By Genna, Shannon
The podcast currently has 31 episodes available.
A sensory diet is a way to provide a child’s nervous system with sensory input, in order to improve the child’s ability to participate in their day. For example, a child who is under responsive to sensory input and appears with a low energy, will benefit from sensory based activities and/or using tools to help increase their arousal level to be alert while at school. Following thorough evaluation and observation, occupational therapists can determine appropriate strategies and/or tools that can be beneficial for the child's nervous system. OT’s can teach caregivers, teachers, even the child on how to carry out the sensory diet. It’s important to remember, each child is unique, therefore a sensory diet that works great to support one child, may not work for another child.
And for our momma segment 21:30 , Genna is nesting and preparing for her due date! She is dealing with the third trimester swelling, nesting, and preparing for her second little one! We also talk about how it is so important to accept any and all help that is offered to you after your delivery.
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Check out our YouTube Channel to watch our podcast episodes:
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for occupational therapy services. Please contact a licensed and registered occupational therapist for individualized consultation and/or treatment. If you or your child already receive support from an occupational therapist, it is recommended you consult with your therapist prior to participating in our recommendations.
This podcast episode presents the views of only these two occupational therapists: Genna Espinoza and Shannon Perez.
Occupational therapy group sessions can be a very effective way for clients to work on their goals. As occupational therapists, we can deliver services via group treatment in all settings. Planning for your group sessions using an outline can be a helpful tool to ensure your treatment plan(s) will best meet the individual and group needs. Genna frequently uses and recommends Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy 5th edition by Marilyn B. Cole as her go-to resource. The group outline that is presented is a thorough way to address all of the aspects of group dynamics. Also, it is important to remember that your leadership style can influence the outcome of the group. So it is important to know whether to use a direct, facilitative, or advisory approach for your group or when to adjust your leadership style.
And for today’s momma segment, Genna and I talk about the importance of pretend play. Pretend play will help build your little one’s imagination, initiation, creativity! We share some of our favorite pretend play toys. And we talk about how we both love observing and joining in on little one’s pretend play.
Group Dynamics Resource
If you find our podcast helpful, please leave us a rating/review and don't forget to follow us at: https://www.otmommaslife.com/
Check out our YouTube Channel to watch our podcast episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Cz9c3EifE5F4VNf3xCChw
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for occupational therapy services. Please contact a licensed and registered occupational therapist for individualized consultation and/or treatment. If you or your child already receive support from an occupational therapist, it is recommended you consult with your therapist prior to participating in our recommendations.
This podcast episode presents the views of only these two occupational therapists: Genna Espinoza and Shannon Perez.
Determining the driving force behind a child’s behavior can be challenging. Occupational therapists are skilled at observational skills and in identifying if a behavior is sensory driven.
It's important to know that a child’s behavior is driven by four motivating factors. They can be seeking attention; positive or negative. They can be seeking a tangible item such as a toy, iPad, game. The behavior can be to escape; a demand, a task, or a situation. Or the behavior can be sensory driven.
First, it is important to target one behavior (ie: hitting, spitting, head banging). Then it is important to observe the child to see what is happening before, during, and after the behavior occurs. And if you cannot observe, ask questions; a lot of questions. Every child and situation are unique, which makes determining why a behavior is occurring is challenging. We have found the Behavior Motivation Scale a very helpful tool. And for mommas, one important factor to consider is the child’s social emotional age. Every child goes through typical social emotional stages. And in some stages, negative behavior in response to some factors may be typical for that developmental level. This is an important factor for mommas and occupational therapists to keep in mind.
If you find our podcast helpful, please leave us a rating/review and don't forget to follow us at: https://www.otmommaslife.com/
Check out our YouTube Channel to watch our podcast episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Cz9c3EifE5F4VNf3xCChw
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for occupational therapy services. Please contact a licensed and registered occupational therapist for individualized consultation and/or treatment. If you or your child already receive support from an occupational therapist, it is recommended you consult with your therapist prior to participating in our recommendations.
This podcast episode presents the views of only these two occupational therapists: Genna Espinoza and Shannon Perez.
Did you know we had an 8th sensory system? It's called interoception. It's our sense that tells us how our bodies are feeling inside. It helps us identify all types of emotions; homestatic or affective. Homestatic emotions are thirst, hunger, the need to use the restroom. Affective emotion can be fear, anger, anxiety. For me, my interocepitve awareness of a fast beating heart, sweaty palms, and nervous stomach is my body’s way of telling me I’m anxious. Occupational therapists evaluate and determine if a child is having underlying challenges with any of their sensory systems, including interoception. Kelly Mahler is an occupational therapist who has done so much research in this area. She has created an easy-to-follow, well designed curriculum that you can use to build interoceptive awareness with your clients. She also has a great course both Genna and I would recommend taking if you're interested in learning more about this hidden sense. Interoception challenges may be the missing link to students/clients who are struggling with self-regulation.
Today’s momma segment 25:13 , we talked about bath time and offer some momma tips! One tip is to be careful of the fun, plastic toys that squirt water as they can collect mold if you're not careful. Genna shares a great mom hack that can help! Listen in!
If you find our podcast helpful, please leave us a rating/review and don't forget to follow us at: https://www.otmommaslife.com/
Check out our YouTube Channel to watch our podcast episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Cz9c3EifE5F4VNf3xCChw
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for occupational therapy services. Please contact a licensed and registered occupational therapist for individualized consultation and/or treatment. If you or your child already receive support from an occupational therapist, it is recommended you consult with your therapist prior to participating in our recommendations.
This podcast episode presents the views of only these two occupational therapists: Genna Espinoza and Shannon Perez.
The proprioceptive system is our sense of body awareness and movement. Think about closing your eyes, holding your arm out to the side, then bringing your finger up to touch the tip of your nose. The proprioceptive system gives you information from your muscles, joints, and tendons to help you sense where your finger is, where your nose is, how these feel, and to coordinate the precise movement of touching the tip of your nose with the right amount of force, all without using your eyes! Difficulty with the proprioceptive system can be observed in one, or more than one of the sensory processing patterns: sensory modulation, sensory discrimination, and sensory motor patterns. A comprehensive occupational therapy evaluation will determine all areas of sensory processing challenges and the impact in relation to all the sensory patterns. This helps occupational therapists to develop an appropriate, comprehensive treatment plan using carefully designed activities and strategies to address all the areas of challenge. In today’s momma segment, we talk about preparing for a second delivery via cesarian. Genna had a C-section with her son, so she knows what to expect this time around. But every pregnancy and delivery is different, and with any delivery, Genna’s focus is a safe delivery with a healthy baby boy!! We talk about the things that we learned from our first c-section experiences that can help with her preparing for her second c-section.
If you find our podcast helpful, please leave us a rating/review and don't forget to follow us at: https://www.otmommaslife.com/
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for occupational therapy services. Please contact a licensed and registered occupational therapist for individualized consultation and/or treatment. If you or your child already receive support from an occupational therapist, it is recommended you consult with your therapist prior to participating in our recommendations.
This podcast episode presents the views of only these two occupational therapists: Genna Espinoza and Shannon Perez.
The vestibular system is a complex sensory system that gives us our sense of movement and balance. Development of this system begins in the womb. Neurotypical children develop and mature their vestibular system through all types of movement; including swinging, hanging upside down, and spinning. However, some children have challenges with this sensory system. A comprehensive OT evaluation will determine the pattern(s) of dysfunction within this system (as well as others) and will drive the therapist's treatment plan. An effective treatment plan is geared toward developing the system and facilitating adaptive responses. Sometimes a well intended recommendation may be, if a child is spinning, allow them to spin to obtain the movement they are seeking. However, listen in to today’s episode to understand why that is not always appropriate. And for our momma segment, we discuss gestational diabetes. This can be a stressful diagnosis during pregnancy. Genna shares her experience, some tips, and reassurance that with proper nutrition, exercise, and monitoring, you and your baby can remain healthy.
If you find our podcast helpful, please leave us a rating/review and don't forget to follow us at: https://www.otmommaslife.com/
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for occupational therapy services. Please contact a licensed and registered occupational therapist for individualized consultation and/or treatment. If you or your child already receive support from an occupational therapist, it is recommended you consult with your therapist prior to participating in our recommendations.
This podcast episode presents the views of only these two occupational therapists: Genna Espinoza and Shannon Perez.
Today, Genna and I discuss our approach to treating our clients with autism and sensory processing challenges via Telehealth. We found several key components to the success of our Telehealth treatment sessions. First, we recommend building a rapport with your client and establishing a trusting relationship with their caregiver. Next, preparing for your sessions. For us, that included spending preparation time creating individualized client packets (affordable items we wanted to utilize during sessions) as well as visual schedules with additional icons. Another important component is being creative with how to facilitate meaningful, sensory based activities via Telehealth. Depending on the student’s level of engagement, we have found our role as an OT as a facilitator. This has been a great opportunity to discuss our OT goals with the caregiver, as well as instruct them on how to set up the environment and how to best provide support and cues during our sessions. Overall, there is so much potential to facilitate adaptive responses and see growth in a child with autism via Telehealth OT sessions. However, we do both acknowledge that for some children and caregivers, this may not be the optimal mode of service delivery. For our momma segment, Genna is in the midst of potty training and she shares what she is trying now. I share some tips of what has worked well when potty training my girls.
Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed today's episode.
If you find our podcast helpful, please leave us a rating/review and don't forget to follow us at: https://www.otmommaslife.com/
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for occupational therapy services. Please contact a licensed and registered occupational therapist for individualized consultation and/or treatment. If you or your child already receive support from an occupational therapist, it is recommended you consult with your therapist prior to participating in our recommendations.
This podcast episode presents the views of only these two occupational therapists: Genna Espinoza and Shannon Perez.
Happy New Year, 2021! We are both happy to ring in the new year with new personal and professional goals. Today, we discuss one professional goal we have set for ourselves. I want to continue to learn about the impact nutrition has on child development as well as how to use nutrition to support a child’s attention, behavior and for promoting development. Genna wants to continue to learn more about how to support mommas, especially postpartum. There is limited support for moms during this stage of life and occupational therapists have many great skills and knowledge to offer mommas. These are our own personal interests and goals. Do you set goals for yourself in the new year? Connect with us on social media or by leaving us a comment.
Thanks for listening…and for all your support in 2020!
If you find our podcast helpful, please leave us a rating/review and don't forget to follow us at: https://www.otmommaslife.com/
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for occupational therapy services. Please contact a licensed and registered occupational therapist for individualized consultation and/or treatment. If you or your child already receive support from an occupational therapist, it is recommended you consult with your therapist prior to participating in our recommendations.
This podcast episode presents the views of only these two occupational therapists: Genna Espinoza and Shannon Perez.
Merry Christmas! Today we thought it would be fun to talk about Christmas traditions. Some of these traditions come from our childhood, while others are new traditions we have started for our families. Also, if you have little ones who still believe in Santa, make sure they are not near while you listen to this episode. Happy Holidays to you and your family.
As always, thank you for listening.
If you find our podcast helpful, please leave us a rating/review and don't forget to follow us at: https://www.otmommaslife.com/
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for occupational therapy services. Please contact a licensed and registered occupational therapist for individualized consultation and/or treatment. If you or your child already receive support from an occupational therapist, it is recommended you consult with your therapist prior to participating in our recommendations.
This podcast episode presents the views of only these two occupational therapists: Genna Espinoza and Shannon Perez.
Whether your a new momma or a pediatric occupational therapist working with children, this episode is for you. Occupational therapists have the knowledge and skill to address mealtime challenges with our clients. And now as mommas, Genna and I have our own experiences of what has worked well from our families while incorporating our OT skills. We share some great tips on how to approach mealtime as an enjoyable experience. This episode could definitely have a part 2, so share your questions, comments and experiences with mealtime. And for our momma segment, I share my experience going through a high risk pregnancy.
Hope you enjoyed today’s episode.
If you find our podcast helpful, please leave us a rating/review and don't forget to follow us at: https://www.otmommaslife.com/
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for occupational therapy services. Please contact a licensed and registered occupational therapist for individualized consultation and/or treatment. If you or your child already receive support from an occupational therapist, it is recommended you consult with your therapist prior to participating in our recommendations.
This podcast episode presents the views of only these two occupational therapists: Genna Espinoza and Shannon Perez.
The podcast currently has 31 episodes available.