Therapy Ideas to Try at Home
One challenge that many parents of children with special needs face is how do we continue at home all the great things that the therapists do during their sessions. Our first advice to you would be to ask the therapists for suggestions on things to work on at home. Bring a pad and paper and have them write down ideas with things to do at home. If they are working on a specific goal, make sure you that you fully understand what that goal is and how you can help. Even being able to work towards a goal for just 10 minutes a day could make a real positive change in your child.
Sometimes therapist might use different items during their session, like fidgets, a weighted blanket, or a bouncy ball. If you feel that this is something that you could use at home, check with your therapist to see if maybe they have one they could loan you. The Family Mentors could also help find you one to borrow or search for financial assistance to get you one for your home.
If you want more ideas, here are a few websites to look over-
30 Activities that Promote Fine Motor Skills
Therapy Fun Zone
Therapy Street For Kids
Shoelace Tying
One challenge that many parents of children with special needs face is how do we continue at home all the great things that the therapists do during their sessions. Our first advice to you would be to ask the therapists for suggestions on things to work on at home. Bring a pad and paper and have them write down ideas with things to do at home. If they are working on a specific goal, make sure you that you fully understand what that goal is and how you can help. Even being able to work towards a goal for just 10 minutes a day could make a real positive change in your child.
Sometimes therapist might use different items during their session, like fidgets, a weighted blanket, or a bouncy ball. If you feel that this is something that you could use at home, check with your therapist to see if maybe they have one they could loan you. The Family Mentors could also help find you one to borrow or search for financial assistance to get you one for your home.
If you want more ideas, here are a few websites to look over-
30 Activities that Promote Fine Motor Skills
- http://handsonaswegrow.com/30-kids-activities-materials-for-promoting-fine-motor-skills/
Therapy Fun Zone
- http://therapyfunzone.net/
- This a blog with lots of good ideas for therapy. As a blog, the newest info is listed first, so sometimes you have to search around for exactly what you are looking for, but they have tons of ideas and activities to share.
Therapy Street For Kids
- http://therapystreetforkids.com/index.html
- If you have every heard your child's therapist say that they are working on their pincer grasp and you weren't exactly sure what that meant, this a good site for learning what exactly the different skills are that the therapist might be working on during their session. You can click on the skill area that you want to work on and it will give you details on what that skill is, why it is important, and some examples of how that skill works. Then it also gives games, activities, and ideas on how to work on it at home.
Shoelace Tying
- http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/knots.htm
- Monica's Note- This site has been invaluable for both my kids who struggled with the fine motor task of figuring out how to tie their shoes. You can click on different knots and it will give you a step-by-step photo of how to tie your shoes.
Handwriting Helpers
Papers to Print at Donna Young
Make Your Own Handwriting Worksheets
Papers to Print at Donna Young
- http://donnayoung.org/index.htm
- Yellow Line Printable Paper -http://donnayoung.org/penmanship/handwriting-paper-yellow-line.htm - great for Handwriting help!
- Drawing Blocks- http://donnayoung.org/art/draw1-younger.htm - art helper
Make Your Own Handwriting Worksheets
- http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/flash/printdots/index.htm
- You can enter in your child's name and let them practice tracing & writing it.
Autism Supports
Parent and Educator Training
Autism Internet Modules (Online)
Autism Supports
Cindy's Autistic Support
Boardmaker
Boardmaker Achieve
SETBC (Special Education Technology British Columbia)
Parent and Educator Training
Autism Internet Modules (Online)
- http://www.autisminternetmodules.org/
- AIM is designed to provide high-quality information and professional development for anyone who supports, instructs, works with, or lives with someone with autism through online modules on various topics.
- Login required to keep track of modules completed.
Autism Supports
Cindy's Autistic Support
- http://www.cindysautisticsupport.com/
- information and links to support topics like life skills, sensory processing, social skills, schedules, file folders and more.
Boardmaker
Boardmaker Achieve
- http://www.boardmakershare.com/Activities/Search
- Shared PECs and Boardmaker items. Some require Boardmaker, others are saved to PDFs or Word.
SETBC (Special Education Technology British Columbia)
- http://www.setbc.org/pictureset/
- Picture Supports
- http://www.setbc.org/curriculumset/default.aspx
- Curriculum Supports
- Made by Canadians, but most can be used in the US. Supports offered in a variety of formats.
Positive Reinforcement