February 21, 2020
Issue 7, Volume 13
It's All About the Choices!     
          
Greetings and Happy Friday

Please enjoy our weekly newsletter!
 
News Items:
  • Almost One-Third of School Students Bullied
  • Research Says Up to 60% of School Day Requires Fine Motor Skills
  • Marking 15 Years, Autism Speaks Rebrands
  • Reshaping Modern Play Spaces for Children's Health
  • Stress in Small Children Separated From their Parents May Alter Genes
  • Disney Goes To Trial Over Theme Park Disability Access Policy
PediaStaff News and Hot Jobs 
  • Hot, New Job! School Based- PTA - Tacoma, WA
  • Hot, New Job Pediatric - SLP - Greenville, SC
  • Hot, New Job! Special Education Teacher - Aurora, IL
Therapy Activities, Tips and Resources
  • 25+ Dinosaur Themed Resources for Speech and Language Therapy
  • 4 Easy Q-Tip Painting Techniques to Take It up a Notch
  • Fine Motor Craft - Sticky Paper Bookmarks
  • Blaine Blows His Top-Book review and Free Printable
Articles and Special Features 
  • School Psych Corner: Are 'Kids These Days' Really Allowed to Make Mistakes?
  • SLP Corner Follow the Three Es to Eating
  • OT Corner: 15 Pre-Handwriting Factors Leading to Successful Handwriting in Children
  • PT Corner: A Few Examples of the Importance of Postural Control
  • Pediatric Therapy Corner: Why Young Kids Learn Through Movement
Feel free to contact us with any questions about our openings or items in these pages. Have you discovered our RSS feed? Click on the orange button below to subscribe to all our openings and have them delivered to your Feed Reader!  Don't have an RSS Feed Reader set up? Sign up at Blogtrottr and have our blog posts delivered right to your email.

Have a great weekend and Take Care!

Heidi Kay and the PediaStaff Team
8

The Career Center

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Recent Occupational Therapist and COTA Jobs 

Almost One-Third of School Students Bullied
[Source:  Medical X-Press]

Adolescent boys from lower socio-economic backgrounds are most likely to be the victims of bullying, according to the first comprehensive study of school bullying around the world.

The study, led by University of Queensland researchers, investigated the prevalence of bullying victimisation during school years among more than 310,000 students.

Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog
Research Says Up to 60% of School Day Requires Fine Motor Skills
[Source: Your Therapy Source]

Would you have guessed that up to 60% of the elementary school day requires fine motor skills? It certainly stresses the importance of fine motor skill development for school success.

The American Journal of Occupational Therapy investigated the motor and technology requirements of kindergarten, second-, and fourth-grade general education classrooms by collecting observational data for six full days.

Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog
Marking 15 Years, Autism Speaks Rebrands
[Source:  Disability Scoop]

The nation's largest autism advocacy group is revamping its look to better match its evolving mission and launching an effort to "create a kinder, more inclusive world" for those on the spectrum.
As Autism Speaks celebrates its 15th anniversary, the group said it is kicking off a "Year of Kindness" campaign, which aims to inspire 1 million acts of kindness by the end of 2020.

Reshaping Modern Play Spaces for Children's Health
[Source:  Science Daily]

A world first review of the importance of nature play could transform children's play spaces, supporting investment in city and urban parks, while also delivering important opportunities for children's physical, social and emotional development.

Conducted by the University of South Australia the systematic review explored the impacts of nature play on the health and development of children aged 2-12 years, finding that nature play improved children's complex thinking skills, social skills and creativity.

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog
Stress in Small Children Separated From their Parents May Alter Genes
[Source:  Medical X-Press]

Experts in the emotional needs of small children say increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol in babies and small children who are separated from their parents, especially their mothers, could have a long-term genetic impact on future generations.

In a commentary published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the authors say that several studies show that small children cared for outside the home, especially in poor quality care and for 30 or more hours per week, have higher levels of cortisol than children at home.

Disney Goes To Trial Over Theme Park Disability Access Policy
[Source: Disability Scoop]

People with autism and other developmental disabilities could soon return to front-of-line status at Disney theme parks, depending on the outcome of a trial that starts Tuesday in federal court in Orlando, Fla.

The lawsuit,  initially filed by a plaintiff identified as "A.L." more than five years ago, claims Disney violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it  changed its policy in 2013 to no longer allow people with autism and other special needs to go to the front of the line for rides and other attractions. 

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog
Looking for a school PTA position in the beautiful Pacific Northwest? PediaStaff needs a great Physical Therapist to work full-time hours with a district in the beautiful Tacoma area, and we can interview quickly! This opportunity starts as soon as possible. You will work with elementary-aged students.

* Great location, easy commute south of Tacoma
* Quick interview process!
* We offer excellent pay rates based on your experience and the location
* Physical Therapist Assistant will earn high income now, and convert to a District employee in a future year

Learn About / Apply for This Job on our Blog
Are you a Speech-Language Pathologist looking for a chance to help build a speech program from scratch in an active, growing practice? 

Greenville is a vibrant community with a low cost of living, fine and casual dining, shopping, collegiate activities, and entertainment.  

Mountains or beaches are within driving distance.  The mild four-season climate offers lots of recreational activities - swimming, boating, hiking, golfing in the warmer weather, and easy access to snow skiing in the winter months.

Learn About / Apply for This Job on our Blog
Are you looking for a great LBS1-Special Education teaching position in the vicinity of Aurora, IL area?  We have openings for dedicated Special Education teachers that are LBS1 certified and want to work in a great school district.  Apply today!

Special Education Teacher position details:

* You will begin work as soon as possible and work throughout the remaining school year and possibly beyond

Learn About / Apply for This Job on our Blog
25+ Dinosaur Themed Resources for Speech and Language Therapy
[Source: The Budget SLP]

Dinosaurs is a theme in our early childhood special education curriculum and a colleague recently asked me for some speech and language therapy ideas. The dinosaur theme is one that students always enjoy and there are so many great resources for speech-language therapy on the Internet.
Pteranodon, Alamosaurus, Yangchuanosaurus, Dimetrodon, Brachiosaurus, Zhejiangopterus, Ankylosaurus, and Zigongosaurus!  

Definitely a good way to practice multisyllabic words and /r/ and /s/ sounds. Check out the  Field Guide at  Dinosaur Train on the PBS KIDS.org website. Learn how to pronounce all of those dinosaur names and know your dinosaur facts before beginning therapy sessions.  And, while you are at the site, look at the  games and  videos.

Learn More About this Activity Through a Link on our Blog
4 Easy Q-Tip Painting Techniques to Take It up a Notch
[Source:  Hands On As We Grow]

Are looking for some new painting activities? You have to try painting with Q-tips.

If you have never tried before it's worth just getting out a few small containers of paint and a whole bunch of Q-tips to let your child explore.

This is a great fine motor activity; the thin stick on a Q-tip requires a tighter grip and the cotton end a different application of pressure then a paint brush.

Read More About this Activity Through a Link on our Blog
Fine Motor Craft - Sticky Paper Bookmarks

Great Craft for Mother's Day with your students/clients
[Source: Pre-K Pages]

I think homemade gifts are great and useful homemade gifts are even better. This simple bookmark craft is easy for a child of any age to do. I've done it with twos and with kindergartners, and every age between. (Older kids may even enjoy it.) The activity can be as simple or elaborate as the child's imagination and creativity.

Learn More Through a Link on our Blog
Blaine Blows His Top-Book Review and Free Printable
[Source: Chapel Hill Snippets]

A speech-language pathologist, Bethany Vigilante, asked me to take a look at her book,Blaine Blows His Top, and review it.  This seemed like a great book to use with a social skills group (4/5th grade and middle school) so I did!

Read this Review Through a Link on our Blog
School Psych Corner: Are 'Kids These Days' Really Allowed to Make Mistakes
[Source: Education Week]

by Jon Harper

I don't blame the architect because I can't imagine it was part of their training. Nor was it the fault of the construction crew. They were simply following the plans given. The only folks left who could be responsible are the educators and those involved in the day-to-day operation of the school building.


SLP Corner:  Follow the Three Es to Eating
[Source:  The Asha Leader Blog]

by Melanie Potock, CCC-SLP

Whether a child participates in feeding treatment or parents simply ask advice on how to encourage their kids to try new foods, offering manageable tips is where I like to start. For every child, I ask parents to follow my three Es: Expose, Explore, Expand.
Expose!

Parents often report that they no longer put new foods on a child's plate because: "What's the point? He won't eat it anyway." The point is exposing kids to a variety of foods, especially those enjoyed at the family table. Some children may require a preferred food as


OT Corner: 15 Factors Leading to Successful Handwriting in Children
[Source:  World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology via Your Therapy Source]

A recent 33 question survey on the pre-handwriting factors needed for successful handwriting was completed in 2015 by 535 occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants (from the USA).   The responses from the OT/COTAs indicated the following:
  1.  95% answered that the ability of a child to copy vertical lines, horizontal lines, circles, squares and triangles was a good predictor of handwriting success.
  2.  98% felt the the ability to imitate and copy an oblique cross (indicates crossing midline) was important for handwriting success.
PT Corner: A Few Examples of the Importance of Postural Control
by Stacy Menz, DPT, DPT, Board Certified Pediatric Clinical Specialist

JR is 5-year-old boy and can't sit in a chair or on the floor for more than 1 or 2 minutes at a time. He's in constant motion and if he focuses on sitting still he can't listen or pay attention to anything else. When in a chair he's sitting on his feet, standing up and down, or moving in his chair so much it's actually moving the chair itself. When on the floor he is either bumping into his friends or rolling around.

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link on our Blog
Pediatric Tx Corner:  Why Young Kids Learn Through Movement
[Source: The Atlantic]

One of my children is spinning in a circle, creating a narrative about a princess as she twirls. The other is building a rocket ship out of a discarded box, attaching propellers made of cardboard and jumping in and out of her makeshift launcher. 

It is a snow day, and I've decided to let them design their own activities as I clean up and prepare a meal. My toddler becomes the spinning princess, imagining her character's feelings and reactions. What seems like a simple story involves sequencing, character development, and empathy for the brave princess stuck in her tower. The rocket ship my first grader is working on needs a pilot and someone to devise the dimensions and scale of its frame; it also needs a story to go with it. She switches between roles and perspectives, between modes of thinking and tinkering.

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link on our Blog

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