Hand in Hand Therapy Services

25/12/2022

Merry Christmas to all my beautiful clients and friends of Hand In Hand Therapy. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a safe and healthy New Year. I can’t wait to see you all again next year and take on some new clients in my extra days.

15/12/2022

Another Christmas activity that I love is baking!! Here at Hand in Hand Therapy we love to bake with clients and this year has been no exception!!! Check out the cupcakes we made in a session last week.

Baking is such a good therapy tool it works on so many skills including fine motor, visual perceptual, self care, life skills, following instructions, language concepts, and also really good for the sensory system and supporting little fussy eaters by making food fun.

🧁Fine Motor Skills: Getting your child to stir, mix the ingredients, knead the dough and decorate cupcakes can develop a child’s hands strength and bilateral integration (using two hands together).
🧁Hand Eye Coordination Skills: Adding and pouring ingredients into the bowl, decorating cakes and cupcakes and placing them onto the tray can help develop visual skills.
🧁Develops reading and maths skills: Involving your child in reading the recipe, measuring ingredients and calculating the correct amounts can develop literacy and maths skills.
🧁Sensory Processing Skills: Breaking the eggs, mixing the batter and kneading the dough is a strong sensory experience as it offers opportunities to explore different textures, smells, tastes, colours which can be calming and regulating for a child. Be mindful of children with sensory processing difficulties. Some will have sensory needs around certain smells and textures. Additional information can be found here.
🧁Develops life skills, planning, problem solving and independence living skills: By role modelling this activity, encouraging your child’s engagement and asking them ‘what is next’ promotes planning, sequencing, organisation and problem solving skills.

14/12/2022

Christmas time is a perfect time for working on those fine motor skills !!

Did you know that you should include your child in the gift wrapping part of gift giving?! It address so many skills you probably didn't even realise! Here are 5 reasons:
1. practice writing - fill out a card, a label or a tag
2. visual perceptual skills in order to estimate the size of paper you would need to fully wrap a gift. Problem solving too just incase they cut the paper too small and it doesn't fit the whole gift.
3. Scissor skills - cut the gift wrap, ribbon, and tape
4. Bilateral coordination - two hands have to work together to cut, fold, and tape the gift wrap.
5. Transfer those shoe tying skills and tie a knot or a bow on the gift

So why not get the kids involved and work on some new skills while getting your Christmas jobs done. If your particular about your gift wrapping you can always get old food boxes and get the kids to wrap these as decorations for under the tree.

04/12/2022

A child might detect that a new sound (like you calling their name) is happening in the room, but not discriminate that the sound is important or directed at them.

They might detect the sound, and discriminate it from other noises in the environment such that they recognize it as their name and try to tune in...but then not be able to identify the specific things that you're saying.

They might identify what you're saying, but not comprehend what the individual words mean, or be able to successfully turn it into a statement or question that they understand and process and can act on.

And an adult might watch this happen and then turn away and say, frustrated, "They heard me, they just chose not to listen!" or "They heard everything I said and then they broke the rule anyway!", not realizing that the child's hearing, processing, auditory systems are still learning and practicing and doing their best.

26/10/2022

Happy OT week everyone !!
👏 WHAT DOES OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY MEAN TO YOU? 👏
This week is ! Let's reflect and share how Occupational Therapy has impacted your life or your family!

This year OT week has been a quiet one reflecting on the special achievements and moments I have been able to share with my clients over the years. Many first and many lasting skills mastered, from a first step, their first world, first time trying a new food, first time looking into mums eyes, first wee in the toilet, to first time cooking a family meal, the first day in school. I have been so blessed over the years to be apart of so many lives and be part of their special achievements. My clients are true rock stars ⭐️

27/09/2022

Being a mum of 2, it’s important to me to make my children feel safe and secure at home and empowered to take on the world

27/09/2022

Beautiful story of a local business being inclusive and celebrating this young man’s strength and passions.

Working-aged people living with disability are two times as likely to be unemployed as those without disabilities. Advocates say there is no better time than now to change that.