Live Oak Children's Therapy

08/08/2025

***NEW LOCATION-SAVANNAH*** ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS - Immediate daytime availability from 8am-3:30pm for both in-home and clinic-based services. To apply, visit www.graceautismservices.com to complete the client intake link.

07/30/2025

07/16/2025

❓❓❓Did you know? Lunch AND breakfast are FREE to all SCCPSS students this year. 🍎🍔🥛 We want to make sure students have the tools and fuel they need to succeed! Because EVERY day matters. See you Monday, August 4! 🚸🏫🎒

07/16/2025

Kindness activities for kids: https://www.theottoolbox.com/random-acts-of-service-and-kindness-for/

07/13/2025

The research is a transformative step toward understanding the condition's genetic underpinnings and potential for personalized care.

06/27/2025

Graduations 🧑‍🎓are bittersweet! Full hearts 🩵🫶 Tears of joy, pride, and sadness. We’re so proud of you 👏🫶🙌!!

05/31/2025

It was during yet another humiliating team meeting that I finally snapped. My boss had just asked, "Can you explain your process?" as I stood frozen, my mind a swirling storm of images I couldn’t translate into words. The sticky notes plastered across my office walls, the sketches in my notebook margins—none of it made sense to anyone but me. That night, I Googled "why can’t I think in words like everyone else?" and found Temple Grandin’s Visual Thinking waiting like a life raft.

What followed was less a discovery and more a homecoming—a realization that my "disorganized" mind was simply speaking a different language. Here are the seven truths that set me free:

1. There Are No "Bad" Thinkers—Just Different Kinds
I’d spent years apologizing for "I need to draw this to understand." Grandin’s research revealed: "Verbal thinkers aren’t superior—just louder." Now when colleagues ask for reports, I send infographics. Surprisingly, they prefer them.

2. Your Doodles Are Actually Deep Work
My notebooks were filled with arrows, flowcharts, and weird symbols that looked like chaos. Then I learned: "Spatial thinkers solve problems through sketching." That "doodle" during lectures? My brain’s way of crystallizing ideas.

3. Words Are a Second Language for Some of Us
Struggling to explain my "mind movies" made me feel stupid until Grandin explained: "Visual thinkers often translate images into words in real-time—it’s exhausting." Now I prep for meetings by drawing first, then finding words later.

4. Traditional Education Fails Visual Brains
I nearly failed geometry until I started building models instead of memorizing formulas. Grandin’s insight: "Schools privilege verbal abstraction over spatial reasoning." My DIY clay mitochondria got an A+ in biology. Take that, standardized tests.

5. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" Is Neurological
My cluttered desk wasn’t laziness—it was necessity. The book taught me: "For object visualizers, visibility equals accessibility." Now I use clear bins and wall-mounted organizers. My keys haven’t gone missing in months.

6. Visual Thinkers Are the World’s Unseen Problem-Solvers
From the mechanic who sees engine issues to the teacher who maps lesson plans, Grandin shows: "Pattern thinkers spot solutions linear minds miss." My "random" shower insights now get the respect they deserve.

7. Embrace Your Brain’s Native Language
Forcing myself to think verbally was like writing with my non-dominant hand. The liberation came when I:

Replaced to-do lists with color-coded mind maps

Explained complex ideas using napkin sketches

Stopped apologizing for "Let me show you" instead of telling

The Ripple Effect
This book didn’t just change how I work—it changed how I see myself. That "disorganized creative" label? Now I call it "spatial genius." The colleague who rolled her eyes at my storyboards? She now asks for them.

If You Think in Pictures:

Carry a sketchbook—not for art, for thinking

When stuck, ask: "What would this look like as an image?"

Remember: Da Vinci didn’t take notes—he drew revelations

"The world needs all kinds of minds to solve its problems—not just the ones that test well." — Temple Grandin

FREE AUDIOBOOK: https://amzn.to/3HaVugh

You can also get the kindle using the same link above.

05/18/2025

BINGO!

05/05/2025

“Look at the differences between a typical preschool child’s hand (left) and a typical 7 year old hand (right). Want to know why a preschool aged child isn’t able to write yet? This is why! Their hands are still developing and are not fully formed. So what should they be doing to support this? PLAY!! Play dough, coloring, cutting, gluing, playing outside, digging in dirt, sensory play, dress up play, science experiments, beading, puzzles, throwing balls, etc.
All of these things help their hands develop. When they are physically ready to write, they will! No need to rush them, they will show you when they are ready.” ❤️
via

02/15/2025

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-kids-are-losing-fine-motor-skills

From zipping coats to turning book pages, simple tasks are becoming challenges for a generation raised on tablets. Here’s what parents need to know to help.

02/11/2025