Brant Kids Therapy, 33 Marshall Street, Brantford, ON (2025)

07/28/2025

We are starting to learn about some of the lesser known sensory systems! First up is the vestibular system helps which helps a person know where their body is in space relative to gravity. It’s vital for spatial orientation, balance and posture.

What vestibular processing differences can look like:
🙃A child constantly seeking movement/unable to be still
🙃Poor balance and posture
🙃Attention and emotional regulation challenges
🙃A child may be fearful of movement, heights, or anything with their feet off the ground or a child may be a “thrill seeker” (constantly spinning, moving, going upside down)

How we work on vestibular processing in OT:
🤸Collaborate on ways for a child to get vestibular input in appropriate ways (i.e. flexible seating options in the classroom)
🤸For hypersensitive children, work on increasing tolerance of movement in different positions while maintaining a calm and alert state - think swings!
🤸Use vestibular system to regulate the nervous system (i.e. linear, rhythmic movement can be calm and relaxing)
🤸Fun activities to improve balance and posture

Activities to try at home:
🛝Log rolls down a grassy hill
🛝Setting up a hammock in the park
🛝DIY Balance beam - find logs in nature, put painters tape on the floor, make a line out of throw pillows
🛝Obstacle courses - build an obstacle course and include movement in different head and body positions (ex. Crawl from table to garbage can, spin in a circle 3 times, crab walk to the couch, jump and try to touch the ceiling 5 times)

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07/22/2025

This weeks sense works very closed with the taste sense. The olfactory system is our sense of smell and it is highly linked to taste, memories and emotions.

Olfactory processing differences can look like:
👃Picky eating and strong emotional response to foods that smell a certain way
👃Noticing smells that others don’t pick up on in the environment - may lead to avoiding situations and places
👃A need to smell objects and people
👃Seemingly unaware of unpleasant smells

How we work on olfactory processing through OT:
💩Exposure to new foods and smells in a safe and fun environment to create positive associations with them
💩Cognitive approaches to help understand where to underlying distress is coming from
💩Problem solve different regulation strategies/accommodations to help a child participate in events they would like to despite potential triggers (I.e, a birthday party, the school cafeteria, a sporting event)

Activities to try at home:
🐽Drawing with smelly markers
🐽Guess the smell - put different scents on a cotton ball and try to guess (I.e, vanilla, lemon juice, lavender, peppermint, essential oils)
🐽Take turns as a family discussing different smells and the memories associated with them (I.e. the smell of freshly cut grass reminds me of track and field day)
🐽Add sliced citrus fruit to water table play
🐽Make homemade play dough and add different scents to it

07/14/2025

Moving along in our sensational summer series… the Gustatory system! Our gustatory system, better known as our taste, helps us to enjoy yummy and safe foods and keeps us from eating spoiled foods and inedible objects.

Gustatory processing differences can look like:
🍔Limited repertoire of foods your child will actually eat
🌭Stressful mealtimes for the entire family
🌮Constantly mouthing objects or clothing
🌯Likes intense flavors and temperatures of foods
🥗A messy eater and not noticing when there is food on their face

How we support gustatory processing in OT:
🥪Help children explore foods in a comfortable way (hint: play!)
🍕Reframe meal times to be more playful and fun - yes, it’s okay to play with your food!
🍟Teach self regulation strategies for a child to utilize while exploring new foods in therapy
🍗Trial alternative sensory inputs to mouthing objects

Activities to try at home:
🍱Involve your child in the food process - go to the market together, unpack groceries, get them involved in meal prep, set the table
🍜Food painting - use veggies or fruit cut in half to make a stamp for painting
🍝Crazy utensil meal - let your child choose one utensil for each family member to eat with for a meal (i.e. salad tongs, spatula, soup ladle)
🍅Don’t be afraid to play with the food! Practice outside of meal time if it’s too much pressure at meal times - make pictures with mash potatoes, make a face out of a sandwich, write letters with spaghetti noodles
🍳Imaginative play with food toys and a play kitchen or mud kitchen

There are so many fun and creative ways you can play with food. Share a family favourite below!

07/08/2025

The visual system helps us see and interact with the world around us. It goes beyond “acuity” (what your eye doctor tests) and impacts how we interpret, perceive, and utilize the information coming into our eyes. For example, figure ground discrimination helps us find our keys when they have been thrown into a junk drawer, ocular-motor skills help us read without losing our spot on the page, and visual motor integration helps us duck when a ball is thrown at our head.

What visual processing differences can look like:
👀Difficulties with learning to read
👀Messy handwriting (I.e. inconsistent letter size, poor spacing, letter and number reversals)
👀Getting motion sick easily
👀Easily distracted in visually stimulating environments
👀Difficulties copying off the board at school

How we can work on visual processing in OT:
👁️Further assessment on which aspects of visual processing are impacting daily function
👁️Work on integration of the vestibular and visual system through swings and movement
👁️Fun interventions to improve handwriting legibility
👁️Recommend accommodations to the environment (ex. Less artwork on walls in classroom near students desk)

Activities to try at home:
🤓Puzzles
🤓Building activities (Picasso tiles, marble run, blocks) - try to copy what someone else built from memory
🤓Search and find books
🤓Mazes - you and your child make your own and switch
🤓Step by step drawing books or videos
🤓Figure 8 walk - try walking in a figure 8 pattern while keeping eyes on a visual target

Bonus fact:
The visual and vestibular system work so closely together for functional movement in daily activities some professionals consider it one sensory system called the “visual-vestibular system”

07/02/2025

Next up in our sensational summer series is Auditory processing! The Auditory System helps us to detect, organize and integrate sounds with information from other systems to make sense of the world around us.

Auditory processing differences can look like:
👂Difficulties with hearing your name being called
👂Misunderstanding multi-step directions
👂Unable to block out background noise
👂Becoming upset in a loud or busy environment
👂Bothered by loud noises
👂Constantly humming or making noise

How we support auditory processing in OT:
🎧Exposure- OT supports the client to utilize strategies that calm the body and address anxious thoughts while exposing them to distressing sounds.
🎧Therapeutic Listening- a listening program that uses modulated music, meaning it is music that moves between high and low frequencies, challenging the brain to actively listen and attend.
🎧Adaptive strategies- explore strategies and environmental modifications such as noise cancelling headphones, moving to the front of the class, or having the child be in control of the auditory stimuli (I.e. pushing the button on the blender)

Activities to try at home:
🧏🏽Play Simon says
🧏🏽Go outside and practice tuning into different sounds (i.e. birds chirping, leaves rustling, cars driving by)
🧏🏽Play “Ear-Spy” - instead of I-spy name different sounds you hear (ex. “I spy with my little ears the sound tweet tweet”)
🧏🏽Have the child practice 2-3 step commands in a mini obstacle course (I.e. Go touch the tree, crab walk back, give me a hive 5)
🧏🏽Play broken telephone

Bonus fact:
The auditory and vestibular system are closely linked which is why we often observe an increase in vocalization and expressive language when a child is engaged in movement. This is one reason why OTs and SLPs love to work together!

06/27/2025

Happy Canada Day Long weekend!

If you have a child that is sensitive to loud sounds or bright lights here are some OT-approved sensory strategies to help your child feel more comfortable during fireworks this weekend:

🎆Noise cancelling headphones - these help reduce the intensity of the sound
🎆Watch from a distance - stay in the car or further away so there is less stimulation
🎆Prepare with a social story, visuals or video - make a simple story about what the child can expect during fireworks, look at pictures or watch some videos online
🎆Bring a comfort item - have a favourite stuffy, blanket or chewy necklace available to provide calming input during the show
🎆Deep pressure - give your child some calming input with a hug, weighted blanket, or tight clothing

And remember, if your child doesn’t want to participate in fireworks that is okay too! There are plenty of other ways to have fun this weekend!

06/24/2025

The first sensory system we will be exploring is: touch! The tactile system helps our bodies to process touch, pain and temperature in order to feel safe in the environment around us.

Tactile processing differences can look like:
✨Hypersensitivity such as:
➡️Bothered by tags, seams, loose clothes, tight clothes etc.
➡️Dislike getting messy and dirty
✨Hyposensitivity:
➡️Poor body awareness
➡️Constantly touching others or objects (i.e. running hand along wall when walking in the hallway)
✨Anxiety and fatigue from heightened awareness to touch
✨Poor tactile discrimination (i.e. difficulties reaching to a bag and finding a specific object without looking)

How we support tactile processing in OT:
✨Further exploration of the child’s unique tactile processing (i.e. are they hypersensitive or hyposensitive)
✨Using deep pressure touch to calm the nervous system
✨Exposure to uncomfortable tactile stimulation in a safe environment with other coping tools available (i.e. practice wearing tight socks and then going into a lycra swing)
✨Messy play - shaving cream is a common OT favourite!

Activities to try at home:
✨Messy play such as: finger painting, sandbox play, sidewalk chalk, homemade playdough or slime
✨Pillow sandwich - child lays on their belly and you push the pillow gently down their body for some deep calming tactile/proprioceptive input. The pillow is the sandwich toppings.
✨Baking cookies - follow your child’s lead - if they need to use a utensil at first to touch the gooey dough that is okay!
✨Mystery bag game - place random objects in a bag and have child reach in and try to identify them without looking

Does your child like getting dirty/messy or do they avoid it? Share below!

06/20/2025

Welcome summer! This summer we will be diving into a new series called - A Sensational Summer! ☀️

We will be exploring the incredible and complex world of sensory processing – the way our brains take in, make sense of, and use sensory information for everyday activities.

Each week, we’ll explore a different sensory system covering:
👩‍⚕️ What it is and why it matters
⚠️ What sensory differences can look like in daily life
🧠 How we address sensory needs in occupational therapy
🏡 Simple, fun activities you can try at home

Follow along to make this summer sensational! Reach out if you are interested in 1:1 sensory support for your child and family at brantkids@catherapyservices.ca.

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06/16/2025

A common sentiment that we hear when supporting children and teens with ADHD is, “but my child knows what to do, they just don’t it do!”It can be so frustrating for parents when their child can rattle off all the things that they should do when they get home from school, or what they should do when they are feeling frustrated and then in the moment they don’t do it.

Russel A. Barkey’s work on ADHD helps us understand that ADHD is an executive functions skill deficit. He says that ADHD is not a disorder of knowing what to do rather a disorder of doing what you know.

Occupational therapy at Brant Kids looks like helping a child or teen figuring out what tools they need in order to do what they know they need too.

Some examples include:
✨Creating a visual schedule for the morning routine
✨Using a timer to help with transitions
✨Setting reminders on a phone or smart watch
✨Breaking down tasks into smaller manageable steps

Do you have a child that might benefit from some executive function skill development? Reach out today at brantkidstherapy.ca or brantkids@catherapyservices.ca.

06/10/2025

One of the first things you will see when you walk into the Brant Kids clinic is SWINGS!

The kiddos love them and they definitely make therapy more FUN. However, there are so many other therapeutic reasons OTs use swings in therapy. Here are a few:

🔹Sensory Regulation: swinging can help to calm the nervous system and body. It can also increase alertness when swinging in certain ways!

🔹Core strength and balance: being in different positions on the swing can help build core strength and balance which is foundational for regulation and learning

🔹Body awareness: helping the body learn where it is in space in a variety of different positions strengthens the vestibular system which is important for learning

🔹Social engagement: swinging in OT often involves play that promotes joint attention, turn taking, communication and connection with the therapist, parent or another child

So next time you see a swing in our therapy space, know there’s a lot of therapeutic reasons behind that back-and-forth motion!

06/05/2025

At Brant Kids we believe that parents are an integral part of the therapeutic process. We support parents in a number of ways and one of them is encouraging them to be involved in their child’s OT sessions.

Here are some ways you can get involved:

✨Observe & Learn: watch how your child responds to different activities to help you understand what works best for them. Watch how your therapist interacts with your child during challenging activities to get ideas of how you can support your child outside of therapy.

✨Don’t be afraid to ask question: sometimes we get so focused on the session and forget that parents can’t see all the clinical reasoning happening in our head. Please ask us what we are doing and why!

✨Share insights & collaborate: let us know how things are going at home and if you think a strategy we are trying in therapy would actually work for you. We believe we are the experts in occupations but you are the expert in your child and family.

✨Join in on the fun: join us on the mat, help push the swing, play a board game with us. Your participation shows your child you are in it together. If you aren’t sure how to join in please ask!

What have you found helps you most as a parent to be involved in your child’s therapy? Share below ⬇️

06/02/2025

With summer just around the corner I know many families are starting to think about sleepover camp! At Brant Kids we often find June sessions are filled with counselling our clients to feel confident leading into their time at camp.

Here are some OT tips to help your child feel confident, calm, and ready for the adventure:

🛌Practice routines at home – Try sleeping in a sleeping bag, using a flashlight, sleeping in shared spaces, eating how they do at camp (ie. family style or buffet style)

🧸Pack familiar sensory tools – A favorite stuffed animal, noise machine, or fidget toy can offer comfort and regulation.

🖼️Prep with visuals or social stories – Go over what to expect with pictures or write a simple story to ease anxiety. Look at their website or social media together to familiarize themselves with the space and activities.

🪥Practice independence with daily tasks – Let your child practice organizing their belongings or managing simple tasks like brushing teeth and putting on sunscreen.

With the right prep, camp can be a positive experience that creates a lifetime of memories!
Did you go to sleep over camp? Comment below with your favourite memory! Mine is singing whacky sings in the dinning hall.

Brant Kids Therapy

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