Kids Physiotherapy Waterford

23/12/2025

Thank you, and Merry Christmas 🎄

19/12/2025

The difference between a difficult moment and a manageable one is often smaller than we think.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reflecting a lot on regulation — not just in my clinical work, but in my own parenting too. There are moments when I respond in the way I’d like to, and plenty where I don’t. What I keep coming back to is this: a brief pause, a breath, or a few seconds of space can completely change how a moment unfolds.

When we talk about regulation, we’re really talking about the nervous system. When we’re overwhelmed or stressed, our nervous system shifts into protection mode — we react quickly, think less clearly, and find it harder to stay calm or flexible. When we’re more regulated, the system settles. Our thinking opens up, our tone softens, and we’re better able to respond rather than react.

For children, their nervous systems are still developing, and they rely heavily on the adults around them to help them regulate. A calm, steady adult nervous system sends a powerful message of safety. Over time, children borrow this regulation — through tone of voice, facial expression, body language, and predictable responses — and gradually learn to do it for themselves.

Regulation isn’t built in big, dramatic moments. It’s shaped through small, repeated, imperfect practices — at home, in real life, under pressure.

So often, what we need are simple tools we can use in the moment. Each of the exercises mentioned above can be used briefly, right when things start to escalate, to help settle the nervous system. They bring you back into the present moment, rather than getting pulled further into emotion or unhelpful thought patterns. These same practices can also be used for longer, more intentional periods, and when practised regularly over time, they help strengthen the brain pathways that support more stable, resilient regulation.

Try these exercises to see which one works best for you.






ParentRegulation
CoRegulation
NervousSystemRegulation
BehaviourIsCommunication
NeurodiversityIreland
ChildDevelopment
TraumaInformedCare

13/12/2025

11/12/2025

🎄 Two great toy ideas to help your child build two-hand skills

Using both hands together is an important skill for everyday life — things like dressing, opening lunch boxes, holding paper while colouring, and playing with toys. These two playful options are ones I often use in clinic because they make practising these skills fun and natural.

🦉 Snap-n-Learn™ Rainbow Owls
Children pull the owls apart and snap them back together. This helps them:
• Use one hand to hold and the other to do the work
• Build hand strength
• Learn how much force to use
• Match colours and numbers

Simple, repetitive play like this is great for building confidence with two-hand tasks.

🎁 Counting Surprise Party™
Each little box needs to be held with one hand and opened with the other. This supports:
• Two-hand coordination
• Small finger movements
• Wrist control
• Problem-solving and sequencing

The tiny surprises inside keep kids motivated and make them want to repeat the activity (which is exactly what develops the skill).

🔍 Why these toys help
Both toys naturally encourage children to practise stabilising with one hand while the other hand does the “job.” This is a key building block for so many everyday tasks. And because it’s play-based, children practise without feeling like they’re doing “work.”

 

11/12/2025

🎄 Two evidence-informed toy recommendations for developing bimanual hand skills

Bimanual (two-hand) coordination is a foundational component of functional motor development. Children rely on it for activities of daily living such as dressing, managing fastenings, opening containers, holding paper while writing, stabilising objects during play, and utensil use.

Below are two toys that I regularly recommend in clinical practice to support bilateral integration, grasp development, and fine-motor control, particularly for children who benefit from structured opportunities to practise stabilising with one hand while manipulating with the other.

🦉 Snap-n-Learn™ Rainbow Owls

This toy requires children to pull apart and re-connect two-piece components, which promotes:

Bilateral hand use (one hand stabilises, the other manipulates)

Graded force control

Hand strength and intrinsic muscle activation

Visual–motor matching skills

The repetitive “pull–push” movement pattern supports motor planning and consistency of hand use, which is beneficial in early skill acquisition.

🎁 Counting Surprise Party™

Each small box requires the child to hold with one hand while opening with the other, providing practice in:

Bilateral coordination

Precision grasp and release

Wrist stability

Sequencing and motor planning (locate, open, remove, replace, close)

Activities such as sorting, counting, and matching the miniature items further layer cognitive engagement onto a motor task, increasing purposeful repetition.

🔍 Why these toys are clinically useful

Both toys naturally create opportunities for children to practise dissociated hand movements — stabilising, manipulating, rotating, pulling, and pushing — all of which strengthen the foundations for later functional tasks. When embedded in play, these movements become more automatic, enjoyable, and successfully repeated.

For children with motor delays, reduced hand strength, dyspraxia, or difficulties with bilateral integration, incorporating play-based bimanual tasks like these can support skill progression in a low-pressure, highly motivating way.

 

06/12/2025

Three simple exercises—ball passes, hula hoop pick-ups, and bear crawls—each targeting different parts of a child’s sensory and motor system.

✨ The Vestibular System
When children bend forward, lift up, and move their head through space, they activate the vestibular system—our inner ear balance centre. It helps the brain understand movement, gravity, and where the body is in relation to the world.
Challenging this system in playful ways supports:
• Better balance
• Smoother coordination
• More stable posture
• Improved attention and regulation

✨ Strength + Proprioception
Exercises like ball passes and bear crawls also build trunk, hand, and shoulder strength. On top of that, they give proprioceptive input—the body’s “position sense.”
This helps children:
• Move with more control
• Plan their movements
• Develop stronger gross motor skills
• Build confidence in how their body works

✨ Why this matters
When kids feel steady, strong, and organised in their bodies, they feel more confident in playground skills, sports, and everyday activities like dressing, climbing, and keeping up with peers.

These three activities can easily be added to any obstacle course—and kids love them!

25/11/2025

14/11/2025

Nervous System Development - Primitive reflexes:

Many people have never even heard of primitive reflexes beyond the quick checks done when their baby was born. But in my experience, these reflexes are still very present in many of the children I assess. Some have only one or two remaining; others may have several. These retained reflexes can influence so much more than people realise — movement, balance, coordination, focus, attention, sitting still, emotional regulation, and even aspects of sensory processing.

Even as a therapist, I knew about primitive reflexes, but I didn’t fully understand how to address them through specific exercises until the past few years. Since then, incorporating reflex integration work has made a huge difference to my practice. I’ve seen incredible changes — not just in physical skills like strength, balance, and coordination, but also in children’s sensory sensitivities, emotional resilience, communication, confidence, and overall ease in their own bodies. They become more adventurous, more relaxed, more open, and often perform better in sport too.

I’m still learning every day, but reflex integration has become a vital part of my intervention. It’s a powerful, often overlooked aspect of child development — and in some cases, it can benefit adults as well.

23/06/2025

I work with incredible people. Incredible parents who have so much to deal with. So many parents find themselves in the habit of doing everything they can for their children but don't get to do anything for themselves. Or don't get the opportunity to do things that will help them physically and mentally. It can be so hard to change this habit. For those parents who have children with additional needs, it is very important to look after yourself, too. Having worked with many parents who struggle to get the time to give back to themselves, I decided to offer this class.

This class will offer you the opportunity to:

✅️ Develop your whole body strength.

✅️ Develop your balance.

✅️ Improve your flexibility.

✅️ Rest your body and mind.

✅️ Learn about the exercises that work for you.

✅️ Ask questions about your health and wellbeing.

✅️ Meet other parents and share experiences and knowledge.

The class will be 1.5 hours long and will take place at the clinic here in the airport business park, Waterford. The space is small but will take a small class of 6 people so places are limited.

Proposed times are currently:
Tuesdays at 10:30 am
Fridays at 4:30 pm

This is a new class which is not up and running yet, so if you are interested but these day/time does not work for you, please get in touch anyway as I may be able to change the class or add another class in future. Or if these times work for you, please let me know your preferred time.

If you are interested, please get in touch. Or if you know anyone who may benefit from this, please share this with them. I would also be very grateful if you could share this post to help it reach more people who may find it useful.

Thank you.