for the child.

It's not surprising, then, some parents expressed concern about their children who seemed OK but were more serious, that is, the children who laughed, smiled, and joked less than their more exuberant peers. "It makes me wonder sometimes if something's wrong with him," "I feel like maybe I should try to pry it out of her," "I encourage him to go and have fun with his friends, but he'll never be the life of the party", and "I hope I haven't done something to make her so serious and focused; I guess I haven't set a great example in this area though; I'm not much of a partier myself."

Sure, even young children can occasionally become depressed and retreat into their rooms, sleeping too much or eating too much, fidgeting anxiously, and feeling worthless. But this is uncommon and is quite different from simply being serious, focused, and not silly. More important than any particular characteristic is the child's comfort level with the trait. If a child is on the serious side but seems content, involved with friends or clubs or sports, and well-adjusted otherwise, there's probably nothing to worry about. In fact, we found that such children may be exceptionally healthy.

In The Longevity Project we studied more than 1,500 children as they grew up and passed through their adolescence, adulthoods, and into old age. Being more serious as a child was not a risk factor for earlier mortality -- in fact the reverse was actually true! The very cheerful, optimistic, and humorous kids had shorter life spans, on average, than their more sober counterparts -- in part because they later took poorer care of their health and tended to smoke and drink more, among other things.

So, except in cases where additional warning signs are present, parents of serious children can relax. Not everyone is a Charlie Chaplin or an Adam Sandler and really, think about it -- shouldn't we all be thankful for this?! Some people are simply more high-spirited than others and these differences start early. Scoring a little lower on the humor-meter is not a bad thing; and our surprising research shows that it may actually be good for one's health. Parenting is tough, and there are lots of things to worry about, but this isn't one of them.

© 2011 Leslie R. Martin, Ph.D., author of The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study

Author Bios

Howard S. Friedman, Ph.D., author of The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study, graduated from Yale and was awarded the National Science Foundation graduate fellowship for his doctoral work at Harvard.  He is currently Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and has been honored with major awards by the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science.

Dr. Friedman has edited and written a dozen books and 150 scientific articles and has been named a "most-cited psychologist" by the Institute of Scientific Information.  His health and longevity research has been featured in publications worldwide.  He lives near San Diego, California

Leslie R. Martin, Ph.D., co-author of The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study, graduated summa cum laude from California State University, San Bernadino, and received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside.  Currently, she is a professor of psychology at La Sierra University, where she received the Distinguished Researcher Award and the Anderson Award for Excellence in Teaching.  Dr. Martin is also a research psychologist at the University of California, Riverside, and a key associate in Professor Friedman's longevity studies.

An avid traveler, Dr. Martin climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2005, and recently completed the 151-mile Marathon des Sables across the Moroccan Sahara.  She lives in Riverside, California.

For more information please visit http://www.howardsfriedman.com/longevityproject/ and follow the authors on Facebook and Twitter

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Parent of the Week: Erica

I’ve got an extra special Parent of the Week- Erica. She’s an American. Who married an Englishman. Who now lives in the UK. Everybody now! But really, Erica has had some amazing adventures traveling back and forth with her kids, and, let's be honest, she deserves a trophy for even attempting it!

Tell me about your children.

I currently have 2.3 children. Joel is 3 and a half. He is the dream first child! So much fun. Interested in everything, very chatty and full of energy. Alice is just over 1. And again full of personality. She is very determined and loves her mummy! And baby number 3 is due in early May.

How did you meet your husband and wind up all the way in the UK?

I studied abroad in London for six weeks one summer. I met Phil the first weekend I was here and fell for him straight away. We got engaged 4 months later, (its not easy to date someone in a different country. Even a phone call was a challenge with a 6 hour time change!) and married 3 months later. Then I moved to London.

Can you see any big differences between American and UK parents?

It’s really difficult to say because America is really big and everyone has such different styles/ attitudes, but the most noticeable thing is maternity leave. Here mothers get a year off with each child. They are paid during this time and guaranteed their job when they return. Plus most jobs are very flexible with part-time/ job shares for parents who choose to return to work. I do stay home full time, but it means that there are lots of mums around me with little ones. I think this has helped with my transition into parenthood because I was surrounded by experienced mums. They helped with the cultural differences.

Have you traveled to the US with your kids? How did the trip go/What's your best tip for traveling with kids?

I’ve done 4 transatlantic trips with kids. Two with babies, one by myself with an 18 month old and one trip with my husband with both kids. I won’t lie; it’s a really long flight. At best it is 11 hours. Plus you have the journey on either side to and from the airport. Lots of food helps. Once they hit the magic age of about 18 moths and start to watch TV it gets much easier. Otherwise just go with a positive attitude and be prepared for the worst. Then I am always pleasantly surprised that it was easier than I expected. Sadly the hard work awaits you when you arrive. It’s the time change that my kids always find the hardest!

Tell me a funny story about one of the kiddos.

Joel has started asking "why" to everything! So I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Joel- I'm hungry

me- why?

Joel- cause I want something to eat.

me- why?

Joel- stop being ridiculous mummy!

What American comfort items do you miss?

I am starting to miss less and less these days. There is always the feeling here that I am foreign so I guess I miss feeling normal. Something most people don’t ever think about. I am always the one with the funny accent! But I love it here, and I love that I get to live in such a great country! It feels like I am on always on an amazing adventure!

- Oh and I love Butterfingers! If anyone makes a trip to the US I always ask them to bring one back!!

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Avant Garde Parenting on the Net!

Do people even say 'on the net' anymore? I think I just dated myself. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I have TWO guest features out at two great blogs today! 


First, head on over to Travel Babbles. Have you been wondering what makes me laugh until I snot? I know you have. Well, in my guest post at Travel Babbles, you'll find out. AND it's a video. With a link. So, dear readers, you too, can laugh until you snot. We can all snot together.

Then, head over to Mountain Mum (hey, wasn't she a Parent of the Week?) and check out a great kid friendly recipe that will make you a huge hit at parties. I'm not kidding. This recipe is sure to increase your popularity with kids and adults alike. Plus, it's fun, easy to have kids help you with, and NOT MESSY. Yes, you read that correctly.




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