Tag: therapy

A recent Hungarian study proved that dog’s brains, similarly to humans’, have areas that are dedicated to recognizing emotional cues in voice. The study was conducted by Attila Andics of the MTA-ELTE Comparative Ethology Research Group in Hungary. Anidcs said that “Dogs and humans share a similar social environment,” “Our findings suggest that they also use similar brain mechanisms to process social information.” “This may support the successfulness of vocal communication between the two species,” he added. The study was made possible by training 11 dogs to lay still throughout the…

A child’s main occupation in life is PLAY, which puts it high up the ladder of priorities in the world of child care. As promised earlier, this article is dedicated to parents who are looking for simple affordable ideas to boost their children’s play skills as well as overall development through play. When it comes to purposeful play, simplicity works just fine. It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive at all. All you need to do is introduce simple themes and play tasks in a way that captures your…

As promised in my last article, today I start a new series of posts to direct parents on how to spend what I like to call “smart times” with their little ones, and play games that will support a healthy development. In order to play right, a parent must know the types of play and the normal development of play in a child. This will give parents an opportunity to target the different types of play during their shared quality time. The main types of play are acquired throughout the…

In continuation of the Sensory Integration series of articles, today I will be discussing the third element of practice pertaining to Ayres’s sensory integration theory; which is her suggested treatment approach, referred to as sensory integration therapy. Ayres’s therapy techniques provide the child with various sensory experiences through play. One of the basic assumptions over which Ayres’s work was constructed was that the central nervous system is plastic. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change or be modified. Based on this assumption, sensory integration therapy is hypothesized to cause…

As discussed in my previous article, sensory integration dysfunction could seriously affect a child’s life if not diagnosed and targeted properly, thus, accurate diagnosis is of utmost importance. Sensory integration dysfunction could be a tricky disorder, as symptoms may look similar to other disorders. One example of such disorders is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, popularly known as ADHD. In both disorders, a child might present as hyperactive, or may face difficulty paying attention in class. Sensory integration dysfunction has also been often misdiagnosed as autistic spectrum disorder due to some…

This is the story of Jenny, a 4-year old gorgeous girl. Jenny presents herself as a very articulate child, with a charming personality that is easy to capture attention when in a gathering. And although everyone seems to think of Jenny as a very pleasant child, her mother happens to describe her as a “difficult girl”. At home, jenny seems to throw temper tantrums for the simplest things. She always complains about clothes tags being too itchy, noises coming out of the computer fan being too loud, and describes bright…