What Makes a Good Toy?
Toys are the tools children use in play. Every plaything should measure up to this tall task. Below are some points to consider when purchasing toys for the little ones in your life.Is it Safe? A good toy should pass the drop test and a lot more. Be it wood, metal, plastic, or fabric, the basic material should be durable and well-finished. Avoid toys with sharp edges and long cords. Abide by any age-specific safety warnings, such as small parts which may present choking hazards for children under three years old.
Is it Age Appropriate?
The play activity should developmentally suit the child's age. Check the toy maker's recommendations and believe in the "+" sign. Ages 3+ does not mean your 4-year-old has outgrown it. If in doubt, consult with the toy experts. ASTRA specialty retailers are very astute when it comes to matching activities to specific ages.
Does it Engage the Child?
A good toy should encourage open-ended play, invite exploration, and engage a child's interest beyond a short sitting. Toys should be hands-on tools – not watch-me players. A child should be able to power a plaything – even a battery-operated toy – with his or her own ideas and imagination.
Does it Expand the Child?
A good toy with play value benefits the child at a particular stage by introducing and reinforcing age specific skills. A great toy grows with the child, helping her or him advance from one developmental stage to the next.
Does it Add to the Toy Box?
A child needs a variety of toys and different types of play activities. When selecting a new toy, consider one that adds balance to your child's busy play.
Is it Fun?
Most of all, a good toy is fun to play with. Dull and boring, regardless of benefit, have no place in a good toy box.
Taken from www.ASTRA.org
Backpack Awareness Day
This was taken from the American Occupational Therapy Association
National School Backpack Awareness Day is September 17, and occupational therapy practitioners across the United States are gearing up to help students “Pack It Light, Wear It Right!” But occupational therapists work every day in virtually every school district, providing services ranging from behavioral help to proper posture for computer use.
National School Backpack Awareness Day focuses on just one area of occupational therapy expertise—ergonomics—but occupational therapy in schools is much more. Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants help children, youth, and families with a broad range of health and wellness issues that affect the ability to participate in and enjoy everyday activities. In schools, they help students develop the skills they need to learn, play, and interact with others.
Visit www.aota.org for more information on backpack awareness.
National School Backpack Awareness Day is September 17, and occupational therapy practitioners across the United States are gearing up to help students “Pack It Light, Wear It Right!” But occupational therapists work every day in virtually every school district, providing services ranging from behavioral help to proper posture for computer use.
National School Backpack Awareness Day focuses on just one area of occupational therapy expertise—ergonomics—but occupational therapy in schools is much more. Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants help children, youth, and families with a broad range of health and wellness issues that affect the ability to participate in and enjoy everyday activities. In schools, they help students develop the skills they need to learn, play, and interact with others.
Visit www.aota.org for more information on backpack awareness.
Backpack Awareness Day
The American Occupational Therapy Association has published ten tips to avoid backpack-related health problems:
Never let a child carry more than 15% of his or her body weight. This means a child who weighs 100 pounds shouldn't wear a backpack heavier than 15 pounds.
Load heaviest items closest to the child's back and arrange books and materials to prevent them from sliding.
Always wear both shoulder straps. Wearing only one strap can cause a child to lean to one side, curving the spine and causing pain or discomfort.
Select a pack with well-padded shoulder straps. Too much pressure on shoulders and necks can cause pain and tingling.
Adjust the shoulder straps so that the pack fits snugly to the child's back. The bottom of the pack should rest in the curve of the lower back, never more than four inches below the child's waistline.
Use the waist belt, if the backpack has one, to help distribute the pack's weight more evenly.
Check what your child carries to school and brings home to make sure the items are necessary to the day's activities.
If the backpack is too heavy, consider using a book bag on wheels if your child's school allows it.
Choose the right size pack for your child's back as well as one with enough room for necessary school items.
If a student is experiencing back pain or neck soreness, consult your physician or occupational therapist.
Never let a child carry more than 15% of his or her body weight. This means a child who weighs 100 pounds shouldn't wear a backpack heavier than 15 pounds.
Load heaviest items closest to the child's back and arrange books and materials to prevent them from sliding.
Always wear both shoulder straps. Wearing only one strap can cause a child to lean to one side, curving the spine and causing pain or discomfort.
Select a pack with well-padded shoulder straps. Too much pressure on shoulders and necks can cause pain and tingling.
Adjust the shoulder straps so that the pack fits snugly to the child's back. The bottom of the pack should rest in the curve of the lower back, never more than four inches below the child's waistline.
Use the waist belt, if the backpack has one, to help distribute the pack's weight more evenly.
Check what your child carries to school and brings home to make sure the items are necessary to the day's activities.
If the backpack is too heavy, consider using a book bag on wheels if your child's school allows it.
Choose the right size pack for your child's back as well as one with enough room for necessary school items.
If a student is experiencing back pain or neck soreness, consult your physician or occupational therapist.
Treatment for SPD
From Kid Foundation- another great resource
Treatment for Sensory Processing Disorder is a fun, play-based intervention that takes place in a sensory-rich environment. Private clinics and practices, hospital outpatient departments, and university occupational therapy programs are typical places where treatment for SPD or for sensory issues in disorders such as ADHD and Autism may be found. Children are most commonly treated for SPD with occupational therapy (OT) that may be supplemented with listening therapy (LT) or other complementary therapies. Sometimes other professionals such as physical therapists, speech/language therapists, teachers, and/or others who have advanced training in using a sensory integration approach may be involved in treatment.
The most effective treatment for SPD is research-based. Although a great deal remains to be discovered about the disorder, scientists at SPD Foundation and elsewhere already have learned that some intervention strategies are more effective than others. Treatment from a research-based clinic or clinician ensures that these strategies will be put to work for your child or for you.
Effective treatment for SPD also is family-centered. In family-centered care, parents and therapists become partners who assume different but essential roles during treatment. Parents identify priorities and act as the experts on their child. The child's therapists have expertise in therapeutic technique and measure progress toward the family's priorities. Together, the family and the therapist collaborate to develop the best possible program that reflects the family's culture, needs, and values. Treatment from a family-centered clinic or clinician who uses quantifiable outcome measures improves the likelihood that you will benefit and be satisfied with the therapeutic program you choose for your child or yourself.
Treatment for Sensory Processing Disorder is a fun, play-based intervention that takes place in a sensory-rich environment. Private clinics and practices, hospital outpatient departments, and university occupational therapy programs are typical places where treatment for SPD or for sensory issues in disorders such as ADHD and Autism may be found. Children are most commonly treated for SPD with occupational therapy (OT) that may be supplemented with listening therapy (LT) or other complementary therapies. Sometimes other professionals such as physical therapists, speech/language therapists, teachers, and/or others who have advanced training in using a sensory integration approach may be involved in treatment.
The most effective treatment for SPD is research-based. Although a great deal remains to be discovered about the disorder, scientists at SPD Foundation and elsewhere already have learned that some intervention strategies are more effective than others. Treatment from a research-based clinic or clinician ensures that these strategies will be put to work for your child or for you.
Effective treatment for SPD also is family-centered. In family-centered care, parents and therapists become partners who assume different but essential roles during treatment. Parents identify priorities and act as the experts on their child. The child's therapists have expertise in therapeutic technique and measure progress toward the family's priorities. Together, the family and the therapist collaborate to develop the best possible program that reflects the family's culture, needs, and values. Treatment from a family-centered clinic or clinician who uses quantifiable outcome measures improves the likelihood that you will benefit and be satisfied with the therapeutic program you choose for your child or yourself.
Sensory Ideas for Home
From www.kidfoundation.com a great resource for sensory questions
Incorporating Sensory Input into Daily Activities
Bath time: Scrub with washcloth or bath brush, try a variety of soaps and lotions for bathing, play on the wall with shaving cream or bathing foam, rub body with lotion after bath time (deep massage), sprinkle powder onto body and brush or rub into skin.
Meal preparation or baking: Let your child mix ingredients, especially the thick ones that will really work those muscles. Let child mix and roll dough and push flat. Allow child to help you carry pots and pans, bowls of water or ingredients (with supervision, of course). Let your child tenderize meat with the meat mallet.
Grocery shopping: Have your child push the heavy cart (as long as the weight is within their capability). Let your child help carry heavy groceries and help put them away.
Mealtime: Encourage eating of chewy foods and drinking out of a straw. Try having your child sit on an air cushion to allow some movement. A weighted lap blanket may be helpful as well.
Household chores: Allow the child to help with the vacuuming or moving the furniture. Let the child help carry the laundry basket or the detergent. Let the child help with digging for gardening or landscaping.
Play time: Reading books in a rocking chair or bean-bag chair may be beneficial. You can help your child make up obstacle courses in the house or yard using crawling, jumping, hopping, skipping, rolling, etc. Listen to soft music. Play the sandwich game (child lies in between two pillows and pretends to be the sandwich, while you provide pressure to the top pillow to the child’s desired amount). Ask them "harder or softer?" as you push on the pillow. Some children will like much more pressure than you would expect. You can also go for a neighborhood walk with a wagon and have your child pull it (make it semi-heavy by loading it with something the child would like to pull around). You can do the same with a baby-doll carriage. Swimming in a pool is a wonderful activity if you have that available, as are horseback riding and bowling. Mini or full-size trampolines are excellent for providing sensory input as well. Make sure the child is using them safely. Sandboxes, or big containers of beans or popcorn kernels can be fun play-boxes. too, if you add small cars, shovels, cups, etc.
Errands and appointments: Before visiting the dentist or hairdresser try deep massage to the head or scalp (if tolerated), or try having your child wear a weighted hat. Try chewy foods or vibration to the mouth with an electric toothbrush. Let your child wear a heavy backpack (weighted to their liking with books and with the straps padded as needed). Be sure to give the child ample warning before any changes in routine or any unscheduled trips or errands. Many children with SPD need predictability.
Other General Guidelines for the Home
Keep routines and possessions organized.
Be consistent with rules and consequences.
Keep an activity schedule or calendar posted.
Create specific routines for troublesome times of day (bedtime or getting ready for school).
Discuss upcoming anticipated changes in routine at a point in time that is beneficial for your child. You will have to experiment with how early the child "needs to know."
Try to indirectly use your child’s sensory preferences for fun rewards to help you handle behavior. For example, having your child work towards an extra trip to go bowling or horseback riding may be helpful. However, try not to restrict movement activities when your child is being disciplined. For example, taking away recess time or playground time for not sitting at the table appropriately during dinner may not be the most effective way to deal with these issues. Your child may need that movement time, and by removing it, his or her behavior may actually become more difficult later.
Incorporating Sensory Input into Daily Activities
Bath time: Scrub with washcloth or bath brush, try a variety of soaps and lotions for bathing, play on the wall with shaving cream or bathing foam, rub body with lotion after bath time (deep massage), sprinkle powder onto body and brush or rub into skin.
Meal preparation or baking: Let your child mix ingredients, especially the thick ones that will really work those muscles. Let child mix and roll dough and push flat. Allow child to help you carry pots and pans, bowls of water or ingredients (with supervision, of course). Let your child tenderize meat with the meat mallet.
Grocery shopping: Have your child push the heavy cart (as long as the weight is within their capability). Let your child help carry heavy groceries and help put them away.
Mealtime: Encourage eating of chewy foods and drinking out of a straw. Try having your child sit on an air cushion to allow some movement. A weighted lap blanket may be helpful as well.
Household chores: Allow the child to help with the vacuuming or moving the furniture. Let the child help carry the laundry basket or the detergent. Let the child help with digging for gardening or landscaping.
Play time: Reading books in a rocking chair or bean-bag chair may be beneficial. You can help your child make up obstacle courses in the house or yard using crawling, jumping, hopping, skipping, rolling, etc. Listen to soft music. Play the sandwich game (child lies in between two pillows and pretends to be the sandwich, while you provide pressure to the top pillow to the child’s desired amount). Ask them "harder or softer?" as you push on the pillow. Some children will like much more pressure than you would expect. You can also go for a neighborhood walk with a wagon and have your child pull it (make it semi-heavy by loading it with something the child would like to pull around). You can do the same with a baby-doll carriage. Swimming in a pool is a wonderful activity if you have that available, as are horseback riding and bowling. Mini or full-size trampolines are excellent for providing sensory input as well. Make sure the child is using them safely. Sandboxes, or big containers of beans or popcorn kernels can be fun play-boxes. too, if you add small cars, shovels, cups, etc.
Errands and appointments: Before visiting the dentist or hairdresser try deep massage to the head or scalp (if tolerated), or try having your child wear a weighted hat. Try chewy foods or vibration to the mouth with an electric toothbrush. Let your child wear a heavy backpack (weighted to their liking with books and with the straps padded as needed). Be sure to give the child ample warning before any changes in routine or any unscheduled trips or errands. Many children with SPD need predictability.
Other General Guidelines for the Home
Keep routines and possessions organized.
Be consistent with rules and consequences.
Keep an activity schedule or calendar posted.
Create specific routines for troublesome times of day (bedtime or getting ready for school).
Discuss upcoming anticipated changes in routine at a point in time that is beneficial for your child. You will have to experiment with how early the child "needs to know."
Try to indirectly use your child’s sensory preferences for fun rewards to help you handle behavior. For example, having your child work towards an extra trip to go bowling or horseback riding may be helpful. However, try not to restrict movement activities when your child is being disciplined. For example, taking away recess time or playground time for not sitting at the table appropriately during dinner may not be the most effective way to deal with these issues. Your child may need that movement time, and by removing it, his or her behavior may actually become more difficult later.
Summer Time Word Search
Summer Time
G Y A Z N C H O B C X V E H O K K G G A
T E B Z S T A N J B R M V B C X K S V B
A W D E Y Y A A R K R A L P J A U Z D V
V L R W C P S E Q K H X B J P R E P N F
F N T Q Q J D C H T B Z B B F H Q B A N
S D N E I R F O M O Y V G I I H O E L A
N Y T O W H A B O W P R N Y F N E T J Y
E L S A I L B O A T A G U S D R G A P X
F V X Z F N H Q U G V E G D T Y K K X X
P A A D O I L T A G G C Z I E D W K H X
F I Q S K Z D C A N W D P Y K H X U F S
F E F V T S F K Q P D V U A O E M G I C
Y I Q V M Q A U I G E S V F V Z H D S N
B A I D W V Q H N T G K N A X K W E H E
O P P G N P G Q Q P M M O K J Y C N I E
Q G T W T N I H C N E I O W J F O S N D
A J E F B I D A U Y H E E T D C A U G S
W U G M R G D G J O P E A N N D M N P R
H L T J B S B C Y W N I A U B E E G B C
P J F U N R R Y J A Y S J R N I W K S Q
Find: BEACH CRABBING FISHING
FRIENDS FUN HOT OCEAN
SAILBOAT SAND SUN SURFING
G Y A Z N C H O B C X V E H O K K G G A
T E B Z S T A N J B R M V B C X K S V B
A W D E Y Y A A R K R A L P J A U Z D V
V L R W C P S E Q K H X B J P R E P N F
F N T Q Q J D C H T B Z B B F H Q B A N
S D N E I R F O M O Y V G I I H O E L A
N Y T O W H A B O W P R N Y F N E T J Y
E L S A I L B O A T A G U S D R G A P X
F V X Z F N H Q U G V E G D T Y K K X X
P A A D O I L T A G G C Z I E D W K H X
F I Q S K Z D C A N W D P Y K H X U F S
F E F V T S F K Q P D V U A O E M G I C
Y I Q V M Q A U I G E S V F V Z H D S N
B A I D W V Q H N T G K N A X K W E H E
O P P G N P G Q Q P M M O K J Y C N I E
Q G T W T N I H C N E I O W J F O S N D
A J E F B I D A U Y H E E T D C A U G S
W U G M R G D G J O P E A N N D M N P R
H L T J B S B C Y W N I A U B E E G B C
P J F U N R R Y J A Y S J R N I W K S Q
Find: BEACH CRABBING FISHING
FRIENDS FUN HOT OCEAN
SAILBOAT SAND SUN SURFING
What is Sensory Integration??
Sensory integration theory proposes that sensory integration is a neurobiological process that organizes sensation from one’s own body and from the environment and makes it possible to use the body effectively within the environment. The spatial and temporal aspects of inputs from different sensory modalities are interpreted, associated, and unified. Sensory integration is information processing…Praxis and perception are both end products of sensory integration… Practic ability includes knowing what to do as well as how to do it. Practic skill is fundamental to purposeful activity”(Ayres, 1986 p. 9). The effectiveness of organism-environment transaction in promoting human development is partially dependent up on the inherent plasticity of the central nervous system. The brain, especially the young brain, is naturally malleable; structure and function become more firm and set with age. The formative capacity allows person-environment interaction to promote and enhance neurointegrative efficiency. A deficiency in the individual’s ability to engage effectively in this transaction at critical periods interferes with optimal brain development and consequent overall ability. Identifying the deficient areas at a young age and addressing them therapeutically can enhance the individual’s opportunity for normal development (Ayres, 1986 p.10). Definition taken from www.siglobalnetwork.org
Zoo Sticks, Rookie Sticks, Tongs
Zoo Sticks, Rookie Sticks, Tweezers and Tongs!
Whether you have zoo sticks, rookie sticks, tweezers or tongs you can do all of these activities. First, what’s the difference between these tools??
Zoo Sticks have an animal on top with long legs to make the tongs. Rookie sticks are long and thin with an “M” shaped top. Each of these are actually children’s chopsticks. Tweezers are available in various types and are going to be smaller with a pointier tip. Some are resistive, some squeeze to open, others squeeze to close. Tongs tend to be larger and thicker with a flat surface, so easier than tweezers or zoo/rookie sticks.
You can use these tools to pick up almost any small object: spiny balls, critter balls, cotton balls, pieces of scrunched paper, pop beads, M&M’s, beads, etc. The child can hold a small container (film canister, or paper towel tube with one end closed up) in the other hand to put the small objects into. Now you’re also working on bilateral hand use and crossing midline!
Other Uses:
Pick up and place pegs in a pegboard, while copying a pattern or making a design.
Use to move pieces during traditional board games.
When playing with putty; roll out the putty into a snake and use tool to pinch into an inch worm, or pick up small pieces of putty.
Have a rice/bean bucket or sand table? Use tongs to pick out hidden buttons/cotton balls/small plastic toys/beads or anything you’d like!
Make your own tongs!! With two Popsicle sticks, a rubber band, and a small piece of paper rolled into a ball! Place the ball on one end of the Popsicle stick and the rubber band around this side. You have a pair of tongs that you can change the position and resistance of.
Whether you have zoo sticks, rookie sticks, tweezers or tongs you can do all of these activities. First, what’s the difference between these tools??
Zoo Sticks have an animal on top with long legs to make the tongs. Rookie sticks are long and thin with an “M” shaped top. Each of these are actually children’s chopsticks. Tweezers are available in various types and are going to be smaller with a pointier tip. Some are resistive, some squeeze to open, others squeeze to close. Tongs tend to be larger and thicker with a flat surface, so easier than tweezers or zoo/rookie sticks.
You can use these tools to pick up almost any small object: spiny balls, critter balls, cotton balls, pieces of scrunched paper, pop beads, M&M’s, beads, etc. The child can hold a small container (film canister, or paper towel tube with one end closed up) in the other hand to put the small objects into. Now you’re also working on bilateral hand use and crossing midline!
Other Uses:
Pick up and place pegs in a pegboard, while copying a pattern or making a design.
Use to move pieces during traditional board games.
When playing with putty; roll out the putty into a snake and use tool to pinch into an inch worm, or pick up small pieces of putty.
Have a rice/bean bucket or sand table? Use tongs to pick out hidden buttons/cotton balls/small plastic toys/beads or anything you’d like!
Make your own tongs!! With two Popsicle sticks, a rubber band, and a small piece of paper rolled into a ball! Place the ball on one end of the Popsicle stick and the rubber band around this side. You have a pair of tongs that you can change the position and resistance of.
Play Ideas for Home
Let’s re-visit: Houshold Items!
We have decided to focus on activities for the summer that you can do at home. Most families do not have swings and trampolines at home but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a sensory gym in your house. Some fun ideas with items around the house are:
1. Couch Cushions or Pillows
Take the cushions off the couch, pile them up on the floor and have your child jump on them as if it were a trampoline or crash mat. You can sing the ABC’s, or count while they jump.
Turn the cushions into an obstacle course- lay two on the floor to jump over, then one to hop around, and three in a row to walk across.
Pretend the cushions are stepping stones- lay them on the floor making a path, walk across “the river”. You can place objects on the floor for them to squat down and pick up along the way. It is a great way to work on balance.
Use cushions to provide some deep pressure- sandwich your child between two cushions and give a little squeeze. Pretend they’re a hot dog and the pillows are the bun or use a blanket and roll them up inside to make “kids in a blanket”.
2. Laundry
Have your child push/ carry the full laundry basket to and from the machine/dryer
Once the laundry is finished they can help match and fold each item. This is a great visual perceptual task.
3. Old magazines and newspapers
Before you throw them in the recycle bin, let your kids cut them up. They can help you cut coupons, cut out items with a theme and make a collage (some example themes are “things they like”, “Summertime” “Things that smell good”) , or just cut away until you have confetti!
Use the paper to play a basketball game- crumple and shoot to a can or laundry basket; add in some writing and math practice and keep score.
4. Egg Cartons
An egg carton is a great sorting dish. Color each space a different color and ask your kids to find one of their toys that match and place it in.
Or you can label them with letters (you need 2 cartons for the whole alphabet. You can cut letters out of the newspaper or magazines and have your kids match them to the appropriate cup. Or if you have magnetic letters, they will fit also. Make it difficult and have them find something around the house or just the kitchen that starts with each letter.
It also makes a great paint palette, so pour some paint and make a masterpiece! You can also go on a hunt for large rocks in a park or shells at the beach. Wash them off, they can paint them! (Remember Pet Rocks!)
We have decided to focus on activities for the summer that you can do at home. Most families do not have swings and trampolines at home but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a sensory gym in your house. Some fun ideas with items around the house are:
1. Couch Cushions or Pillows
Take the cushions off the couch, pile them up on the floor and have your child jump on them as if it were a trampoline or crash mat. You can sing the ABC’s, or count while they jump.
Turn the cushions into an obstacle course- lay two on the floor to jump over, then one to hop around, and three in a row to walk across.
Pretend the cushions are stepping stones- lay them on the floor making a path, walk across “the river”. You can place objects on the floor for them to squat down and pick up along the way. It is a great way to work on balance.
Use cushions to provide some deep pressure- sandwich your child between two cushions and give a little squeeze. Pretend they’re a hot dog and the pillows are the bun or use a blanket and roll them up inside to make “kids in a blanket”.
2. Laundry
Have your child push/ carry the full laundry basket to and from the machine/dryer
Once the laundry is finished they can help match and fold each item. This is a great visual perceptual task.
3. Old magazines and newspapers
Before you throw them in the recycle bin, let your kids cut them up. They can help you cut coupons, cut out items with a theme and make a collage (some example themes are “things they like”, “Summertime” “Things that smell good”) , or just cut away until you have confetti!
Use the paper to play a basketball game- crumple and shoot to a can or laundry basket; add in some writing and math practice and keep score.
4. Egg Cartons
An egg carton is a great sorting dish. Color each space a different color and ask your kids to find one of their toys that match and place it in.
Or you can label them with letters (you need 2 cartons for the whole alphabet. You can cut letters out of the newspaper or magazines and have your kids match them to the appropriate cup. Or if you have magnetic letters, they will fit also. Make it difficult and have them find something around the house or just the kitchen that starts with each letter.
It also makes a great paint palette, so pour some paint and make a masterpiece! You can also go on a hunt for large rocks in a park or shells at the beach. Wash them off, they can paint them! (Remember Pet Rocks!)
How to Find Us
Mailing Address:PFOT P.O. Box 174 Morganville, N.J. 07751
Telephone Number:(732) 441-0404 or Toll Free 800-pfot-124
Fax Number: (732) 441-1422 Email Addresses:
For
Email
General Inquiries
pfot@pfot.com
Orders
orders@pfot.com
Customer Service
customerservice@pfot.com
Join our email list
email@pfot.com
Catalog Requests
catalogs@pfot.com
Home Page: http://www.pfot.com
Shoponline: http://shoponline.pfot.com
Telephone Number:(732) 441-0404 or Toll Free 800-pfot-124
Fax Number: (732) 441-1422 Email Addresses:
For
General Inquiries
pfot@pfot.com
Orders
orders@pfot.com
Customer Service
customerservice@pfot.com
Join our email list
email@pfot.com
Catalog Requests
catalogs@pfot.com
Home Page: http://www.pfot.com
Shoponline: http://shoponline.pfot.com
Who Are We?
PFOT, while still a small company, continues to grow and work hard to meet your needs. It was conceived and established in 1989 by us, Michelle Tobias and Ilene Goldkopf, and yes we are Occupational Therapists. Our initial goal was, and still is, to assist Occupational Therapists and others, concerned with the development of children, find the unique materials needed to provide effective, appropriate, motivating and fun, pediatric therapy and learning. That's why the catalog is arranged into catagories pertinent to develpment. This makes classroom, home programs and gift giving recommendations easier for you.
As therapists, we have over 35 years of combined experience in pediatrics & developmental disabilities. We are both Board Certified Pediatric OT's and are certified to administer the SIPT. We are coauthors of the book "OT GOALS (Goals & Objectives Associated with Learning)" published by Therapy Skillbuilders, Inc. We are also contributing authors to the book "Hand Function in the child: Foundations for Re-mediation" published by Mosby, Inc. and continually have projects underway.
We both continue to work full time as Occupational Therapists, servicing public schools in Central New Jersey, as well as private clients in our clinic. We are also pleased to be included in the new AOTA Pediatric Resource Guide. If you have any therapy-related questions, we'll try to help answer them or lead you to a resource for the info.
Hope this helps in understanding us and our catalogue a little better - but please keep writing and calling, we enjoy hearing from you!
Ilene and Michelle
As therapists, we have over 35 years of combined experience in pediatrics & developmental disabilities. We are both Board Certified Pediatric OT's and are certified to administer the SIPT. We are coauthors of the book "OT GOALS (Goals & Objectives Associated with Learning)" published by Therapy Skillbuilders, Inc. We are also contributing authors to the book "Hand Function in the child: Foundations for Re-mediation" published by Mosby, Inc. and continually have projects underway.
We both continue to work full time as Occupational Therapists, servicing public schools in Central New Jersey, as well as private clients in our clinic. We are also pleased to be included in the new AOTA Pediatric Resource Guide. If you have any therapy-related questions, we'll try to help answer them or lead you to a resource for the info.
Hope this helps in understanding us and our catalogue a little better - but please keep writing and calling, we enjoy hearing from you!
Ilene and Michelle
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