From The Ground Up OT

07/29/2025

BIG NEWS!
We're accepting new patients!
From neuro & ortho diagnoses, children who are struggling to meet day to day expectations, all the way to tiny babies we've got you covered. Our OT has extensive experience in:
• Gross & fine motor skills; functional upper extremity use
• Self-care development and sleep hygiene
• Attention, executive function, social skills & impulse control
• Sensory processing, primitive reflexes & functional vision

What can we help your child achieve? Reach out now and let's get started!

07/24/2025

WE SEE BABIES! If you are receiving EI services and looking for additional visits per week for increased intensity and potentially increased speed of skill growth this is an option! Or if you are looking to start services also an option! We take most major insurances! :)

07/04/2025

ONE YEAR IN BUSINESS! So grateful to work with so many amazing patients and families

05/13/2025

And parents! It’s important to be aware of your own regulation needs and take time for yourself because we can’t help our kids if we’re dysregulated too!

We ask educators to be calm, co-regulate, de-escalate, and show up as a safe adult for children.

But the question is - who’s co-regulating with them?

Educators can’t regulate in a vacuum. They need various systems of support to ensure their own holistic wellbeing is considered and nurtured in order to be able to offer children the same care.

🤍 So what does this mean for management?

+ Set up a quiet, low-sensory “reset” space just for educators. No fluorescent lights, no paperwork. Perhaps it’s outside with a rocking chair or a swing.

+ Create safe spaces to share emotions. If an educator is dysregulated, that’s a sign that they need support, not that they are flawed or weak.

+ Be present in the classrooms. Not to police but to support, step in when requested, or just witness the struggles to consider environmental needs.

+ Replace “you just need to stay calm” with “what do you need to feel supported right now?” I’ve spoken about this before that calm can feel so unattainable in moments of stress. Focus on regulation and the current needs of their nervous system.

🤍 What can this look like for educators?

+ Practice naming your own state: “I’m feeling overwhelmed. I need a moment.”

+ Use grounding techniques: something cold in your hand, five deep breaths, stepping outside barefoot if possible.

+ Build mini-regulation rituals: a 30-second stretch before a new transition, a hand on your chest, even humming.

+ Create a culture of co-regulation within your classroom. Hearing or saying “I’ve got you” can go a long way.

+ And remember: Your regulation matters just as much as the children’s. Maybe even more.

Because regulated adults are the gateway to learning in early education.

No amount of programming could ever come close to a calm, connected nervous system.

03/15/2025

YES Kelly Mahler

02/07/2025

https://www.facebook.com/100068490722118/posts/931416242484725/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

Each of the animals has a different reaction to danger -- we can analogize this perfectly to the way that different people react to the same stressor.

For one kid, they might retreat into themselves when they're too stressed. In a school context, for example, this might look like shutdown quietly at their desk. The teacher tells the class to do something, and it's too high-level for them or they didn't understand the instructions, so instead they sit quietly and still and frozen until time is up.

The teacher may or may not even notice, until it comes time to turn in their work. Then they haven't done any of it, the teacher is mad, the child's relationship with the teacher continues to be broken, and the stress cycle continues.

For another kid, they might explode outward when they're too stressed. In that same context, given directions that are too high-level and too overwhelming, they might get "aggressive", shove the paper off their desk and announce "This is stupid!" They probably get more immediate attention than the quiet one, but that attention might not be anything helpful. They might not be recognized as struggling. They might just get punished or sent out of the classroom.

Relationship continues to be broken...stress cycle continues.

A third child in the same scenario might get distractible and start drawing on the assignment instead of completing it. A fourth child might ask a neighbor what it is they're supposed to be doing. A fifth child might know the "proper" way to self-advocate and raise their hand and ask for help.

And that fifth child might be the only one who actually gets the support they need.

But all of the children were asking for support, in the way that made the most sense to their body.

We just have to learn how to see it.

[Image description:
A cartoon by Liz Climo. In the first panel, the crocodile is yelling, "Danger!" at a red panda, a turtle, and a hedgehog.
In the second panel, the red panda has done its startle response of raising its arms up above its head; the turtle has gone into its shell; and the hedgehog has curled up in a little ball.
The crocodile is saying, "Very good, class!" as all of their students have reacted correctly to danger, despite all reacting differently!
End description.]

01/25/2025

Truth!! 🙌

01/22/2025

Integrating primitive reflexes has been a game changer in my practice. It’s amazing to see a child come in terrified to try new things and fearful of so much blossom into a calm confident kid.😎

It’s also amazing to see kids who struggle and exhibit rigid and inflexible tendencies (often due to fear and exerting control) transition into tolerating life’s changes and flow. 🏞️

Or also amazing to see a child who has been wetting the bed at 10 years old increase their bladder control to feel confident enough to have a sleepover with friends! 🛌

This webpage shows so many instances of where primitive reflexes were causing challenges for kids and how integrating them was a game changer. Thanks Move Play Thrive for sharing!

The brain needs these reflexes early on in life to develop motor control but if they stick around too long and don’t integrate they can inhibit future development of skills in so many areas! As humans we need to have conscious control of most of our movements and responses to be independent and successful! 🤔💭

Imagine if every time your pants brushed up against your knee the patellar reflex (knee kicking) was elicited. 🦵🦵🦵 You wouldn’t be able to do so many things and your brain would be hyper focused on inhibiting this input. That’s ALOT of gas from the tank! ⛽️😴

Index of primitive reflex integration case studies from students of the Brain and Sensory Foundations, First Level course, organized by category.