I have been working as an occupational therapist in a clinical setting for the past 20 years. Although the hands-on part of my work involves individual therapy with children, I have learnt over the years that a child cannot be treated in isolation. The importance of family members and dynamics must always be taken into [...]
In this beautiful country we love to call home, we too often see the destructive consequences of prolonged stress and bottled up emotions: High frustration levels Anxiety Passive-aggressive behaviour Violence It saddens me to realize that our schools have also fallen prey to this emerging epidemic. Anger outbursts from educators, learners and parents are becoming [...]
In the eye of the storm Today was my 6-year old's hair-grooming day. He has a sensitive sensory profile, and the cutting of his hair resulted in tactile discomfort. He generally finds it hard not to change clothes more than once a day so it came as no surprise that he wanted to shower and [...]
As a youngster growing up in the 80’ies, I loved watching The Smurfs on TV. We were allowed only a limited amount of screen time, so you had to prioritise… and The Smurfs always made the cut! For some reason these tiny blue creatures fascinated me. They all lived peacefully in harmony with nature and, [...]
The end of the year is synonymous with exam time. Whether a child is in grade 4 or in grade 12, exam stress is very real and very common. Children are under great pressure to perform and do well - these expectations placed on them lead to extra stress. All learning and thinking skills [...]
I consider myself one of the lucky people who experienced a mainly stress-free childhood. Afternoons were filled with valuable fun times spent with friends. After school and (a little bit of) homework, we’d ride our bicycles to the park, play on the slides and swings, climb trees, bake mud cakes, build imaginary castles in the [...]
Play is the universal language of all children. Play is essential to human and brain development, creativity and it is the foundation to all learning in life. All areas of a child’s growth - social, emotional, cognitive and physical - are influenced by play. Through sensory play, children learn: To make sense of the world [...]
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most talked about conditions within the schooling and parenting world. It is a controversial subject, one that leads to much distress in both teachers and parents. ADHD is a neuro-developmental disorder that results in difficulty with the organising of actions and thoughts and is characterised [...]
Classrooms can quickly become noisy and overwhelming, leading to inappropriate and challenging behaviour by children. Understanding the impact of sensory input from the environment is important in helping a teacher make the necessary changes to create a stress-free classroom for focused learning. There are many aspects to consider when looking at creating a sensory smart [...]
After a long summer break, most children across South Africa went back to school last week. This is generally a busy time of getting stationery, books and uniforms ready. Going back to school can be a daunting and very anxious thing for many children and for various reasons too … There are changes in [...]
