Blog - PediaStaff

Why Kids With Autism May Avoid Eye Contact

June 17, 2013

21 June 2013, Autism, News

[Source: Live Science] Children with autism often have difficulty making eye contact, and now a new study suggests this may be due in part to how their brains process visual information, rather than being purely a social deficit. In the study, children…...

June 14, 2013

14 June 2013, Newsletter, Placement

Meet Tava – a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant who has been contracting for PediaStaff in Texas for more than five years now and has been asked to come back again for the 2013-2014 school year. Tava’s position is itinerant in nature and…...

June 13, 2013

14 June 2013, Activity of the Week, Newsletter, Tip or Resource

[Source: The Recycling OT] I have made sensory socks before and asked children to pull them apart to work on motor planning skills. I have also made socks that attached to one another by buttoning but recently decided to add a button…...

June 13, 2013

Autism, News, Newsletter

[Source: Science Daily] In the first prospective study of its kind, Seaver Autism Center researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai provide new evidence of the severity of intellectual, motor, and speech impairments in a subtype of autism called…...

June 13, 2013

14 June 2013, News of the Week, Newsletter

[Source: Science Daily] An analysis of recent data from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 97 adolescents who were part of study begun with very low birth weight babies born in 1982-1986 in a Cleveland neonatal intensive care unit has tied smaller brain…...

June 12, 2013

14 June 2013, Autism, News, Newsletter, OT, PT

[Source: Your Therapy Source] Recent research was published on postural control and repetitive behaviors in children with autism. The participants including children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing controls ages 3-16. The center of pressure sway area during quiet,…...

June 12, 2013

14 June 2013, Cerebral Palsy, Newsletter

by Kathryn W. Foster Two years ago, Adam Leon, 16, couldn’t raise his right arm. He has cerebral palsy caused by a stroke before or just after birth that left his right arm and wrist stiff. Then in January 2012, Adam started…...

'Stimming' in the News (BBC)

June 11, 2013

Autism, Newsletter, 14 June 2013

[Source: BBC News] What is this word? It’s stimming, short for the medical term self-stimulatory behaviours – a real mouthful. Stimming might be rocking, head banging, repeatedly feeling textures or squealing. You’ll probably have seen this in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder…...

App of the Week: Heads Up!

June 11, 2013

14 June 2013, App, Newsletter, Tip or Resource

[Source: All4MyChild.com] Ellen Degeneres makes me happy. I’m pretty sure she makes everyone happy. Usually she entertains me at night after work when I watch her show that I DVR. But lately, I’ve been getting to enjoy her during the work day.…...

June 11, 2013

By Cara Koscinki MOT, OTR/L SUMMER! It’s here! Most families look forward to summer’s relaxation and lazy days. However, the lack of routine and structure can be the cause of great stress for families of children with special needs. School routines are…...