Maintaining Routine At Home During Lockdown

The ongoing impacts of the pandemic are being felt by children with ASD and their families all over the globe. In particular, the disruptions to routines have caused significant stress which may be shown through an increase in certain behaviours. Maintaining a daily routine while at home may help to reduce this stress and the…

What is an allied health assistant?  In recent years, since the launch of the NDIS, there has been an increased demand for allied health services (Behaviour Support, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Physiotherapy etc.). Currently, our health systems are unable to fully meet these demands as there are more people seeking support than there are available…

What is AAC?  AAC stands for Alternative and Augmentative Communication, which is a fancy way of referring to something that helps someone communicate using a means other than spoken words. AAC systems can support the person’s verbal communication or completely replace it, this depends on their verbal skills, needs and preferences.   AAC can include both…

  If you have never been in therapy, you may wonder what people actually get out of talking about their feelings and struggles in life, to a complete stranger, once a week. Many people have mixed feelings about attending therapy, such as fear, apprehension, and in some cases embarrassment. Often people may experience these feelings because they do not know what to expect in therapy or they have preconceived ideas about what therapy…

Throughout our day-to-day lives, people are faced with a barrage of information and distractions. This barrage can take the shape of sensory information from external stimuli, such as sights, sounds, smells, tastes, changes in temperature, and tactile sensations triggered by the physical environment around us, and from internal stimuli, such as our physiological responses to hunger, pain, heart…

What is anxiety?   Anxiety is what we feel when we are worried, tense or afraid – particularly about things that are about to happen, or which we think could happen in the future. Anxiety is a natural human response when we perceive that we are under threat. It can be experienced through our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations.   Most…

Transitioning to solid foods is a big and exciting milestone for babies and parents and most times it goes very smoothly. However, at times this may be difficult due to many underlying reasons and especially if the child has sensory issues. The challenges of being unable to transition to solids can mean increased anxiety for the child and family during…

School holiday times are lots of fun – especially when they involve chocolate, Easter egg hunts, and hot cross buns! But holiday times can be stressful too. Being out of normal routine can be difficult, and at Easter time the house rules can tend to relax a little which causes stress in its own way. Later bedtimes, long car…

Video games have been around since 1958 when a physicist invented what would become known as the tennis game ‘Pong’. Since then, video games have come a long way both in graphic quality and storytelling, leading to video games currently being the most popular and profitable form of entertainment. There are many varieties of games,…

People often talk about sleep and how important it is for our body to function, especially brain function. If we have poor sleep for long periods of time, it’s harder to think, concentrate, we lack motivation and make it that much harder to push through our day. Our bodies and minds feel exhausted and it’s…