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Building Blocks Pediatric Occupational Therapy Services

Fairfield Connecticut Occupational Therapist

203-341-0178
943 Post Rd E Suite A
Westport, CT 06880
bbpedot@yahoo.com
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✋Hand Skills in OT: “What Is OT?” Series Book 2

October 31, 2025 By admin

A Heartfelt Children’s Book That Helps Families Understand the Magic of Fine Motor Skills and Occupational Therapy

After the success of my first book, What Is OT and What Will I Work on in Occupational Therapy? I wanted to take families a little deeper into one of the most important areas of childhood development: hand skills!

That’s what inspired Hand Skills in OT, the second book in my “What Is OT?” series. This story helps children and families understand how occupational therapy supports fine motor development, the small but mighty movements that make a big difference in everyday life.

💛 Meet Kenna, the Heart of the Story💛

In this story, we meet Kenna, a bright and determined little girl who works hard to build her hand strength, coordination, and confidence. Through her OT sessions, Kenna learns that progress happens one playful step at a time, whether she’s coloring, cutting, zipping, or buttoning. Kenna discovers that OT isn’t just about hands,  it’s about learning new ways to try, practicing through play, and celebrating every success, big or small.

Kenna’s story is full of encouragement and warmth, showing families how OT helps children grow more independent, capable, and proud of what their hands can do.

✨ A Place Where Practice Meets Progress ✨

In Hand Skills in OT, children see how OT transforms everyday challenges into opportunities for growth. Through fun, purposeful play, they learn how to:

🖍 Strengthen hand and finger muscles for coloring, writing, and building
✂️ Practice cutting, zipping, buttoning, and other fine motor tasks
🧩 Improve coordination and control for puzzles, crafts, and play
🪀 Develop confidence through persistence and effort
💪 Celebrate the joy of independence and self-accomplishment

Each page reminds children that practice is powerful, and that their hard work helps them do amazing things every day.

💬 From the Author

As an occupational therapist, I’ve watched countless children light up when they realize, “I can do it!”,  whether that’s tying their shoes, opening their lunchbox, or writing their name.

Fine motor skills are so much more than just hand movements. They build confidence, self-esteem, and independence. Through Hand Skills in OT, my goal is to help families see that OT is not just about therapy, it’s about growth through play.

OT breaks big goals into small, achievable steps. With practice, encouragement, and creativity, children learn to trust their abilities and celebrate each milestone along the way.

❤️ A Learning Tool for Families, Teachers, and Therapists ❤️

Hand Skills in OT is a wonderful resource for:

  • Parents, who want to support their child’s independence at home
  • Teachers, who are curious about the role of fine motor skills in learning
  • Therapists, who want a positive, child-friendly way to introduce OT

🌟 Join the OT Journey

OT helps children connect their hands, hearts, and minds so they can live more confident and independent lives. My hope is that this book inspires families to see therapy as a joyful, empowering experience, where every small step is a big victory.

You can find Hand Skills in OT now on Amazon! Click the link below:

Hand Skills in OT

 


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I thought this was so true and so funny 😂🧩 I thought this was so true and so funny 😂🧩

Scheduling OT clients around school, sports, siblings, therapies, cancellations, makeups… and then somehow fitting in your OWN kids’ lives and schedules too. 🤪

Basically one giant game of Tetris where the pieces never stop moving!

Who can relate? 😉🤪😜

#OccupationalTherapy #PediatricOT #OTLife #TherapistHumor #Explore
Here’s a simple visual for therapists to share w Here’s a simple visual for therapists to share with parents as a helpful handout on the developmental sequence of pencil grasps. ✏️

As a seasoned professional, one of my goals is to get practical, easy-to-use tools into the hands of as many therapists, parents, teachers, and caregivers as possible. If something I create can make a concept easier to understand or support a child’s development, I want it shared.

Please feel free to use it, share it, save it, and pass it along. I hope it helps! 💛
#PediatricOT #PencilGrasp #FineMotorSkills #Handwriting #Explore
Cutest William — a day in his OT session! 🤩 Cutest William — a day in his OT session! 🤩

Such huge growth today and such a gift to witness his progress in feeding and regulation skills. 💛 We are seeing him trying new texture foods, expanding his repertoire, and feeling more confident. He is also beginning to move toward more rotary chewing patterns, building upon all of the foods he already feels comfortable eating. His trach was removed a few months ago, and although he still has a G-tube, we are continuing to work on building safe and confident oral feeding skills.

We always start with high sensory input prior to feeding to help his body feel ready to learn. Today William wore his weighted vest and engaged in calming, organizing input including vibration plate + therapeutic music from Vital Links to support regulation and attention.

We also did gentle body massage and oral-motor input to the outside of his cheeks before moving into Z-Vibe work to help prepare his mouth for feeding success.

🥄 Then we moved into feeding!

We incorporated an acrylic stand mirror during feeding practice to support visual feedback and body awareness while eating. This helped William better understand mouth movements and positioning as we worked on oral control and coordination.

We are also introducing more intentional tongue and oral-motor awareness work, helping William become more comfortable handling food inside his mouth and learning how to use his tongue to move and manage food. We are working on tongue lateralization, positioning food onto the chewing surfaces, progressing from a munching pattern toward rotary chewing, and learning how to gather food together to form a manageable bolus for swallowing. 🤩

💡 OT TIP:
High sensory input before feeding or other challenging tasks can make a big difference. Movement, vibration, deep pressure, therapeutic listening, a metronome, or other calming and organizing input can help prepare the nervous system for participation.

✨ Small supports = big growth ✨

#Explore #PediatricOT #FeedingTherapy #SensoryIntegration #OTTips
FINE MOTOR + HANDWRITING STRATEGIES: A THERAPIST-F FINE MOTOR + HANDWRITING STRATEGIES: A THERAPIST-FRIENDLY GUIDE! ✨✏️

I know how much time therapists spend creating parent handouts, finding pictures, explaining tools, and putting together home programs — so I thought I would start sharing some of mine! 💛

My goal is to create resources that therapists can easily share with families and that parents can actually use at home — one less thing on your plate. 🌈

This guide focuses on the skills that support successful handwriting and everyday fine motor development, including:

🌟 Fine motor skills
🌟 Hand strengthening
🌟 Pencil grasp and pencil control
🌟 Visual motor integration
🌟 Visual perceptual skills
🌟 Bilateral coordination
🌟 Weight-bearing and proprioceptive activities
🌟 Handwriting strategies

You’ll also find some of my favorite tools and simple strategies for home, including different pencil grips, the HandyWriter, weighted writing tools, writing slant boards, adapted scissors, visual guides, spacing tools, and activities to strengthen the entire hand. ✋✏️

One of the biggest things I remind families is that handwriting is about so much more than holding a pencil!

Before we expect a child to sit down and write, we want to look at the foundations: shoulder stability, core strength, hand strength, bilateral coordination, visual attention, visual perception, motor planning, and the ability to coordinate what the eyes see with what the hands are doing.

Sometimes the best “handwriting practice” doesn’t involve a pencil at all. 💪🌈

Think:
✨ Animal walks
✨ Wheelbarrow walking
✨ Crawling
✨ Weight-bearing through open hands
✨ Playdough and resistive activities
✨ Clothespins and tongs
✨ Cutting activities
✨ Vertical surface play
✨ Visual scanning and visual perceptual games

SAVE this guide for your therapy toolbox and SHARE it with a parent, teacher, or therapist who could use a few new fine motor and handwriting ideas! 💾📤

These strategies are meant to provide general ideas and are not a substitute for an individualized occupational therapy evaluation when concerns are impacting a child’s participation or development.

#PediatricOT #FineMotorSkills #Handwriting #VisualMotor #explore
🌈 SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL TOOLBOX FOR PARENTS, TEACHER 🌈 SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL TOOLBOX FOR PARENTS, TEACHERS & THERAPISTS 🌈

Occupational therapy is personal to me. I truly love what I do, I love the children and families I work with, and I want to help as many people as I can. ❤️

After 25 years as an occupational therapist, I’ve learned there isn’t one strategy that works for every child or every moment. That’s why I created this Social-Emotional Handout & Toolbox for parents, teachers, therapists, caregivers, and anyone supporting children.

It’s filled with quick, practical tools you can reach for in the moment—recognizing body signals, emotional regulation, anxiety and worry, frustration and anger, transitions, flexible thinking, friendships, sensory strategies, movement, calming tools, and repairing after a hard moment.

My hope is that you save it, share it, and use it when a child needs a little extra support. Sometimes having the right tool at the right time can make all the difference. 💛

Please reach out anytime with questions, for additional resources, or if you’d like me to become part of your child’s team. Helping children, families, teachers, and fellow therapists is truly why I love what I do. 🌈

#PediatricOT #SocialEmotionalSkills #TeacherTools #TherapyTools #Explore
PRIMITIVE REFLEXES: NOW WITH VISUALS! ✨ My orig PRIMITIVE REFLEXES: NOW WITH VISUALS! ✨

My original Primitive Reflexes Parent Guide received so much attention and such wonderful feedback! 💛 One of the biggest requests was: “Can you show us pictures of the exercises?”

So here you go! 🌈

I created visual examples to go along with the home strategies so parents can more easily see what each movement should look like and feel more confident practicing them at home.

Primitive reflexes can play an important role in the foundations for movement, posture, coordination, balance, body awareness, attention, regulation, handwriting, motor planning, and everyday functional skills.

This guide covers:
🌟 Moro
🌟 ATNR
🌟 STNR
🌟 TLR
🌟 Spinal Galant
🌟 Palmar Grasp

You’ll also find simple home activities like cross-crawl, cat-cow, bird-dog, log rolls, starfish movements, animal walks, hand-strengthening activities, deep pressure, and breathing—now with pictures to provide a clear visual! 📸

The goal isn’t perfection. Keep the movements slow, playful, comfortable, and consistent. Even a short daily movement routine can be a great way to support foundational skills through play. 💪🌈

📚 For more information: Primitive Reflexes: Retained Reflexes and Integration Techniques by Justine Bedocs, OTR/L, available on Amazon.

💾 SAVE this guide to use at home and 📤 SHARE it with a parent, teacher, or therapist who may find the visuals helpful!

Primitive reflexes are only one piece of a child’s development. Individual concerns should always be evaluated by a qualified professional.

#PrimitiveReflexes #PediatricOT #OccupationalTherapy #HomeProgram #explore
🧡 WHY BALANCE ACTIVITIES MATTER! Balance is SO 🧡 WHY BALANCE ACTIVITIES MATTER!

Balance is SO much more than just standing without falling! Balance activities help build the underlying skills kids need to move, learn, play, and feel confident in their bodies. 🌈

Working on balance helps develop:

✨ Core strength & stability
✨ Postural control
✨ Coordination
✨ Motor planning
✨ Body awareness & proprioception
✨ Vestibular processing
✨ Bilateral coordination
✨ Protective reactions
✨ Focus & attention
✨ Confidence with movement

And when balance improves, we often see improvements in everyday skills too—running, jumping, climbing, navigating playgrounds, sitting upright for learning, participating in sports, dressing, and moving safely through the environment.

Balance boards are one of my favorite OT tools because there are SO many ways to use them—rocking, wobbling, squatting, reaching, playing games, or even using them during tummy time!

💙 Better balance → stronger bodies → more confident kids!

#Balance #Explore #OccupationalTherapy #PediatricOT #MovePlayGrow
🧡 THE PEANUT BALL — SUCH A GREAT BANG FOR YOU 🧡 THE PEANUT BALL — SUCH A GREAT BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!

I truly love a peanut ball for home therapy. For around $20, there are so many ways to use it while working on important underlying skills through play.

Sit, bounce, stretch, do pizza squishes, work on puzzles, strengthen the core, build balance, improve body awareness, motor planning and so much more.

It’s simple, affordable, fun, and one of those therapy tools that can grow with your child. 🌈

One inexpensive tool. So many possibilities.

Always supervise and choose activities that are appropriate for your child.

#PediatricOT #OccupationalTherapy #PeanutBall #ParentTips #Explore
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