Saddle Up! February 27, 2009

Did you know using a horse in conjunction with Occupational Therapy treatment has several benefits?

Essentially, therapy horses are used to facilitate movement and sensory experiences. It can be used with a variety of different diagnoses including individuals with Autism, Aspergers, ADD, ADHD, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, Sensory Processing difficulties, and many other Neurological and Orthopedic conditions.

The benefits include improved posture, muscle tone, balance, coordination, attention, motor planning, sensory processing, and many times improved speech and language. In addition the child develops a respect for animals and learns to connect emotionally with the horse.

The American Hippotherapy Association states that “hippotherapy is a physical, occupational, and speech therapy treatment strategy that utilizes equine movement as part of an integrated treatment program to achieve functional outcomes.”

Four lucky clients at KidWorks were recently chosen via a lottery to participate in our upcoming horse program. We hope it will be a valuable addition to our services and hope we will have the opportunity to do more in the future. Check back for more updates!

Resources

Latella, D. & Langrod, S. (2008). Hippotherapy: An Effective Approach to Occupational Therapy Intervention. OT Practice, Vol 13(2), 16-20.

Reading Program February 17, 2009

We are excited to announce the start of our reading program, which targets skills such as letter recognition, phonemic awareness, reading, spelling, sight words, and comprehension.  The program is taught by the wonderful Amanda Harpst, speech therapist, and is individualized for each student’s needs and grade level.

The program consists of 8 one-on-one sessions with pre- and post- testing, as well as intensive parent training and involvement for carryover.  The next reading program is anticipated to begin in mid to late June!  Call KidWorks for more info and keep an eye out on Melly’s Messages for updates.

Think reading in English is as easy as ABC? Check out the poem below!

I take it you already know
Of touch and bough and couf and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you
On hiccough, thorough, slough, and through?
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead; it’s said like bed, not bead;
For goodness sake, don’t call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat,
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).
A moth is not a moth in mother.
Nor both in bother, broth in brother.

-Anonymous, excerpted from Proust and the Squid by Maryann Wolf

New beginnings February 10, 2009

Welcome to the KidWorks blog, where Melly will post helpful tidbits, exciting news, and answers to questions you may have each month.  Suggestions and comments are always welcome!