PPS Unveils Spending Priorities To Support Mental Health -QMHP (OT?) to all K-5, K-8s

Trivia:  What year was occupational therapy officially recognized as a Qualified Mental Health Provider (QMHP)?

NPR: The Key to Raising a Brilliant Kid: Play

NPR: The Key to Raising a Brilliant Kid:  Play

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/10/769052767/the-key-to-raising-brilliant-kids-play-a-game

A Nice Resource for Attention Deficit and Learning Disability

https://www.understood.org/en

Easy Shoe Tying


Shared by Melissa Williams PPS OT

Kawa Model - A way to visualize the flow and blockages to our life and growth.

In the Kawa Model water represents your life flow.  The rocks represent barriers or blockages to that flow.  Drift wood can enhance or block life flow.  The silt at the bottom can be past experiences and also shape the flow of your life.

It can be therapeutic to draw your own Kawa Life Flow model and label the components.  You can also help your client or friend do the same.  Recognition of the variables, people, and experiences that influence life, may help you better shape the way you move through it. 

http://www.kawamodel.com/v1/2017/07/06/681/

What Makes a Good Fidget? A School-Based Approach and Tip Sheep

What Makes a Good Fidget? 

A School-Based Approach and Tip Sheep

What makes a fidget helpful? What makes a fidget annoying? 

Kids and school-based occupational therapists (OT's) may be the best people to ask the first question.
Teachers may best be able to answer the latter. As an OT working in the schools I see too many fidgets fall into the category of annoying.  Then I see them literally fall into the waste bin.  This could be because there was insufficient training when the fidget was handed out.  It could also be the design of the fidget or the distractibility of the students or teacher.  Regardless, there are some ways to make fidget a useful tool for dealing with anxiety, the need for movement, and in developing fine motor skills.

For more tips and guidelines, check out this ever evolving document:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t-Ub-j5KM-8p1ZpJ8ScZtmY2dQMBjAxYB2A5nGTQsLw/edit?usp=sharing