KidSkills Pediatric Occupational Therapy, Vancouver ADHD Specialist

05/02/2026

For some individuals writing with a pencil can be an unpleasant and even painful experience. Their nervous system will be over-responsive to this sensory experience. One of my kids will have goosebumps on their skin. A pen may be a good alternative for them. We are all different in the way we process sensory information.

04/28/2026

We play and we learn through fun and engaging activities that produce positive feelings.

04/28/2026

Often we get the most honest feedback from our kid-clients themselves, which is the best thing!
This kid has definitely made my day!

His mom prioritized OT by bringing him to weekly sessions consistently, each time travelling from out of town.

The OT intervention supported both the child and the mom, as I always work with both kids and their parents.

I was fortunate to provide OT services for this family. This was a rewarding experience for both of us!

04/28/2026

When schools focus on academic goals and not on teaching handwriting foundations, we often see kids in higher grades who struggle with written output because they don’t have the foundational skills. In therapy we often need to go back to the bottom of things, besides giving them alternatives to manual writing.

If your child struggles with letter formation early on, don’t wait till they get frustrated with writing. Get them the support they need, so they have a good foundation.

04/22/2026

Over the last few years I’ve noticed the amazing outcomes of the Cognitive-Functional (Cog-Fun) intervention on the lives of kids with ADHD.

This is what parents shared with me today:
- We see significant improvements with our child’s self-esteem and relationships with others.
- Our child talks more positively about themselves, saying “I’m beautiful” and “I love myself” instead of saying they hated themselves and that’s why they hurt other children.
- Our child is able to stop themselves more at times they need to stop doing something.
- Our child’s ability to focus has increased. In the past they could not be in the class.
- Behaviour has improved.

Parents are the change agents. When parents take an integral part and are devoted to supporting their child, I see amazing outcomes!

04/08/2026

ADHD brains differ structurally and functionally from neurotypical brains. Children with ADHD require a specific approach that is tailored to their unique brain.

The Cognitive-Functional (Cog-Fun) intervention model is an evidence-based approach that is specifically designed for the ADHD brain and also supports parents of children with ADHD.

At KidSkills OT we have been using this approach successfully. Children learn skills that support their daily function and parents feel supported and learn effective ways to parent their child.

Contact us to learn more about Cog-Fun if you are a parent of a child with an ADHD diagnosis.

03/02/2026

An important piece of the human puzzle is called interoception. It’s the eighth sense, that allows us to process sensory input from our internal organs.

It gives us information of whether our muscles are tight or loose, if our heartbeat is fast or slow, if our stomach rumbles, if our breath is fast or slow, if our body is cold or hot, if our bladder is full, etc.

When we are able to process those sensory signals accurately, we are able to reach a self-regulated state. Just like with any other sense, people can have hyposensitivty or hypersensitivity.

Sometimes children may feel shame to talk directly about their emotions. Discussing their daily body’s sensory signals and helping them pay attention to those signals in the moment, the strategies they used to eliminate an uncomfortable body sensation, can help increase their interoceptive awareness and contribute to their ability to better self-regulate.

02/12/2026

The feedback we receive from caregivers about the Cog-Fun intervention for kids with ADHD includes praises like:

- The process was amazing and meaningful.
- I was positively surprised.
- I learned a lot as a parent!
- Throughout the sessions my child shares about their experiences (e.g. at school) that I haven’t heard before.
- It’s a special one-on-one time with my child.
- My child is less restless at home and at school.
- My child displays coping abilities and patience he has never displayed before.
- My child is now able to pause for a few seconds before he reacts to their sibling.

Those amazing results are not just because of this unique OT intervention for kids with ADHD and/or my therapeutic skills and experience. It’s also because those caregivers were dedicated to the intervention and were able to do the carryover to the home environment.

This type of feedback gives therapists like me the motivation to keep doing what we are doing!

01/31/2026

We love obstacle courses! It’s a great OT tool to learn about our body in space, to practice motor skills, response inhibition, to get a movement break, to transfer between activities, and to use it as a fun tool when we work towards sensory processing/cognitive/self-regulation goals.

01/29/2026

How do we choose our clients?

It’s true that initially clients choose us, because they were referred to us by another professional, by a school, by recommendation; because they know about our expertise, because they liked how we communicated with them on the phone during the initial intake.

However, we also need to carefully choose our clients. We want to make sure it’s a good fit, that the child needs to see an OT and not another professional. We want to make sure that we can support this child according to what the caretakers shares with us. Each OT has their expertise.

It requires the OT to ask different questions. It requires the OT to be true to themselves, have integrity, to be honest and also to be assertive.

01/16/2026