Anri-Louise Oosthuizen Occupational Therapist

11/10/2025

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10/10/2025

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10/10/2025

Ever tried reasoning with your child mid-meltdown—and got nowhere?

Here’s why:
When a child is dysregulated, it’s like there’s a traffic jam in their brain. Emotions have blocked the road, and nothing—not rewards, not consequences, not even your calmest logic—can get through.

What they need first isn’t correction.
It’s connection.

Help them clear the jam by offering co-regulation: a steady presence, deep breaths, or even just sitting quietly together. Once their “road” is clear again, then you can talk, teach, and guide.

Save this as a reminder: Calm first, teach later.

Want more?
You’ll find deeper insights and practical tools in my book Guidance from The Therapist Parent, available on my website www.thetherapistparent.com and Amazon.

10/10/2025

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10/10/2025

Just a gentle reminder:
When we’re too available to help, children miss valuable opportunities to grow.

They don’t learn to help themselves, to ask for help when it’s truly needed, to develop persistence—or to give others the chance to step in and help.

Even in a toddler room, these moments unfold naturally. Our role is to stay warm, present, and available—but also just busy enough and observant enough to recognize when to pause, step back, and let learning happen through another route.

That’s the art of balance: being there, without being in the way.

10/10/2025

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Childhood doesn’t need a schedule.

Let’s give kids the gift of unstructured time—to wander, wonder, and create their own adventures. That’s where imagination and curiosity truly thrive.

06/10/2025

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Children are natural explorers, and their messy, noisy learning is a sign of growth. Allow your little ones to embrace the mess—it’s in these moments that they gain confidence, understanding, and creativity. Let them enjoy the wild process of discovery! 🌟🌱

06/10/2025

02/10/2025

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A sensory pro-tip NO ONE talks about is the idea of conserving your tolerance.

The concept is simple, the more you have in the bank NOW,
the more you’ll be able to spend LATER.

The morning of my TEDx talk, I came down for breakfast wearing headphones, a hoodie, and a weighted vest.

Why?
Because the less taxing stimuli you take in, the more you’ll have left to use on costly situations in the future.

I don’t HAVE to “just deal” with loud conversations and clanking dishes at hotel breakfast.

I can block all that out NOW, so that I can better deal with the bright lights and noisy crowds at the venue LATER.

It’s not a perfect formula, but it’s how I’ve learned to manage high stress situations at a professional level.

It works for me, maybe it’ll work for you?