Therapists Working Together to Best Support a Child’s Needs

Is your child having a plateau in Speech Therapy? Some children who receive speech and language services also have co-existing disorders and symptoms that cross a wide variety of developmental areas. For example, a child who is diagnosed with Autism may have sensory processing difficulties which may affect their communication and ability to get their wants and needs met. Articulation disorders and Childhood Apraxia of speech may also be linked to fine motor skills since both target the coordination of small muscle movements. If sitting and engagement is difficult for your child this may be due to a sensory processing disorder or attention difficulties, which can both be identified and addressed by an occupational therapist. Collaboration between occupations can make therapy more inviting and fun, as well as maximize progress! Therapists can adjust treatment and adapt to meet your child’s needs so they are comfortable and excited to participate.

Examples on how an Occupational Therapist collaborates with a Speech Therapist to address:

1. Turn Taking (i.e., attending to a peer’s turn and calmly awaiting theirs, following rules in structured games, allowing others to make changes/alter play routine): utilizing a spinner, rolling dice, tallying, or chart to track game rules and turns.
2. Communicating or expression (i.e., using words or other methods of communication to express self): drawing a picture, journaling, putting together a collage, painting, Zones of Regulation to identify emotions
3. Listening to a book or song: sitting in a sensory-friendly spot such as a bean bag chair, wobble cushion, yoga mat or with a weighted blanket on their lap; providing a fidget toy for quiet hands to focus on improving auditory/visual processing skills
4. Attention and engagement (i.e., sequencing various aspects of tasks for task completion, refraining from interrupting others in conversation, maintaining eye contact, quiet hands and body): Many, if not most, children need to MOVE to attend and to learn! Children were simply not built to sit for extended periods of time, so the best way to engage little minds is by moving little bodies! For children who benefit from extra movement throughout the day:

• Offering different seating options that provide movement such as inflatable seat cushions, rocking chairs, ball chairs, etc.
• Individualized sensory strategies during ‘sensory breaks’, such as quietly counting to 10 in their head or on fingers, squeezing hands 5 times for deep pressure, heavy work such as tug-of-war with a Theraband
• Task simplification using “brain dump” activities to consolidate thoughts, and checklists for sequencing and completing tasks

5. Sitting Tolerance: ensure the proper child sized table and chair to provide 90/90/90, address any possible core stability/mobility issues, provide a wobble cushion, Theraband around chair base, movement breaks, timer, visual schedule, fidget
6. Frustration Tolerance (i.e, when presented with a new game, difficult task, non-preferred activity): identify emotions using words and various emotional coping strategies such Zones of Regulation and sensory-based techniques such as a movement break, deep breathing, mindfulness activities, quiet space break, deep pressure/heavy work activity, etc. to avoid escalating to an unexpected behavior
7. Transitions (i.e., calmly walking to/from various environments/contexts and appropriately greeting as necessary): preparing the child by describing the sequence of events to expect using mental imagery and modeling behaviors; using a preferred transition toy or fidget toy; social stories using pictures to sequence aspects of the transition and what to expect
8. Following simple or multi-step directions (i.e., sequencing tasks and using working memory & short-term memory): obstacle courses ranging from 2-steps to 10-steps, incorporating sensory motor strategies (i.e., bouncing on peanut ball or balancing on wobble cushion) for increased engagement while performing speech activities, provide a visual schedule to help sequence the activity

In short, it’s useful to build movement into learning whenever possible. Set flashcards out on the floor and make it a relay race to run, skip, jump, or gallop to pick one up and give an answer!

• Use body movements to help kids remember letter sounds. Tape sight word cards at various heights on the wall and have the child jump to touch them as you read them one by one

Include fun and exciting movement breaks regularly throughout the day and during transitions.  Try movement breaks with vestibular activities like swinging, rolling, balancing, and rocking or proprioceptive activities that require movement against resistance (heavy work).