All Things Sensory by Harkla

April is OT Month - Check out our OT Month Digital Course Sale! harkla.co/otmonthSale ends April 30, 2023 Jessica Given is a pediatric Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant with 6 years of intensive experience in the outpatient clinic setting with an emphasis in sensory integration. She is currently serving in the home health setting and has been since 2021. Jessica has completed certificatio...

April is Autism Acceptance Month. This month, we’re releasing one new episode each week, in addition to our regularly scheduled episodes. These episodes are all about the language surrounding Autism. We had the privilege of interviewing several people for this Mini Series and we’re excited for you to listen in! Meg Proctor, MS, OTR/L is the founder of Learn Play Thrive. She started Learn Play Thri...

April is OT Month - Check out our OT Month Digital Course Sale! harkla.co/otmonthSale ends April 30, 2023 Today we are answering a question from inside our Primitive Reflex Digital Course. The question is about the exercises for the Moro Reflex as well as the sensory input that is provided during the exercises. We discuss all of this plus we dive into some research (which you can find in the links...

April is Autism Acceptance Month. This month, we’re releasing one new episode each week, in addition to our regularly scheduled episodes. These episodes are all about the language surrounding Autism. We had the privilege of interviewing several people for this Mini Series and we’re excited for you to listen in! Amber Grant is the mother to 2 special needs individuals, a wife, an advocate, and heal...

Ashley Thurn is a mother to three little ones, a pediatric occupational therapist, and feeding specialist by trade. She has a background in nutrition, sensory integration, holistic wellness and she specializes in picky eating and feeding disorders. She loves helping families navigate the many challenges that come with feeding children and it is her joy to help families find strategies to help nour...

Answering a listener question today - Will my child grow out of sensory processing disorder? SPD is a neurological disorder that affects how your brain interprets sensory information. SPD can affect one or more of the eight senses. You might be over-responsive to one type of input while simultaneously being under-responsive to another. Learn more about SPD HERE.SPD can be lifelong, but there are s...

Jessie is a social media manager, work-from-home mother, Autism advocate, and accidental influencer. She’s the mother to a wonderful 4-year-old boy and she shares their journey on Instagram. You can find all of her links below. Looking for more in-depth help? Sign up for 2-on-1 Mentoring With Us!!We’d love to answer your questions on the podcast! Fill out this form -> https://harkla.typeform.co...

Preparatory activities are the “warm ups” you incorporate into a treatment session. These activities should stimulate different sensory systems, wake up different muscle groups, and help the child prepare for functional, occupation-based activities. We dive into WHY we love preparatory activities and we give you our top 10 favorites that you need to include daily! This isn’t just for therapists -...

We LOVE answering your questions! Today’s episode comes from a listener who reached out with a question about a client they work with.“He’s 2 years old. Definitely has a large sensory cup. He is extremely rough and tumble. This kid has face planted on concrete and will get up and keep running. I tried a weighted vest on him but he ripped it off right away. I’ve informed mom about heavy work at hom...

A big piece of therapy is treatment planning - as a therapist, you spend a lot of time planning and executing treatment sessions for your clients. The more clients you have, the more treatment plans you have! It’s time consuming and can oftentimes be frustrating. We took 7 common treatment planning challenges and brainstormed ideas! The challenges we discussed ranged from lack of time, keeping it...

Whether you’re a new listener and new to the sensory world, or if you’ve been here for a while and are familiar with sensory processing, this episode is full of little tips and tricks for anyone navigating sensory processing challenges! The tips that we dive into:EmpathyJust right challengeFeeding the sensesWorking as a teamIn-person OTPrimitive reflexesSensory strategiesSensory breaksModification...

Larissa Geleris, MS, OTR/L, is a licensed occupational therapist specializing in identifying and treating sensory processing dysfunction. She is passionate about supporting parents who are experiencing overstimulation, overwhelm, and dysregulation. She has written multiple courses, has been a guest on several podcasts, and runs an Instagram platform that provides practical and evidence-based strat...

Sensory processing disorder (SPD) occurs when the brain and the body cannot properly process and modulate the sensory input coming in. This causes a negative, adverse reaction to the incoming sensory input. This in turn negatively affects the individual’s life, on a DAILY basis. Sensory quirks are the smaller, less significant sensory things you seek out or avoid throughout the day. For example: c...

Hallie Bulkin MA, CCC-SLP, CMT™, QOM, COM® is a Business Coach, Podcaster, Feeding Specialist, Certified Myofunctional Therapist™, Certified Orofacial Myologist and Speech-Language Pathologist. Hallie is the founder and director of Little Sprout Therapy & Metro Myo, a pediatric practice providing virtual, in-home, and in-school: feeding therapy, orofacial myofunctional therapy, speech-language...

Today’s episode is a LIVE call with a 2-on-1 Mentoring client. The family provided us with details ahead of time, scheduled the session, and we jumped right into a brainstorming session! If you found this episode helpful and would like to hear more episodes like this, let us know! Make sure to check out all of our links below! Looking for more in-depth help? Sign up for 2-on-1 Mentoring With Us!!W...

What is a home exercise program (HEP)? Why are they so important? What are some things you can do to make them easier for families to carry over? Make sure to check out all of our links below! Looking for more in-depth help? Sign up for 2-on-1 Mentoring With Us!!We’d love to answer your questions on the podcast! Fill out this form -> https://harkla.typeform.com/to/ItWxQNP3Be sure to check out t...

Diving into WHAT sensory overload is, HOW and WHY it happens, WHAT it can look like, and our top 5 strategies to help with sensory overload! Make sure to check out all of our links below! Sensory Diet Digital CourseLooking for more in-depth help? Sign up for 2-on-1 Mentoring With Us!!We’d love to answer your questions on the podcast! Fill out this form -> https://harkla.typeform.com/to/ItWxQNP3...

Answering YOUR question today - how can I improve my daily documentation? In the field of OT, documentation is extremely important! Not only is it a way for us, the therapists, to keep track of what we’re doing and why, as well as to show that our clients are making progress, but it’s also important for insurance purposes. You know the saying “work smarter, not harder”?You can kind of apply that t...

We have several podcast episodes on primitive reflexes and several episodes on infants. But we recently realized that we didn’t have an episode on how primitive reflexes in infancy are connected to developmental milestones! So here it is! We talk about a variety of developmental milestones and how primitive reflexes are connected. Plus we give you some specific activity ideas to incorporate into i...

Kelsea Newman is an Occupational Therapist, Sensory Specialist, and Proud ADHDer. Her passion is spreading the word about the power of Sensory Therapy and empowering kids and adults everywhere by learning how to live a Sensory Lifestyle that nourishes their unique Sensory and Nervous System Needs! You can find all of her links below. SHOP the Harkla Digital Course Holiday Sale NOW Through Dec. 23,...

Ashley Houchin is a licensed clinical psychologist with specialized training and experience in development across the lifespan. She enjoys working with individuals on a wide range of issues and has a passion for neurodivergence, women's health, parenting struggles, and child advocacy. She has more than 10 years of clinical experience and has worked in various settings including assessment clinics,...

Today we’re going to dive into what happens when a child has retained primitive reflexes and they are in school - what does this look like? What does it mean? And how can teachers help? Challenges at school that may seem like behaviors or even other diagnoses, such as ADHD or Anxiety, even SPD, could really be related to those underlying reflexes that never were integrated. SHOP the Harkla Holiday...

This episode is all about sensory integration and sensory processing - what it is, what it looks like, and what happens when there is dysfunction in one or more of the sensory systems. This is a re-vamp of Episode 2 - What is Sensory IntegrationLooking for more in-depth help? Sign up for 2-on-1 Mentoring With Us!!We’d love to answer your questions on the podcast! Fill out this form -> https://h...

Kali Jacobs, OTR/L, MSc. OT, OT Reg. (Ont.), received her Masters of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Toronto in 2012. She founded the SMILE Therapy for Kids OT department and trained all OTs across three clinics. Kali has training in sensory integration, including the Astronaut Program, as well as the Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) app...

We had a question come through on Instagram about how to help a child with sensory overload in the daycare setting - so we’re diving into WHY daycares can be overstimulating and what you can do about it! Whether you’re a parent or caregiver, working in a daycare or preschool setting, or a therapist - this episode has tips and tricks for everyone! Be sure to check out the show notes on our blog at...