Homes for Ukraine – How Else to Help

Many families around Europe are supporting by offering their homes for Ukrainian refugees. Many are wondering – what else/ what other support is needed? We have done some brief research and list it below. This is not an exhaustive list, and please refer to your local authority/country/ government regarding specific support in your country, and…

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Communication Boards for Ukrainian Refugees

We have created a one page communication boards (general and medical needs) to help refugees communicate their basic needs. This was designed with people with additional needs in mind, who may not have access to their communication board or systems, however can support communication for anyone. If further are needed, please let us know and…

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How to set up an Occupational Therapy Private Practice – Step 3

This is a follow on blog from our ‘Step 1‘ blog which we recommend reading first. It also links to the ‘Step 2‘ blog which (you guessed it, is best to read before step 3). This is specific to the United Kingdom, however most principles can be applied to other countries with similar registrations/processes for…

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How to set up an Occupational Therapy Private Practice – Step 2

This is a follow on blog from our ‘Step 1‘ blog which we recommend reading first. It also links to the ‘Step 3‘ blog. This is specific to the United Kingdom, however most principles can be applied to other countries with similar registrations/processes for Occupational Therapists. TOPIC: You are thinking of taking on a few…

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How to set up an Occupational Therapy Private Practice – Step 1

This is the first blog in a three part series outlining how to set up a private practice. Take a look at Step 2 and Step 3! Please note – this is specific to the United Kingdom, however most principles can be applied to other countries with similar registrations/processes for Occupational Therapists. TOPIC: Are thinking…

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What is a Whole Class Approach?

TOPIC: What is a Whole Class Approach? Why do therapists talk about it so much? WHAT: Being a teacher in this day and age is hard! There are so many expectations and deadlines and benchmarks to meet, all while trying to nurture and teach the next generation. A big part of therapy is ’embedding the…

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Why do Therapists give me home programs?

TOPIC: Why are therapists family focused? Do we have to be involved? Are home programs that important? WHAT: Therapists talk about being “family centered” or “family focused” all the time. What does it mean? Why are therapists family focused? And why do I as a parent, keep getting homework from my therapist? I thought going…

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Sleep Week 2019! How to promote healthy sleep in my child?

sleep

Why is Sleep important? Sleep is just as important as food, shelter and safety. It allows the brain to recharge and the body to regenerate. Healthy sleep allows people to function at optimal alertness. Healthy sleep requires: Sufficient amount (time) Uninterrupted (quality) Natural sleep cycle (circadian rhythm) Age-appropriate naps Children need sleep to be able…

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Child Mental Health Week 2019: Using Sensory Processing to look after my Mental Health  

sensory-processing

Topic: How can I use my senses and sensory processing to look after my mental health? Why: According to Sutton and Nicholson (2011), sensory-based treatment has been identified as an effective treatment approach for clients who are distressed, anxious, agitated, or potentially aggressive and as an alternative for more coercive actions; they also determined that…

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Liena – Hope for Boro Village

Leina

Whilst in Botswana, we met a young girl named Leina. Leina is 3 years old who lives in a small village in the Okavango Delta with her parents, grandparents and siblings. She was initially introduced to us as “the disabled child of the village” as she was unable to walk due to what appeared to…

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How we choose the websites we feature….

Today we explain in more detail how and why we chose the websites we have listed in our resource library. Topic How we choose the websites we feature…. Why: It is important for us to be transparent about how we are choosing our websites – it’s also important for our community to know how we…

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Our How and Why – The Reasons Behind an Online Library

Topic: The reasons behind an online library – Why Look Hear Australia? Today we interview Tara, the founder of LHA, about how and why she started the business with her husband Tim. Why did you start LHA? I wanted it to be a long-term resource that I could use for my therapy; to make it easy.…

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Parents: What is the difference between a melt down and a tantrum?

What is the difference between a meltdown and a tantrum? This is a tricky question! Every child has tantrums – it is actually an important part of typical development. Children with disabilities can sometimes have meltdowns; a full “computer shut down and restart”. This can happen for many reasons that can be sensory-, communication- or…

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Why we are an Amazon Affiliate….

Topic Everyone loves Amazon! And we do too! Honestly, I use it weekly – if its for research, buying bits for the family or adding birthday ideas to wish lists. Its a part of daily life and was SO HELPFUL during Covid lockdowns! Why is LHA an Amazon Affiliate? We are Amazon Affiliate Marketers, meaning…

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App Review: Why we love Theratrak!

TOPIC: Why we love Theratrak! We have been lucky enough to know Laura Simmons from Theratrak since the beta stages of the app. She has worked incredibly hard to develop an app focused on easy, user friendly home programs for parents and professionals; and I must say, she has done a stella job. Laura is…

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Making It Easy – How to build fine motor skills in children?

How to Build Fine Motor Skills in Children Fine motor skills are the small movements, made predominately by our hands, that help us to manipulate objects and explore. Children need to develop these skills to help them to interact and engage with the world, as well as prepare for schooling (writing, painting, cooking, cutting). Fine…

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Parents: Looking After Yourself as a Parent

TOPIC: Looking after yourself as a parent! WHY: We often talk about parents needing to look after themselves, but why is it so important? Firstly when we have healthy and happy Mums and Dads it is much easier to have happy and healthy children. Further, we know from the evidence that parents of children with…

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Why do therapists want me to use visuals at home?

TOPIC: Why do therapists what me to use visual and visuals*  at home?? *We mean visuals as pictures, photos or symbols of something or someone. WHY: Visuals are a great way to explain to someone what is happening or going to happen. They also don’t require verbal language to understand them (think road signs or…

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Visuals – why we love them (and the evidence)

VISUALS  This month the review of the evidence is all about our favourite resource in the world – VISUALS!! RESEARCH  There is a large body of evidence linking cognitive and physical disabilities with externalising problematic behaviours (Visser et al., 2015; Artemyeva, 2016; Giltaij, Sterkenburg & Schuengel, 2015; Poppes et al., 2016). In particular, the literature…

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Relaxation – What is the evidence?

RELAXATION This month the review of the evidence is all about something to follow on from the bullying update – Relaxation. You can check out all things Mental Health on our page here! RESEARCH All children worry. Researchers have suggested that this worry is in part due to the fact that childhood is full of…

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Why are therapists family focused?

TOPIC: Why are therapists family focused? Why do we have to be involved? WHAT: Therapists talk about being “family centered” or “family focused” all the time. What does it mean? Why are therapists family focused?   WHY: We know that children learn the best off their parents. That is because they love their parents and…

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Why does therapy cost so much?

TOPIC: Why does therapy cost so much? WHAT: Therapy is expensive! Depending on your child’s needs and who you see for how long, it can add up. Therapy is denfined as “treatment to relieve or heal a disorder”. When we talk about therapy at LHA we are referring to Occupational Therapy, Speech Language Pathology, Psychology,…

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When to ask for help?

TOPIC: When to ask for help? WHAT: It can be hard to know what is ‘typical’ for children and what is ‘expected’ and ‘unexpected’. How are parents meant to know when something isn’t ‘normal’? Of course there is no hard and fast rule though there are some tips that might help. There are so many…

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