Engaging Parents

I'll never forget how tired I was after my first full week of doing Floortime therapy. Not only was I physically tired, I was mentally exhausted! The amount of energy and effort that it took to remember  how to play  was astounding and a little bit sad. But the truth was, I had forgotten how to play.  Parents, I am guessing some, or maybe most, of you feel the same way. Somewhere along the path to adulthood you have forgotten how to play. And now you have little people in your home who are eager to play with you, and maybe they are struggling with it as well.  This post is meant to be a crash course on play, a refresher on some common play theme ideas to help you and your children get started.  What are some general things I should know about playing with my child? Get down on their eye level, or sit at a table so you are at the same level Start with their interests and expand from there.   Don't be afraid to be silly :)  ...

Ahh...sleep. I bet this word didn't carry the weight it does now before you became a parent. Sometimes I can remember the coziness of sleeping in on the weekends, or the carefree sensation of falling asleep with the assurance that nothing will interrupt your night's rest. But mostly, these days sleep is something to be wrestled with. I will say right here that I am not an expert on sleep. My toddler mostly sleeps through the night but it took a very long time, and it doesn't take much (teething, colds, travel) for the sleep routine to implode. This article probably will not make your son or daughter sleep through the night. But hopefully my knowledge of the sensory systems will help you learn a few more tricks to make your night-time, or nap-time, routine a little less stressful. Sleep can be especially tricky when your child has special needs, so I am going to focus on a few things that may contribute to the special needs child having difficulty sleeping. But fir...