Occupational Therapy Learning Activities for Kids Visual Perception < Back to Fine Motor Skills Overview Click here for PDF What is visual perception? Visual Perception refers to the brain's ability to make sense of what the eyes see. Why is it important? Good visual perceptual skills are important for many every day skills such as reading, writing, completing puzzles, cutting, drawing, completing math problems, dressing as well as many other skills. Building blocks necessary to develop visual perception include: You can tell there are problems with visual perception if the child: Has trouble completing puzzles or dot to dots.Has difficulty planning actions in relation to objects around him/her.Has difficulty with spatial concepts such as "in, out, on, under, next to, up, down, in front of." When you see difficulties with visual perception, you might also see difficulties with: What can be done to improve visual perceptual skills? Activities that can help improve visual perception include: Left untreated, difficulties with visual perception can lead to:
Sensory Strategies in Class Sensory Strategies in the Classroom By Diane B. Walker, M.S., OTR/L Deep Pressure Strategies 1. a. b. c. d. e. f. 2. 3. a. b. 4. a. b. 5. 6. 7. Environmental Modifications in the Classroom Sensory defensiveness is co-morbid with several common diagnoses of students with special needs, including ADHD, PDD, Autism, Aspergers, Tourettes Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, Fragile X, and more. Lighting Some kids are hypersensitive to bright lights or fluorescent lights. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Noise Auditory defensiveness is common and can be severe. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Temperature Some kids with sensory defensiveness feel temperature differently than other people. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Vestibular Sensitivity Some kids with sensory defensiveness have vestibular sensitivity that can be seen as postural insecurity. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Aroma Therapy People with sensory defensiveness can be hypersensitive to smells. To improve concentration: orange, lemon, eucalyptus, rosemary
Sensory Strategies Sensory Diet “Menu"Activities and Strategies to Try Introductory Notes: These suggestions were gathered from several sources, including the Take 5 companion book to the Alert Program by Williams and Shellenberger, and seminars by Sheila Frick. They are meant to be guidelines and are not prescriptive in any way. For more details about sensory diets and another list of ideas, organized differently, check out the webpage from the author of Raising A Sensory Smart Child.These activities may be considered generally alerting or calming, but will have different effects on different individuals at different times. Some children may respond to typically calming input by escalating their behavior, whereas they seem to have a paradoxical response to typically exciting input. You must also take into consideration emotional, memory, or other associations that individuals may bring to a situation. The activities or strategies suggested below are very basic. Of course, always keep safety in mind!
Problem Behavior In The Classroom Problem behavior in the classroom is one of the most difficult aspects of a teacher's job. It interrupts their lesson plans, tries their patience, interferes with the other children's learning environment and leaves many teachers feeling overwhelmed, helpless, and out of control. Children with sensory processing disorders are often the most misunderstood, misdiagnosed, misguided and frustrating of the "challenging children". Without a deep understanding of the reasons behind the behaviors these children exhibit (which is explained more in depth throughout this site), proper intervention and control within the classroom may very well be impossible! Two of the most common problem behaviors in the classroom teachers see are a child's lack of focus, and the inability to sit/stand for an appropriate length of time to effectively learn. Children with a sensory processing disorder often "under register" movement. 1. performing self-care tasks independently 2. ability to care for personal belongings
Classroom Strategies Promoting an Optimal State of in the Classroom We all require a certain amount and type of activity and sensation to be at our most alert. Incorporating specific environmental modifications and activities into the classroom routine can help to maintain an optimal state of alertness for an individual student or an entire classroom of students. A sampling of ideas for environmental modifications and alerting and calming activities are listed here. Simply handing a list such as this one to a classroom teacher is not recommended. Environmental Modifications Activities for Self Regulation - Whole Class Activities & Individual Activities Suggestions for Calming Activities Suggestions for Alerting Activities
OT Activity of the Week: Simple Visual Memory Game | PediaStaff Pediatric SLP, OT and PT Blog [Source: Your Therapy Source] Test your visual memory skills with this simple game. Gather up objects from around the house, school or therapy room. Put several objects on a tray or in a box. Have the child look at what is on the tray for a short period of time. Have the child close their eyes and remove one item. Spatial Awareness - Occupational Therapy for Children Saturday 4 august 2012 6 04 /08 /Aug /2012 18:18 What is it? Spatial awareness is the ability to be aware of oneself in space. It is an organised knowledge of objects in relation to oneself in that given space. Spatial awareness also involves understanding the relationship of these objects when there is a change of position. It can therefore be said that the awareness of spatial relationships is the ability to see and understand two or more objects in relation to each other and to oneself. When a child is developing their spatial awareness they begin to become aware of their placement in relation to the things around them. Signs and Symptoms As spatial awareness develops the child will learn the concepts of direction, distance and location. Children with poor spatial awareness tend to have visual perceptual difficulties as well. In the classroom the child with spatial awareness difficulties often finds mathematics hard. Developing Spatial Awareness Useful Links link
Pinned on Pinterest, Tested in Therapy: Test Pin #6 | The Anonymous OT To see all Pinterest test pins, click here. This week’s test pin was inspired by an activity pinned from mrsleeskinderkids.blogspot.com. (You can find the original pin here.) This activity uses popsicle sticks as a way to reinforce math concepts. The teacher had the children pick a certain number of sticks and create a design with them. While this is a great way to work on math skills, my OT mind sees this as an opportunity to work on the concept of visual perceptual skills. I started by choosing a few popsicle sticks of varying colors. Then I asked the child to create a design using the popsicle sticks. (Can you tell it’s a tree and a butterfly? Next, I had the child copy the design onto construction paper, with careful instructions to make sure she used the same colors to represent each stick. The ability to transfer the tangible design of the popsicle sticks onto a 2-dimensional drawing is pretty impressive. Form Constancy- Transferring the image from one location to another. Like this:
Pinned on Pinterest…Tested in OT | The Anonymous OT Click on any of the pictures below to see previous Pinterest test pins: Like this: Like Loading... Pediatric Occupational Therapy Tips Pinned on Pinterest, Tested in Therapy: Test Pin #3 | The Anonymous OT For a look at all Pinterest test pins, click here. I was extremely excited for this week’s test pin. As soon as I pinned it on Pinterest, I thought “Yes! Brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that?” The focus of this activity is to work on scissor skills, specifically cutting along a line. Here is the original test pin: (Image from drzachryspedsottips.blogspot.com) This website seems to generate a lot of pins on Pinterest, so I automatically think this lady is amazing. Side note: Cutting activities are great for promoting bilateral coordination (using both sides of the body to work together for a task), hand-eye coordination, sustaining visual attention, as well as promoting separation of the hand which is important for grasping skills. Parents are often baffled when I talk about cutting skills with their child. In all honesty, in standardized fine motor testing, the ability to snip a paper is expected at age two. Ok, back to the pin. Prep time was minimal. That didn’t quite work out as planned.
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