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Greetings! Traffic Jam In My Brain, Praxis Courses and Handwriting Without Tears
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March is upon us, and do we have news for you! Can we first say that
Traffic Jam In My Brain bookings are coming in thick and fast. With our Darwin conference on the 18th and Brisbane on the 20th of March be sure not to miss out! Adelaide is skyrocketing and Melbourne is doing greatly! Sydney siders you can still take full advantage of our Early Bird rate up until the 26th of March! But book in now guys, and take advantage of the Group bookings! 10% off with 5 or more, and 20% off with 10 or more participants. That goes for everyone! Get your schools, early learning centres, teachers, OT's to take advantage of this great offer. Everyone is talking about this course and how much they get out of it. Just look at our Facebook page! You won't be disappointed.
Now last month we mentioned that the Alert Program was headed down under, and we heard you jump for joy...but alas; we have had to postpone this course until next year... BUT, we are bringing Handwriting Without Tears back to Australia come August! They are very happy to return to Australia, it has been quite some time since they were last here! Look out for more information on our website/newsletter/Facebook for more information as that comes!
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He is our new Weighted Creature! And he is becoming a huge hit!
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Welcome Percy The Platypus into your life.
Soft and cuddly, they make the perfect buddy to hang over your shoulder, or sit comfortably on your lap. Designed to give deep pressure input throughout the day.
A great addition to your daily sensory diet.
Also included is a free original Percy The Platypus short story to read to children.
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Great for Teachers, Parents, OT's and more!!
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Time is running out to register!
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The Traffic Jam In My Brain
A Sensory Processing Approach to Challenges Associated with Autism, ADHD, Learning and Behavioural Differences
Presented by international speaker and songwriter Genevieve Jereb O.T., "The Traffic Jam In My Brain” is a fun, informative and interactive seminar designed for parents, therapists and other professionals. You will gain understanding of the basics of sensory processing and learn "ready-to-use" strategies to support learning, attention, social and emotional relationships and behaviour in children.
This workshop gives you a set of dynamic, practical tools incorporating:
- Regulation
- Respiration
- Rhythm
- Relationship
- Play & Movement
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Who is Teresa A. May-Benson?
Teresa A. May-Benson, Sc.D.OTR/L,
Executive Director of the Spiral Foundation, is a well-know lecturer and researcher on sensory integration theory and intervention. She has authored numerous publications on praxis, ideation, and sensory integration and is a co-collaborator on development of the SAFE PLACE Program. She has extensive experience with children and adults with autism and a diverse clinical background having worked in private and public school settings as well as private practice.
She is active in conducting research related to sensory integration through the non-profit Spiral Foundation’s Sensory Processing Research Center. She hascollaborated with well-known researchers such as Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, Dr.Shelly Lane and Dr. Roseannchaaf. In her role of educator, she serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Indianapolis. She has a special interest in, and extensive experience with autism, particularly older students and adults.
Dr. May-Benson received her bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University and her master’s degree from Boston University with a concentration in sensory integration and school system therapy. She was a Maternal and Child Healt Fellow in the Doctoral Program in Therapeutic Studies a Boston University. She is past Chairperson of the Sensory Integration Special Interest Section of the American Occupational Therapy Association. She has received several
awards for her work in Sensory Integration (Praxis Field).
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Praxis is the ability of the brain to conceive of, organise,and carry out a sequence of unfamiliar actions.
An OT assessment may mention that your child has poor praxis or dyspraxia. Put simply, the therapist may have told you that your child has difficulties with motor planning (planning movements) but motor planning is only the tip of the iceberg.
Praxis is latin for ‘doing, acting’ but these two simple words do not give justice to the complex series of events that one’s body must coordinate in order to produce praxis. Praxis is the neurological process by which cognition directs motor action (Ayres, 1985). Put simply, it involves planning what to do and how to do it. In order to know what to do, we must first conceive the idea of what to do (ideation), then plan how we are going to do it (motor organisation, or motor planning), perform the movement correctly (execution) and then be able to reflect on feedback so we can adapt our movements in the future (feedback and adaptation).
Each of these four areas are quite complex within themselves. For example, in order to be able to plan or organise movements, we need to have a good sense of where our body is in space (body awareness), we need to have the cognitive ability to understand our actions and objects in the environment, we need to have good bilateral coordination in order to execute movements smoothly and we need problem solving skills to help us correct/ adapt our movements in the future.
But how would we know if our children are having difficulties with praxis?
Below are some examples:
• Slow to achieve developmental milestones
• Avoid tasks requiring good manual dexterity (eg. puzzles, intricate construction or fine motor tasks such as writing and cutting)
• Clumsiness (eg. constantly bumping into things or falling over)
• Messy eaters (may not be aware of food around face and continues to feed with fingers)
• Difficulty riding a bike
• Lack of or limited imaginative play
• Difficulties coordinating both hands together (eg. managing fastenings)
• Difficulties during physical education
• High levels of movement, limited concentration
• Slow to complete class work
• Problems with self-help skills such as using cutlery, dressing or tying shoelaces
• Difficulty forming relationships with peers, sometimes preferring company of adults
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Have you seen our NEW Army Dog Tags?
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Great for colours for schools and for those with wanting that bit of texture to fidget with the grooves and bumps on one side.
Comes with a clasp lanyard very much like our other pendants!
2 pendants on the same lanyard!
Measures at L x 57mm W x 38mm
Made of Non-toxic silicone (phthalate/BPA/PVC/Latex/Lead Free) washable with soap and water - use with adult supervision and replace when signs of wear become visible.
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2016 is in full swing. With so many things happening it's hard to know where to start. But you keep us going and for that we are ever grateful!
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