Workshops

Workshops are presented by Bec Penfold – Senior OT and Director at Coastwide Therapy Services. Most workshops are held at our clinics but Bec also provides workshops in house for schools, preschools and other educational settings/ services. Your therapist will advise you of upcoming workshops and they are also announced on Facebook and Instagram pages with tickets sticky tickets. If you would like to have Bec come to present to your staff or at your service you can contact Katie on 43 881110 or katie@coastwidetherapy.com.au and she will advise regarding fee’s and availability.

THE POWER OF PLAY

Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children. Play offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children, to have fun and to make genuine connections. Despite the benefits that we know come from play, it can be a challenging for lots of adults to not only understand that play is as important as academic based tasks, but to prioritise and find time for it in their busy lives. Play is a dying art.

This interactive workshop was developed by Bec Penfold (Senior Occupational Therapist) to share her passion for play with parents, educators and other health professionals. This 2 hour workshop explores different types of play and how they impact on development and has a strong focus on pretend play and its benefits. The workshop aims to give you practical examples of activities/ ideas, to understand the different stages of play and how to encourage and extend children in the most fun way. The workshop encourages participants to make play a priority in their child’s development and will reinforce how the different facets of play impact on motor skill development, problem solving, emotional regulation, flexible thinking, social skills, friendship development and more.

SENSORY PROCESSING 101

Individuals with Sensory Processing difficulties misinterpret everyday sensory information, such as touch, sound, visual information and movement, and can often present as being in the fight, flight, freeze response - anxious and overwhelmed.

Some find it hard to block out unimportant information in their environment such as noise, visual stimuli etc and present with having poor attention and concentration. Some children's bodies need more movement than others and hence they appear unable to sit still. Other children become so overwhelmed that they retreat and find it hard to try new things and explore their environment. In short children may seek out sensory stimulation (such as swinging, moving, jumping, chewing, watching things that spin etc) or they may avoid certain experiences (such as different types of food, messy play, haircuts, bathing etc).

Because they are unable to regulate their senses they can often react with strong emotional behaviours, which people describe as ‘meltdowns’. As a result, learning can be difficult and children may feel uncomfortable, or have difficulty coping with the stress of daily sensory and organisational demands.

If you think that this raises some red flags for your child or for a child you support, I recommend you come to one of our introductory workshops. We will give you information about how children process their senses, how it impacts on their ability to function across environments and give you some tips and ideas that you can take away and implement instantly. Workshops are presented by Bec Penfold -Senior Occupational Therapist.

FUSSY EATERS WORKSHOP

If you dread mealtimes and are open minded to making changes to the way you and your child engages with food…… then this is the workshop you need. This workshop focuses on some of the common reasons why children become rigid and restricted in their eating and how to help them explore new foods in a safe way.

Do you have a child who only eats certain things and refuses to try new foods?
Do you ever say “why do mealtimes always end up in war”
Do mealtimes feel like a disaster zone?
Do you feel out of control when it comes to trying to feed your child?
Does your child have a restricted diet – wanting to eat the same foods, the same way, over and over?
Does your child refuse to try new foods?
Do they gag when trying new foods or even looking at new foods?

The workshop will assist families to:

Have a greater understanding of the steps and skills involved in eating – it’s a complex task.
Know how to best prepare your child for eating – routine, sensory, oral motor, postural activities.
Debunk some myths around eating
Prevent food jags and move on from preferred foods.
Forget manners, get messy and learn to play with food.

This workshop is non-judgemental and fun, leaving you armed with tools to start implementing in your family home straight away. Workshops will be run by Bec Penfold – Senior Occupational Therapist.

LET’S TALK TOILET TRAINING

This workshop is an introduction to toilet training. It addresses preparation for toilet training, toilet training methods, monitoring progress and managing early difficulties. This workshop has been developed for children with special needs or those who may be delayed in their development.

Topics to be covered include

Introduction to toilet training
Stages of development
Signs of readiness Preparation for toilet training
Toilet training methods
Introducing the potty or toilet
Planning a toilet training approach
Use of communication approaches
Managing wetting and soiling accidents
Progress with toilet training
Monitoring progress
Phasing out support
Approaches with specific toilet training problems

This workshop is non- judgemental and fun, leaving you armed with tools to start implementing in your family home straight away. Workshops will be run by Bec Penfold – Senior Occupational Therapist.

POSITIVE SLEEP PRACTICES

Adequate sleep is essential for all children's health and development. Children with developmental delay experience additional challenges in their daily lives when their sleep is disturbed. Parents and carers may experience emotional and physical stress as a result of their child's sleep disturbed nights.

Our workshop is based on the "Sleepwise Program" and helps families understand how sleep impacts on behaviour, function and relationships. It will assist you to develop routines and strategies that can be implemented at home to provide more positive sleep practices for the whole family. It is generally targeted for children who are of toddler age or older.

The workshop will focus on the following areas

Types of sleep.
How much sleep do children need
Positive & safe sleep practices
Types of sleep disturbance
Bedtime routines
Ways to reduce sleep disturbance
Sensory approach
Behavioural approach
Communication approach
Developing a sleep plan and monitoring progress

Workshops are presented by Bec Penfold -Senior Occupational Therapist

SCHOOL READINESS WORKSHOP

Transitioning to school is such an important time and is one of the biggest milestones for children and families.

While many people think of academics (e.g. writing their name, counting to 10, knowing the colours) as the most important part of school readiness there is so much more that you can be doing to make the transition to school next year as successful as possible.

In addition to some academic basics, school readiness skills also include self care (independent toileting and opening lunch boxes), attention and concentration, physical skills (e.g. having the endurance to sit upright for an entire school day), emotional regulation, language skills and play and social skills – all of which will be covered in Bec’s 2 hour School Readiness Workshop.

This workshop is popular for parents and early childhood educators and is run by Bec Penfold – Senior Occupational Therapist.