DECEMBER 2018

As we wind down the school year and start planning for 2019
it is good to reflect on the year that has passed.
2018 has been an exciting and successful year at Kidzcan Durban

Our OT practice has been supporting children and families with sensory integration, concentration, play and social development, handwriting, reading, spelling and motor development.

As we believe in evidence based results, we encourage children to engage in a goal setting process where they identify and then work towards specific outcomes. Children score their ability before their first therapy session and then again during the final therapy session when the therapy intervention is concluded. Here are some of the results:

• “Learning to tie my shoelaces”, “Skipping” or “Throwing and catching a ball” improved
  on average from 6 out of 10 : to 9 out of 10.
• "Writing neatly” and “Finishing my work on time” improved on average from 5 out of 10
  to 10 out of 10.
• “Writing a story” or “Getting my ideas on paper” improved on average from 4 out of 10
  to 7 out of 10.
• “Concentrating when it is noisy” and “Remembering what my teacher said” improved
  on average from 4 out of 10 : to 8 out of 10.

Due to difficulties with communication, our kids with Autism find the goal setting process a bit more challenging. In these instances we work closely with parents and care-givers to identify goals that will make everyday activities, outings and interactions more manageable and meaningful.

In addition to my private practice, I have also been the lead Occupational Therapist at Whizz Kidz Special Needs Centre. Here I work with a multi-disciplinary team supporting children with autism, cerebral palsy and other developmental disorders.

In conjunction with other therapists and Sid’s wooden furniture, we have designed a specialised school chair that provides good seating and support for our kids throughout the school day, at a fraction of the price of the imported alternatives.

I am part of a team of therapists developing and presenting a training course for care-givers of significantly, physically disabled children. The Nakekela training course aims to provide care-givers with the basic knowledge and understanding of Cerebral Palsy as well as to equip them with the skills to manage a daily physical program, to feed, communicate and to play with the children.

Friends and the parents of the kids I work with, often ask for advice in choosing the “perfect” gift for their little ones. My suggestions always include age appropriate, interactive and educational activities.

Educational activities are often just as much fun but less expensive, than what we get bombarded with through advertising in the festive season.

1. Peg Board - Cost R 184 - Age 4+

   

   Develops: Fine motor skills, pre-writing skills, copying skills, visual attention, eye hand coordination.

   Description: This game requires your child to pick up one small coloured peg at a time and place it in the right hole on a peg board in order to build a complete picture – almost like a mosaic. The set comes with picture example cards and a variety of pegs in primary and secondary colours. You can buy an extra peg board for approx R20 which means siblings or friends can build together.




2. Finger Fun - Cost R 72 - Age 5+

   

   Develops: Fine motor skills, bilateral integration, copying skills, spatial planning, social skills.

   Description: Comes with 2 sets of finger boards and picture cards. Finger board is held horizontally while your fingers poke the holes in the bottom of the board to move the coloured marbles around. The aim is to match your coloured marbles to the pictures. As there are two boards it is a great game to play against a partner.




3. Rush Hour - Cost R 275 - Age 5+

   

   Develops: Copying skills, spatial planning and problem solving.

   Description: Place the trucks and cars in allocated slots to create the traffic jam shown on the picture card. Move the trucks and cars, one at a time in order to relieve the congestion and create a path for the ice cream truck to exit. Practice your listening skills by playing with a friend or family member: read instructions on the back of the cards so that the driver can navigate their way out of the traffic jam.




4. Zingo - Cost R 295 - Age 4+

   

   Develops: Visual attention, picture and word recognition, social skills.

   Description: Slide the card dispenser back and forward to reveal a picture and word card. All players (2-6) check their “bingo” card in front of them to see if they have a matching picture. If you do, place the picture card on your board. The aim of the game is to get a full row of picture cards and shout “ZINGO!





5. Brainy Blocks - Cost R 80 - Age 3+

   

   Develops: Fine motor skills, visual attention, visual perceptual skills, shape recognition.

   Description: Learn about big versus small, shapes and primary colours. Use the 3 dimensional shapes to build a picture by filling in the open spaces on the picture card.




6. Tack Zap - Cost R 250 - Age 3+

   

   Develops: fine motor skills, copying skills, visual attention, visual perception, eye hand coordination.

   Description: A more modern version of hammer tap, in Tack Zap you choose between many wooden pieces to find the right parts of a robot or construction vehicle shown on the picture card. Nail the parts into place on the cork board using the nail and hammer.





7. Brain Box - Cost R 210 - Age 4+

   

   Develops: Reading and spelling, visual perception, listening skills, memory, concentration, social skills.

   Description: Fun for all ages and a variety of topic boxes to choose from. Each player has a few seconds to look at and remember the picture, words or sentence at the front of the card. The player then rolls the dice and gets asked one question (matching the number on the dice) from the back of the card. Play in teams or alone.




8. Little Engineer - Cost R 258 - Age 5+

   

   Develops: Fine motor skills, spatial planning & problem solving.

   Description: This constructional game allows the child to build a variety of cars, houses and characters shown on the pamphlet. It involves screwing nuts and bolts onto flat plastic pieces and even has a cool tool to help with fastening the items. For the more advanced engineers ask your stockist about Play Stix.

I buy most of my OT educational toys from Compendium Educational Games located in Westville. Contact Heather Maxwell direct on 083 420 6395 to arrange a time to visit her home-based shop or visit her website: www.compendiumgames.co.za for other products and prices. No noise, no fuss and dozens more educational games to choose from.

Wishing you happy shopping and a joyous festive season.

Elsje.

March 2018

NEWS & UPDATES

Our Occupational Therapist, Elsje, is currently providing individual therapy to more than 20 families with children aged from 3 to 14 years. 

In addition Elsje is providing OT services to two special needs schools in Pinetown & Westville, supporting children with multiple disabilities ranging from Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Genetic Disorders, Concentration and Behavioural problems and Learning Difficulties.

Family centred therapy remains an integral part of our service and regular parent meetings or sessions where parents "sit-in" are encouraged. 

Sibusisiwe Mdlalose

We strive to support and develop the OT profession by proving learning opportunities for young students and professionals. 

From 10 April to 10 May 2018, Sibusisiwe Mdlalose, a 4th year Occupational Therapy student from the University of Pretoria will be joining our practice in order to complete her four week paediatric practical training.

It will be greatly appreciated if you will allow Sibusisiwe the opportunity to sit in and observe Elsje's treatment sessions with your child as this will serve as an essential part of her learning experience. 

Sibusisiwe will abide by the code of ethics and all information regarding the children and their families will be kept strictly confidential. 

Please advise Elsje in the event that you do not agree with this arrangement. 

ARTICLE

Auditory Sensitivity - by Elsje Stuiver (O.T) 

Close your eyes and try to identify three different sounds in your environment. 

You should be able to identify ‘what’ the sounds are and ‘where’ they are coming from. 

It's too loud!!

Correct interpretation of these sounds will enable you to act accordingly e.g. looking behind you and moving out of the way when you hear a bicycle bell ringing, scanning the room to find your ringing cell phone or preparing to nurse when you hear the hungry cry of your baby. 

Children with an over-responsiveness to auditory (sound) input, have difficulty hearing one sound in isolation and instead hear all sounds at an increased volume, all at once. 

This assault to their senses causes their body to go into fight/flight or freeze mode. These children easily become distracted and respond to every day noises with a whole-body startle. 

This state of ceaseless, on-edge alertness uses up a lot of energy, interferes with learning, hampers language development and social interactions. 

Auditory sensitivity can be seen when children cover their ears with their hands in order to block out unpleasant sounds, they may avoid places or events with lots of people and loud noises, request to leave parties early, seek out quiet hiding places or even raise their own voice to counteract the noise. 

Understanding that your child has difficulty ‘turning down the volume’ on the world is the first step to helping them cope better with everyday life. 

Here are a few more tips and tricks you can use to help your child cope when life is TOO LOUD:

• Acknowledge what they are feeling – say things like: ‘wow all these children are making lots of noise…’ or ‘that bell is very loud’ 
• Help them understand ‘what’ the sound is – allow your child to investigate the source of sounds, especially non-threathening sounds, so that next time he/she hears the noise they will be able to carry on what they were doing realising that it the sound will not endanger them. 
• Where possible, eliminate the noises that bother your child and limit the time spent in noisy, busy environments. 
• When possible provide a warning before loud noises – give the child an opportunity to cover their ears or leave the room before an alarm goes off or a bell rings. 
• If prevention is not possible, provide your child with options that will block out the sounds that bother them – these include ear defenders, ear plugs or listening to music.
• Arrange quiet, calm place where your child can relax alone – these include tents, dens, libraries and even an identified room in the house away from the noises that bother them. 
• Adapt your own voice by talking in a softer tone of voice.
• Allow your child to be in control of what they are listening to – give your child an opportunity to change the volume on the television or radio. 
• Chewing can help to dampen sounds - Let your child eat crunchy or chewy (healthy) foods before, during or after noisy events. Non-edible chews can be found online and are a great alternative to food or gum. 

Children’s difficulties with responding and adapting to the environment may not solely be due to a sensitivity to noise. Should your concerns regarding your child’s behaviour, participation and performance remain, further support from an Occupational Therapist with specialist training in Sensory Integration is recommended.

Elsje Stuiver - Occupational Therapy thanks you for your continued support and for allowing us to be part of your journey to better understand and develop your child ☺