Newsletter

I wanted to share an article I wrote for my hospital's Children's Services newsletter this month. It aims to provide parents with information about speech and occupational therapy (OT), as well as ideas for carryover at home (no drill work required!) Enjoy - and if you like it, please comment (I'm trying to assess whether anyone actually reads this thing!) Thanks :)

Therapy Corner

by Lacy Wright, MS, OTR/L

and Louise Chamberlin, MS, CCC-SLP

Virtually all children with autism related disorders require therapeutic interventions, whether speech, occupational, physical or otherwise. Life can quickly become chaotic trying to balance the various therapy sessions, much less trying to understandwhat is being done in therapy and completing the homework that therapists suggest you do. You may even wonder, What is my child doing in therapy? How will it help? What can I do? With this in mind, we would like to take a moment to introduce you to speech/language and occupational therapy as it pertains to autism, and suggest some activities that you can work into your daily life at home.

Speech deficits among children with autism can vary widely, but the primary concern is typically language skills. Your child may exhibit echolalia(echoing words he hears), scripting (repetition of memorized scripts), or impaired receptive-expressive language skills such as following directions, answering questions or expressing wants and needs. Speech therapy addresses these deficits by teaching attention, vocabulary, core language skills, and social interaction and conversational skills.

From an occupational therapy perspective, many children with autism have difficulty processing the sensory world around them. Occupational therapy addresses sensory integration needs as well as fine motor skills, self-care skills, motor planning and play. Increasing a child’s exposure to a variety of sensory experiences helps nourish their nervous system. Watch your children to see how they respond. Do they seek out swinging on a swing or avoid it? Do they enjoy getting sand all over themselves in the sand box or get upset when sand gets stuck to their skin? Getting to know the unique pattern of how your child processes sensory information will give you and your occupational therapist clues as to the kind of sensory activities to participate in.

The most beneficial “homework” parents can do for their child with autism is not what most peopleexpect homework to be. Yes, we may give worksheets from time to time, but the best kind of homework is the kind that works into the activities that are already a part of your daily routine at home. While this suggestion can initially seem daunting or time-consuming, activities for speech and occupational therapy are actually easy to work in if you just know how! For example, at the park, have a picnic and enjoy the delicious seasonal summer fruits or try a new food while talking about the way they look and taste. Feel free to get messy! Have a watermelon eating contest and praise both the fastest and messiest eaters. Play games like Duck, Duck, Goose while you sit down and feel the grass on your legs. Play Simon Says or Hokey Pokey to work on auditory processing skills. Find a new park with equipment to challenge your child’s motor planning skills as he or she plays.

The ultimate goal of therapy is for your child to be able to participate in daily activities.With a little creativity, sensory and language activities can be a part of every day.

For more ideas, check out one of our favorite books: “The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder” by Carol Stock Kranowitz.

Enjoy your summer and have fun playing and learning!