Search Results for: blog floor time be your childs own personal play therapist

Thanks for the MOTOR Memories

What on earth are “motor memories,” you ask? Motor memories are physical tasks that your brain has memorized by feel. For example, we’ve all heard that once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget how to do it. That’s because once you’ve become accustomed to balancing the wheels, sitting upright on the seat, adjusting the speed of the petals, etc., you have created a motor memory. The brain sort of “takes over” and you can ride a bike without having to think about it. Operating on Autopilot Even driving a car involves motor memory in some respects. Experienced … Continue reading →

Why Modeling is Good for Your Child

Now wait a minute. Were you assuming that I meant modeling clothing? Did you think I was suggesting that your child should strive to strut down a runway in her future? Ahem, no. But perhaps that’s a good way to explain what I really mean. When a designer puts his clothes on someone, he chooses a person with a fabulous figure, tall, slender, who can walk with confidence and grace. He wants to demonstrate the possibilities with his design, and how it’s supposed to look and fit, ideally. And what does his model do? (Excuse the use of pronouns here. … Continue reading →

The Dentist Who Punched Me

It seems unbelievable, but it’s true. When I was a young girl, my mother took me to the dentist to have a cavity filled. I was probably seven or so, and terrified. For some reason, parents were not invited into the examination room, and my mother—rest her soul—was too timid to insist. I remember whining and crying in fear as the dentist tried to do his work. There was no assistant in the room. I’m sure I caused the man a great deal of frustration. All of a sudden, he reared his arm back and punched me in my stomach … Continue reading →

The EYES Have It: How Eye Contact Can Transform Your Child

in your eyes– the light the heat– in your eyes– I am complete– in your eyes– I see the doorway to a thousand churches– in your eyes– the resolution of all the fruitless searches– in your eyes — Peter Gabriel The Power of Eye Contact There is a dramatic, powerful human connection that takes place when two people gaze into each other’s eyes. Its effect has marveled people throughout time. Eye-to-eye gaze between two individuals can send the subconscious message, “I see you. I want to understand you; I want you to understand me. I care about you.” In the … Continue reading →

A Necessary Dose of Mommy or Daddy: Visitation and the Special Needs Child

It’s a very difficult thing to do: packing your child up for a weekend, two weeks, or even a whole summer to spend time with his other parent. This is especially true if your ex-spouse is not willing to work agreeably with you as a parenting partner. A child with special needs is particularly hard to send away for any extended period of time. He or she may have certain challenges you’ve been working on, and you’ve just started to make some progress when it’s time for his departure. How do you see that your ex-spouse continues with the parental … Continue reading →

FLOOR TIME: Promoting the Expression of Feelings and Ideas

If you’ve been following my floor time blogs, your child should now be able to show personal interest and attention during your play sessions, and demonstrate the ability to communicate in ways that are connected to reality and make sense. Perhaps he or she can ask simple questions, make requests, and uses nearly fifteen to thirty different words correctly. Once these goals have been accomplished, your son or daughter can move to the next goal of floor time, which is the ability to express feelings and ideas. This blog is the fourth in a series about being your child’s own … Continue reading →

Promoting Communication in Your Non-Verbal Child

By request, I am taking a more in-depth look at ways in which parents can help promote communication from their non-verbal children. As part of my series on floor time strategies, this blog will be specifically devoted to floor time techniques to use with children who don’t speak. (Not sure what floor time is? Click here.) For the non-verbal child, all the rules of floor time still apply: Give 20 – 30 minutes of your undivided attention, several times per day. Build on the child’s favorite behaviors. You are going to let your son or daughter select the activity through … Continue reading →

FLOOR TIME: Promoting Better Communication Skills

As you become more proficient in your role as “parent therapist extraordinaire” and your child is becoming more attentive, you’ll eventually want to move on to the next goal. The second goal in these floor time play sessions is to improve your child’s ability to communicate effectively. (This floor time blog is the third in a series of five, teaching parents how to be their child’s own play therapist. If you haven’t read my introductory floor time blog, click here.) During your 20-30 minute floor time play sessions, your child should now be demonstrating signs of personal interest and attention … Continue reading →

Television and Your Baby

In the last couple of decades, there is a growing movement of parents pulling their children away from the television. They are associating television watching with developmental and social problems your infant or toddler may develop later in life. So if you’re like most other parents, you may be really worried about whether there is too much television in your toddler’s life and whether or not there is too much influence on you. I’m not going to go into the statistics or the social issues associated with television and your older children, you may want to check out the parenting … Continue reading →

FLOOR TIME: Promoting Personal Interest and Attention

This is a companion blog to my previous one, “Floor Time: Be Your Child’s Own Personal Play Therapist!” (You’ll want to read that one first.) So you’re ready to start giving your child daily play therapy? Terrific! You can make an important, life-changing difference for your child’s future. Put on your “Parent Therapist” hat and let’s begin. The first goal in your floor time play therapy sessions is to promote personal interest and attention from your child. There are many reasons why this is an important goal. As a human being, your son or daughter needs to be able to … Continue reading →