…it’s going to be a bumpy ride. And also, you need that kid to SIT STILL if you’re going to work on those delays! Or, at least, sit in one place. In this, my first post on strategies I’ve used to help my daughter overcome her developmental delays, here is my first and best tip for working on goals with your child: Strap that kid into a booster seat so that he or she can’t escape when you’re trying to work!
Here are some beginning tips for making at-home therapy time work for you and your child:
1) Work at an appropriate space. Strap your child into a booster seat so they can be still and focus. Put the seat at a table that is an appropriate height for them to use pencil, paper, play-doh, scissors, or whatever tools you are working with.
2) Set expectations and be consistent. Sophie’s speech therapist had used a schedule board with her that was visual pictures to tell her what they would do each session. I copied that idea at home, but with a marker board since I didn’t have a picture board. From the very first time Sophie and I worked together, I have put four items on the board, and the last one is always “Sophie’s choice”. Every time we go to sit down at the table, she knows we will do four tasks. I have them listed for her, and the consistency is part of what brings her cheerfully to the table every time we sit down to work.
3) Don’t make this stuff up! (Well, at least not at first!) When I started working with Sophie, I had no idea what I was doing. I am neither speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, or teacher – so I had to ask for ideas on what to work on. She was already in speech so her SLP gave me some tasks, but she hadn’t yet had an OT evaluation yet, so I had to get OT ideas online – but to start I just did the basics that her preschool teachers told me she wasn’t doing at school – cutting and coloring. Bobby bought a play-doh set on his way home from work, to work on her hand strength. Those basics gave me some fundamentals to work on while I researched other activities we needed to do.
After a couple of months, I got to the point with speech where I COULD make up my own stuff! (But it’s often based on what I see her working on with her SLP.) And you might, too. With OT, I still pretty much have to ask her therapists or search online every time I need a new idea.
4) Make it as fun as possible. I know that may seem obvious, but until your child learns how to be a “therapy kid,” and gets used to being buckled up to buckle down, you need to make the therapy time play time as well. We started out with the play-doh and the reading books, and as soon as Sophie was ready, board games! For coloring, I let her pick which coloring sheet she wanted. If she got frustrated or upset, we moved on. After awhile I could push harder when she hit a snag, but at first keep it as light and fun as you can while still getting something accomplished.
Those four fundamentals will get you started working at home with your child. Next week I’ll discuss some basic tools and activities to use when you are just starting out. In the meantime, if you have any questions about therapy at home in general, developmental delays, or my experience in particular, please leave them in the comments and I will answer you either via comment, email, or in a post if it’s appropriate.
