Sports Therapy

Baseball, Soccer and a host of other team sports are the heart of this fantastic experience. What can we say…what child doesn't want to play sports - we make it possible for everyone to participate. This is a great way for all kinds of kids to develop coordination skills, social skills and work on physical fitness all at the same time.

Social Skills

Social Skills plays a key part of a child's success in the "real world". We've all run across some folks that…shall we say…could have used a few extra minutes in the manners department. It's important to remember, that some kids may have difficulties processing information coming to them from the outside environment and find themselves spending a lot of energy managing what may come as "natural" for others. These kids sometimes don't appear to make "appropriate comments" or show signs of difficulty when interacting with others. Language Pragmatics (a technical term used to describe social skills) addresses these types of issues and teaches kids appropriate behaviors and responses in a group environment. Social Skills at Children's Therapy Works has undergone a tremendous amount of development, the clinical team is very proud of the Social Skills program, please call us to learn more.

Handwriting

Perhaps the most often diagnosed among children in the primary school years, we have learned that many handwriting issues are directly linked to other difficulties as well. Once we perform a short screening on your child, we can place him / her with other kids experiencing similar types of difficulties, and then use our proven handwriting group protocols to help improve handwriting skills.

There are many handwriting programs available, Children's Therapy Works endorses a few of them, and we'd be happy to share those with you just give us a call!

ALERT

Children of all ages shapes and sizes can have difficulties with self modulation, some tend to run really high on the scale, being or "HYPER" as commonly called. Others tend to run low on the scale and may look as though they are about to sleep. As with adults, to be most effective in many activities or learning environments, children should learn the tools it takes to be in the right zone. The ALERT program is a world famous program that ranks among the finest in teaching children self modulation techniques -

"If your body is like a car engine, sometimes it runs on high, sometimes it runs on low, and sometimes it runs just right."

When teachers, therapists, or parents use these simple words to begin the Alert Program, they enter an exciting adventure with children. The journey unfolds easily with the program's clearly defined steps for teaching self-regulation awareness.

The book, How Does Your Engine Run? A Leader's Guide to the Alert Program for Self-Regulation (Williams & Shellenberger, 1996), describes an innovative program that supports children, teachers, parents, and therapists to choose appropriate strategies to change or maintain states of alertness. Students learn what they can do before a spelling test or homework time to attain an optimal state of alertness for their tasks. Teachers learn what they can do after lunch, when their adult nervous systems are in a low alert state and their students are in a high alert state. Parents learn what they can do to help their toddler's nervous system change from a high alert state to a more appropriate low state at bedtime.

Although the Alert Program initially was intended for children with attention and learning difficulties, ages 8-12, it has been adapted for preschool through adult and for a variety of disabilities. If children are intellectually challenged or developmentally younger than the age of eight, the program's concepts can be utilized by staff to develop sensory diets (Wilbarger & Wilbarger, 1991) to enhance learning.

More information on this fantastic program can be found at www.alertprogram.com

Dance

Movement and music are wonderful therapy tools, they naturally calm us down and help us focus on many tasks. In therapy, a dance group hosts a myriad of highly effective exercises that assist with motor planning, coordination, postural stability and balance skills. To the kids, it's a fun time to play and dance with friends. To the therapists, it's a unique chance to capture a child's inhibitions and help them to overcome things they thought they could never do. Breaking barriers while having fun…sounds great doesn't it?

Gymnastics

Tuck and roll, swing and bounce it's all about fun except for the very last ounce. Movement in gymnastics is a fantastic way to work on just about anything. Gymnastics is individual, allowing everyone to participate at their own level of comfort and ability while maintaining the exposure to those more experienced. Natural competitive nature among children can play a key role in a child's progress ( I can do that if I just try)

Job Skills

As our children reach the age where "the job of a child shifts from play to work " we recognize the need to continue to prepare them for a successful transition and career to follow. As part of this process, we touch again on the critical areas of social interaction, appropriate behaviors for the workplace. In addition to the Social Skills component of work readiness, Children's Therapy Works teaches the importance of self awareness and safety at all times. It is the express mission of this group to produce graduates that will afford their employers years of exemplary service while being safe to themselves and to all others around them. Children's Therapy Works affiliate Wings Across Georgia, employs adults that have been through similar programs and are now dedicated team members at that program. Children's Therapy Works maintains relationships with employment agencies that specialize in job placement of citizens with special needs.

Karate

A small group of special kids learning the ancient principals of martial arts, combining concentration with physical exercise and mental focus is what makes our Karate groups so successful, a true team building experience in a safe environment. This group implores the principals of Social Skills and self modulation sharing techniques to keep the kids in the just right zone.