Book By: Barbara A. Smith, OTR/L
Reviewed By: Sunita Murty, M.S. OTR/L
Published/Produced By: Therapro, Inc

From Rattles to Writing by Barbara A. Smith is a nice guide for parents, or anyone interacting with children, of typical and atypical development. The parent’s guide nicely breaks down components of development needed for writing without putting the attention on the task of writing, but rather the important developmental components including sensorimotor development, visual motor perception, large motor development and hand skills. The book is nicely divided into developmental stages to aid in providing activities in the proper sequence to facilitate development needed to produce eye-hand coordination and visual perceptual skills, which are both essential components of writing and reading.
Parent’s can easily turn to the chronological age of the child and read through a list of toys that can be purchased or made with household items to develop a targeted skill. There are clear directions on how to interact with the child to help each area of development. There are 8 groupings of age, from birth through age four, to allow the caregiver to easily find the appropriate age. The text is written with easy to understand language and easy to follow directions. There are nice explanation of how societal demands often exceed the child’s actual ability and how the importance of skill acquisition though play is often forgotten.
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Featured Book Reviewer: Sunity Murty, M.S., OTR/L
Sunita has been working with children with special needs since 1998 and as a pediatric occupational therapist since 2004. Sunita received her Masters of Science degree in occupational therapy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. Her experience includes working with children with austim spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, trisomy 21, developmental delays, failure to thrive, stroke as well as rare genetic and orthopedic conditions. Sunita has received specialized training in Craniosacral Therapy, Sensory Integration techniques, Therapeutic Listening, Handwriting Without Tears, Greenspan’s Floortime Approach, Interactive Metronome, Wilbarger Protocols, Beckman Oral-Motor Assessment and Treatment Protocol and numerous courses in fine motor, visual-motor, sensory interventions and feeding/dysphagia treatment. Sunita currently works as the OT clinical coordinator for Pediastaff and also owns and manages a pediatric therapy clinic called Imagination Therapy. Her passion lies in helping children and their families understand Sensory Processing Disorder to help children live up to their highest potential.