Making changes in children's lives makes for a great life!

1.)  You touch the lives of children and their families every day.  What do you find to be the most meaningful or rewarding part of  your work?

I feel so fortunate to work with children everyday!  My absolute favorite is the look on a child's face after weeks of hard work when they realize that they CAN do something. What a rewarding job we have!

2.)  We have a unique setting for PTS. What do like most about our setting?

Touchstone Therapy truly is a unique place.  I love that we have the opportunity to work side by side with OT's.  This allows for a team approach to the care of our clients. I also like the open and child friendly atmosphere of Touchstone that creates a child directed therapy approach.

3.) What do you love most about your job?

I love that when I come to work, every day is different.  There is certainly never a dull moment when working with kids! We have the opportunity to work with a variety of diagnosis, ages, and abilities in a setting that is fun and engaging.

4.) What is your favorite quote?

"From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life."

5.) Do you have any community recommendations for parents and their children to enjoy?

I feel that participation in community activities is extremely important for developing muscular strength and coordination. I always recommend swimming as an excellent activity that targets all muscle groups and is wonderful for endurance and conditioning as well.

Lindsey holds her doctorate in PT, but also brings a unique perspective to Touchstone with her athletic training experience. She and her new baby, Carter, are pictured above. Happy PT Month,  Lindsey!

Ms. Carole is a gem! We treasure her!

1.  You touch the lives of children and their families every day.  What do you find to be the most meaningful or rewarding part of your work?  I love using and sharing my experience as a physical therapist, and as a parent to meet the challenge of solving each problem whether it is a tone issue, a strength issue, a weakness issue, a muscle issue, a postural alignment issue, a gross motor issue, a gait issue or a family need. 

2.  Share one of your most memorable accomplishments as a PT.  I still have a relationship with a young girl who has Cerebral Palsy.  I was involved in her life from the time she was 1 year old until she was 16 years old.  She is now 21, walks with a cane and drives a car.  She has given me a real insight as to how difficult life is for someone with a disability.  However, this young lady is the most well adjusted person because her mother expected her and encouraged her to be as independent as possible. 

3.  We have a very experienced staff.  What did you learn a long time ago that still benefits your practice today?  One, the client is the most important one in the relationship and I am here to help them.  Two, if your feet don't hit the floor correctly, the rest of the body has to compensate. 

4.  What do you love most about your job?  I love to be helpful to people. 

5.  Share your favorite quote.  "Do unto others as you would have them do to you."

6.  What is the advice that you most frequently give parents?  Every child is born with a spirit to push the limit.  Each spirit is looking for boundaries.  You are in charge of showing and teaching them the boundaries.  To feel sorry, to feel pity, and to lower your expectations does not help your child reach his full ability.  It is important that the parents find ways their child can have successes (big or little) and feel good about himself. 

7.  What is a home exercise that could benefit any child?  I like activities that emphasize trunk rotation in long-sitting, chair sitting and standing.  

a) In floor sitting, chair sitting and standing have your child reach back to one side and play with a toy for 2 minutes then go to the other side. 

b) Have your child sit in a chair with his feet on the floor and reach for a toy placed out to the side so that his weight has to transfer from the middle of the hip and hold for a count of 20.  Repeat to the other side. 

Ms. Carole has been practicing PT for more than 45 years and is a wealth of knowledge!  We are so fortunate to have her at Touchstone Therapy!  Happy PT Month, Ms. Carole!

Celebrating Ms. Karen 's decade of care at Touchstone Therapy!

1. You touch the lives of children and their families every day.  What do you find to be the most meaningful or rewarding part of your work?  The most meaningful and rewarding part of my work is the connection I establish with the children and families.  My aim is to provide them the best care possible, be a resource and advocate for their needs, and help them see the strengths and beauty in their children!
2. We have a very experienced staff.  What did you learn a long time ago that still benefits your practice today?  I have been practicing PT for 24 years.  I learned a long time ago that you approach your patient with a fresh start and new eyes each day, for they are always changing.  You try to make an improvement in their function in that moment and eventually progress will come!
3. We have a unique setting for PTs.  What do you like most about our setting?  I have worked many places in town over the years.  What I like most about Touchstone Therapy is the warm, loving, welcoming, and kid-friendly atmosphere.  This setting is motivating for the children, although at times it might make this left-brained PT a little crazyJ  To outsiders, our facility might look like a big play area; however, Touchstone is fortunate to have one of the most experienced pediatric staffs around!
4. Share your favorite quote.  My favorite quote is, “Be joyful, pray continually, and in all things give thanks.” 1Thes5:16-18.
5. What is the advice that you most frequently give parents?  My advice that I like to give parents is to try not to look too far down the road, but instead take each day at a time.  Most importantly, STAY OFF THE INTERNET!  Many times the internet shows the worst case scenarios.  I also encourage my parents to come to me if they have question because the whole process can sometimes be overwhelming.

Ms. Karen is Touchstone Therapy's Clinical Supervisor and has been with us since 2002.  Happy PT Month, Ms. Karen!

Dyslexia: Not just a Developmental Reading Disorder?

Dyslexia, also known as Developmental Reading Disorder, is a learning disability in which an individual has difficulty learning to read, reading with fluency, and/or comprehending what he/she is reading, despite average intelligence.  Traditional intervention has focused on individual reading treatment to include reading-specific tasks such as reading aloud, phonemic awareness, phonics training, and multi-sensory learning approaches.

New research in Current Biology reports that dyslexia may be more of a problem with visual attention and visual perceptual skills, than specifically reading.  Children with the disorder have a difficult time filtering out irrelevant visual cues.   Andrea Facoetti, psychologist from the University of Padua, studied a group of children from age 4 to 7.  The children were tested on their reading abilities, color naming, recalling a list of objects, and completing a visual figure ground task (such as Where’s Waldo or Eye Spy).  The children with the most difficulty on the visual figure ground task at age 4 were the children who were given the dyslexia diagnosis at age 7.

This new research suggests that intervention which includes improving visual attention and visual perception skills may be more effective than traditional phonics training for treating dyslexia.  Early identification and intervention of these visual problems is recommended. Ask your occupational therapist for appropriate activities to work on visual attention and visual perceptual skills.

Courtney Enos, MS, OTR/L

Cutting Mastery!

As we progress from cutting straight lines to simple shapes, curves and angles, the key is using the assistive hand to turn the paper.  I always tell children that their dominant hand is the motor and their non-dominant hand is the steering wheel.

First, try to cut out a square, as it's similar to cutting a straight line.  Once they get to the corner, tell them to stop and turn the paper with their assistive hands.

A zigzag line is somewhat similar to a square as they will cut a short distance, stop and turn the paper to continue along the line.

Next, introduce a curved line, which will require slight adjustments as they move along the curved line.

After they feel comfortable with that, have them cut out a circle.  Circles are quite challenging as they require constant turning and adjustments of the paper with the assistive, non-dominant hand.

The most difficult challenge will be cutting out a picture with curves and angles.  Again, cue them to keep a thumb's up approach with the scissors, their dominant elbow at their sides and really work to let their non-dominant hands do all of the turning!

Simple animal shapes often provide nice curves and angles for cutting.

She is demonstrating nice turning of the paper with her assistive hand as evidenced by her upside down bunny.

This one gets them snipping and for those with small attention spans, it's completed in a snap!

 

Provide a simple cut out of a tree trunk and limbs and have the child glue it to a blank sheet of paper.  Start with a strip of green and have him cut along one side and glue it on as grass. A pair of craft scissors makes cutting a strip of grass a breeze! 

Provide strips of different colored paper in varied widths for him to cut up into pieces.

Glue on the pieces to create beautiful fall foliage!

 

Call the Zoo Keeper! This activity provides great opportunity for cutting straight lines.

Provide a piece of paper with straight lines approximately 8 inches long and 1 1/2 inches apart.

 

Have your child cut straight up each line.  Make sure he stops at the end of the line.



Fill in the empty space at the top with the "Zoo".

  

Cut out every other space.






Add the final touches by placing your favorite animals in the zoo.  Your child can cut them out of a magazine, use stickers or you could have some animals already cut out and he could color them.





Early Scissor Success!

Learning to snip is an important first step for scissor skills. 

Preparation:

1. Find a pair of safety scissors designed for children.  Make sure to provide your child with left handed scissors if he or she is a leftie!
2. Encourage the proper grasp using a thumbs up approach.
3. Try to get him or her to hold the paper or material with his or her opposite hand.

Let's Get Snipping:

• Heavier weight paper such as an index card or construction paper will foster success as your child learns to hold it with one hand and cut with the other. Start with a small strip of paper one inch wide by four inches long and have him or her cut it into pieces!  Your child will feel a sense of mastery with the many small pieces of paper on the table!
• Snip along the bottom of the paper to make grass or draw a large face and add hair by snipping at the top of the head. 
• Materials other than paper make snipping fun.  Try snipping straws, playdoh and the packaging peanuts. 



We're making playdoh soup!




It's fun to make the straws "Pop" all over the table!



Who doesn't like making a mess?!

Once your child has mastered snipping, move on to cutting simple, straight lines.  Paint sample squares are great for learning to adhere to a line. 



The white lines serve as nice guidelines between the different colors. 



Use the pieces to create a colorful picture!

Continue to practice cutting straight lines and next week we'll move onto mastering angles and simple shapes! Be sure to share your snipping masterpieces with us!