Patient Success Spotlights
Dear Ms. Kerri, “We came to Synergy Healthcare for O.T. help with handwriting, but we are getting so much more. Two months ago, when we started, our son’s handwriting was illegible. It drove us crazy that our 6 year old was not taking pride in his work. We harped on him for not slowing down to connect his capital “F’s,” to give one example. If fine motor was our only problem, certainly more military-type practice would fix the issue. Well, all the harping and reminding wasn’t helping, and you taught us why. His ocular motor skills were weak; his eyes get tired tracking. You taught us there’s a link between fine motor and eye tracking.The fun, simple games you gave us to do at home have helped. Every week you have something new for us to try. We aren’t through yet, but we see a huge difference in his letter formation. And the grandparents can now read his notes. What surprised me most is you’re addressing the “ants in his pants.” Coming up on second grade, he’s going to have a lot more handwriting. It’s easier to succeed at handwriting if you’re sitting still. Unlike well meaning I finally feel like I know how to be his mom! “Since Romi has been at Synergy, my son has looked forward to seeing her every week. Donny has high energy and trouble calming when it’s time to pay attention. Romi calms Donny and soothes him so quickly. You can just see his anxiety and tension melt away.” – Wendy M. You can just see his anxiety and tension melt away!
friends, you’ve got constructive tools forus tomitigate thespinning- wiggles when we need to. We love playing for 15 minutes before doing our handwriting homework. If we do the whole 15 minutes, he
doesn’t change his body position while doing his workbook. It’s amazing. I finally feel like I know how to be his mom. Before dinner, we do some of the other things you suggested: scrub down the table, vacuum the living room, pushup challenge, or pretend to be different animals on the floor. We don’t always do one, but when we do it always works. You’ll hear a lot less nagging around our house now; unless there are dirty dishes. I wish every kid could do handwriting through your program. It’s brought pride to our son’s work, and predictable peace to our homework time. I can’t thank you enough!” - N. Adams
Always learning…Always growing…
AUTISM INTERVENTION
Understanding what treatment is best for your child on the autism spectrum can be overwhelming. As time has passed, we have begun to understand autism better and the research is backing up what we haveknownclinically forsome time. Therearea lotofdifferent treatment names that you may have run into as a parent while researching the bestplan foryourchild.Manyof the available treatments can be used together to focus on your child’s unique profile of strengths and weaknesses. Will Strong, one of our speech- language pathologists, recently attended a continuing education seminar on the SCERTS model
autism spectrum disorder often have difficulty regulating their own emotionalstates.Transitionperiods and changes in routine throughout the day can be very difficult and lead toemotionalmeltdowns if there are no strategies to deal with these times; the SCERTS model helps by providing strategies for emotional regulation. Transactional supports: Lastly, we therapists need to work together with teachers,parents,andeveryone involved in your child’s care, to provide supports that best help the child to learn. The SCERTS model suggests thatchildrenoftenbenefit from visual supports to promote social communication and learning
like visual schedules, timers, and communication boards. These are called transactional supports. The SCERTS model guides us in creating a developmentally appropriateplanofcare forourkids (or adults). SCERTS emphasizes the importance of working within natural routines throughout theday. It is not an exclusive model. Other treatments thatarewell-researched can be used to meet SCERTS goals. This means that strategies such as using picture exchange systems, or building skills using applied behavioral analysis, or structured teaching utilizing visual supports, can all be used to fit your child’s unique needs.
for autism intervention. SCERTS stands for Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, and Transactional Supports. Social communication: We know that children on the spectrum have difficultywithsocialcommunication. They have difficulty relating to their peers, thinking flexibly, thinking about others’ perspectives, and identifying emotions in themselves and others, amongst other things. The SCERTS model helps clinicians and parents by telling them where to start with treatment based on your child’s ability to communicate verbally and nonverbally. Emotionalregulation: Childrenwith
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