Supporting the Mental Health of Children with Disabilities and Their Families  

Raising a child with a disability or developmental challenges is a journey filled with unique joys, deep resilience, and—at times—overwhelming emotional challenges. When a child has a disability, the difficulties they face can extend far beyond the physical, developmental, or learning needs that are more visible. Often, the emotional and psychological toll of navigating a world that isn't always accessible or inclusive can be significant—for both children and their families.

A crucial aspect of a child’s development is gross motor skills. Gross motor skills involve the coordination and control of large muscle groups that are responsible for movement. Gross motor skills are the foundation for many physical activities such as crawling, walking, running, jumping, skipping, hopping etc.

In the ever-evolving landscape of parenting, one constant remains unchanged: children thrive on routine. Establishing a sense of predictability and order in a child's life not only provides a stable foundation but also fosters crucial developmental skills. One powerful tool that aids in creating routines is the use of visual schedules.

Toilet training is a big step for any little person and a goal that needs to be supported by the entire family unit. But when is the right time to start toilet training with your child?

F-words are essential in understanding and supporting children with disabilities to thrive and reach their full potential. Let's explore them together!

When a child is first diagnosed with a developmental delay or disability, the child and parents can sometimes enter what feels like a whirlwind rollercoaster ride of assessments, goal setting, therapy appointments, home activities, and more therapy appointments.  So much time and effort is put into helping the child to learn new skills, integrate those skills into their every day life, and build their independence… And then the cycle repeats…. Set goals, learn new skills, integrate the skills into everyday life, build independence….

At Move and Play, ‘therapy’ is any activity that is done by one of our team that will support or contribute to supporting your child and family to work towards their goals, and ultimately to help your child to move, play, develop new skills, participate in their daily life, and thrive in their community.

It can be easy to live life in the day to day. Focusing on what is happening right now, on what needs to happen this hour, this day, this week, this term. It can be easy to keep our head down, and forget to lift our head up to see where we are going, forget to think about what we want our life to look like in the more distant future.

Telehealth is a term that refers to the delivery of health care services and support via any telecommunication technology.  A telehealth service can consist of videoconferencing, phone calls, emails and text or other direct messages.Telehealth can be used for many situations including assessment, direct therapy, parent education, teacher education and support, monitoring of home programs, virtual stakeholder meetings, equipment trials and prescription, and problem solving.