RecyclingOT

This video demonstrates how to cut up supermarket plastic bags to make "yarn" used for knitting. I knit bags of different sizes and shapes, usually to hold therapy materials or groceries. People are always impressed when I tell them that they are made of supermarket bags and they are super STRONG. Making yarn works on many fine-motor skills as a child or adult 1) rolls up the supermarket bags 2) snips 4-5 pieces from each bag 3) stretches them open into giant plastic rings 4) knots them into a long chain 5) rolls the chain into a “yarn ball” 6) knits The best part is that all the yarn is free and if you mess up, it costs nothing.... Learn more about activity adaptations on my website and blog: http://www.RecyclingOT.com http://.www.RecyclingOT.blogspot.com

The "sensory pull bottle" is a fun way to help young children develop hand strength, coordination between right and left hands and to develop a hand preference. I incorporate this activity when working with children with developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorders, sensory processing disorders or other impairments that impact developing hand skills. It can be used while the child is sitting, kneeling, standing, riding a horse or moving in other ways. The combination of movement, pulling and vibration helps to motivate and engage children.

Children and adults with autism and/or other types of developmental disabilities often love materials that involve pulling, squeezing or pushing. These materials are sensory-based because they stimulate the muscles, joints and skin. I attached retractable clips that hold name IDs to a book stand. They are really fun to pull! I cut lots of ring shapes out of plastic containers, but you can use other small objects with openings that can be strung onto the clips. I tied pieces of fabric to the ends so that the rings won't easily fall off. The thicker the fabric, the more challenging the stringing will be. Have fun adapting! Learn more about activity adaptations on my website and blog: http://www.RecyclingOT.com http://www.RecyclingOT.blogspot.com

Children or adults with developmental disabilities often love to manipulate by shaking, pulling, pushing or rolling. This video demonstrates how to make and use a simple make-your-own "busy bottle" activity. It works great for this client because she cannot throw it off her tray or choke on any small moving parts. It was free to make and individualized just for her…. Learn more about activity adaptations on my website and blog: http://www.RecyclingOT.com http://.www.RecyclingOT.blogspot.com

People who have difficulty grasping a paintbrush perhaps...due to hand weakness, arthritis pain or spasticity may be able to grasp this adapted Handle for sponge painting. This is one of the many adaptations described in my book: THE RECYCLING OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST. Learn more at http://www.RecyclingOT.com

This video demonstrates how to cut fruit shapes out of plastic bottles to make fine motor activities for children or adults with autism or other developmental disabilities, as well as typically developing children. Connecting and separating the bracelets from the plastic is a fun sensory experience and develops eye-hand coordination.

Painting on an easel is fun for children and adults. I made this easel out of a cardboard box. Its easy to make and replace when someone accidentally throws it out! I use easels with children and adults with developmental and other disabilities because they make it easier for the client to reach and see how to move the brush. They also sit more upright when looking and reaching in the vertical plane. The client in the video is unable to grasp the paint brush unless it is attached to his hand with the cuff sold at EaZyHold.com. Now he is all set to enjoy painting....Learn more about activity adaptations at RecyclingOT.com

Many people including myself enjoy the feeling of rubbing a brush against the arms and hands. I received training decades ago on how to administer the Wilbarger Protocol that involves rubbing with a surgical brush every 2 hours to decrease tactile defensiveness. I find the hair brush purchased from the Dollar Store much more calming. The hair brush provides a greater amount of stimulation. I can barely feel the surgical brush when I rub it on my arms. I tied one of these hairbrushes to a client’s table so that he can decide when to rub it on his arms and hands and how much pressure to use to meet his sensory needs. This hairbrush also feels good when squeezed! The video demonstrates the same stringing activity used by 2 clients with very different abilities. The blind client has very good motor planning skills and is able to push the fabric pieces with slits onto the brush to slide down the cord. When I first started working with him 5 years ago, he refused to touch most objects. He is so tactile defensive that he refuses to eat! (he has a GI tube). Now he enjoys pushing golf balls through a small opening so it takes force to make it go down. This has helped him tolerate deep pressure to his palms and tolerate touch in general. Notice how flat his hands are because he has avoided grasping inside his palms all of his life! The second client has motor planning challenges. He loves to fidget with objects to meet his sensory needs, including this hair brush. He wasn’t eager to slide rings down the cord but realized that he was able to fidget with the hair brush as he pleased while working on this task. I only offer large plastic rings to string because he does not have the motor planning skills to manipulate the fabric squares with slits that you see the first client using. I really love how I am able to individualize activities for my clients to meet their sensory and motor needs…. This activity may be adapted using different types of sensory items such as a Koosh ball or motorized tooth brush tied to the end of the cord. Explore using cord of shorter or longer lengths, larger or smaller rings according to the individual’s abilities to help them achieve easy success and gradually add challenge. Learn more about activity adaptations on my website and blog: http://www.RecyclingOT.com http://www.RecyclingOT.blogspot.com http://www.FromFlappingtoFunction.com

Children with autism, sensory processing disorders or other types of developmental disabilities often find heavy pressure from using heavy or tight squeezing materials calming. They may seek this type of sensation by crashing into cushions or people! This video shows how to make "sensory rings" out of socks and supermarket bags. They are virtually free and quick to make. Moving the rings over the body develops body awareness and coordination while meeting the child's sensory needs. Learn more at RecyclingOT.com

When my son was little he loved helping me make activities such as this for my occupational therapy clients. Many of these clients had developmental disabilities, including autism and challenges such as weak hands, short attention spans and poor coordination. The bottle tops are attached to the big detergent container with strips of stretchy fabric. Pulling on the fabric provides sensory stimulation to muscles and joints. Screwing or unscrewing the covers develops strong fingers and coordination. Matching the covers to the bottle tops develops visual perceptual skills. Learn about other activity adaptations at http://www.RecyclingOT.com

Many children with or without disabilities find connecting a zipper to be tricky! This video demonstrates a few fun adaptations that develop the bilateral coordination to open and close zippers. It usually helps to attach something like a pipe cleaner or toy to the zipper slider so that it is easier to grasp while pulling. When I teach hand skills to children or adults with disabilities, I always make sure there is a lot of REPETITION. The young man in the video is learning how to zip his own jacket for the first time in his life because he practiced attaching 5 zipper sliders every day for several months. A different client loves to insert objects into containers so I created a task where he needed to close the zippers before inserting them. I put a motorized toothbrush and some bells inside the container to add some sensory stimulation. Let me repeat…..repetition and adding some sensory stimulation help motivate my clients to engage in some challenging hand activities.

Collect caps or covers to screw on or off the threaded tops and make the following repetitive fine-motor activity. The young man in the video is blind and loves to match, sort and use his advanced cognitive skills. He used to avoid using his hands together but has gotten quite good at it because I keep creating variety and challenging manipulation tasks that he enjoys.... Some children or older individuals may enjoy matching a variety of covers/caps to the corresponding threaded pieces. These may come from detergent, dishwasher soap bottles, vitamin jars, juice or milk cartons or countless other sources. The covers may be screwed on lightly at first and later on more tightly as skill and hand strength develop. Visit my website for more ideas and adaptations: http://www.RecyclingOT.com

This activity is very easy to make and fun for typically developing children as well as children and adults with autism or other developmental disorders that impact attention and hand skills. Individuals need to use both hands to position the rings with notches cut in the center on top of the “spiral sensory ring stack”. Then they let go and enjoy the visual stimulation of the shape spiraling down. I bought the helicopter toy at the Dollar store. The spiral piece is wedged and taped inside a bottle opening. I cut the colorful plastic rings out of detergent and dishwasher soap bottles and cut notches in the center. This activity promotes visual attention, eye-hand coordination and using hands together. Learn more about activity adaptations at http://www.RecyclingOT.com

Form boards are designed for young children to learn how to fit shapes into corresponding openings. My older clients with developmental disabilities are also working on these skills. However, this form board is made with meaningful, age-appropriate pictures that I printed and laminated. Learn more about activity adaptations at http://www.RecyclingOT.com

Students or clients with sensory processing disorders often engage best when using materials that require force. These activities provide "resistance" and heavy pressure sensory stimulation to muscles and joints. The video shows how motivated and fun it is to get sensory stimulation while also strengthening hands and developing coordination. Please visit my website for more information at RecyclingOT .com

Individuals with autism and/or sensory processing disorders may find it challenging to engage in hand activities. The "paint roller ring stack" is fun, often motivating people because it meets their sensory needs while developing eye hand coordination and visual attention. It is made by wedging a paint roller handle inside a bottle; then secure in place with duct tape. As you see in the videos, it can be used in a variety of ways to meet the different needs of individuals. Please visit my website RecyclingOT.com for information about my books, CEU courses and blog.

It takes force to push these rings down the sturdy tube used as a ring stack. I had a surplus of Frisbees at work and cut out the centers to make the rings (using heavy duty leather shears). My clients with developmental disabilities including some on the autism spectrum love this adapted ring stack. They receive sensory feedback from muscles and joints as they either push the rings down or pull them off. They are encouraged to use both hands in order to be successful. This activity can be performed from a wheelchair or while standing. It can be a solitary activity or performed with a social partner. Reaching to eye level strengthens the arms, promotes visual attention and an upright posture since they are not hunched over looking downward. Learn more about activity adaptations at: http://www.RecyclingOT.com

I made this video almost 10 years ago when I was providing low vision services in home care settings. I hope that this information continues to help other therapists and patients. The best part is that Medicare pays for these services! If you or someone you care about has low vision, please share this video packed with information about home care services that may help them to be more independent and enjoy life. I found that many eye doctors (ophthalmologists and optometrists) did not know that these services were available- so be sure to ask to get a referral! Learn more about activity adaptations on my website and blog: http://www.RecyclingOT.com http://www.RecyclingOT.blogspot.com http://www.FromFlappingtoFunction.com

Some children with Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD) avoid crossing midline. Imagine a line running down your body dividing it into right and left sides. This line is called “Midline”. Sometimes your right hand will cross over left of this line and your left hand will cross right of this line. We describe this as "crossing midline" (CML). Children with SPD often avoid crossing midline. They may only reach for objects on their right with their right hand and only reach for objects on their left with their left hand. This is not very efficient, especially when they color with whichever hand is closest to the crayon rather than the dominant hand. Activities such as the one in the video are designed to promote CML. Ask the child to alternate using right and left hands while sequencing the letters and at times they will need to cross midline. Learn more about activity adaptations at http://www.RecyclingOT.com

Many children and adults with Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD) and/or autism spectrum disorders find weighted vests, blankets, collars and lap pads to be calming. This video demonstrates how to make them! This was a great way to put my old sweat shirts, pants and socks to use. Here are the steps: 1) Put sand into a plastic bag and tie the end. 2) Put the plastic bag inside a sock and tie the end 3) Put the sock inside a second sock so that the outer sock can be washed 4) Place these double layered socks either inside an extra long sock or bag for insertion/removal tasks OR 5) Place bags of sand inside the sleeves and body of an old pair of pants or sweatshirt. Tie up all openings so that contents stay inside 6) Place the filled pants or sweatshirt into a second one so that the outer layer can be washed. Learn more about activity adaptations on my website and blog: http://www.RecyclingOT.com http://www.RecyclingOT.blogspot.com

Children or adults with developmental disabilities may enjoy matching as they screw bottle caps onto the corresponding size threaded pieces. Write numbers, letters or glue pictures to caps and threaded pieces to make matching fun! Materials needed: 1)Threaded pieces cut from plastic bottles 2) Caps or covers that screw onto the threaded pieces 3)A long strip of fabric 4) A container to insert the lids into (optional) Cut 2 holes in each threaded piece in order to string them onto the cord. You will see in the video that some clients preferred to sit. However, I adapted the materials to encourage reaching or standing. Some clients not only enjoy standing, they crave movement and this activity enables them to retrieve materials located on the floor or across the room. Screwing or unscrewing the lids strengthens hands and develops bilateral hand coordination. Making this activity costs virtually ZERO $$$$ Learn more about activity adaptations on my website and blog: http://www.RecyclingOT.com http://www.RecyclingOT.blogspot.com

Children or adults with autism and/or sensory processing disorders often love the sensory feedback provided by pulling. This video demonstrates how to make a "Sensory Pull" activity that motivates children to visually attend as they develop postural control and strengthen their hands while receiving the type of sensory stimulation they seek and love.

This video explains how to use sensory reinforcers to help children or adults on the autism spectrum or people with other developmental disabilities to develop hand skills. Many disabled individuals have sensory processing challenges and avoid using their hands. They may decrease anxiety and self-regulate by rocking, spinning, flapping or shaking objects in front of their eyes. While this is OK, it becomes a problem when people do this all the time to the exclusion of learning functional hand skills such as grasping a spoon to eat, placing objects into a container or rings on a stack. A reinforcer is a reward or an event that increases the likelihood of a behavior occurring. The term positive reinforcement refers to a behavior that we want to encourage such as pointing or signing “more” to indicate that the individual wants the horse to resume trotting. Sensory reinforcers provide the type of stimulation that helps one’s brain to organize the sensory information received from the sense organs and use it to perform motor skills such as walking or cutting a sandwich. The sensory systems related to movement (vestibular), body awareness (proprioception) and touch (tactile system) are of particular importance because people with sensory processing disorders (SPD) often crave these sensory experiences and are motivated to work to receive them. In the video you will see a young man who seeks movement by rocking, swaying or waving objects in front of his face. He also seeks vibration and the sensation of a heavy cushion on his lap. Weighted materials, vibration and activities that require force such as tug of war all stimulate the muscles, joints and tendons to increase proprioception. Another young man in a video needs to move all the time. He also engages in maladaptive behaviors including spitting on his hands and rubbing them on everything. He likes materials that are heavy, vibrate or require force. He uses force to push balls into a small container opening. The sequence of walking across the room to retrieve a ball from a vibrating container and returning to his table to push it into the container meets his sensory needs and makes him happier as well as more hygienic. Learn more about activity adaptations on my website and blog: http://www.RecyclingOT.com http://www.RecyclingOT.blogspot.com http://www.FromFlappingtoFunction.com

The client shown in the video typically has her right hand fisted against her body. My goal is to maintain range of motion by reaching for objects to insert into the container with her left hand as she grasps the handle. The large blue container is tied to the table so that she is unable to pull it into her lap. This individual prefers to be busy, so this adaptation serves to 1) provide a repetitive task 2) maintain or improve range of motion 3) motivate to engage in bilateral tasks 4) Open up her fisted hand during a functional task. She refuses to wear a splint to prevent contractures. How to make: Simply cut an opening in a large detergent or kitty litter bottle so that the desired container can be wedged inside. I cut an opening where her knuckles were rubbing and then put tape around the edges. Learn more about activity adaptations on my website and blog: http://www.RecyclingOT.com http://www.RecyclingOT.blogspot.com

People with spasticity may have difficulty grasping or stabilizing objects. This video demonstrates how to adapt with handles cut out of detergent, dishwasher or other bottles. The handles can be attached to activities such as ring stacks, sorting containers or shape sorters using Velcro or tape. This adaptation enabled the little girl in the pink sweater to grasp the green handle attached to the coffee can while inserting picture cards. At the same time her little hand is opened up instead of fisted, helping to maintain her range-of-motion. Learn more about activity adaptations at http://www.RecyclingOT.com