Activity of the Week:

Because activity and play is so important in child development, I thought it might be nice to have an Activity of the Week - starting this week!  These activities will try to focus on various skill sets and levels, and will always be something easy to do with your patients or children at home.  

So let's get started!  This week's activity is the CRAB WALK.

Crab Walk:

Directions:

1. Sit on your bottom with your hands and feet on the floor

2. Push through your arms and feet to lift your bottom off the floor.

3. Shift your weight onto your left arm and move your right arm backward.  Shift your weight onto your right leg and move your left leg backward (opposite arm, opposite leg)

4. Continue shifting weight and moving alternate arms and leg to walk BACKWARD across the room.

*challenge: try walking SIDEWAYS

Try playing this as part of a relay race or imaginative play.

Animal walks of any kind are a great and fun way to get kids moving. 

Benefits of CRAB WALK:

- Strengthens and encourages stability of arms and core/trunk; weight bearing through arms and hands and works core/trunk to be able to pick bottom up and maintain position.  

- Good for sensory input

        - tends to be altering, encourages weight shifting, can help prepare hands for writing (weight bear through hands)

Easy, simple, and fun.  

****some of the ideas and pictures I use are from my Super Duper card sets.  THERAPISTS - these are great resources to have for treatment ideas and easy to copy one or two for a home program.  (http://www.superduperinc.com)

Book Review

Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Complete Guide to Understanding Autism

by: Chantal Sicile-Kira

About the Author

Sicile-Kira presents an easy-to-read, simple view of Autism Spectrum Disorder.  She draws on her years of experience as a parent of a child with ASD and a professional.  Chantal Sicile-Kira is a national speaker and advocate who has been involved with autism spectrum disorder for nearly 20 years.  She hosts a radio show, “The Real World of Autism with Chantal”, on Autism One Radio.  Her company, Autism Making a Difference, Inc., provides workshops and training materials.  

About the Book

Sicile-Kira covers many topics (e.g., education, diagnosis, treatments, family life, resources, and life for adults with autism) but does not generally provide sufficient detail to be truly informative.  The breadth of topics is good for a reader looking to get a brief overview of ASD and many of the aspects of life with ASD.  However, if you are looking for an in-depth read, this book is not for you. 

Chantal Sicile-Kira’s book is a good resource and starting point.  She presents many different resources in each chapter and offers ideas for making contacts in your own area.  Going through many of the resources (websites, books, organizations) will help give you more in-depth details about ASD and everything that goes with life. 

Strong points: discussing education, especially getting through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting – perfect for a first time parent going through the IEP process;  easy to understand and follow parent’s perspective; resources – websites, organizations, other books to reference

Weaknesses: not very in-depth, especially in different therapy options; uses quotes to make points, but uses the same few references; very general description of ASD; often presents opinions as facts;

Below is a list of the chapters in Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Complete Guide to Understanding Autism

Chapter 1: The Myths and History of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Chapter 2: What Is Autism Spectrum Disorder and How to Know if a Person Has ASD

Chapter 3: What Causes Autism Spectrum Disorder and Why Do People with ASD Act the Way They Do?

Chapter 4: Newly Diagnosed Adults and Parents of Children with ASD: After the Diagnosis

Chapter 5: Treatments, Therapies, and Interventions

Chapter 6: Family Life

Chapter 7: Education

Chapter 8: Community Life

Chapter 9: Adults Living and Working with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Childhood Obesity: Part 4

Physical Therapists: What should we know? What can we do?

This post is more a very quick review of the literature.  Physical therapists, as professionals, have a duty to help prevent and treat childhood obesity.  However, the laws governing our profession vary slightly state to state; therefore, the amount and type of outreach we can do varies.  Nevertheless, childhood obesity is an issue that affects us all and one which we should all be up to date on the literature. 

“The Role of Physical Therapists in Pediatric Health Promotion and Obesity Prevention: Comparison of Attitudes”

·      PTs are professionals of choice for educating others on health promotion/obesity prevention/physical activity

·      PTs can help to train teachers and parents to help youth incorporate physical activity approaches for obesity management

·      PTs must move beyond the traditional role of health care practitioner

·      Complexity of obesity/overweight epidemic necessitates that we work together with multidisciplinary professionals to address the many facets of this problem

·      As a community, we need to change societal and environmental supports that directly influence behavioral lifestyles

·      It is becoming more evident by the day that it is not only vital to our long-term health to prevent disease, but also our country cannot continue to finance health care without an attention to the critical benefits of preventative measures

Nervik et al.  “The Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Gross Motor Development in Children Aged 3 to 5 Years” Pediatr Phys Ther 2011;23:144–148

·      PTs are health care professionals who are experts in the field of gross motor development and practitioners who assist in efforts of health promotion and prevention

·      PTs should have a role in preventing and treating childhood obesity by providing intervention or consultation in the following areas: motor skills, physical activity, and/or obesity education.

·      In a sample of 3- to 5-year-old pre–school-aged children, high BMIs were associated with low gross motor skills, indicating that children who are overweight/obese are more likely to score in the below-average category while lean children score in the average category

·      PTs can educate and inform insurance companies and legislators about obesity research and the associations between BMI, motor skills, and activity levels

·      PTs can develop gross motor and physical activity programs for school, community, and individual use as both rehabilitative and preventative measures

·      Research: needed! Larger sample sizes, larger numbers in each BMI category, examining motor skills of children in all categories of weight, including underweight, look at physical activity levels and SES

Nunez-Gaunaurd et al. “Motor Proficiency, Strength, Endurance and Physical Activity Among Middle School Children Who are Healthy, Overweight, and Obese”  Pediatr Phys Ther 2013;25:130–138

·      Children with overweight or obesity may have poorer aerobic fitness, decreased trunk and LE strength, and poorer fundamental movement skills (than peers who are leaner)

·      PTs need to recognize children with obesity may have poorer motor skills which may relate to lower levels of physical activity and aerobic fitness

·      PTs screen for:

-       Detect motor deficiencies

-       Substitution of sedentary behaviors for physical activity

-       Decreased perceived physical competence in fundamental mvt skills

-       Heavier weight

·      PTs should:

-       Provide age and culturally appropriate activities that challenge motor skills

-       Build self-adequacy for physical activity in early childhood

-       Include family-based approach to care

·      PTs be aware of:        

-       The BOT-2 is a product-oriented assessment tool and may be limited in identifying the specific components of children’s motor skills associated with obesity that should be the focus for improvement

-       Should use a process-oriented test (Test of Gross Motor Development) that breaks down skills (such as the run and broad jump) into specific observable components that can be taught and practiced – potentially more clinically useful

à Ulrich DA. Test of Gross Motor Development. 2nd ed. Austin, TX: Pro-ED Inc; 2000.

***Please note, this is not a complete review of the literature regarding PTs role in preventing and managing childhood obesity.  PTs have an extraordinary opportunity and challenge in preventing and managing obesity, but we have the skills and knowledge to make an impact on this important issue.