Hello. My name is Robin Kahn. I am a speech-language pathologist currently providing telehealth services in NY, NJ, Florida, and areas abroad that allow for me to do so. I have been working in this industry for over thirty years, treating those on the Autism Spectrum, who have feeding challenges, and learning/language/cognitive concerns, and consequently have a variety of specialized training.
Specialized training includes
SOS Feeding Therapy
Prompt Level 1 and 2 training
Floortime Therapy FEDC 1-4 certification is pending
NYS Department of Health approved Early Intervention Program provider
SPEAK OUT! Therapy
Some further background:
For many years, I provided home-based services; but the pandemic changed me. Telehealth is a venue that allows for greater involvement of those in need, and greater flexibility in scheduling. I also find that there seems to be a much greater commitment to the therapeutic process for both children and adults who need help. If you are ready to do so, feel free to inquire. I look forward to speaking with you!
Welcome to a new decade! Where have you been and where you will go this year. I hope my readers will be able to increase their connectivity to others and opportunities to engage with those in many different venues. As you do so- pause and think about how we are doing so. My question to you is where did talking face-to-face vs. FaceTime go?
Changes Over a Decade in How We Talk:
Absolutely fascinating how it seems that social media has taken over so much of our means of communicating with one another! Take a look at the statistics https://www.oberlo.com/blog/social-media-marketing-statistics and recall that social media only became a phenomenon of the late 1900s. Remember the movie “Social Network” and how famous Mark Zuckerberg became as a result?
Regardless of how it has affected us, the use of technology has changed communication, the way that we think and live our lives each day. There are positive ways in which we can use technology at home and the guidelines posted by the American Academy of Pediatrics indicate that the key is to use it in moderation and with parental supervision.
I’ve posted other potential activities that do not involve screen time so please scroll back for those and please don’t forget to look up at each other and look!
The Truth about Fussy Eating by by Claire Gillespie shared from The Week It’s no big secret that a lot of kids don’t like vegetables. Or they think they don’t like them, because they don’t really know — they won’t try them. Another non-secret is that one of the most exhausting aspects of parenting isKeep…
There are serious sensory components to eating and these are illustrated through another remarkable post that was recently featured; well worth a look. For example, the sensation for some may be illustrated with the following image. https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/77902889/posts/2550462747
Changes in routine can affect children and think about how it affects you as well. All the excitement of the upcoming weeks is upon us and perhaps an overlooked thought is how to deal with your special needs family member. Maybe it is foremost in your mind. It may be in that of your child as school holiday gatherings occur this or next week before school vacations.
PRE-PLANNING: With credit to the Sensory Processing Disorder Parent Support Group which can be reached at the link below, I noted that although labeled for Xmas that many of the ideas could be adapted to suit your own family’s holiday celebrations.
1. Keep a routine as much as possible. Using visual schedules can be helpful so they know what is next.
2. Enjoy short and simple activities.
3. It’s ok to have a personal family only Christmas.
4. If you do go out for Christmas, explain sensory challenges to everyone ahead of time.
5. Have a quiet room or space for your child to be alone when they get overwhelmed.
6. Take your child’s weighted blanket and sensory tools.
7. While you are out remember that it’s ok to leave early; watch your child’s signs.
8. Shopping for children with SPD can be unbearable. Try to shop without them if possible or shop in smaller shops with less people.
9. Try to make Christmas day last for days or a week, not everything all on one day.
10. Most areas have a sensory Santa, it’s better to schedule a time as a visit to Santa can be too much for children with SPD.
11. If you are going out to dinner bring your child’s choice foods because most will not eat what is served for Christmas dinner.
12. Read social stories to prepare your child for Christmas events.
13. When you notice your child is coping well, praise them as much as possible.
14. Stick to your child’s sensory diet as much as possible during the holidays to keep them regulated.
15. Allow time for scheduled sensory breaks and exercise.
16. Don’t forget your child’s noise-canceling headphones.
17. Bringing an IPad if they use one will be helpful to keep them busy or they could listen to earphones to avoid most noise.
18. Lower expectations as most children with SPD will have meltdowns during holiday events and dinners as they get overwhelmed.
19. If your child has several gifts, open them gradually so they don’t get overwhelmed.
(a few a day)
20. Include your child with decorating the tree but remember flashing lights or musical decorations can be too much for a child with SPD.
21. Keep Christmas decorations on the walls and in doorways limited and simple. Gradually add them to your home.
22. If your child doesn’t want to open gifts in front of others, try to respect that.
23. I know as a parent that you want your child to enjoy Christmas events but how everyone else enjoys it will be different from how your child enjoys it.
24. Before attending events, make a signal or sign that your child can use to let you know when it’s too much for them.
25. Don’t be afraid to say no to having visitors over. If you do have visitors it’s ok to have a time limit.
26. Don’t force the Christmas on your child that you want to have.
27. Let your child run, jump, spin or swing as much as they need too during the holidays.
28. Think of the human senses. Smells at Christmas can be strong, sounds can be too loud and lights can be too bright.
29. Less can be best. Too much of anything is usually going to be overwhelming.
30. Enjoy yourself! Have a glass of wine and have a Christmas that works for your family, it doesn’t need to work for everyone else!
If you are having a child over for Christmas dinner that has SPD or plan to attend an event with a child who has SPD….. PLEASE be understanding.
Toy Selection:
A few posts ago, I wrote about some ideas for toy selection. An article in my e-mail box is something to consider in terms of guidelines for teens and tweens especially with (NAON TECH) toys in mind
The speech-language pathologist in me ran across a video in an e-journal disseminated to professional members of the national organization regarding the noise-factor produced by some of those toys that you might select
GIFT WRAPPING:
The advantage of a sensory-friendly gift packaging with a novel and eco-friendly packaging options.
For those who love textures and need stimulating gift wrap, Amazon had an idea when i searched there. If you type the following: textured+wrapping+holiday+paper+for+kids
Another idea would be to wrap gifts in colored bubble wrap. Search online for your desired color. If you have a gift that could fit into a bubble mailing envelope, that would be another alternative.
Instead of a bow, put a card so that you know who the gift is from into a sensory bag such as this pencil case which may provide some sensory input afterwards
I think that this gives you a fair amount of food for thought. If you want to make a sensory bag, just search for that online. Etsy has some nice ideas for these.
Parents ask – what can I get for my special needs child for the holidays. The gift of sharing time and allowing for this experience is probably one of the most important. This is well documented in the literature and even pediatricians have weighed in on the subject of play with children.
The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds Author: Kenneth R. Ginsburg Publication: Pediatrics
Recognize that for children – anything can become a toy. The box collection (by age) of 52 quick and creative idea cards is great for easy ones which can be a guide for fun activities. If money is an issue for you – take a look. All the materials can be found at home:
To me, a traditional toy is one that is not battery operated. I remember using these as a child. For example lincoln logs, building blocks, board puzzles, board games such as Monopoly, CandyLand, Pick Up Sticks or numerous doll teal parties with a tea set, balls, frisbees. There are many others and this site offers
The value of a traditional toy cannot be underestimated because the use o f these involves that of imagination expansion. Here is some foood for additional thought https://www.greenchildmagazine.com/no-battery-gifts/
Continuing from the theme of earlier this week in terms of preparing for the holidays, part of doing so is to think about meals and what will be served, how many people are coming, what ingredients you will need and then cooking. If you have a child who can’t tolerate eating different foods then YOU have an additional layer that is so emotionally ridden. If you have a child who cannot tolerate the smell of foods cooking or the site of those which you have on the counter how will you prepare them? Food is such a basic thing that we need for every day. Working with parents each week with children who have feeding challenges reminds me of the emotional influence that problems in this area pose to families. Having taken Dr. Toomey’s training this past fall, I became aware of information that might be able to help you and I have already found its benefit during my daily practice. It is known as a sensory-based feeding therapy approach, building on each of them. http://autism.sesamestreet.org/daily-routine-cards/?fbclid=IwAR0VKcWb_ZAHzheWdgT7ekqhwG_NuW8JLOMtCHZyT4PnolRXeyq6oeXxLSw
“The SOS Approach to Feeding program was developed by and copyrighted by Dr. Kay Toomey. Please note, all materials, documents and forms taken from the SOS Approach to Feeding program are copyrighted and cannot be reproduced in any form without the written permission of Dr. Kay Toomey. For more information on the SOS Approach to Feeding program, please visit http://www.sosapproach.com.”
The SOS Feeding approach is appropriate for children that are “problem feeders” and not “picky eaters”, which can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between. Picky eaters are those that have a limited variety of foods and will not easily eat, but they often will reluctantly touch or taste new food. Picky eaters do not need SOS feeding therapy. A problem feeder, however, has an even more restricted variety of foods with more severe reactions to interacting with non-preferred foods and is a candidate for SOS feeding therapy. Here are some questions to consider if you are concerned about your child’s eating:
Does your child have a decreased range or variety of foods (less than 20)?
If your child gets “burned out” on food and takes a break from it, will they refuse that food still, after the break?
Does your child refuse entire categories of food groups (proteins, vegetables, etc.) or texture groups (hard foods, soft cubes, puree textures)?
Does your child almost always eat different foods at a meal than the rest of the family?
Have you reported concerns about your child’s feeding across multiple well-child check-ups?
If you answered “yes” to several of the above questions, talk to your child’s pediatrician about a referral for an evaluation to determine if feeding therapy would be warranted for your child.
Please note, the term “problem feeder” is used by the SOS Feeding approach program to delineate children who are outside the normal range of age-appropriate feeding behaviors, i.e. only being a “picky eater”.
Is your child a red flag for a referral? Know that in this season of giving that you can be given the hope of improved ability to help your child enjoy eating!
There are good and unfortunate impacts that technology has had to date based on a variety of sources. Think about the last time that you tried to talk to someone to find that they could not answerer you. They had earbuds in their ears, were not looking up at you – just at a machine and appeared to be in an entirely non-face-to face world. The effect on communication in this century is both astounding and profoundly changing us.
The good news is that there are positive things that we can use computers for, as noted in an example of a few resources below. There are others if you search by grade level which yields similar listings so look at those as well.
American Academy of Pediatrics advises families is that used in moderation can be helpful. https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Pages/Media-and-Children.aspx History is repeating itself. The transition from oral to written language posed challenges for those living through that period. We all need to embrace the change and recognize that things are not all bad with this new change in communication.
Typically families with young children may be approaching them with excitement. In my experience, families with children who have disabilities may have apprehensions. How can you proactively approach Halloween? How can your family prepare for dealing with stimulating settings and create a more meaningful/less stressful day in this Halloween week? Here are some resources that may be of help. Firstly:
Here is a wonderful blog post with suggestions for reducing stimulation, creating costumes and preparing for the big day www.familyeducation.com .
Do you want to have a party indoors with snacks and decorations. Perhaps kids movieswww.halloweenmoviesforkid would be a nice activity
The best of all may be arts and crafts that are thematic for the holiday so that you can spend face time with eachother and be creative. Here is a link for some quick and easy activities to give you some ideas https://crazylittleprojects.com/halloween-crafts-for-kids/
This month is another “Awareness” month. We not only become aware of ADHD but one of the concomitant conditions: Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).
The need to have an understanding of the sameness and difference between the conditions is very important as it can have an impact on planning for treatment and perhaps the type of testing that needs to be done. According to the STAR Institute
“many of these kids have both disorders. A national stratified sample of children suggests that 40% of children with ADHD also have SPD (Ahn, Miller et. … Causes: In very simple terms, ADHD and SPD are both disorders that impact the brain. “.
STAR Institute doesn’t talk about adults, but I cannot imagine that there is not a large population of adults who have ADHD + SPD as well…
Being empowered with knowledge and having that increased awareness about individual differences will only help us as individuals -neuro-typical or not to interact with one another. That I believe is the goal of awareness months- so it behooves us all to take a look.
Taken from the below-noted website, you can both read more about SPD and obtain this “sensory processing chart without cost:
There is a valued importance for social learning. “Social Interaction surrounds us as we move through our lives. Even when we aren’t actively engaged in interactions, we’re still exposed to it” according to Anna Vagin, PhD in her a book (see link at the bottom of this post) which outlines a curriculum that she developed using online videos to help teach social learning. Highly recommended for clinicians, teachers and even parents. It’s outline is written in very straight forward and presented in non- clinical terms
Almost every child falls in love with Thomas the Tank Engine. With Black Friday coming next month and holiday shopping – you may want to consider adding this to the list if you have a child unable to do so. Research shows that the first emotions to develop are “happy”, “sad” and “mad” . Look at just this one character and the link below to a Thomas book that may be useful as a part of your home library
In her text (see link below), Dr. Vagin lists these as helpful resources to help children learn about emotions
Emoti Plush toys are dolls with moveable facial features (mouth, eyebrows) that allow children to be shown and themselves demonstrates changing feelings www.emoti-plush.com
Kimochis-characters that can be used as a playful way to help children identify and express feelings www.kimochis.com
For older children-why not act out more lengthy scenarios with materials from those described at this link https://www.smartfelttoys.com/ . The house may be a particularly good one for acting out a scene that may be of meaning for your individual family.
Reference
Anna Vagin Ph.D text: YouCue Feelings:Using Online Videos for Social Learning:
