Therapy



Below are some activities we have done as part of our therapy program along with some links to therapy resources.

Behavior

Activities
Dealing with Temper and Anger - Using feeling cards to help express emotions.
Earning Gems - Rewarding Good Behavior
Sweeping Up Fears - How my daughter conquered her vacuum cleaner anxiety.

 Cognitive

Activities
Creative Writing Journal - Using a journal to learn how to answer questions like "What did you do today?"
HearBuilder Game Following Directions - Improves auditory processing and following direction skills.
What's Wrong With This Picture? - Activities to help look for what is wrong.



Life Skills

Activities
Cooking Easter Eggs - Peeling eggs and making potato salad works some fine motor skills in a fun way.
Going Outside Alone - Some things we did to help our daughter to be safe playing outside alone.
The Kitchen Classroom - A book specifically for children with special needs to help them visually learn kitchen skills.  Has Gluten Free recipes or you may modify them to suit your needs.
Ways to Avoid "Are We Done Yet?" - We used some visual and audio helps to remind her when things needed to be done.



Motor Skills

Activities
Clothespin Learning Activity that combines fine motor skill and math
Handwriting Without Tears: Mat Man - Using blocks to learn writing skills
Simple Motor Skill Activity - More playing with clothespins.  It can also be tied into math as well.

Resources
Handwriting Without Tears - A special needs friendly curriculum to help teach writing using manipulatives and hands on activities as well as workbooks.
Gross Motor Skills in Children with Down Syndrome
Fine Motor Skills in Children with Down Syndrome

Social Skills

Activities
Do2Learn Safety Songs - Includes staying in yard, street safety, mall safety and more.

Free Time Choices - Using a visual chart to help a child figure out what they can do with their free time.

Speech

Activities
Fact or Opinion - Use every day situations to figure out if it is a fact or opinion.
Patterns and Sequencing - Learning to make patterns and find sequence while discussing "first," "last," "next," and "after."

Why Is It Different? - Hands on activity to help answer a "why" question.

Resources
Super Duper Publications - My speech therapist highly recommends them. They have more than just speech therapy items too.
Early Communication Skills for Children with Down Syndrome - An excellent resource for early speech skills up to about age 6.
Helping Children with Down Syndrome Communicate Better - Speech therapy help for ages 6-14.
Super Star Speech - How to home speech therapy books.  I have not personally used these.
Mommy Speech Therapy - Great resources to use at home for speech therapy including articulation screenings to see where your child needs the most help.

General or Multiple Therapy Resources

Do2Learn - Offers a wide variety of therapy resources in motor, language, behavior, social, visual and much more.
Early Childhood Materials and Equipment - A guide book on how to make many therapy games and activities.
Super Duper Publications - My speech therapist highly recommends them and they have helps for many other therapies as well.
Woodbine House Publishers - A large variety of books about special needs with many areas of specialty.  A tremendous resource for all parents and educators.

Manipulatives & Helps

Reading Rulers - A neat way to help visually follow on a page while reading.
Keyboard Town PALS - A really neat way to teach actual typing skills.
Time Timer - A helpful way for a child to keep track of how much time is spent on a task.

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