Setting up & Navigating the Parent Portal

As the new school year begins, the weight of your child’s backpack can become a significant concern. Improperly packed or worn backpacks can lead to discomfort, pain, and even postural issues. At Marshall Pediatric Therapy, we understand the importance of proper backpack use for your child’s well-being.

By following these simple guidelines, you can help ensure your child’s backpack is not causing unnecessary strain on their body. If you have concerns about your child’s posture, backpack-related pain, or overall physical development, please don’t hesitate to contact Marshall Pediatric Therapy. Our team of experienced therapists can provide an evaluation and develop a personalized plan to address your child’s specific needs.

Back to School Tips: Backpacks!

Are you running out of indoor activities to occupy your kids during the winter? Eating more family meals at home together is a blessing; however, it can create more mess and more mounds of garbage. Why not use those empty containers and boxes to have some fun with your kids?

Upcycled Adventures: Developing Skills and Smiles from Everyday Items 

When most people think of healthy vision, they typically think of getting their eyes checked by their regular optometrist to make sure they can see clearly and that their eyes are free of disease.  While this is a very critical and important thing to do as a part of overall wellness, this isn’t where the road ends. There is SO much more to healthy vision than seeing 20/20.

 Getting an annual eye exam is not the end; it is just the beginning!

 help to emphasize the relationship that the eyes, brain, body, and mind all have with one another. We have worked closely with the NVPI team to provide our families with a helpful snapshot of some information regarding the visual system and overall eye wellness. 

Kids (and adults) go through life working so much harder than they have to because the optometrist tells them they see 20/20, YET they still have trouble seeing …the words are still blurry, they get frequent headaches, and their eyes always feel fatigued. This is because their eyes are not working together as a team to gather information. The structure is there but the function is not.

70-90% of what we learn and perceive is actually processed through our visual system. It also takes from birth to age 15 for our visual skills to process. 

Did you know that there are actually a total of 17 visual skills and generally ONE of those (Central Distant Acuity), is tested on most eye exams? NVPI actually tests all 17 skills to ensure proper results and diagnosis.

 seeing objects at the sides when continuing to look straight ahead

 understanding whether seen objects are close to or far from each other

 both eyes working together to achieve clear, comfortable vision

the eyes’ ability to quickly move or “jump” between different focal points

 both eyes’ smooth movements tracking a moving target

both eyes working together, toward each other, to focus on a nearby object

 the eye continues to change its focus between near and distant objects

the eyes’ ability to maintain focus on close-up activity

an analysis of the information about an image (visual/spatial learning or picture thinking

employing visual information to direct the body’s movements in a coordinated way

employing visual information to control the movement of hands, fingers, and feet

understanding what is being seen and using cognition to process this information

using vision together with other senses in order to perform complex tasks

The two videos below from Dr. Graebe at NVPI help to best explain what Vision Therapy is, as well as best explain the correlation between one’s vision and learning. It is very often that the school struggles your child might be experiencing, go hand-in-hand with vision-related concerns. 

Healthy Vision - More Than Seeing 20/20

One of my favorite traditions of the holidays is stockings. There’s just something SO FUN about searching and finding “all of the things” for that special someone and seeing how many items you can make fit in that elongated sock.

This year, I’ve gathered a list of ten popular sensory-sensitive items that would make great stocking stuffers for the kiddos on your list! Sensory play helps to encourage problem-solving and creativity. The clinicians at Marshall incorporate sensory play into sessions to help improve things such as but not limited to:

Use the links below to stem some inspiration and cross off a few kiddos on your list this year!

General

Setting up & Navigating the Parent Portal

Back to School Tips: Backpacks!

Upcycled Adventures: Developing Skills and Smiles from Everyday Items

Healthy Vision - More Than Seeing 20/20

Sensory-Friendly Stocking Stuffer Ideas