Kids Inspired in Kirrawee, New South Wales, Australia | Medical and health

Kids Inspired

Locality: Kirrawee, New South Wales, Australia

Phone: +61 2 8544 1483

Address: 161 Oak Road, 2232 Kirrawee, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.kidsinspired.com.au

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25.01.2022 Comprehension difficulties - These are just some of the things that Speech Pathologists consider and/or assess when trying to work out where the breakdown in understanding might be happening. It could just be one of these things or a combination. It is important for Speech Pathologists to have these areas in mind to help plan goals to target in future therapy sessions. - Mouroge

25.01.2022 Art Therapy and Early Childhood We get a lot of questions from parents about whether or not their child is too young to do art therapy and my answer always is ‘never!’ I have had clients as young as two who have benefited and engaged in art therapy. The only difference in how a session operates with a younger child is that we focus more on building communication skills, emotional regulation and gross motor skills. Art is a fantastic gateway to prepare a child for school in... a fun and exciting manner. By learning how to hold and use a paintbrush or a texta, it teaches the child the grip and movements they will need in order to learn how to write. With gentle and simplified instructions, paired with a space to explore their visual expression, art therapy can be very beneficial for early childhood development and school readiness. - Alex Photo source: www.quora.com If you think your child would benefit from art therapy, get in touch with us on (02) 8544 1483 or at [email protected]

25.01.2022 https://www.facebook.com//a.476784789369/1184316161950075/

24.01.2022 Play is powerful!! Play is the key to learning and developing skills including imagination, inquiry, experimentation and creativity! Play enables children to practice the language skills they have learnt and build on their expanding vocabulary.... - Mouroge

23.01.2022 Wishing you all the very best for Christmas 2020 and some R&R over the holiday break. We are now all officially on leave, and re-open our allied health therapy sessions and creative workshops as of Monday 4th January. We would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to our community for all your support through 2020 - it was an interesting time to grow our team, build a new centre and move in to our new Oak Road location as the first COVID19 lock down was announced at the end of March!!... We feel so blessed to be able to work together and see all our gorgeous kiddos, teens and their families enjoying our colourful, creative and therapeutic space at Kids Inspired. Last Thursday evening, the whole team celebrated with a special event at Tradies Caringbah. We had lots of fun with some Christmas themed games, prizes and a delicious dinner. We can't believe how much we have grown and enjoyed getting this whole team photo, including our allied health, creative learning, administrative and management staff members <3

21.01.2022 Last weekend Alex, our Art Therapist, celebrated her birthday. We had a little party on our last day of work (last Friday) and included in our gift to Alex was this fantastic drawing of Alex’s new pup, Odette. This drawing was created by our very talented Provisional Psychologist, Iolo

21.01.2022 Rephrasing our inner critic I find most of my clients are their biggest critic of their artworks and sometimes that can get in the way of their positive and insightful reflections of their work. One thing that we constantly reinforce in art therapy is that there is no specific or special way to make art and everyone has their own unique aesthetic. We are not here to judge or deem what is ‘great’ art and what is not. We are not here to teach specific techniques, we are here... to support and hold the space for a client while they work creatively to understand their inner thoughts and feelings. Art is completely subjective, that’s why it can be so therapeutic! We are our biggest critic, but that’s why art therapists are here to bring light to that and help shift that negativity into positive self-reflection. - Alex If you think your child would benefit from art therapy, get in touch with us on (02) 8544 1483 or at [email protected]

20.01.2022 Speech Sound Hierarchy!! When targeting a new speech sound with a child it is important to follow a speech sound hierarchy. This allows us to see progress and helps decide if we can move therapy to the next level of the hierarchy. ... This makes sure that the child will be able to generalise therapy to everyday conversation. - Mouroge

19.01.2022 "Bishy" or "bish" is something that I hear in my speech room quite a lot! This is a process we typically call - Stopping (replacing long sounds (with long airflow) like /s/ and /f/ with short sounds and short airflow like /t/ and /b/) This is very common among 3-year-olds but not so much four-year-olds. By the age of four, children are not usually substituting the /f/ speech sound for /b/, and they are developing more adult-like speech.... - Mouroge

18.01.2022 What is W sitting and why should I be concerned? An example of W sitting can be seen in the photo below. This sitting position is considered typical until the age of 2. From this age, W sitting becomes a concern when your child spends prolonged periods in this position, and when it is the only or most frequent position your child will adopt for floor play. Children sit in this position for reason such as poor core strength and balance, habit, and structural abnormalities of... the hip. Occupational therapists often encourage children to correct this and sit in a different position. W sitting can be problematic for a number of reasons including: Limiting their ability to rotate the body and shift their weight therefore limiting their ability to develop balance reactions and build core strength. It can delay development of bilateral coordination (or the ability to use both sides of the body) which can affect any task a child’s ability to complete physical tasks such as handwriting, self-care tasks and sport related skills. It can cause hip and leg muscles to become shortened leading to structural problems and discomfort in the lower body. If you think your child could benefit from occupational therapy assessment and intervention contact us to arrange an appointment at our new centre on Oak Rd in Kirrawee. Email [email protected] - Rachel

17.01.2022 Sometimes we overthink what toys to buy our little ones. There are so many different kinds out there in the market. At the end of the day, the more basic a toy is - the more work your child needs to do to engage with it. Below is a great visual summarising this idea! As Occupational Therapists, you will see us incorporating a lot of mundane, not-that-exciting toys in our sessions but in many fun ways to focus on developing different skills. ... - Christine https://www.facebook.com/PocketOT/posts/3439277152796842

16.01.2022 Heavy work for sensory processing and never ending energy! Heavy work activities provide proprioceptive input that helps build body awareness and can have a calming effect for children who often seek movement and require a lot of physical activity to stay regulated and focused in school. Heavy work activities that focus on working against gravity or resistance usually involve deep muscle contraction in little bodies. Short spurts of heavy work does help the proprioceptive s...ystem, but sustained heavy work activities are even better! The photo below provides a list of heavy work activities that children can do at home. If you are looking for occupational therapy assessment or intervention, contact us to arrange an appointment at our new centre in Oak Rd, Kirrawee. Email [email protected] - Rachel

16.01.2022 Death and loss are a very unfortunate, and inescapable part of life. Death is difficult for anyone to deal with, but it can be especially confusing and worrying for a young one. Below are some tips for talking about death with a young one Be as upfront as possible. Try to use the word death or died rather than passed away or won’t wake up. Using indirect language can confuse the child and create more anxiety Explain death to your child. Make it clear that death cannot b...e undone, and when people die, they cannot come back. Young children often get ideas, often from television or stories, that death is not permanent, so this may need to be explained Your child will probably have questions, answer them to the best of your ability taking into account their age and ability to understand, e.g. ‘grandad was very sick and the doctors tried their best, but couldn’t make him better’, but if there are questions you cannot answer because you aren’t sure either, that’s okay too. There are some things that we don’t know, and that’s frustrating, but it will be okay Let your child know that it is okay to feel any way they feel, whether that be sad, angry, or not much at all Let your child know that you will be there to support them. If they need a cuddle or someone to talk to, you will be there If you have any questions, or think your child would benefit from talking to someone, reach out to one of our friendly psychologists See more

14.01.2022 What is ADHD? ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and it is persistent difficulty with paying attention, hyperactivity or both. Someone who has inattentive ADHD (formally referred to as ADD) might appear disorganised and might make careless mistakes by missing details in their work. They might get easily distracted by things in the room or their own thoughts, and might not seem to listen when they are given instructions. Someone with hyperactive ADHD might seem fidgety, struggle to remain seated, find it difficult to play quietly, talk too much, interrupt others and seem like they are constantly on the go. If you are concerned about your child’s attention and/or activity levels, you can ask one of our friendly psychologists about assessment for ADHD.

14.01.2022 Hello from the Kids Inspired Allied Health Team :D Tomorrow we return to work and running therapy sessions. As per the NSW Government announcement, it is now mandatory to wear face masks in "retail premises or business premises that provide goods or services to members of the public who attend the premises". Our business is mixed, providing both allied health and creative learning services. As per the government rules, all staff, customers/clients/parents/students over 12 y...ears of age will be required to wear a mask entering the centre, in the front reception, in the creative learning space and moving around the centre. The government website notes that "Premises that are used for the purpose of providing health services are not retail premises or business premises", and as such, it is my understanding that masks are not required to be worn during therapy sessions at this stage. "The public health order includes a number of exemptions. * Children aged 12 or under. * People who have a physical or mental health illness or condition, or disability, that makes wearing a mask unsuitable including, for example, a skin condition, an intellectual disability, autism or trauma. * A person may remove their mask if they are: - eating or drinking - communicating with another person who is deaf or hard of hearing - at work and the nature of the work makes the wearing of fitted face covering a risk to the person's, or another persons' health and safety, or means clear enunciation or visibility of your mouth is essential - asked to remove their mask for identity purposes." Given this last point, we recognise that there is a potential risk to our staff and students to be wearing their masks for the entire duration of the full day creative workshop programs, and as such, there is an expectation that masks will be worn, but there will be periods of removal permitted for health and safety, communication, eating etc. Additionally, we are happy to provide an "exemption letter" for any of our clients age over 12 years, whereby they meet the above listed exemption criteria. We understand that this will be an uncomfortable experience for many, and appreciate your support and cooperation. Regards, Deni (Director ~ Principal Psychologist) https://www.nsw.gov.au/.../what-you-can.../greater-sydney

13.01.2022 Speech Sounds that kids learn first between 2-3 years Children's speech sounds begin to develop from the time they start babbling (usually around 6 months) Some of the earliest developing speech sounds for toddlers are those made with the lips as /p, b and m/. ... These are known as "bilabial" sounds. Other early developing speech sounds include /d, t, n, h and w/. (Speech Pathology Australia, 2020) - Mouroge

12.01.2022 Scribble exercises and ADHD Often children with ADHD spend most of their session exerting their energy into these scribble drawings, but just because they didn’t create a specific ‘artwork’ does not mean that there was no progress. In art therapy, the main focus is about the therapeutic benefits that the child gains through the process of art-making, not with the final result. Particularly in our ADHD kids, the process of art-making provides an avenue for the child to vent ...everything that is going through their mind, even if it’s just a massive spurt of energy or angry feelings etc. In fact these ‘artworks’ provide a visual record of those feelings or ideas that have come up in the session. Therefore the art becomes a useful tool later on, allowing the child can go back, reflect and see how far they’ve come. - Alex If you think your child would benefit from art therapy, get in touch with us on (02) 8544 1483 or at [email protected] Photo source: howwemontessori.com

12.01.2022 Love how this image shows the complexity of ADHD and how it presents differently at different times! https://www.facebook.com//a.338457003012/1514433725414438/

11.01.2022 Both Psychologists and Occupational Therapists can help children with their emotion regulation. Occupational therapists tend to assist children from more of a sensory regulation perspective. They use practical skills and tools to help kids to regulate. Psychologists go about it from more of a cognitive angle, and help them to communicate their emotions, and find positive solutions that allow them to manage their emotions more effectively. If you are thinking about engaging in a service to help your child with their emotion regulation, feel free to contact Kids Inspired to see which service would be helpful for you! - Hannah

10.01.2022 What does an art therapy session look like? A common question that comes up when parents enquire about art therapy is - what actually occurs in an art therapy session? It’s often assumed that there is very little structure in an art therapy session because of its non-direct method. Whilst that can be true, we also have a basic model/formula to how we conduct a session and this model provides a perfect example of what occurs in a ‘structured’ session! - Alex... If you think your child would benefit from art therapy, get in touch with us on (02) 8544 1483 or at [email protected]

10.01.2022 The holidays in 2020 might be a little different than usual. Perhaps you have extended family overseas, perhaps your gatherings won't be quite as large. If this holiday season brings up any uncomfortable emotions for your children, please feel free to reach out to one of our friendly psychologists. Happy Holidays!

09.01.2022 How great are these little Christmas painted rocks!? In art therapy we often pull out rocks to switch things up from regular paper or a canvas. In session we encourage our kids/teens to explore themes like ‘feeling’ or ‘kindness’ rocks, but since we’re so close to Christmas, this is an amazing and relaxing activity to do with the family! Merry Christmas! - Alex... If you think your child would benefit from art therapy, get in touch with us on (02) 8544 1483 or at [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/ArtyCraftyKids/posts/117357460195476

09.01.2022 Building Rapport is a must! A child is unlikely to communicate, talk, listen, or play with the therapist unless you have built a relationship. Building rapport is a critical component of successful client-therapist relationships, as this process promotes open communication, develops trust, and fosters the child's desire to participate in the therapy. ... Good connections with children we seeand with their families and other professionals serving themcan help these young clients meet goals faster. Building rapport with children is key to having successful therapy sessions! - Mouroge

09.01.2022 This is a great infographic helping to teach some things you can say if someone you know does not seem OK.

09.01.2022 We had such a fun day at Kids Inspired today where we experimented with landscape painting. This is my interpretation of my 'happy place', which is inspired by an activity that will be explored in our art therapy groups next week!

06.01.2022 What’s similar, what’s different? Art Therapy and Psychology A lot of people don’t realise that there are actually a lot of similarities between art therapists and psychologists and what we can do for our clients! We both provide therapeutic insight and support, just use different methods to get the client to the same goal. Art therapy uses somatic (bodily) interventions to change the behaviour/way of thinking, whereas psychology uses talking to achieve this task. Each cli...ent is different so there is no ‘better’ method to approaching therapy, it’s just what suits you best to achieve your goals! As a casual artist myself, I personally prefer using art as an avenue to explore my unconscious thoughts and feelings, whereas others may prefer to verbally express these thoughts. - Alex If you think your child would benefit from art therapy, get in touch with us on (02) 8544 1483 or at [email protected]

05.01.2022 Here's how to eat a chocolate mindfully! Look at the chocolate. Are there any different colours on top? Are some bits lighter and some bits darker? What shape is it? Is it shiny or dull? Put the chocolate up to your nose and smell it. What does it smell like?... Feel the chocolate, what does it feel like? Is it smooth or rough, maybe it feels different in some places to the others! Bite the chocolate (Don't swallow or chew!) feel it in your mouth. What does it taste like? Do some parts tastes sweeter/saltier/more bitter than others? Take another bite, is it the same? Okay, you can swallow. Now, look at the chocolate you just bit. What does it look like on the inside? Continue eating the chocolate really paying attention to exactly what it tastes like bite by bite. When you are done see how you feel! Did you like the chocolate?

04.01.2022 Group Art Therapy and it’s benefits Group art therapy helps individuals develop communication skills and socialisation skills, and allows clients to learn how to express their issues and listen to the perspective of others. Group therapy also allows kids to develop self-awareness by listening to others with similar issues. In our art therapy groups at Kids Inspired, we aim to pair groups with similar aged children where we allow time for individual art-making and group art-ma...king as well as processing and exploration of these images. Each session has a specific theme such as friendships, emotions or family where the group is encouraged to explore and provide insight and support to each other with the aid of art-making. The discussion of these themes and the artworks created around them are facilitated by the art therapist to ensure it’s a safe and gentle process for all participants. - Alex If you think your child would benefit from art therapy, get in touch with us on (02) 8544 1483 or at [email protected] Photo source: www.uniqskills.com

03.01.2022 What is a ‘registered’ art therapist? A few parents have asked what it means to be a registered art therapist and why is this registration so important. Like the other allied health professionals in our team, we are required to register with a professional body in order to practice, and in an art therapist’s case, we must be registered with ANZACATA. The Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association (ANZACATA) is the peak professional body that repres...ents creative arts therapists in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia/Pacific region. Their association exists to support, serve and advocate for its members and to uphold and enhance industry standards and professionalism. Below is a very helpful video explaining what we creative therapists do and how ANZACATA helps us provide the best care to our clients! - Alex If you think your child would benefit from art therapy, get in touch with us on (02) 8544 1483 or at [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/anzacata/videos/909645139513322

02.01.2022 I often talk to parents/caregivers about WHY we are doing parent-coaching. Quite simply, it is because the child spends more time at home with their parents/caregivers than they do with me. More progress will come if I coach the parents/caregivers to use language strategies and supportive techniques in their daily routines and activities at home, then if I spend my 1 hour working 1:1 with the child.... Here is a little breakdown: If we say children spend *roughly* 84 hours a week awake (~12hrs/day).They have a one hour session with the therapist during the week. This means they *potentially* have 83 hours a week with their parents/caregivers. ...Even accounting for time spent at daycare, they are with their parents/caregivers a lot longer than they are with the therapist. And during that time there will be a LOT of language opportunities happening. Right?! THIS is why parent-coaching is important!! The takeaway? Our time in the session is better spent if we coach the parents/caregivers to use strategies etc., and then they can practice and implement said strategies throughout the week when we are not there. We help the parents/caregivers to make the change. - Mouroge

02.01.2022 https://www.spdstar.org/node/1129 Sensory anxiety or sensory overload presents a little differently to regular anxiety. For most people who are anxious, the general advice is to follow your fear. Do what scares you, and you will learn that it is not so scary after all, and you will no longer be scared. This is known as exposure therapy, and for the most part, it works well. But what about when it doesn’t? Sensory anxiety is the overwhelming feeling caused by having too much... sensory information to process in an environment. It causes many of the same symptoms as other kinds of anxiety, but the way to manage that anxiety is different. Someone who is particularly sensitive to noise for example will continue to remain sensitive to noise as they continue to expose themselves to the louder environments, which will mean that going to crowded places will continue to be difficult for them. There are some tools that can help when you are feeling overwhelmed Avoid overwhelming environments if you can. Take a different path to work or school, find a way to get into a less overwhelming environment like the library or bathroom for a break Use some sensory tools to reduce the overwhelm, like noise cancelling headphones or sunglasses. You can ask an OT about specific tools that are available Plan pleasant sensory activities before and after if you have no choice but to go into an overwhelming environment. More information on sensory anxiety is presented below. See more

01.01.2022 Crossing the midline is key for physical and emotional development! Crossing the midline happens anytime we cross one part of our body to the opposite side. This could be reaching the right hand to tie the left shoe, crossing one leg over the other, or even reading a book when our eyes go from the left side of the page to the right. To cross the midline, we need to use both sides of our brain. The left side of our brain (a.k.a. the logical brain) controls the right side o...f the body and is responsible for tasks like speaking, writing, math, science, analysing, objectivity and using reasoning. The right side of our brain (a.k.a. the emotional brain) controls the left side of the body and is responsible for creativity, imagination, intuition, music, art, and subjectivity. Most of the challenging behaviours we face with our children (everything from difficulty listening, meltdowns, trouble in school, aggression, and more) are signs that our children are suffering from something called disintegration. In other words, the different parts of their brain are not working together. The key to helping our children to be calmer, happier, and functioning at their best is to get their whole brain working together. One of the best ways we can do this is with crossing the midline. If you think your child is having trouble crossing the midline and/or believe they could benefit from occupational therapy assessment and intervention contact us to arrange an appointment at our new centre in Oak Rd, Kirrawee. Email [email protected] - Rachel

01.01.2022 Foundational skills required for emotion regulation For some children who present for psychological treatment for emotion dysregulation, it might appear as though progress is slow. Challenging behaviours and intense emotions are difficult for the entire family, and it is understandable that many parents would prefer to see changes more quickly. The reason why these changes can appear slow is because there are foundational skills that a child needs to have to make those changes. The chart above explains those changes.