Kioko Center

An evaluation is the start of a therapeutic relationship.  It is an opportunity to gather data, observe, and use critical thinking skills.  Standardized assessments provide data for qualifying children for services.  They can also establish a baseline for creating goals and designing a remediation plan.  Selecting an appropriate motor assessment for your client will ensure that the child can engage and that you collect the information you need.  Considerations when choosing an evaluation should include the child’s age, referral reason, test length, types of activities included as testing tasks, and what the test is measuring.  A description of four motor assessments commonly used by both OTs and PTs are described below. Bruininks-Oseretsy Test of Motor Proficiency (2 nd Edition) Also known as the BOT-2, this tool is widely used by occupational and physical therapists .  Fine motor categories include fine motor precision, fine motor integration, ma...

When children act out, it’s easy to chalk this down to ‘misbehaving’. However, this is not always the case. For example, among children with autism and related conditions, challenging behavior is often their way of responding to feeling anxious, stressed, or overwhelmed. As such, whenever your child begins to act out, remember that this is not intentional on their behalf. They’re simply trying to find a way to regulate their emotions or express their discomfort relating to what is happening to those around them — not to get a reaction out of you. What are some of the challenging behaviors associated with autism? When caring for a child with autism, you may notice that they begin to exhibit challenging behaviors whenever they feel overwhelmed. This could include stimming and actions typically associated with a meltdown. Stimming refers to “self-stimulating”, repetitive behaviors that help autistic children “manage excess energy and self-soothe.” Mostly, this involves gestures such as ar...