Circle of Concern/Influence

I have been trying to teach my social groups about being proactive.  I am so tired of hearing excuse after excuse.  This lesson seemed to go over really well to help the students realize they do have control over things in their life.

Click on the picture for the full lesson plan.

Chewing gum lowers stress

I have suggested students chew gum for years.  I love that science is finally catching up to what we as Occupational Therapists have used for years.  

Click picture for research article

Email Communication

This was the lesson I did with my social group this week.  We had an incident where some group members had inappropriate email communication with each other.  As I was teaching the lesson, I realized that the parts of an effective email correlate well with the "conversation train" I've used earlier this year.  It seemed to struck a cord with the students.  This is a very important skill for all students to understand.

Click on picture for PDF of the lesson

Is it behavior or is it sensory?

This is a common question.  I work in the schools, and everyone wants to say that a behavior is sensory based.  Many times this is not true.  Sensory treatment can't solve all issues when there is a true behavior management problem.  Check out this venn diagram to help you determine what is the function of a behavior you are observing.

Click picture for file

Coping Skills in School

     I find that many students need coping skills to handle their emotions.  When students are upset, it is very difficult to reason with them.  I have had good success with teaching students coping skills to help change their emotional state.  The biggest hurdle for these students is to actually put into practice the skills we have practiced when they are calm.  Visual cues can be very helpful for these students.  I made up this visual support.

     I plan on making this a flip book with the "When I feel" page the front cover, and "Now I feel" at the end.  Cut each page in half and attach them together.

I'll let you know how it works.

Click on the picture for downloadable file

Evaluation Checklist

I created this checklist to make sure I cover everything when interviewing parents.  I've included all the information needed to fill out a PEDI for functional skills.

Click on picture for PDF

Vision Therapy

I end up making a lot of referrals to vision therapy, so I correlated some information and made a handout for my students.

Click on the picture for printable handout.