Holiday Gift Guide 2021!

‘Tis the season! We're fast approaching the holiday season and we thought it would be fun to compile two gift guides - one for the kids and one for the therapists in our lives! While it should always be stressed that kids don’t need toys to facilitate purposeful play (my four year old prefers her rock and stick collection to almost everything else), it’s nice to have a reference point when grandparents or family members ask for ideas for our little ones.

Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Piggy Bank : this one is so fun for the toddlers in our lives and is such a great facilitator of grasp, hand eye coordination, and problem solving!

Poke-a-Dot books : these are a huge hit at my house. My youngest (1) loves to practice “popping” the bubbles and my oldest (4) loves to practice reading to her little brother and pops the bubbles back and forth as well. Excellent practice for finger isolation!

Stepping Stones : absolutely excellent for balance, coordination, and body awareness. So fun for building obstacle courses too!

EZ Roller : a fan favorite. These seated scooters can take practice to master, but are so great for midline integration, full body coordination and fluidity.

Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog : another one for our toddler friends. As the name suggests, a super fun way to practice those fine motor skills - pincer grasp, visual-spatial and turn taking.

My First Palm Grip Crayons : Keeping the developmental progression of grasp in mind, crayons developed these palmer crayons for our younger friends with emerging scribble and coloring skills. They would be a fun stocking stuffer for the younger crowd!

MagnaTiles : Another favorite for a large age range. These magnetic tiles are great for building, imagining, calibrating force of movement and visual-perception.

Little Tykes 3’ Trampoline : A huge favorite to achieve sensory modulation at home that doesn’t require a ton of room. We’ve had one in our house for years and it gets used daily.

Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game : Simple, yet fun, this board game does not require any reading, but is a good opportunity to practice grasp with a tool (some fun tongs!), color recognition and matching, and turn taking with friends!

Fidget Kit toys : fidgets have become more mainstream in classrooms in the last few years and we are here for it! These kits contain many different options and can be used to help kiddos increase attention to task in different settings.

For the therapist in your life!

We thought it would also be fun to include a few things we LOVE and a few things on our Christmas lists for this year as well. And yes, I included two different bags. One we all have and love (hello, Patagonia), the other is on my wish list. I’ve found that many therapists prefer different things for their “supply” bag, but also end up carrying around a smaller bag for personal items they can get to easily and hands free.

The best pens : We always need pens. We’re constantly losing pens. We’ll spend hours hunting down our favorite pen. Bear with us.

An excellent water bottle : I could and should just copy and paste the description from the pens.

Erin Condren Lifeplanner : These can get a bit pricy but they are fully customizable and LAST. They work so well for keeping your life and your caseloads organized.

Patagonia Atom 8L Sling Bag : Easy, hands free, perfect size for a phone, wallet, water bottle (and a few diapers and wipes for my stage of life)… it’s excellent!

and because we need options…

Everywhere Belt Bag : this one is on my list this year. I’ve heard nothing but awesome things from anyone I know who has one.

A little reintroduction ...

We decided since we’ve been at this for almost three years now (wow!), we have some new followers and thought a new introduction to Trilogy Therapy would be fun! We look a little different than traditional clinics you may be used to… utilizing a progressive mixed model approach with on-site and virtual services.

Who are you?

Three friends, therapists; and former coworkers who identified a need in our community and disciplines to bridge the gap between providing quality services and rural communities.

We’re therapists and moms. We juggle both roles, recognizing the overlap that naturally occurs when you’re a pediatric therapist and raising kiddos of your own. Does being a mom make us better therapists? Yep. Does being a therapist make us better moms? Absolutely. 

We stay up-to-date with current research and continuing education opportunities in our respective disciplines and believe in using our 40+ years of combined experience to best serve our patients and clients. 

What we do:

We utilize a mixed model of both on-site and teletherapy to provide speech, occupational, and physical therapy to deliver the highest quality, evidence based practice available. 

Why does this look different?

We get it. Pre-Covid, teletherapy was not mainstream and we had many questions from family members and even colleagues in our fields as to why we thought this idea would work and work well. Now, almost 3 years later, we’re confident that our company and our services speak for themselves. We believe in this model because it’s proven and it works! And to top it off, we love our face- to- face time too! We get to travel extensively for evaluations, site visits, treatments and supervision. It’s truly the best of both worlds for everyone.

But you seem like outdoor people? :)

We are! All three founders spend extensive amounts of time outdoors in active settings with our families. We can be found biking in Moab, skiing Red Lodge, and hiking the Bighorns. We believe in living our lives and our practices in all realms. We encourage free play outdoors as often as possible for all kids we work with. A common misconception about using a technology-centered delivery service model is that all therapy happens through a screen. We believe we’re merely the catalyst to facilitate purposeful play and skill acquisition and refinement in ALL environments. It’s what sets us apart and makes us unique to traditional, clinic-based therapies. 

As always, we love connecting with new clients, potential future Trilogy Therapy team members, fellow parents, and child development enthusiasts! Please feel free to send us an email with any questions!

Water Fun!

Summer is such a great time to explore the outdoors and engage in a variety of different sensory experiences. Some of my favorites that make the warm weather so fun to enjoy are all the water play opportunities! Water is a great medium for kids to explore to help regulate their sensory systems and is a great calming tool. When swimming, the proprioceptive input (input through the joints to increase body awareness) and pressure water provides creates a very centering effect that makes aquatic therapy so successful with kids with sensory processing difficulties. Other than taking a dip in the local pool (which some of us are finding a little more difficult this summer in a Covid-world), here are some of my other favorite ways to cool off!

-      Water table : this are fairly inexpensive and available through many different retailers (I ordered our daughter’s table off Amazon). They’re great for working on scooping and pouring, fine and visual motor skills, and the repetition of some of the play also creates a very regulating experience for your littles. My two year old uses hers frequently on hot days!

-      Mud pies : adding the water is a great way to explore different consistencies of mud, as well as whipping up a variety of different creations in your “outdoor kitchen”. Admittedly, this one is extremely messy but so much fun and so beneficial for tactile awareness as well.

-      Running through sprinklers. I feel like this is a no-fail, low-cost way to enjoy a great water experience that I remember doing a ton in my childhood as well. The gross motor components (and having to keep your balance on slippery grass!) make this even more challenging and fun. To put a different spin on it, you can encourage your kids to use “animal walks” (ie. bear, crab, worm crawls) to actively engage the entire body and increase vestibular and proprioceptive input even more!

-      Splash in puddles! Probably the most fun thing you can do. Take advantage of those summer storms and play in all the fun puddles left over after a big rain. 

 Of course, any water activity should be monitored and supervised by a responsible adult, as well as any social distancing measures taken if in a public place. Enjoy!

Occupational Therapy Month!

Yesterday, a parent of a former client sent me a video of him kicking a ball five years ago at our therapy appointment in clinic. For one, I couldn’t believe it had been that long, but more importantly… I loved being reminded of why I love what I do so much. In the nine years I’ve been practicing Occupational Therapy (5 as a COTA … Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, and 4 as a registered and licensed Occupational Therapist), I have yet to experience the burnout and stresses that I see so many of my colleagues mention on social media forums and in casual conversation. That’s not to say I haven’t had weeks where IEP after IEP piles on, I get bogged down in paperwork, and difficult situations arise that spike my stress levels. There are times this job is mentally and physically exhausting. Absolutely, but the positive in my career thus far has far outweighed the bad. I get to play for a job! How many people get to say that? 

The importance of play and development go hand and hand and the primary occupation of all children is to play! This is how they learn and experience the world around them. It’s such a privilege to be witness to that process and help facilitate those experiences. The connections I have made while being an OT have been some of the most long lasting and meaningful – my first boss in the OT world became my professional mentor (whether she liked it or notJ) and great friend. Many parents of kiddos I’ve seen in the past have stayed in touch and sent videos and photos through the years of their continued progress, coworkers have become great friends and now, business partners. This OT world is one that touches every corner of my life, and I couldn’t be more thankful for those daily reminders that this is all because of the line of work I chose to pursue. 

As I made the transition through the years from clinic-based practice, to school-based, and now to teletherapy, these connections are the common thread that’s kept me excited and engaged in my field.  As Occupational Therapy month comes to a close, I just wanted to reflect on my excitement and love for this field that has adapted so amazingly during this global health crisis. So many OTs have been thrown into the unknown and have jumped into the teletherapy world with both feet and are thriving using this delivery service model. I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this amazing community. 

Emily Washut, MOTR/L

Back to school!

Back to School!

 As of this week, most everyone is now officially back to school! While this can be such an exciting time for both parents and students, it can also present some challenges. Going from a carefree summer with less of a set schedule, more outside play time, and more family leisure time, “back to the grind” can be difficult for many children.

 It’s not uncommon to deal with more meltdowns, exhaustion, and resistance in the home and school routine this time of year. The good news is that there are some great OT strategies we can implement to make these transitions a little smoother for your household or classroom. There are two huge tips that I have learned in my time in practice (and now as a working mom of a toddler!) that have helped so much!

 1)   Keep a consistent morning schedule. For kiddos who struggle more in the mornings…taking too long to get ready, refusing to get out of bed, etc.  can signal decreased initiation of task skills. Some kids have a hard time finishing a task because just getting started is so difficult for them. Keeping a consistent schedule with wake-up times, order of tasks (for example: wake up, breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth, pack backpack) can give these children a leg up for increased success and decreased stress. Knowing what to expect next and mentally preparing for that transition is key. Some kids may even benefit from a visual schedule – either written or in picture form. Another great tip is to use a visual timer for each task (ie. “ok, you have five minutes to get dressed”). There are many awesome options (that you can even Amazon Prime!) that give that guidance and support. If you need more information or help formulating your own visual schedule, enlist the help of your OT or do a quick Google search to get some more customizable ideas. There are so many great resources out there now!

2)   Get outside right after school! I realize there can be barriers to this – extracurricular activities, parents working late…so you really have to make it your own and figure out a way that works for your family. Unstructured and free play time after a strict schedule all day is so good for busy brains and busy bodies! Even as an adult, I am not built to sit in a formalized setting without huge breaks for movement for long periods of time. I feel like I’m squirming out of my skin by the end of the day. We can only imagine, most kids feel the same after a long day at school! This outside time can be as simple as sending your kiddos out to the backyard to play a quick game of tag while you cook dinner or a quick swing by the local trampoline park to blow off some steam. Like I mentioned, make it your own!

 We hope everyone is off to a great 2019-2020 school year! We have so many upcoming and exciting things here at Trilogy Therapy and are happy to have you on this ride with us!

Emily Washut, MOTR/L

Occupational Therapist

Our favorite podcasts...

It’s probably no secret that as teletherapists, we love and appreciate the ease, efficiency, and effectiveness that technology can bring to so many different areas of our lives. There are so many great opportunities for use of assistive technology, apps, and programs to utilize when working with our students (I know I like to mix in my favorites during my OT sessions!). I also love the opportunities technology provides us as therapists (and parents, teachers, or anyone who works with children), to learn even more and consume more valuable content than ever before. One of my favorite ways to do this is through postcasts. I spend quite a bit of time in my car and writing reports, and I listen to podcasts to make that time even more productive and valuable. I’ve accumulated quite a list related to therapy, related services, and child development and wanted to share some of them today.

 I have to start with the OT School House. Jayson and Abby feature amazing guests and a wide range of OT related content. I’ve found so many of their episodes helpful, and it’s always fun to listen to guests that I follow elsewhere too! (Think Cara Koscinski of PocketOT.com and The Zones of Regulation’s Leah Kuypers). Also of note, in episode 22, Jayson interviews Tracey Davis about telehealth and her career in teletherapy. Great information!

Glass Half Full : Occupational Therapy Talk - Natalie Barnes and Jessica Kersey cover a wide range of topics, not just related to pediatrics, and many of their episodes are eligible for continuing educating credit through AOTA!

Milestones, A Child Development Podcast - Allison Carter (OT) - Tantrums, fine motor skills, regulation, transitions, parent coaching… Allison really covers it all. I recommend this to parents as well as clinicians. There’s just so much valuable information!

Preschool and Beyond - brought to you by Discovery Child Development Center, this pod covers preschool-aged issues for children and families by interviewing authors, authors, physicians, attorneys, and therapists (to name a few) to discuss a great range of topics. Definitely one of my favorites!

There are so many options to choose from, these are merely a few on my regular rotation. What are some of your favorites?

Contributed by Emily Washut, MOTR/L