National Handwriting Day is January 23rd, 2013

 

To celebrate National Handwriting Day (January 23rd), Handwriting Without Tears is inviting children all over the country to handwrite letters of advice (in their best handwriting!) to the President as he heads into his second term in office. They can share their hopes for the future, words of wisdom, good wishes—the only requirement is that the letters be handwritten!

You can find more information and special free stationary to use for the Mail to the Chief campaign on the Handwriting Without Tears website at Mail to the Chief .    Children love to offer their words of advice to the president so be sure to hop on board and celebrate good handwriting!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Monsters Inc. Sensory Friendly Films

It's that time again!  AMC will host another sensory friendly film on Saturday, January 5th at 10:00AM.  Monsters Inc. (in 2-D) will be at AMC Theatres all over the country.  You'll find all the info you need at Autism Society - Sensory Friendly Films

Have a fun time movie goers!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Holiday Gift Guide for Kids

                                             

Well, we've reached the "less than 2 weeks 'til Christmas" mark!  Have you finished shopping for your favorite kiddos?  If you're like me and you've still got some gifts to buy, take a few minutes to look over the list of gift ideas I wrote last year this time.  It's a developmental list organized by age groups to help you find that "just right" gift. I thought it might be worth re-posting right about now. You'll find the link to my posting at Holiday Gift Guide!
Now get shopping!            
                           
Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Rudy the Writing Reindeer

It's been a bit of a rough year with one of my first grade friends who simply detests school work and anything associated with it.  His "team" of teachers and therapists have already met several times this year to try to come up with a plan that might encourage this little guy to want to participate at school.  So today he had a writing assignment that he had refused to do in class for his teacher and I was going to give it another try to see if maybe ...just maybe....he could be motivated to try.  SO let me introduce Rudy the Red Nosed Writing Reindeer!  You might have heard about Rudy in your favorite Christmas song, right?  Yeah, well he somehow made his way into my bag this morning so that he could see what my first grade friends were writing at school.  Can you even believe it?!  Let me tell you, my first grade kiddos LOVED Rudy and would have done just about anything to have him sit on the desk to see their "Fantastic First Grade Writing".  My less than motivated buddy couldn't wait for his turn to have Rudy watch him write. In fact, he didn't want to STOP writing because he did not want Rudy to go to another friend.  Oh yes, he most certainly did finish that writing assignment and asked if Rudy would be back tomorrow to see him write.  You can BET that Rudy will be back!  If a cute little stuffed animal can motivate my kiddos to write, then it looks like Ms. Jen has a new assistant!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

National School Backpack Awareness Day

The 3rd Wednesday of September every year is the day the American Occupational Therapy Association has named "National School Backpack Awareness Day".  What's it all about?  The purpose is to teach students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and the community about safety tips to prevent back pain and injury.  As the mom of 2 high school students, I've seen it first hand that even kids and teens are suffering back and neck pain simply from carrying their overloaded backpacks!   My 14 year old son is nearly 6 foot tall and 150 pounds yet he has complained of neck and shoulder issues since starting high school a month ago because of the crazy amount of gigantic books along with a laptop and case he has to carry throughout the day.  We took a look at tightening up the straps and making sure he is carrying the bag on BOTH shoulders instead of slinging it over just one shoulder.  He also learned that he is able to keep 1-2 of his super huge books at home as reference books instead of carrying all day.  Some things you can't control (the amount of homework!) but there are some things you can do to prevent back and neck pain for your kiddos AND yourself!

• A backpack should weigh no more than 10% of the child's body weight.  So this means that an 80 pound student should carry a bag that is 8 pounds or less.
• If the bag is too heavy and overloaded, consider carrying 1 or 2 items in your arms.
• Place the heaviest items in the back of the bag so it is up against the child's back.
• Take a look at how the child wears the backpack---it should be worn with straps snug so the bag is right up against the back.  The bottom of the bag should not be lower than 4 inches below the child's waistline.  
• Choose a bag with well-padded shoulder straps.
• If there is consistently a heavy load to carry, consider a backpack on wheels.  These bags actually weigh about 4-5 pounds more than a regular backpack so they are best if the school is one level without steps. 

For more info and ideas to promote backpack awareness at YOUR school, head over AOTA's website where you'll find links and handouts to share!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

FREE Pre-K Webinar

Handwriting Without Tears will be offering another free one hour webinar on August 21st at 8PM Eastern time.  Learn about the "Top 10 Ways to Prepare Your Children For Kindergarten"!

Go to Get Set For School Webinar Series at www.hwtears.com to register and learn how to help your kiddos get ready for a great school year!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L