|
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out to make our Trunk or Treat a night to remember! Seeing all the creative costumes and smiling faces made the evening truly special. We are so grateful for each family, friend, and team member who joined us to celebrate the season together! A special thank you to our fantastic vendors and the generous individuals who donated various items to bring this event to life. Your support and kindness added so much magic to the night, and we couldn’t have done it without you! Here’s to a fun-filled evening and an amazing community—we appreciate each of you! SwimPrep, LLC The Fizz Co. Prattville Fire Department The Sweet Hook-Up Milky Candle Lounge Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce Messiah Church Texas Roadhouse - Prattville The Local Lemon Prattville Police Department Alabama Better Built Homes, Inc. Baptist Health - Central Alabama Butterfly Bridge, CAC Satellite Office of Autauga County Alfa - Prattville Michael Gay - State Farm Insurance Agent Chicken Salad Chick Orangetheory Fitness Prattville Sunrise + Sheridan HOTWORX - Prattville Elizabeth Thompson - Realtor
0 Comments
Follow us on TikTok @littlepeachpedtherapy  At Little Peach, we have an awesome team of occupational therapists who serve a number of children each day. One question we get often is, "How can occupational therapy benefit my child?" One of our own has put together some information to help us better understand how beneficial OT can be. Read below to find out more! What is OT? BY: Cimone Davis, OTR/L Occupational Therapy uses therapeutic activities to promote independence, function, and well being. Occupational Therapy is guided by the following areas of occupation as defined by the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, 4th Edition:
 The ability to participate in these areas of occupation can be affected by several things such as the environment in which the occupation is taking place, current habits and routines, physiological processes, and functions of the body. Information regarding these factors are gathered in the evaluation process, and later addressed through intervention planning and implementation. Client and caregiver participation is an integral part of the evaluation and treatment process. Without client and caregiver buy-in, it will be difficult to achieve carry-over of strategies in the natural environment where occupations typically take place. Occupational Therapy can be found in a number of settings such as: inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient rehabilitation, hospital, skilled nursing facilities, home health, early intervention, school system, community outreach programs, and wellness centers. Occupational therapists can also serve as consultants in several areas like improving work ergonomics, implementing wellness programs, and ensuring accomodations are made in educational institutions. Play is used to assist in the acquisition of goals and development of skills in the pediatric population. Pediatric Occupational Therapy focuses on developing skills that will allow Independent participation in several areas of life such as ADLs, social participation, leisure, and education. Sensory processing difficulties, motor planning difficulties, executive functioning difficulties, deficits in strength and endurance all play a part in the ability to participate in areas of occupation. Occupational Therapy benefits individuals of all ages. Reach out to a local Occupational Therapist to get the needs of your child, loved one, or yourself addressed. If you have any questions, reach out to us at [email protected]! Stay peachy!  What is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)?
ABA is a friendly and effective way of understanding and improving behavior in people of all ages. It's like a toolkit for helping individuals with various needs, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), developmental delays, or challenging behaviors. ABA is versatile and can be adapted for anyone! It's especially helpful for individuals with ASD, where it addresses communication challenges, social skills, and repetitive behaviors. It also supports children with developmental delays and those with challenging behaviors like aggression or non-compliance. In ABA, we carefully observe behavior, conduct assessments, and create interventions tailored to each person. By focusing on reducing challenging behaviors and promoting essential skills, ABA empowers individuals to lead more independent and fulfilling lives. Promoting independent and fulfilling lives is a key goal in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Here are some examples of ABA strategies and interventions aimed at fostering independence:
By incorporating these ABA strategies, individuals can develop the skills and behaviors needed to lead more independent and fulfilling lives across different aspects of daily functioning. The goal is to empower individuals to actively participate in and contribute to their communities while maintaining a high quality of life. The best part? ABA isn't just for schools, clinics, hospitals – it's for homes too! It's a fantastic tool for families dealing with various behavioral challenges. ABA creates a supportive and structured environment, helping individuals develop essential life skills, improve communication, and reduce problematic behaviors. Parents are superheroes in this process! Their insights into their child's behaviors, preferences, and routines are invaluable. They collaborate with ABA practitioners to tailor interventions and set meaningful goals. Their participation in assessments and goal setting ensures that interventions align with their child's needs. And let's talk about generalization – it's like using the skills learned in different places. Parents, your role is vital here! Implementing ABA strategies at home and in the community, which you learned during parent training, helps your child apply these skills everywhere. In essence, ABA is not just a tool; it's a friendly guide for positive change. Whether it's at school, home, or in the community, the collaboration between parents and practitioners enhances the effectiveness of ABA interventions, contributing to the overall success and well-being of individuals undergoing ABA therapy. Together, we're making progress, one positive behavior at a time! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our ABA manager, Amanda Williamson, BCBA at [email protected]. -Anna Marie Fuller, RBT Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and there are so many things to prepare! From getting treats ready for school parties to making cards for people we love, it can be a busy time for everyone. When getting different tasks accomplished, it can be easy for parents to get all of these tasks completed alone; however, we encourage you to include your child as much as possible! No matter their age, they can be included in the festivities. Looking at books, coloring, baking in the kitchen, and making homemade valentine cards are all great ideas to work on developing skills. For some extra help, our awesome therapists have put together some specific ideas! Physical Therapy Ideas (Mrs. Jillian, PT)
 Occupational Therapy Ideas (OT Staff)
 Speech Therapy Ideas (Mrs. Shelby, SLP)
We hope these ideas can help you work together with your child for some extra fun this holiday! Feel free to post a picture and tag us on Facebook (Little Peach Pediatric Therapy) or Instagram (@littlepeachpediatrictherapy) of what you did together! If you have any questions, reach out to us at [email protected] Happy Valentine’s Day! Love, your friends at Little Peach Kristen Owens, M.S., CCC-SLP  Happy New Year! For some, a new year means new resolutions, new plans, new everything! This year, we hope to foster closer relationships with our clients and provide more information regarding speech, occupational, and physical therapies. Our goal is for this blog will be a place to find information to help your child grow. To kick it off, we are providing a few tips to help start your year with success! Beginning with…
BOOKS! Reading plays a vital role in a child’s development, and you can take advantage of targeting all 3 disciplines while reading with your child! Speech and Language (Mrs. Kristen, SLP)
Physical Therapy (Mrs. Elizabeth, PT)
Occupational Therapy (Mrs. Marissa, COTA)
These are just a few of the many skills you can focus on while reading with your child. Overall, books play a vital role in all areas of development. We encourage you to limit screen time and increase one-on-one time with your child this year. If you would like more information about our favorite books or books to target specific skills, email us at [email protected]! We would love to hear from you! Happy New Year! Kristen Owens, M.S., CCC-SLP
School’s out for summer! With school out and summer in, you might be wondering about activities to build your child’s speech and language skills at home or on vacation. Here are THREE easy and fun activities to engage your child in with minimal to NO-PREP!  1. BUBBLES! As a speech pathologist, bubbles are a must. So many language goals can be targeted with bubbles whether at home, the beach, or the lake. Target utterance expansion by modeling “more bubbles”, “Let’s get more bubbles”, “small bubble”, “big bubble”. Target verbs while popping, stomping, blowing, or catching bubbles. So many great ideas for bubbles!  2. iSpy! This is a great activity to do outside, in the car, at home, or anywhere. Describe items to see if your child can guess that item and vice versa. If your child can guess the category of the item if that is one of their goals (ex. ‘iSpy something with four wheels and drives. Do you think that it’s a vehicle, food, or clothing?”) It’s also great for children working on/s/ and /s/-blends like spy, sky, or “I see something _____.”  3. Scavenger hunts! This is a fun and engaging activity that allows the child to move while targeting their goals. Easily target following directions like “Look behind the couch and then in the bathroom” or give them clues on the next room by having your child answer wh- questions for the home (ex. “Where do you make food?” “What do you use to brush your teeth?”) If your child is working on specific speech sounds, ask your speech pathologist for articulation cards to hide around the house to find and practice! If you plan on going out of town but would like additional resources to practice while gone, please ask your speech-language pathologist for additional resources or ideas!
Spring break is upon us, and we’ve been getting some nice weather in between the rainy days here in central Alabama! We are getting ready to celebrate all that spring brings with it. One of our favorite holidays, Read Across America Day, encourages us to continue the celebration of our love of reading every day. That’s one of the reasons why we love gifting books to our friends and family for holidays and birthdays. Books serve multiple purposes here at Little Peach. We love all of the language exposure and the quality snuggles reading time provides. There are tons of great books out there, and sometimes the huge amount can be overwhelming. So here’s a list of my top 10 favorite books and series that why we love incorporating into our family reading time.
This is a short list of all the books we use with our kids during story time and also to encourage language and preschool skills. There are so many more books and series out there that we love and have in our libraries! We’d love to hear if you have any favorite book/series we didn’t include? Let us know in the comments! Martha Verbruggen, M.S. CCC-SLPMartha is a bilingual speech-language pathologist with Little Peach Feeding and Speech. She is a mother of toddler boy/girl twins and a baby girl. If you wonder if your child is just a typical picky eater or if there's something more serious going on, watch this video by Melanie Potock CCC-SLP, a feeding specialist and speech-language pathologist. Melanie shares that 25% of typically developing children have a feeding disorder, while 80% of children with developmental disabilities will have a feeding disorder. If you believe your child may have a feeding disorder and you are living in the Prattville, Alabama area, call to schedule an evaluation by our feeding specialist and speech-language pathologist, Laura Hall CCC-SLP. |
Archives
October 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed