Eileen is busy working on a book chapter, but she did want to share some Halloween treats.

First up is this Jack-o'-Lantern Challenge Maze from Your Therapy Source. Find your way through the maze by connecting with the same jack-o'-lantern.

Second is this e-card from PediaStaff celebrating our Speech-Language Pathologist friends.

Thirdly, we wish you a safe and 

As this course has evolved it now includes a strong integrating component called oral core. This portion of the course proves powerful for tapping into the breath and oral area with the emotion of autonomy (will or intention). It involves reaching with eyes, ears, mouth, head, neck, and torso. The mouth and core of the body move as a team initiated by basic human intention. By devising games (activities) using an oral grasp and reach approach, the child can connect with powerful neurological pathways and begin integrating skills through patterns of infancy that are presented in the games. Learners will have the opportunity to experience the process in labs.

The games were created to provide functional and age appropriate ways to organize the breath, torso, hyoid, tongue, lips, cheeks, eyes, hands around the original center - the mouth.  Regulation, autonomy, power, determination, rhythm, grading, discrimination, direction sense, praxis, and sustained attention have an opportunity to develop into a more mature state.

Reflexes of the motor, tactile, oral, ocular systems are developing simultaneously.  These activities are created to move a child through them by keeping the mouth the leading appendage of the body and playing between the expression of the reflex patterns to accomplish a goal.

The games were set up with an element of repetition to provide the practice a body needs to establish or re-establish the basic wiring of the breath, eyes, mouth, hand with the sensory systems for discrimination and praxis. The use of all systems can be expanded or shrunk to best meet the child’s “just right” challenge.  

Oral motor programs to reduce defensiveness and develop control are used with these activities if needed and some children may require that type of program prior to working with these games. Clinical reasoning on the practitioner’s part will be needed to further modify these for each child.

In this age of technology, more information is accessible than ever before in history. It is up to the consumer to determine what is useful and what falls into the category of "noise." When making a determination about professional continuing education, therapists have a lot of options. Requirements for licensure make CE imperative, but most therapists want their time and resources applied in a way that will improve their skills and serve their clients.

There are many online educational opportunities that appear attractive for a number of reasons. Among them: they tend to be cheaper; they can be viewed from anywhere - home, place of work, etc. (reducing travel costs and inconvenience); often they can viewed at times convenient to the learner (but not always); and usually can be taken over a period of time, again convenient to the learner.

As attractive as that option might be, there are many ways that live courses provide a superior experience for the learner, especially when it comes to improving treatment skills for pediatric therapists. Such courses tend to be more in-depth, including important background information sometimes sacrificed in the short on-line versions. Live courses put the learner in an optimum learning environment, with the opportunity to seek clarification and get questions answered, discuss ideas generated with colleagues and instructors, and in many cases try hands on experiences with instructor feedback. A large block of CE hours can by gained in one weekend, without the distractions of work or everyday life, while gathering substantive information to directly improve the learner's practice.

The Richter AIR Symposium provides several other features simply not attainable in a "distance" learning situation. A variety of professionals come together to learn and share, creating a dynamic environment for learning. Networking with colleagues from other locations, work sites, professions is a unique and enriching experience of this venue. Interacting with speakers of national and international stature gives context and greater meaning to the information offered in each session that simply does not compare to the experience of watching a flat screen. It is actually possible to make the event into a working vacation or a learning retreat, depending on your inclination.

Live courses may cost more per credit, but they enrich the learner in a sense of community learning, and how much is the possibility of new contacts, practice groups, and new friends worth?

by guest blogger, Patricia C. Montgomery, PhD, PT, FAPTA

The general theme of the course is to offer suggestions on how therapists can use our current knowledge of brain structures, function, and possible neuroplasticity to maximize the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions in clinical practice. 

One topic included in this two-day course is Neurogenesis and Developmental Disorders 

A review of the development of Central Nervous System  (CNS) structures and related disorders will be provided. The Neuronal Group Selection Theory (NGST) proposed by Edelman is discussed in relation to Primary and Secondary variability in the motor control system.  Primary variability is characterized by abundant variation brought about by explorative activity of the nervous system – there is variation in motor behavior, but no ability to adapt to specifics of the situation.  Secondary variability suggests that the CNS uses information produced by behavior (Primary Variability) and experience for selecting motor behaviors that fit the situation best.  Clinical problems related to CNS disorders and resulting limitations in Primary and Secondary Variability are explored in the course. Motor disabilities, for example in children with cerebral palsy, are examples of limitations in both Primary and Secondary Variability.

The connections, functions, and importance of white matter tracts (myelination) within the CNS are discussed and results of a new non-invasive method for studying the development and connections of these tracts (diffusion tensor imaging) will be summarized. For example, brain imaging in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) was initiated when it was noted that autistic babies have a larger head circumference than peers.  Head size is comparable at birth, but greater acceleration around one year of age is noted.  This might indicate a developmental disorder in brain regions responsible for higher cognitive functions, such as the frontal cortex.  This accelerated growth slows and no significant differences in head circumference are noted in adolescence and adulthood.  Studies of children with ASD related to specific CNS structures, such as the temporal lobe and cerebellum, will also be summarized.