Special Needs: Play/Fun with a Severely Impaired Child

Occupational Therapy: Sensory Integration Warm-Ups for Special Needs Children/Disabled Kids

As an occupational therapist working with special needs children I find that sometimes it is very difficult to find fine motor activities that cognitively impaired kids can not only understand but enjoy.  As with any other population when working on improving fine motor skills with special needs children I always use the same formula.

• Begin with a warm-up activity.  Warm-up activities usually include sensory integration, gross upper extremity activities and move into fine motor warm-up activities prior to working on fine motor goal work.
• Try to incorporate neurodevelopmental techniques (NDT) into activities.
• Fine motor skills/activities that are functional.

This post will focus on sensory integration warm-up activities for special needs kids.

Disability Doll

Down Syndrome Dolls White Girl

Take a look at the doll in the picture. What do you see? You'll probably notice almost immediately that its face is not as “regular” as the rosebud-mouthed, snub-nosed dolls that come as standard in toy shops. But if you picked it up and examined it more closely, you'd see that they are not the only features that you don't find on a “normal” doll: a horizontal crease in the palm of the hand, the ears set low on the head, a flattened bridge across the nose, a slightly protruding tongue.

Playing with Severely Impaired Special Needs Kids - Part 3

As professionals working with children that have severe disabilities we have found that there are ways to play with common toys and connect with your loved one and motivates them to move and do things you may not have seen before!  These short clips reveal just that - simple techniques of how to make "play time" with your child more fun for both them and you.
This video is embedded through YouTube.