Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physical Therapy (PT) services assist students with a disability to benefit from special education. These disabilities include sensory, postural, and/or motor needs which prevent or significantly limit the student’s ability to benefit from educational opportunities. LADSE therapists operate under the educational model where the focus of therapy is on building skills and making modifications to support the student in the learning environment.  Direct therapy is conducted, along with an emphasis on indirect services, which include the training of educational team members working daily with the student to assure that OT interventions are ongoing. LADSE maintains an equipment inventory to assist therapists in determining the most effective intervention strategies for students and can be loaned to districts on a timed basis.Please check back frequently as we continues to update content. Summer is gone and the school year is here again. It is time to get back into the routine of the school year.

Transitioning back to the school year can be difficult for students and parents. It is beneficial for students to start resuming their morning and night time routine the weeks prior to school starting  to ease the transition back to school. Here are some links to help with getting back into the school routine and to help your child start the school year off on the right foot. 1.       Going Back to School: OT School Tips for Parents 2.       AOTA Backpack Awareness Day 3.       10 Tips for Health and Success in School 4.       When Selecting a Backpack, Consider Your Child’s Health 5.     Back to School Transitions: Tips for Parents 6.     Best Back to School Apps for ParentsAlmost all young Australians - aged between 13 and 17 - are not as physically active as they should be with nine out of ten young Australians sitting too much and not moving enough, according to the recommended Australian guidelines [1]. A change towards sedentary lifestyles has happened for many people in many developed countries, including Australia [Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2004) as cited in 2].

With improved access to mobile phones and the internet, children do not need to leave home to keep in contact with their friends outside of school. Today, children are far less likely than children of earlier generations to walk or cycle to get from A to B, or to play outdoors [2]. Instead, children are spending more than the recommended two hours each day using electronic media. The SPANS study in New South Wales found that 61 per cent of boys and 45 per cent of girls in Year Six (aged approximately 11–12 years) were using more than two hours per day of electronic media. This percentage was higher in older age groups: in Year 10, 78 per cent of boys and 67 per cent of girls fell into this group [2]. This increased screen time, combined with a lack of physical activity, can lead to young children being overweight, which often continues into adulthood [3]. In Australia, one in four children and adolescents are overweight or obese and it is predicted that 65 per cent of young Australians will be overweight or obese by 2020 [4].

Increases in the number of overweight and obese children leads to an increasing number of children who suffer with illnesses - including diabetes, asthma and mental health problems -as well as physical pain in muscles and joints, such as back pain [2]. Even Type 2 diabetes - a chronic disease traditionally diagnosed only among adults - is now increasingly being detected among Australian children. ruined backpack dayzResearch also shows that overweight and obese children are more likely to be overweight or obese adults. lagunitas backpackAround 80 per cent of Australia’s obese adolescents will become obese adults [4]. tessel backpack buyThis in turn can lead to a number of serious chronic conditions and even premature death [2].kata backpack 467

National guidelines for physical activity recommend infants and preschool children be physically active for at least three hours daily [5] and older children at least one hour daily [1, 6, 7]. The benefits of physical activity are enhanced further when children are more physically active than these recommended times [7]. sumdex fashion 16 laptop backpackThe guidelines also provide recommendations for the types of physical activity that are appropriate for children.dakine exit backpack review National guidelines for sedentary behaviour recommend infants and preschool children should not be sedentary, restrained, or kept inactive for more than one hour at a time [5], and for older children these sedentary activities should be broken up as much as possible [1, 6]. These guidelines also recommend that the amount of time children spend sitting and watching television and using other electronic media (DVDs, computer and other electronic games) should be limited to one hour daily for infants [5] and preschool children and two hours daily for older children [1, 6].

It is widely accepted that physical activity participation provides health benefits. Physical activity has a range of benefits as described in a review by Buhlert-Smith, Hagiliassis [8] whose summary is based on works of the Australian Government Department of Health [6], the Centre for Community Child Health [3] and the World Health Organization [7], including: Creates opportunities for social interaction, making friends and having fun Develops cooperation and teamwork skills Emotional and intellectual benefits: Improves self-esteem, confidence and independence Improves management of anxiety, stress and depression Improves physical fitness by improving heart and lung functions Improves balance, coordination and movement skills Builds stronger muscles and bones Promotes healthy joint tissues Promotes healthy growth and development Reduces the risk of unhealthy weight gain by controlling the expenditure of energy Reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Increased use of cars and the associated reduction in physical activity participation is a crucial factor in the rise in childhood obesity [4]. An easy way for school children to increase their physical activity participation is to walk or ride to school, but this type of commute is also in significant decline, with the 2015 Active Healthy Kids Australia [11] study finding: The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) strongly encourages parents to have their children walk, or ride a bike or scooter to school daily as an easy way for children to increase their physical activity participation. The study also found that active transport (through walking or riding a bike or scooter) provides a key contribution to the overall physical activity levels of children and young people in Australia and is feasible, given it can be easily incorporated into daily routines with minimal planning prior and involves little to no financial cost [11]. Children walking or riding to school need to have the correct school bag to avoid injury, as about 70 per cent of Australian school children may suffer back pain from school bags [12].

To avoid back, neck and shoulder pain, postural changes and injuries, school bags should be backpack style, should be less than 10 per cent of the child’s body weight as well as being appropriate for each child’s size with padded and adjusted straps over the shoulders. As experts in movement and health, physiotherapists can play a vital role in ensuring children using backpacks and undertaking physical activity do these activities safely, to minimise their risk of injury. Choosing the right backpack for your child Physiotherapists, with their education, training and competence - in physical activity, therapeutic exercise, behaviour change, anatomy and biomechanics - are ideally suited to assess children’s backpacks and make recommendations to avoid injuries. They can also identify, manage and prevent children’s health conditions associated with physical inactivity and sedentary behaviours. Physiotherapists play a key role in enhancing children’s physical activity participation and reducing their sedentary behaviours by educating children and their families about the: