Movement quality gives important insight into mental processing!

Awesome new study that links MOVEMENT quality in mental processing issues, especially the ASD spectrum behavior! When I ask your child to 'make circles' I've always known how they make these circles  is important. Here's an article to help you the parent know that too! Micromovements hold hidden information about severity of autism,

Attentional Control to Self Awareness, to Self Compassion, to Other Compassion

I wrote a note to a mom this morning about her 10 yr old son who ended up in tears during a task today. Great family with wonderful children. Yet, he ended up in tears, overwhelmed by his own thoughts (ANTs - automatic negative thoughts). He quietly kept clapping and trying to hide his emotion, hoping no one would notice the tears, but internally he was beating himself up, feeling HORRIBLE. Here's the post I wrote to this mom. I thought it was worth sharing with others.

Working memory gains improve divergent thinking/fluid intelligence.

 These results indicate that a short regimen of WM training is associated with lower prefrontal activation—a marker of neural efficiency—in divergent thinking. 

Sensory Diets

I find sensory activities very helpful during IM sessions and recommend parents visit with their OT about sensory diets. BUT not all my kiddos have OT's, so I've gathered some good sensory diet links here for you to look over.

Sensory basics: http://sensorysmarts.com/sensory_diet_activities.htmlhttp://www.sensorysmartparent.com/toysequipment.htm

Some sensory wise toys: http://www.sensorysmartparent.com/toysequipment.html

Pinterest sensory ideas: http://pinterest.com/ytherapysource/sensory-diet-activities/ I really liked this site... be creative.

Top 10 Questions About iLs
1. How much does iLs cost?
Therapists interested in purchasing iLs equipment must first complete iLs training.