Articles by Year: 2019
Fort Myers OT Tips: When Your Child Might Need Feeding Therapy
When does picky eating become a disability? Fort Myers OT (occupational therapy) services for children may be necessary for picky eaters when severe aversions to certain foods morph into “problem feeding,” a significant hindrance to healthy growth and development. Parents…
FOCUS Fort Myers Now Offering ADOS Test for Autism
FOCUS Therapy Fort Myers is now offering the ADOS test for autism diagnosis. Unlike simple developmental screenings, the ADOS test is a more rigorous medical evaluation conducted by trained clinicians. It’s considered the gold standard evidence on which pediatric neurologists…
Occupational Therapists: Essential Oils Aid Self-Regulation in Children With Autism
Many of our Fort Myers occupational therapists at FOCUS Fort Myers believe in a holistic approach to treating children with a wide range of delays and disorders. What that means is we focus on “the whole child,” and not just…
Children With Down Syndrome Do Better With Speech Therapy
Down syndrome, the most common chromosomal disorder in the world, affects 1 in every 700 children, or about 6,000 annually, a figure representing a 30 percent increase since the 1970s, according to the CDC. Our Fort Myers speech therapists routinely…
Why We Still Need Autism Awareness: Perspective From Fort Myers Therapists for Children With Autism
Social media newsfeeds everywhere will be suddenly awash today with blue light bulbs and puzzle piece art, marking World Autism Awareness Day (every April 2nd) and the beginning of National Autism Awareness Month. At FOCUS, members of our team have…
Early Intervention Speech, Occupational, ABA Therapy Preparing Wave of People With Autism for Workforce
As rates of autism diagnoses climb steadily, roughly 500,000 teens with autism are poised to enter the workforce over the next decade, according to advocates at Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism. Yet the majority of those people with autism…
Identifying, Treating Pediatric Vestibular Dysfunction Involves Occupational, Physical Therapy Collaboration
Once upon a time, vestibular dysfunction in children was thought to be exceptionally rare. Our occupational and physical therapists know, however, that pediatric vestibular disorders, which affect as many as 35 percent of adults, are increasingly being identified earlier than…
Should My Child be Crawling by Now? FOCUS Fort Myers Pediatric Physical Therapists Weigh In
Many parents think of crawling as the simple progression between head up/rolling and standing up/ walking. But as our FOCUS Fort Myers pediatric physical therapists can explain, crawling is in fact a major motor milestone requiring strength, coordination and motor…
After the NICU: Preemies Excel With Early Intervention Therapy Age 0 to 5
Premature babies (aka “preemies”) born earlier than the 37th week of pregnancy, are more likely to survive today even compared to the 1990s – and they are more likely to have less severe disabilities. That’s according to research published in…