Occupational Therapy

Astronaut Training is a program designed to directly impact the vestibular, visual, and auditory systems. The protocol takes into account the interconnectedness of how the three systems work together to bring meaning to our world and motivate us to move, explore, and interact with the environment. During the Astronaut Training, the child is spun around on a board while listening to specialized music, both in seated and in side-lying positions, to elicit reflexive eye movements (nystagmus) in preparation for purposeful visual activities. By combining these powerful senses (vestibular-auditory-visual triad), the benefits include improving a child’s regulation/organization, spatial awareness, and general movement abilities for more optimal functioning at home, in school and in the community.

For additional information please visit,  https://www.astronautboards.com/

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) uses small electrical signals to stimulate the nerves, causing the muscles to contract and produce a movement. FES can improve muscle mass and strength, spasticity, passive range of motion, upper and lower extremity function, and standing/walking abilities. When placed on multiple muscles that work together in function, the child will motor learn this movement when practiced over time.

For additional information please visit:
https://www.cerebralpalsyguidance.com/cerebral-palsy/treatment/functional-electrical-stimulation/

We use a multi-sensory approach to helping a child improve their handwriting abilities for increased academic success. Our occupational therapists combine their training in sensory integration and neurodevelopmental treatment with the development of fine motor and visual motor integration skills to create a handwriting program unique to each child. In addition to creating individualized handwriting programs, our occupational therapists are also trained in both Handwriting without Tears and Loops and Other Groups curriculums.

The Alert Program uses a kid friendly approach to promoting awareness of how we regulate our arousal states and encourages the use of sensorimotor strategies to manage our levels of alertness. Our Alert Program trained occupational therapists use a series of lessons and activities that incorporate sensory integration techniques with cognitive approaches to help children learn to monitor, maintain, and change their level of alertness (behavior) to enhance a child’s ability to be successful in learning, interacting with others, and playing within our environment. Benefits also include building self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-monitoring skills for optimal functioning in meaningful activities.

For additional information please visit  https://www.alertprogram.com/parents/

Kinesio Taping is a therapy technique that helps to provide support and stability for muscles and joints without preventing them from moving. It helps to prolong the benefits of a therapy session. It can be worn for several days and is safe and non-invasive. Kinesio tape can help to relieve pain, decrease inflammation, re-educate the neuromuscular system, and promote circulation and healing. The tape is applied specifically for each client based on what their therapy needs are.

Sensory integration is the ability to take information from one’s senses and organize it to perform a motor or behavioral response. Sensory input is essential for optimal brain function. There are several different types of sensory systems including visual, auditory, vestibular, proprioceptive, ora

The messages received from each sensory system impacts a child’s overall functioning. Children may experience decreased ability with competency in sensory integration. A child that has difficulty processing incoming information from their senses may demonstrate difficulty executing appropriate responses for successful participation in daily activities.

Sensory Systems

Visual System: The visual systemprovides both temporal and spatial information. The ability to process visual input is essential to feeling secure in your environment. It allows a child to learn where they are, what is happening within their environment, and what may happen at any moment.Children with difficulty processing visual input may prefer to be in the dark, express discomfort with or avoid bright lights, have difficulty navigating through environments, be unable to put puzzles together or cover their eyes or squint to protect eyes from light.

Auditory System: The auditory system helps to facilitate communication and determine where sounds are coming from. Children with difficulty processing auditory input may hold hands over ears to protect ears from sound, appear not to hear what you are saying (i.e., appears to ignore you), or have trouble completing tasks when there is background noises present.

Vestibular Sense: The vestibular system provides information about gravity, balance and movement in space. Children with difficulty processing vestibular input may display fear when their feet leave the ground, dislike playground activities, or dislike riding in cars. Alternatively, they may continuously rock, spin, and/or bounce or may enjoy intense movement experiences that tends to infer with their ability to participate in functional activities.

Proprioceptive System: The proprioceptive system provides information to a child’s muscles and joints for awareness of movement and body position. Children with difficulty processing proprioceptive input may purposely bump and crash into objects within their environment, they may frequently break toys, or have difficulty judging how much force to use to perform various tasks like opening/closing a door.

Oral System: The oral system applies to textures, tastes, and temperature, which enter the mouth. Children with difficulty processing oral input may be a picky eater. They may avoid or crave certain foods, routinely smell non-food objects or gag easily with food textures or utensils in their mouth.

Tactile System: The tactile system provides information about touch. The touch sensation can be processed as light or deep pressure. The ability to processes touch from one’s environment is essential for body awareness and motor planning as well as social skills. Children with difficulty processing tactile input may refuse to participate in activities that are messy, withdraw from groups and resist playing with others, or they may display an increased need to touch objects or people within their environment to the point of annoying others.

Olfactory System: The olfactory system relates to a child’s ability to smell odors. A child with olfactory dysfunction may have difficulty discriminating odors, crave certain smells, or may negatively respond to certain foods, perfume or household cleaning products.

Here are some questions to ask about your child’s behavior….

• Why does my child frequently take risks, jump or crash into furniture?
• Why does my child only eat certain foods?
• Why does my child cry and become upset with loud noises (i.e., vacuum)?
• Why does my child only wear certain clothes?
• Why does my child have difficulty calming or falling asleep?
• Why does my child become upset in busy or crowded places?

Do you think your child may have sensory processing difficulties? Are they having difficulty performing daily routines? Occupational therapy that focuses on sensory integration is tailored to a child’s needs, as it impedes upon occupations at home, in play, at school and/or in the community. Activities implemented are a combination of sensory experiences that specifically target the child’s system(s) that are not functioning efficiently for optimal performance in all environments. By providing sensory input in a controlled and safe manor, a child can begin to process the information in order to elicit an appropriate adaptive response. Over time, children can begin to successfully engage in meaningful tasks and daily occupations – resulting in improved self-esteem and self-confidence.

“The Listening Program^®"(TLP) is a music listening method, personalized to improve brain fitness at any age or level of ability.”⁽¹⁾  It is a home based auditory training method based on the sound theories of Dr. Alfred Tomatis.

The brain has an ability to change itself in response to experiences. This is called neuroplasticity and occurs throughout your life. Scientists have found, through functional imaging of the brain, that the entire brain is involved when listening to music, not only the auditory cortex. It affects:

• The Prefrontal Cortex: In charge of abstract thinking and thought analysis, it is also responsible for regulating behavior. Additionally, the PFC helps to focus thoughts, which enables people to pay attention, learn, and concentrate on goals.
• Motor Cortex: Involved in the planning, control, and execution of voluntary motor processes.
• Auditory Cortex: The part of the >brain that processes and understands sounds. If a person lacks the ability to process sounds, noise seems to be jumbled and meaningless.
• Sensory Cortex: It receives and interprets sense of touch. Among its main functions are to interact with the physical environment by sensing temperature, pressure and touch.
• Visual Cortex: Responsible for processing visual information into an image that the person sees. The primary visual cortex is responsible for associating these images with items the person knows.
• Cerebellum: Controls motor movement coordination, balance, equilibrium and muscle tone. It also relays information between body muscles and areas of the cerebral cortex that are involved in motor control.
• Hippocampus: Involved in memory forming, organizing, and storing. It is important in forming new memories and connecting emotions and senses, such as smell and sound, to memories.
• Amydala: Involved in many of our emotions and motivations, particularly those that are related to survival. It processes emotions such as fear, anger, and pleasure. The amygdala is responsible for determining what memories are stored and where the memories are stored in the brain.
• Corpus Callosum: Is a thick band of nerve fibers that divides the cerebrum into left and right hemispheres. It connects the left and right sides of the brain allowing for communication between both hemispheres. The corpus callosum transfers motor, sensory, and cognitive information between the brain hemispheres.
• Autonomic Nervous System: The control system that unconsciously regulates the heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, pupillary response, urination, and sexual arousal.
• Vestibular System: Controls balance and equilibrium and processes sensory information and alerts the body to changes in movement via the central nervous system.

Areas targeted for improvement are:

• Improved social skills
• Improved communication skills
• Enhanced ability to focus
• Ability to make transitions or changes in routine easier
• Increased engagement in the world
• Improvements in sleeping
• Regulation of hunger and thirst cycle regularity
• Toilet training/cessation of bed wetting
• Regulation of mood and energy level (overall a happier child, less irritable, less hyperactivity or low arousal)
• Improved ability to respond to sounds and verbal directions
• Increased participation in and exploration of playground equipment (swings, slides, climbing structures)

The program is easily implemented at home. Your child listens to the CD’s for 15 minutes twice daily for 10 weeks. Our TLP trained providers will supervise your child’s progression through the program.

For further information, please visit the TLP website at https://advancedbrain.com/the-listening-program/.