Category: Special needs

Aquatic poster
Cat Links Blog, Gross motor skills, Special needs

Aquatic occupational therapy, heard of it?

Posted on musings

Have you struggled with a child with gross motor delays?  Did they trip and fall often, could not hop, skip and jump as their peers did?  There is certainly something you can do to help along while supporting their skill development in other areas. Heard of Aquatic occupational therapy (Aquatic OT)?  What is it? It is a unique, yet evidence-based, type of therapy practice where water is used as a therapy tool.  It is not common to see occupational therapy for children in the aquatic environment.  You will see kids in the sessions that look a lot like traditional therapy

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Cat Links Special education, Special needs

Time concepts-“Understanding” passage of day.

Posted on musings

In this post, I elaborate on how to extend time concepts to understand the passage of a day. Follow-up post in continuation to my earlier post on –  “passage of time” concepts. My son is who is speech delayed(on the spectrum) loves structure and has shown a strong preference for written schedules.  I have always used such schedules to curate his day and make it predictable. However, I did experience issues as my son would keep requesting an activity on the schedule, while it was not the time for that yet!  I had taught him elapsed time concepts using visual timers,

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Cat Links Blog, Special needs, Speech

Core vocabulary and communication.

Posted on musings

The Power of Core Vocabulary Core vocabulary refers to the small number of words that make up >70-90% of what we say daily. These words are relevant across contexts and can have many meanings. They are a specific set of pronouns, words, descriptors, prepositions and very few nouns that apply across settings. Some examples of core vocabulary include: stop, go, get, more, turn, mine, on, off, up, down, that.  They are classified as:- Tier 1- Most basic words. Tier 2- High-frequency words. Tier 3- Low-frequency words. They are also the words that are on the AAC device(Augmentative and Alternative Communication)

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Cat Links Blog, Special needs, Speech

Did you know there are TWO PRIMARY LANGUAGE ACQUISITION STYLES?!

Posted on musings

Do you have a toddler who isn’t talking, has trouble with eye contact or participating in an activity with you?  Have you noticed that your toddler is able to label many items but is unable to tell you what they want in a meaningful way? As a parent to a child like that I understand how overwhelmed, frustrated and helpless you may feel having tried everything.  I remember feeling isolated and hopeless listening to the rhymes my child sang repeatedly, throughout the day and communicated nothing! 

Cat Links Blog, Special education, Special needs

“Understanding” the passage of time- Time concepts.

Posted on musings

Teaching time concepts becomes the key to several aspects when you have a child with special needs.  I am not referring to telling time alone, however subtle concepts like waiting, turn-taking tie-up closely with “elapsed time”. Elapsed time is the amount of time that passes from the start of an event to its finish. In simplest terms, the elapsed time is how much time goes by from one time to another. An important tool that goes hand and hand with elapsed time is the timer. Consider teaching elapsed time as a concept consistently in various scenarios.  Waiting for preferred items, nonpreferred items, offering a choice of minutes to wait. Please

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Cat Links Blog, Special education, Special needs

Special needs and comprehension skills.

Posted on musings

Teaching a special needs child is a completely different art that can get complex and demanding, needing a lot of patience.  That is when one will realize that the right tools can lend you a hand.  I am talking about materials and resources to target a specific skill! I want to touch a bit on the theory of mind and its relevance to autism.  Theory of mind is impaired in people with autism. One of the earliest tests for the theory of mind is the false-belief test developed by Simon Baron-Cohen and Uta Frith1. In the classic version of the test, a

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