Today April Rehrig, creator of Rise Educational Advocacy, joins me on The OT Corner with Mrs. K to talk about building a better IEP. April is a highly experienced educational advocate who has been working in the field for over 20 years. With experience as a teacher, school psychologist and mother, she has a deep understanding of the challenges that families face when navigating the educational system and is committed to helping them overcome these challenges. April has worked with families from diverse backgrounds and has helped them to secure the appropriate services and accommodations for their children. Developing a strong IEP can be challenging for students and families. Common challenges include a lack of understanding of the process, difficulty in communicating with school personnel, and a lack of knowledge about available services and accommodations. April helps families navigate the IEP process by providing guidance on the process, reviewing educational records, and advocating for appropriate accommodations and services. Empowering parents and students in the IEP process is crucial for ensuring that their rights are protected and that their unique learning needs are being met. April's success stories demonstrate the positive impact of educational advocacy services and the importance of empowering parents and students in the IEP process.

Rise Educational Advocacy: https://www.riseeducationaladvocacy.com/

Rise Advocacy Services:

https://www.riseeducationaladvocacy.com/individual-coaching-services

Rise IEP Workshops (for parents and educators):

https://www.riseeducationaladvocacy.com/online-iep-courses

Rise Group Training (for educators only):

https://www.riseeducationaladvocacy.com/group-training

Guides and Templates Do It Yourself IEP & 504 Toolkits: https://www.riseeducationaladvocacy.com/guides-shop

Join Mrs. K on the OT Corner as she dives into the evolution of school based occupational therapy over the past  50 years with special guest Carol Conway, a retired pediatric occupational therapist. They explore the impact of legislation on OT practices in schools and discuss the changing landscape of OT roles. Tune in for a deep dive into the intersection of legislation, education, and occupational therapy in this insightful two-part episode.

Carol Conway, MS, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist with over 40 years of experience specializing in school-based practice. In her most recent school-based position at Hudson City Schools in Ohio, she provided services for students in grades 3-8. She served on the district leadership team which was instrumental in successfully shifting OT service provision to an integrated, inclusive model, thus maximizing the impact of OT at a whole-school level. Carol is on the leadership team for Every Moment Counts contributing to the development and implementation of several model programs emphasizing integrated services. Presently, she provides consultative and collaborative support to school-based practice with an emphasis on health (mental and physical), inclusion and interdisciplinary collaboration. Carol presents at the local, state, national and international level and has published articles regarding inclusion, integrated services and the use of communities of practices as a method of knowledge translation.

Every Student Succeeds Act: https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn

Molina Roldán, S., et al.. “How Inclusive Interactive Learning Environments Benefit Students Without Special Needs.” Frontiers in Psychology. April 29, 2021. ⁠https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8116690/⁠. Accessed November 23, 2023. 

⁠10 Keys to Happier Living⁠  Action for Happiness website (Giving, relating, exercising, awareness, trying out, direction, resilience, acceptance,  emotions and meaning) 

⁠Every Moment Counts Initiatives Tab⁠  Embedded Strategies, Integrating Services, Refreshing Recess, and Comfortable Cafeteria 

⁠Calm Moment Cards⁠

Bazyk, S. (2022). Occupational Therapy: Promoting Participation in Occupation. ⁠www.everymomentcounts.org⁠

Bazyk, S., et al. (2022).⁠ Occupational Therapy's Role as SISPs Under ESSA⁠. (For OT practitioners). ESSA OT Advocacy Network.

Bazyk, S., et al. (2022).⁠ Occupational Therapy's Role as SISPs Under ESSA⁠. (For school administrators and other school personnel). ESSA OT Advocacy Network.

Join Mrs. K on the OT Corner as she dives into the evolution of school based occupational therapy over the past  50 years with special guest Carol Conway, a retired pediatric occupational therapist. They explore the impact of legislation on OT practices in schools and discuss the changing landscape of OT roles. Tune in for a deep dive into the intersection of legislation, education, and occupational therapy in this insightful two-part episode.

Carol Conway, MS, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist with over 40 years of experience specializing in school-based practice. In her most recent school-based position at Hudson City Schools in Ohio, she provided services for students in grades 3-8. She served on the district leadership team which was instrumental in successfully shifting OT service provision to an integrated, inclusive model, thus maximizing the impact of OT at a whole-school level. Carol is on the leadership team for Every Moment Counts contributing to the development and implementation of several model programs emphasizing integrated services. Presently, she provides consultative and collaborative support to school-based practice with an emphasis on health (mental and physical), inclusion and interdisciplinary collaboration. Carol presents at the local, state, national and international level and has published articles regarding inclusion, integrated services and the use of communities of practices as a method of knowledge translation.

Every Student Succeeds Act: https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn

Molina Roldán, S., et al.. “How Inclusive Interactive Learning Environments Benefit Students Without Special Needs.” Frontiers in Psychology. April 29, 2021. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8116690/. Accessed November 23, 2023. 

10 Keys to Happier Living  Action for Happiness website (Giving, relating, exercising, awareness, trying out, direction, resilience, acceptance,  emotions and meaning) 

Every Moment Counts Initiatives Tab  Embedded Strategies, Integrating Services, Refreshing Recess, and Comfortable Cafeteria 

Calm Moment Cards

Bazyk, S. (2022). Occupational Therapy: Promoting Participation in Occupation. www.everymomentcounts.org

Bazyk, S., et al. (2022). Occupational Therapy's Role as SISPs Under ESSA. (For OT practitioners). ESSA OT Advocacy Network.

Bazyk, S., et al. (2022). Occupational Therapy's Role as SISPs Under ESSA. (For school administrators and other school personnel). ESSA OT Advocacy Network.

The OT Corner with Mrs. K podcast is celebrating its one year anniversary! It has been quite a year, and I am amazed at the reach of this podcast, spanning across five countries! This endeavor has made me a better therapist for sure. It is amazing the professionals who reached out to me over the past year, and I appreciate their guest appearances on this show. I would also like to thank everyone out here listening to my content for your support. 

Today, my very first guest on The OT Corner with Mrs. K, Robert Serianni, joins me on this one year anniversary to discuss the benefits of an interdisciplinary collaborative classroom in the school setting. Bob is the Department Chair and Program Director of the Speech Language Pathology Program at Salus University in Philadelphia, PA. I always enjoy discussing ideas with Bob, and he brings some excellent points to this very relevant conversation.

I have included links to Salus University and Bob’s faculty page. I also mentioned in this episode several articles to read and those links are included below. Thank you for listening, and don’t forget to subscribe to the show. 

Links: 

Salus University Speech Language Pathology Program: 

https://www.salus.edu/Colleges/Health-Sciences-Education-Rehabilitation/Department-of-Speech-Language-Pathology.aspx

Robert Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, FNAP: 

https://www.salus.edu/About/Faculty-Directory/Faculty-Pages/Serianni,-Robert-(1).aspx

A Model for Collaborative Service Delivery for Students With Language-Learning Disorders in the Public Schools: https://www.asha.org/policy/rp1991-00123/

Partnering for Change: collaborating to transform occupational therapy services that support inclusive education: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1275920/full#:~:text=Collaborations%20between%20occupational%20therapists%20and,circumstances%20place%20them%20at%2Drisk.

AOTA/APTA/ASHA Joint statement on Interprofessional Collaborative Goals in School Based Practice: https://www.aota.org/-/media/corporate/files/practice/schools/joint-statement-on-interprofessional-collaborative-goals-in-school-based-practice.pdf

Online course available at AOTA: Interprofessional Collaborative Practices in Multi-tiered Systems of Support in Schools: https://myaota.aota.org/shop_aota/product/OL8343?_ga=2.128129292.1271650800.1704585394-264234602.1704585394

This week, I came down with a horrible cold, and did not have the voice for my new episode this week. So I decided to give an Encore performance of Grasp Development. Here are the details:

Over the past few weeks, I have started using TikTok to share "typical" development progressions for prewriting and grasp. I had so many people ask me questions, that I decided to create a short episode that expands on some of these images. I always want to preface that these ages are averages, and that all children of all different abilities develop at different rates. As always, if you are concerned about the development of your child, please start with their pediatrician. But you can find some great images online that give you a visual on some of the progression of grasp in children starting in infancy. 

Mrs. K has been an occupational therapist for over 20 years, and moved into working with kiddos in the schools seven years ago. She loves what she does, and is passionate about helping kids access their educational environments. If you would have any questions, please feel free to contact her at [email protected]. You can also join The OT Corner with Mrs. K on Instagram and Facebook. Oh and now TikTok. 

https://www.theotcorner.com/

Thanks for listening.

Today I talk with Stephanie Bowlin and her role in language/communication development through teaching American Sign Language and tutoring students in reading, writing and spelling through the Orton-Gillingham method. As an OT I love her multi sensory approach to teaching language and am happy to have her here today to shed light on the importance of language in educating our children.

Stephanie is nationally certified sign language interpreter and certified Signing Smart instructor, started her journey with American Sign Language (ASL) when she was still a child in elementary school. Even before she had any formal instruction, Stephanie benefited from day-to-day interaction with Deaf friends, teachers of the Deaf, and sign language interpreters, giving her the opportunity to learn to sign in the most natural way possible: through authentic interaction.    In this process, Steph learned firsthand how sign language could unlock the door to communication, learning, and relationship-building—a discovery that would set the course for her adult life. Rooted in that experience, authentic interaction is still the hallmark and goal of her work as an interpreter, intervention specialist, caregiver, presenter, mentor, teacher, and—above all—mom. In fact, it was as a mom that  Steph discovered her passion for what she does today: teaching young children and their families to communicate and to learn through the use of ASL—all with amazing success.

Website:  www.SigningWithMissSteph.com⁠

Class Descriptions:

https://www.signingwithmisssteph.com/classes-1      

Class registration website/store:  https://signing-with-miss-steph-llc.square.site/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SigningWithMissSteph

Orton-Gillingham Academy:  https://www.ortonacademy.org/

Welcome back to another season of The OT Corner with Mrs. K. I have been on hiatus as I create other programs for The OT Corner. But, today I kick off a new season with my first episode of my third season all about helping a child create a functional grasp on a writing tool.

I get a lot of questions around the subject of how a child holds their pencil. It is a big concern from teachers and parents. This episode covers what I consider to be a functional grasp and some important factors that go into developing a functional grasp in children.

I mention a few links in this episode, and you can find them all on my linktree: https://linktr.ee/theotcornerwithmrsk

Handwriting is an extremely complex task that we ask our students to do on a daily basis in school. So why is it so complex? And what are these foundational skills that a person needs to have in order to write.

Today's episode answers those questions. As an Occupational Therapist, I am more than a handwriting teacher. My background allows me to analyze activity based on my knowledge of all the different systems in a person's body working together in a coordinated manner to produce legible handwriting. My job is to figure out what barriers exist for a child, and help them overcome these barriers to access their educational setting so they ARE able to write to the best of their ability. I am a firm believer that children of all different abilities need these foundational skills in order to get information from their head down to their hand to create symbols and shapes that make up letters, words, sentences and paragraphs that communicate thoughts and ideas!

Website: https://www.theotcorner.com/?siteRevision=25

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MrsKOT089

Instagram: @theotcornerwithmrsk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theotcornerwithmrsk

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/theothcornerwithmrsk