The vestibular system is located within the inner ear and responds to movement and gravity. This contributes to the development of balance, equilibrium, postural control, muscle tone, maintaining a stable visual field while you are moving, and bilateral coordination. This system can also be related to difficulties with attention, organization of behavior, communication, and modulation […]

As occupational therapists, one of the most common issues we treat are children who present with meltdowns or difficulty with behaviors at school or at home. Anytime a parent explains what difficulties the child is having, we immediately attempt to identify if there is an underlying sensory component causing the child to meltdown and become […]

Holidays are the perfect time to add some excitement to practicing speech and language skills. One skill that is difficult for a lot of children is correctly using and understanding prepositions. It is such an important skill for children to be able to put items on, under, next to, behind, in, etc and equally important […]

As pediatric therapists, we are constantly seeking ways to engage children into tasks which can generally be difficult for them to complete. Children will avoid boring tasks as well, therefore, we are constantly looking for new ideas to help develop their fine motor skills to capture their attention. A great way to keep new ideas […]

Many children, including those with special needs and those who are typically developing, w-sit to feel more stable while in a sitting position. Sitting independently requires good core strength and adding extra movements such as rotation or reaching while playing requires even more core strength to hold the child upright. Therefore, some children choose to […]

Tummy time has many benefits to improving your baby’s strength and facilitating development of their gross motor skills. For more information, please refer to the previous blog post on the importance of tummy time. Some babies love tummy time and others strongly dislike it. If your baby loves tummy time, then it is easy to […]

Congenital muscular torticollis occurs in infants, and is the shortening of muscles on one side of the neck that results in the head tilting and/or turning towards one side. The sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) is typically the primary muscle involved. The SCM tilts the head towards 1 side and rotates it towards the opposite side. For […]

Are you concerned about your toddler’s language development and wondering, “What can I do to help my child?” At-home play is an easy, fun way to engage your young child in working to increase their language skills. Here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of play time with your toddler: 1. […]

So serial casts have been applied to your child’s ankles – now what? Immediately after the casts are applied, your child must not stand or walk on them for the first 2-3 hours, in order to allow them to fully dry in the correct position. After this time period, your child should be able to […]

Now that you understand what serial casting is and what it can be used for, our next blog post will educate you on what we actually do during the casting process! Our physical therapists here at Leaps & Bounds use the fiberglass soft cast method. By using “soft” casts, the parent/caregiver is able to unwrap […]