If you’re raising a child with Sensory Processing Disorder and don’t have access to occupational therapy (OT), I see you. It’s overwhelming, and the daily challenges can leave you feeling helpless and alone. But mama, you are not without tools or hope. While OT is a wonderful resource, I want to share practical, home-based strategies that made a ...
Sensory Processing Disorder
When “Normal” Doesn’t Fit Your Child
When I imagined becoming a mom, I pictured sleepy baby snuggles, first words, and sweet milestones. I didn’t picture the first month of my child’s life being spent at a children’s hospital after open-heart surgery. I didn’t expect therapy appointments to fill our calendar, or for terms like “neurophysiologist,” “psychiatrist,” and “conduct ...
What to Do When Sensory Emotions Explode
Sharing a past post in the prayers that it will be helpful to many. It was the perfect scenario—or so I thought. We had just left church, and Grams was sitting in the backseat cuddling with Bubs (age seven). We picked up pizza and chatted about the fun day we had thus far with family. Once home, everyone gathered at the dinner table—except ...
Simple Sensory Strategies to Help Kids Focus and Calm Down
Have you ever watched a child spiral into a whirlwind of energy or meltdown, unable to focus or slow down? I’ve been there. Whether it’s sensory sensitivity, ADHD, or just an overwhelming day, sometimes kiddos need a little extra help to calm down and regulate their emotions. Through occupational therapy, I learned two simple strategies that ...
How to Teach a Child to Draw
This popular post has been updated from 2010. Bubs didn't seem to enjoy drawing. Whenever he was asked to draw something, his attempts often resulted in scribbles. I knew that at his age, he should be able to draw basic pictures of people, animals, and scenery, but something was holding him back. Bubs faced severe delays in both fine motor ...
How to Teach a Child about Sadness
Teaching children about emotions is an important part of preschool and elementary learning; thus, it is a large part of the ABCJesusLovesMe Preschool Curriculum. While emotions, like joy and excitement, are fun to teach, covering a negative-feeling emotion like sadness can be intimidating. But by naming the emotion and talking about the feelings ...
How Visual Perception Activities Would Have Helped Her
I thought we were done with diagnoses. Isn't Autism, ADHD, and Executive Function Disorder enough? I guess God has other plans. Let me back up a little. Things began falling apart for Sweet Pea in the 2nd grade. Her reading level decreased, her test scores dropped, and her spelling was atrocious. But she continued to be at the ...
Is Your Child Meeting Pragmatic Milestones?
I remember it like it was yesterday. Bubs was laying on the floor, playing with a friend's baby. He looked at me, circled his face with his finger, and said, "I don't know what this means." He knew that the baby was telling him something but didn't understand what her face was sharing. After talking about her eyes, mouth, and body language, he ...
Do You Understand Pragmatics?
Pragmatics. Depending on your education and experiences, pragmatics may or may not be a word that you are familiar with. Even with my education background, it wasn't until we were neck deep in Bubs' delays that I began to understand what pragmatics is and why it is so important. What is Pragmatics? Pragmatics is the study of language ...
Does Early Intervention Even Help?
Today I was reading through some past blog posts. What a journey it has been, especially with our oldest son after his dramatic start in life! I found this post from February 12, 2009, written when Bubs was 4.5 years old. Several people shared their opinions on our decision to place Bubs in Occupational Therapy. One of the negative comments ...