Articles by Year: 2026
A Sensory-Friendly Halloween: Costumes, Crowds, and Trick-or-Treating
Fort Myers occupational therapy teams know that Halloween can be one of the hardest nights of the year for a child with sensory differences. Itchy costumes, rubber masks, flashing decorations, doorbells, barking dogs, strangers in disguise, and a routine turned…
Down Syndrome and Speech: How a Fort Myers Speech Therapist Builds Communication From Infancy
A Fort Myers speech therapist for Down syndrome often meets families long before a child says a first word, and that timing is deliberate. Communication starts in the first months of life, well before speech. It starts with eye contact,…
Pacifiers, Sippy Cups, and Speech: Why Fort Myers Speech Therapists Recommends Phasing Them Out Early
Most Fort Myers speech therapists are of the mind that once a child starts to talk, the pacifier and the sippy cup should be on their way out. A toddler needs a free mouth to babble, experiment with sounds, and…
What a BCBA Does: How a Fort Myers ABA Therapy Team Is Built
A Fort Myers ABA therapist is rarely working alone. Behind every session a child receives is a team with distinct roles, credentials, and responsibilities. Many parents meet the person who works with their child day to day without ever learning…
Fort Myers OT Explains Why Bedtime Resistance May be a Sensory Problem
When bedtime falls apart every single night, a Fort Myers occupational therapist is not often the professional families think to call. Parents try earlier bedtimes, later bedtimes, sticker charts, and every routine a friend swears by. For some children, those…
Speech Sound Errors and Reading: Why a Kindergarten Concern Can Become a First-Grade One
Parents often ask their child’s Fort Myers speech therapist whether a preschooler’s speech errors will follow them into the classroom. The honest answer is the majority of children with speech sound differences learn to read without much difficulty. But a…
When Insurance Cuts Your Child’s Authorized Hours
When a letter arrives indicating your health insurance provider is cutting your child’s authorized therapy hours, it often lacks a clear explanation. Families receiving Fort Myers ABA therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy at FOCUS Therapy have more than once…
The Age of Toys Is Not Over: What Toy Story 5 Gets Right About Screens and Child Development
Pixar spent four films asking what happens to a toy when a child outgrows it. Toy Story 5 asks a harder question: What happens to a child when nothing gets outgrown, because nothing gets played with? Bonnie is 8 now.…
Hearing Loss, Chronic Ear Infections, and Delayed Speech
Ear infections are close to universal in early childhood. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, five out of six children have at least one ear infection by their third birthday. Most of those children go…
Rigidity and Routines: When Flexibility Becomes the Goal
Every household with young children runs on routine. Bedtime happens in an order. The same book gets read for months. Most families barely notice. For some children, routine is not a preference. It is structural. The blue cup is not…