​Hippotherapy is the portion of an occupational, physical or speech therapy treatment session where a skilled medical professional utilizes a horse as a treatment tool to achieve specific functional therapy goals or outcomes.  The horse can help address specific occupational therapy goals including:

• Increasing strength and endurance in postural muscles for improved sitting and standing balance
• Increasing strength and endurance in the arms for functional reach and grasp
• Assisting with motor planning of gait and functional mobility 

The horse can also help teach social skills (particularly keying into non-verbal language) -- and believe it or not -- can assist with attention and focus. The therapist helps clients achieve these goals by manipulating specific properties of the horse’s movement, the position of the client on the horse, bend, speed, length of stride, directionality and use of specific tack.

With Halloween upon us, please try to be accepting of all of the folks who will be visiting your homes. Keep in mind:

The child who is grabbing more than one piece of candy may have poor fine motor skills.

The child who takes forever to pick out one piece of candy may have motor planning issues.

The child who does not say trick-or-treat or thank you may be non-verbal or have speech delays.

The child who looks disappointed when they see your bowl may have food allergies.

The child who isn’t wearing a costume may have sensory processing issues or autism.

The big boy who seems a little older may be an adult with developmental delays.

Choose your actions and words wisely. Be nice. Be patient.

​Happy Halloween!

Helping children develop their fine motor coordination skills is one of the many occupational therapy interventions we offer at OT OuTdoors.  Good fine motor skills are required to help kids accomplish the tasks they do on a daily basis: handwriting in class and on homework assignments, getting dressed, tying shoes, buttoning pants, brushing their hair & teeth, eating meals, cleaning up their rooms, and playing with blocks, Legos or doll clothes. The better their fine motor coordination becomes, the more independent and efficient they’ll be in daily living.
Pictured above are a couple of our friends helping our therapy dog Noodles become “spook free.” By using tongs or chopsticks to remove the toy figurines, they are developing their tripod grip (proper grasp required to hold a pencil or utensils) and strengthening their hands and fingers with each pinch. One of the great things about this activity is that it can be done at home and can be modified a number of ways to keep it fun and engaging! Some ideas include:

• Theme the activity around upcoming holidays (spiders at Halloween, love bugs for Valentine’s Day, four-leaf clovers for St. Patrick’s Day) 
• Place toy bugs in your child’s bed and have them collect the “bed bugs” prior to bedtime
• Use a favorite stuffed animal or a patient family 
• Switch out the bugs for items like Legos, puff balls, or other items your child may gravitate towards
• Have the whole family eat with chopsticks during one meal each day

Ask us about these options during therapy and we’ll show you how to integrate them into your home routine. Sign up (link)
OT OuTdoors-because life doesn’t happen in a clinic