ing or creeping for infants.
Later on may be an avoidance
of swinging or typical playground
exploration.
• Tactile avoidance of touching
textures and/or picky
about textures of clothing or
foods, extreme reaction to
tooth-brushing, dressing, hair
washing/cutting or other daily
life activities with severe
avoidance behaviors and stress
related to self care or touch.
• Sensory overwhelmed easily-
sensory aversions to certain
places, people or activities,
particular about noise levels
and may be overwhelmed easily
by crowds.
• Fine motor delays such as difficulty
with holding utensils
using fingers, delayed pincer
grasp (between thumb and
pointer fingertips), difficulty
with pencil skills, poor handwriting,
difficulty with eyehand
coordination, frustration
with scissor skills, and/or
hard time with fasteners.
• Sensory craving of movement
or touch and/or signs of hyperactivity
that impede daily
life skills, learning, attention
and focus. Many children
with vestibular-visual processing
issues have difficulties
sitting still, lack of near visual
focus, fidget excessively, take
excessive risks in play, don’t
know personal boundaries or
position in space, and/or hyperactivity.
• Muscle Weakness or Dyspraxia
issues can be helped with
O.T. These children tire easily,
have poor endurance, appear
clumsy, have postural fatigue
so they slouch and lean, fidget
often, and may seek excessive
computer and electronic gaming.
Children with muscle
weakness may complain of
hands being tired when doing
fasteners, coloring, cutting or
writing or show negative behaviors
to avoid fine motor
and self help tasks.
Speech Therapy: speech and
language therapy is designed to
help an individual reach their
maximum potential with communication
skills. This therapy
is for anyone experiencing
delays in forming sounds,
words, sentences, poor speech
patterns, stuttering, poor language
skills (expressive and
receptive language), poor oral
motor skills (difficulty feeding
or eating food textures), and/
or difficulty with social speech
patterns and social pragmatics.
Speech therapy can help
a child learn to express themselves,
to decrease frustration
and negative behaviors. SLP’s
can also help with evaluation
and treatments using Augmentative
Communication
Devices.
• Delays in communication, using
words and combination of
words correctly and/or articulation
patterns are not clear.
• Frustration with speech and
relying on gestures or physical
communication, often
negative behaviors, to try to
communicate their wants and
needs.
Healthy Living | Winter Issue | 2017–2018 23