Tag Archives: movement

Stretch, Walk, Move Around

I know that as home business owners, many of us do not HAVE to be tied to a desk or stuck in one position for an entire work day. Unfortunately though, I do think that many of us don’t get up and move around when we are working as much as we should. Maybe it is because there are not coworkers to go visit or a break room to retire too. Unless we have young children to care for and several natural breaks in our work routine, we might actually get into a rut of being more stagnate than we … Continue reading →

Sitting Still is Overrated

Have you ever thought about all the mixed messages we send our kids? Things like teaching them not to talk to strangers and then urging them to sit on the mall Santa’s lap and tell him what they want for Christmas. Or how about “respect your elders” and “stand up for what you believe in”? One of the issues I think we really send mixed messages about as a culture is physical activity. We tell our children we want them to be active and go outside and play, but then we are constantly telling them to sit and be still … Continue reading →

Where Is My Body in Space? Proprioceptive Dysfunction

“Proprioception” is a word we probably don’t hear very often. But it refers to body placement, and the ability to sense where our bodies are in space. For most of us, through the many receptors in our muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints, we are able to sense what our body is doing, and whether we are crouched, standing, turning, sitting, or moving. We can tell how close we are to something else, and can sense our bodies, through the pull of gravity, even when sitting still. But for some children with special needs, this “body position sense” is weak. Children … Continue reading →

Fitness Struggles for the Mentall Ill Person

Exercise is hard. In fact, not exercising may be one of the all-time hardest habits to break, surpassing even smoking. Studies confirm what we already know: despite all the cheerleading health advice out there, Americans simply aren’t getting enough exercise. And for people who suffer from mental illness, particularly depression and the depressive episodes of bi-polar disorder, there are additional obstacles thrown in the way. Lack of motivation, for one. When your mood is low and it’s hard to get out of bed even to accomplish simple everyday tasks, “I just don’t feel like it” takes on a whole new … Continue reading →

“From Head To Toe” by Eric Carle

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“From Head To Toe” by Eric Carle is not just a picture book; it is an exercise in movement for you and your children. Each page of the picture book features a great collage animal that does a characteristic movement for that animal. The book then asks the child if they can create the same movement. For instance, the first pages of the book show a picture of a penguin and a child. The penguin says, “I am a penguin and I can turn my head. Can you do it?” Another has a picture of a crocodile and says, “ … Continue reading →

Evaluate Your Child’s Motor Abilities: Take This Quiz!

It’s easy to tell when a child has major problems with muscle tone or coordination. Yet it’s possible for children to have problems with muscle tone which are more subtle. When we’re focused on cognitive abilities, we might miss motor problems in our child which need attention. Observe your child in these scenarios, and ask yourself these questions: Gross Motor Ability 1. When my child hugs me, he feels: a) like he’s using upper body strength to squeeze me back. b) somewhat flaccid without much grasp. c) rigid and stiff, with his muscles seeming a little tight. 2. If I … Continue reading →

Flapping, Spinning, Waving, Whirling: The Child With Irregular Motor Behavior

Sometimes children with special needs will display peculiar behaviors with their body parts. They might flap their hands, wave their arms, spin in circles, or bounce. They might fiddle with a string constantly, or jump up and down repetitively. Interestingly enough, this is not necessarily caused by autism, brain damage, or mental retardation. These are motor processing problems where the child has only limited control of what his body is doing. They might be symptoms of a larger disorder, like autism, but they can also appear in children who are neuro-typical. What causes these irregular body movements? In The Child … Continue reading →