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Author Archive for: jentwistle

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Daily Dose of Inspiration

Do you remember learning how to ride a bike?  Try, fail, try, fail and eventually you figure it out.  Many obstacles in life are like that.  How do you get through them?  Why not take this little boy’s advice!  Believe in yourself, in all you do, and you can learn to ride that bike and overcome any obstacle.

 

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Food For Thought: Assess Yourself!

March is National Nutrition Month in Canada and to celebrate we want to give you tips and recipes to get the most out of what you take in.

Food is the fuel for your body and without the proper amount of nutrients, your body cannot perform at its best.  What do you need to do to ensure you are eating properly and your body is getting the nutrients it needs?

Occupational therapists assess and plan before starting any treatment and the same should be  true for how you plan your diet.  It’s hard to know how to get yourself to where you need to be if you don’t assess where you are currently at.  The following resources from the Dietician of Canada provide tools to assess your current nutritional situation and planning tools which can help you to see the changes you need to make for a healthier you.

Check out these great tools  and see how you can improve the way you eat and fuel your body this Nutrition Month.

Dieticians of Canada:  Assess Yourself

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March Break Awaits! How to Survive The Holiday Stress

March Break is less than a week away and for many it’s a time to escape winter and head down South for a relaxing getaway with the family.  Sunny beaches and warm weather await!  But first, you have to get there… and getting there is often the hardest part!  Between possible missed flights, delays, long waits, and lost luggage your vacation might have stressful times before it can begin.  The following from Everydayhealth.com discusses how to survive some of the most common travel stressors.

While you’re there, check out Everyday Health’s Healthy Travel Center for tips on what to pack and how to stay healthy while you’re away.

Everyday Health:  Stress Management Strategies for Travel Mishaps

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Supporting Autism, One Amazing Mother at a Time

Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc

According to Autism Speaks, Autism now affects 1 in 88 children and 1 in 54 boys. The 2012 numbers reflect a 78% increase in reported prevalence in the last 6 years (www.autismspeaks.ca).  This is a growing problem, impacting more and more families each year.

Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that the signs, symptoms and severity can vary, making this difficult to diagnose and sometimes treat.  Yet through therapy, children with Autism can learn to function and communicate as independently as possible at home, school and with their peers.  In April, Entwistle Power is sponsoring the Burlington Autism Gala – a fundraising event being organized by Jessica Langdon – a mom motivated by her son’s journey with autism who has a vision to find answers and to obtain support for families faced with this diagnosis.

In support of the Gala, Occupational Therapist Justine Huszczynski wrote the following about her experiencing working with Jessica’s son Spencer, and in doing so, highlights some of the features of Autism, and the value of occupational therapy for these children:

When I first met Spencer I was introduced to one of the most intelligent little boys that I think I will ever come to know. He impressed me with his ability to read at such a young age.  He could print his name and spell many different words that I had never seen another child his age be able to do.  I think it was this intelligence that could easily cause a child like Spencer to slip under the radar. He was smart. He could print. He could speak. But beyond this lay a child who couldn’t handle loud noises, busy rooms, or being lightly touched.  An extreme meltdown was constantly on the brink of being unleashed at any given moment – triggered by a change in routine, being told “no”, or being overwhelmed by the environment around him.  Spencer didn’t make consistent eye contact, he had difficulties with social cues, taking turns, and coping with losing at a game.  Although he was verbal, he couldn’t express his feelings, which often caused a minor issue to turn into an explosive meltdown – sometimes lasting for over an hour at a time.

And then there was Jessica. A mom who was dedicated to her son and on a mission to get him the help he needed and deserved.  Jessica knew her son’s needs inside and out. She came to me with a wealth of information about Spencer and she just wanted to make sense of it all.

We started Occupational Therapy with Spencer immediately.  Jessica was in attendance for every session. She participated, asked questions, provided me with information, and was involved every step of the way.  We targeted goals based on self-regulation, social skills, and sensory processing.  We helped Spencer explore new sensory experiences and used strategies to help him cope with overwhelming situations.  Along the way, Jessica and I sat through countless meltdowns but we worked through them.  Spencer learned how to tell us when he was feeling overwhelmed and he could eventually choose strategies to help calm himself down.  It became easier for him to cope with changes in routine and he improved on his ability to follow instructions.  He was changing before our eyes.

Autism awareness led Jessica to seek help for Spence and his early intervention is what I believe helped him make so many gains in therapy.  To me, Spencer exemplifies the positive outcome that can occur when a child is given the supports they need and are surrounded by a family and team that works towards common goals.  Spencer is by no means “cured”. There is no “cure”.  But there is love.  There is support.  There is awareness.  But we still need more answers.  Constantly we are searching for answers.

justine

Justine Huszczynski
jhuszczynski@solutionsforliving.ca

For more information about the gala, please contact Gala Founder, Jessica Langdon at jlangdon@live.ca.  We hope to see you there!