Syncing Success: A Better Way to Manage ADHD Without Medication

Posted on March 1, 2024March 4, 2024

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) poses unique challenges for individuals of all ages, affecting their ability to focus, organize tasks, and regulate impulses. While traditional interventions often involve medications and behavioral therapy, a groundbreaking approach has emerged in recent years – the use of the Interactive Metronome (IM) as an innovative tool for managing ADHD symptoms. In this blog, we’ll explore the relationship between Interactive Metronome and ADHD, shedding light on how this rhythmic training can make a significant difference in the lives of those navigating the complexities of ADHD.

Understanding ADHD and its Challenges

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent patterns of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Individuals with ADHD may find it challenging to sustain attention, complete tasks, and regulate their behavior, impacting academic, professional, and personal aspects of their lives. Traditional treatment approaches often involve a combination of medications and behavioral therapy, but the search for non-invasive, complementary interventions has led to exploring innovative tools like the Interactive Metronome.

Interactive Metronome and ADHD: A Rhythmic Approach

The Interactive Metronome operates on the principle that precise timing and rhythmic synchronization can positively influence neural pathways related to attention, coordination, and executive functions. Here’s how IM is making waves in the realm of ADHD management:

Enhanced Attention and Focus: IM exercises require participants to match their movements to a rhythmic beat with millisecond accuracy. This process engages the brain’s attention and timing centers, fostering sustained attention and focus improvements, essential components for managing ADHD symptoms.

Improved Executive Functions: ADHD often involves challenges with executive functions like working memory, organization, and impulse control. The structured nature of IM exercises helps strengthen these cognitive processes, providing individuals with practical skills to navigate daily tasks more effectively.

Sensory Integration: The combination of auditory and visual cues in IM promotes sensory integration, a critical factor in ADHD management. Individuals can develop better self-regulation and coordination by syncing sensory information with motor responses.

Individualized Treatment Plans: Therapists at Carolina Therapy Connection can tailor IM programs to address the specific needs and challenges of individuals with ADHD. The customizable nature of IM allows for a personalized approach, ensuring that the training aligns with each participant’s unique cognitive and motor profile.

Real-life Success Stories

The impact of Interactive Metronome on ADHD management is not just theoretical – there is a growing body of research-based evidence supporting its effectiveness. Many individuals undergoing occupational therapy at Carolina Therapy Connection have reported significant improvements in attention, impulse control, and overall quality of life after incorporating IM into their ADHD treatment plan.

In the evolving landscape of ADHD management, the Interactive Metronome stands out as a promising avenue for individuals seeking alternative and complementary approaches. By tapping into the power of rhythmic synchronization and precise timing, IM offers a dynamic and engaging method to address the core challenges associated with ADHD. It’s not just about keeping time; it’s about syncing success despite ADHD’s unique challenges. Our Occupational Therapists and Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants at Carolina Therapy Connection are certified in the Interactive Metronome. They can utilize this as an essential part of a child’s treatment plan. The Interactive Metronome can be used as a standalone treatment, but we see the best results when incorporated into diverse therapeutic programs.

Call us today to learn more about the Interactive Metronome and whether your child would benefit from this amazing therapeutic intervention!

What is Toe Walking?

Posted on February 15, 2024January 31, 2024

Toe walking means that a child is walking and standing on tiptoes, and their heels do not make contact with the ground. Walking up on their toes can be a normal occurrence in children aged three and under as they continue to develop their ability to walk. Beyond that age, without any definitive medical reason, it is considered idiopathic toe walking (walking on toes without a known cause).

Toe Walking Causes

To understand, what’s not so simple about toe walking is the why behind it. There are many possible reasons that children might develop this pattern:

Developmental phase: A child occasionally walking on the balls of their feet can be part of normal development. When children first begin walking, usually between 12-15 months of age, they often try different foot positions including walking up on their toes. However, it is expected that typically developing children will only walk on their toes occasionally.

Neurological concern:

Sensory processing concerns: Children with sensory issues, including those on the Autism Spectrum related to the vestibular system, have a different awareness of their body position and feel stabilized during toe walking. The tactile system includes our sense of touch, pain, and temperature. Some studies conclude that children with differences in vestibular processing can also have tactile senses that exacerbate their toe walking. They may not like the feeling of the floor touching their feet, and toe walking minimizes this contact. Children seeking proprioceptive input toe walk because the gait prolongs stimulation of joint receptors and causes their muscles to tighten. The movement provides a calming input sensation for the child. (Williams 2010)
Cerebral Palsy: The most common cause of toe walking in those with cerebral palsy is spasticity, which can cause stiffness and involuntary muscle contractions in calf muscles, keeping their heels from touching the ground. Over time, without proper stretching and bracing, these muscles can become shortened, making it challenging to achieve heel contact.

Idiopathic toe walking: Toe walking can occur because of an underlying anatomic or neuromuscular condition, but in most cases, toe walking is idiopathic without a discernible underlying cause. Idiopathic toe walking occurs in children between 3 and 7 years old and is more commonly seen in males than females. Idiopathic toe walking is not related to any specific diagnosis and can presenty of reasons, due to a variet including decreased stability and sensory involvement. For some families, toe walking may be a cosmetic concern, whereas it can cause pain or functional issues in other cases. (Ruzbarsky, Scher, & Dodwell, 2016)

Treatment

You may wonder how to stop toe-walking with your child. Therapeutic treatment depends on the cause, how strong of a habit it is, how tight the calf muscles have become, and what other changes have occurred in the child’s foot and ankle due to walking this way.

Treatment can include:

Stretching: To improve muscle length, increase ankle mobility, and promote heel contact
Orthoses: Ankle-foot orthotic worn to keep the foot at a 90-degree angle and promote heel contact
*Turtle bracing: New bracing technique utilizing a removable, re-moldable, lightweight brace to achieve optimal ankle positioning, obtain and maintain ankle mobility, and promote heel contact
Serial Castings: Hard cast used to obtain and maintain a 90-degree angle at the ankle joint for extended periods (1-2 weeks at a time)
Night splints: Braces worn at night to keep the foot in a 90-degree angle and achieve prolonged stretch
Botox injections are most commonly used with those dealing with spasticity; they weaken their calf muscles and make them easier to stretch and cast.

A careful history, clinical exam, and selective diagnostic testing can be used to differentiate between different types of toe walking and determine the most appropriate treatment for each child.

How Can Carolina Therapy Connection Help with Toe Walking?

Being evaluated by a Physical or Occupational Therapist can further help determine which treatment routes are appropriate for your child. Call us today at 252-341-9944 for a free screening!

By: Taylor Saunders

Stuttering: Developmental or Disordered?

Posted on February 1, 2024January 31, 2024

Stuttering in children is a speech disorder characterized by disruptions in the natural flow of speech. Developmental stuttering is a common experience, typically emerging between the ages of 2 and 5 when children are first learning to speak fluently and developing a large repertoire of words, phrases, and sentences. While many kids experience a phase of disfluency in their normal speech development and may outgrow it, some might continue to stutter as they grow older. In this case, speech therapy may be recommended.

Causes of Stuttering in Children

The exact cause remains unclear, but it’s believed to arise from a combination of genetic, neurophysiological, and environmental factors. Children with a family history of stuttering are more likely to develop it. Some kids experience stuttering due to differences in brain structure or function related to speech production. Emotional factors like stress, pressure to communicate quickly, or a hurried environment can also increase stuttering. Stuttering occurs at the initiation of voice, which is why we typically hear disfluencies at the beginning of words and phrases.

According to Johns Hopkins Hospital, A child is more likely to stutter if he or she has:

A family history of stuttering
Stuttered for 6+ months
Other speech or language disorders
Strong emotions about stuttering or family members with fears or concerns

Types of Disfluencies

Stuttering manifests in various ways, such as repetitions (repeating sounds, syllables, or words), prolongations (elongating sounds), and blocks (inability to produce sounds). These disruptions can lead to tension and anxiety, causing the child to avoid certain words or situations where they might feel pressured to speak.

Speech Therapy for Stuttering:

Speech therapists play a crucial role in assessing, diagnosing, and treating stuttering. Here are some primary approaches utilized in speech therapy:

Speech Modification Techniques: Therapists teach children to use gentle starts to sentences, and employ smooth, relaxed breathing patterns. This helps in reducing the frequency and severity of stuttering moments. Continuous phonation, for example, is a technique where speakers learn to keep their voice on and vocal folds vibrating throughout speech.

Fluency Shaping: This technique focuses on reshaping the child’s speech patterns by teaching smoother speech movements. It involves controlled breathing, gentle voicing, and gradually increasing sentence length to enhance fluency.

Stuttering Modification: This approach concentrates on changing the child’s emotional and cognitive reactions to stuttering. It involves desensitizing the child to the fear and anxiety associated with stuttering and teaching strategies to manage and accept disfluency.

Parental Involvement: Educating parents about stuttering and how to support their child’s speech development is key to increasing the child’s success. Therapists often teach parents techniques to practice at home, creating a supportive environment for the child’s progress.

Communication Skills Training: This includes enhancing overall communication skills, like turn-taking and using pauses effectively. It helps in building the child’s confidence and reducing the pressure associated with speaking.

Long-Term Outlook

Many young children outgrow developmental stuttering; however, some might continue to stutter into adolescence and adulthood. In such cases, ongoing therapy, support groups, and strategies for managing stuttering in social and professional settings become vital.

How can Carolina Therapy Connection help?

Children who sutter often benefit from therapy from skilled Speech-Language Pathologists. Stuttering in children is a complex speech disorder that necessitates early intervention and specialized therapy. Speech therapists employ a variety of techniques focusing on speech modification, emotional support, and overall communication enhancement to help children manage and, in many cases, overcome stuttering. Family involvement and a supportive environment are fundamental in the child’s journey towards improved fluency and confidence in communication. At Carolina Therapy Connection, our treatment is highly individualized to your child’s needs. A standardized assessment will be administered to detect any disfluencies, and our therapists will work with you and your child to develop a plan for enhancing skills to build confidence across all social environments (home, school, social groups, etc). If you have any concerns or questions regarding your child’s development, call our clinic at (252) 341-9944.

By Ashley Holloway, MS, CCC-SLP, CAS

Winter Activities for All Ages!

Posted on January 15, 2024January 12, 2024

What are Some Winter Activities When the Weather is too Cold Outside?

Ever wonder what you can do to keep your Kiddo occupied and safe while providing the necessary sensory input when it’s too cold to play outside? It is recommended to take indoor breaks every 20-30 minutes when the temperature outside is between 13-30 degrees; however, some kiddos tolerate cold weather better than others. Here are some tips for activities that can be done indoors when it’s just too cold to go outside this winter!

A Fun Winter Activity: Play Board Games

This is dependent on your child’s age and skill set. If you have some board games tucked in the closet, break them out and have family fun! This will work on building your child’s reciprocal play skills, following multistep direction skills, coping skills, and emotional regulation. Check out our Amazon storefront for some of our recommended board games!

Build a Pillow/Blanket Fort

Who didn’t love making a fort under the kitchen table as a kid? Build a fort in the kitchen and living room, then place some of their favorite books, toys, and stuffed animals inside. This can be a fun way to get your kids into critical thinking mode and build their visual perceptual and motor skills!

Scavenger Hunt

Another fun winter activity is to hide some items in your house and have your kiddos find them! This can be graded according to skill level and age. For example, for a younger kiddo, have them locate items they would typically use. For older kiddos, give hints to the item they are looking for. “Find two things mom uses to stir within the kitchen (utensils)” or “Find something round and blue in your bedroom (ball).” This will work on their figure ground skills and get their body moving!

Bake/Cook

Have your kiddos help you bake/cook your favorite snack or dessert in the kitchen. Have your kiddos follow the directions given or help with the messy tasks. This can be great for our sensory-seeking kiddos and those resistant to messy play!

Dance Off!

GET MOVING with a fun dance-off! Put off some of your favorite music and have a contest to see who dances best to the song! This is a great way to work on gross motor skills, coordination, and auditory processing, and it’s just plain fun!

Watch your Favorite Movie and Act Out the Scenes.

Many kids like to watch movies; however, do you ever notice that they get bored halfway through and are on to the next thing? Get them involved with the movie. Have that pause button ready and have them act out a scene to see if they can recall what happened!

Indoor “Snowball” Fight

Do you have some extra tissue paper lying around after wrapping those Christmas presents? Make snowballs and toss them at each other! This is a great way to get kiddos moving without fear of knocking things off tables/counters and breaking things!

Keepie-uppie with Balloons

Everyone knows this one! Can we keep the balloon off of the ground? Try it! It is so much fun, works on your kiddo’s hand-eye coordination, and has less risk of damaging something in your home!

How can Carolina Therapy Help?

With winter in full swing, ask your therapist about tips/tricks to have fun indoors with adaptations specifically for your child’s sensory-related needs. A therapist at Carolina Therapy Connection can help adapt the activities listed above and give more ideas for your specific child! Also, check out our link for Amazon storefront to find fun toys/activities to make the indoors fun! Many great toy ideas and sensory-related tools can be used when your child needs to get some energy out!

I hope these tips have helped build some fun ideas for you and your family for this winter season! Stay happy, healthy, and warm!

By: Shelby Godwin, COTA/L, AC

Hearing Loss in Children

Posted on December 15, 2023December 15, 2023

About 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears! Hearing loss can occur gradually over time and parents may not even realize their children have it. Children may simply adjust to the changes in their hearing and not realize they are missing out on important speech sounds and words.

What is a hearing screening?

A hearing screening is frequently used to check a person’s ability to detect the loudness and pitch of sounds. You can either “pass” or “fail” the screening. If your child passes and there are no other concerns, then you can continue with your child’s regularly scheduled hearing screenings. If your child “fails”, or if you have other concerns about their hearing, then an appointment for more in-depth testing may be necessary to see if there is a hearing loss and what treatment options are best to help support your child. These hearing screenings can help identify people who may need a more thorough hearing evaluation that can be completed by medical personnel such as ENTs or audiologists. Pediatric hearing screenings may take place in early intervention, school audiology, medical, and/or home settings.

How can I tell if my child has hearing loss?

Difficulty recognizing familiar voices
Delayed or absent speech sounds (not making cooing noises, babbling less, few words, distorted speech sounds, etc.)
Not turning head toward interesting or startling sounds
Delayed language (difficulty understanding simple words, following directions, etc.)
Delayed or absent emergence of first words as by two years old children should start combining words into 2-word phrases)
If child is older, they may frequently asks others to repeat themselves for clarification
Child is speaking louder than others
Lack of attention to others, conversations, environmental surroundings
Struggles with academics

What causes hearing loss in young children?

Frequent ear infections (otitis media; most common)
Measles or meningitis
Head injuries
Exposure to loud noises
Genetic disorders

Interesting Fact… 5/6 children experience ear infections (otitis media) by the time they are 3 years old!

What should I do if I suspect my child has hearing loss?

If you suspect your child has hearing loss, speak with your healthcare provider and discuss your child’s current hearing abilities and address your concerns if you suspect signs of hearing difficulties at home. Early hearing detection and a formal evaluation completed by an audiologist, ENT and/or other qualified medical professional can help determine specific needs and appropriate treatment goals to further support your child’s success. It is important to regularly check on your child’s hearing health to monitor potential changes in hearing!

How can Speech therapy help?

Speech-Language Pathologists can play a role in your child’s hearing health by completing hearing screenings as a part of a formal speech and language assessment. If your child does not pass a hearing screening completed by the Speech-Language Pathologist, then a referral will be made for further evaluation with audiological/medical professionals to provide the best of care to your little one. Language acquisition is an essential component of your child’s overall development. Significant hearing loss, if undetected early, can lead to a speech and language delay, further putting your child at risk of falling behind same-aged peers. Given that our hearing plays a significant role in living our daily lives, it is crucial to have your child’s hearing formally evaluated at key milestones, beginning at birth to help lead them to better speech, language, and educational outcomes in the future!

Schedule a screening at Carolina Therapy Connection today!

Blog By: Lindsey Bryant, SLP

Not Your Average Toy!

Posted on December 1, 2023December 1, 2023

Not Your Average Toy offers a transformative approach to pediatric therapy, catering to the different needs of our pediatric patients in occupational, speech, and physical therapy within our clinic. These specialized toys aren’t just playthings; they motivate children to develop essential skills like fine motor control, visual perceptual abilities, grasping techniques, following multistep directions, stimulating ‘what’ questions, fostering color and shape recognition, encouraging problem-solving, and refining hand-eye coordination. What makes these toys exceptional is their unique ability to grasp the children’s attention while integrating therapeutic goals into engaging activities tailored to each child’s journey toward progress and achievement. Check out some of our favorite “Not average toys!”

Examples of Not Your Average Toy:

Water Beads:

What sets water beads apart? Water beads stand out for their fun way of developmental skills. They offer an enjoyable sensory and messy play while enhancing color recognition and sorting abilities. These beads serve as a tool for reaching milestones. Children can play by using a spoon for scooping into a cup, counting exercises, and even hiding items like toy fish or other objects within the beads to engage both hands in a tactile search. These toys facilitate various developmental goals, from color recognition and sorting to refining fine motor skills, in-hand manipulation, bilateral coordination, and sensory play. They also stimulate counting skills and engage in figure-ground activities.

Building Blocks:

Building blocks are known for making a tower and watching it fall, but did you know that they offer various developmental opportunities? These square toys build structures with two hands, allowing a child to work towards bilateral coordination, midline crossing, and fine motor skills. Playing with blocks can also help with color recognition, shape learning, spatial orientation, and teaching concepts through block positions.

Building blocks can also help with emotional regulation. If a task is challenging or the tower does not stay quite the way intended, this is an excellent opportunity to discuss the feelings raised and allow your child to have a voice.

Puzzles:

Puzzles are a fun, versatile learning tool for children. They can help children learn about shapes and colors, expand their vocabulary, and identify different types of animals. Puzzles also help children learn to act like put in and take out. You can add a multi-step direction to make a puzzle more challenging, like putting the cow and horse puzzle pieces together in their correct spot. For more engaging questions, ask your child, “What does a cow say?” or “Where is the cow?” Puzzle helps achieve milestones that involve enhancing visual perceptual skills, grasping technique, mastering multi-step directions, and developing problem-solving abilities.

How can Carolina Therapy Connection Help?

At CTC, we are committed to supporting our families and the child’s developmental journey and helping them achieve these goals at home. Please explore our website (https://www.carolinatherapyconnection.com/) or our Amazon Storefront (https://www.amazon.com/shop/carolinatherapyconnection). These are not your average toys; they are carefully innovative toys that can help foster growth and development. To further understand these toys’ impact, ask your therapist if you can sit in during a session. By watching the interaction between the child playing and the therapist, parents can gain insights into how effective these tools can be and bring these Not Your Average Toys into their home.

By: Lauren Hodges, COTA/L, and Allison Hicks

Teaching Kids Independence With Life Skills

Posted on July 6, 2023October 4, 2023

Chores or Life Skills?

Kiddos may ask themselves this question: Why do I have to do these chores? Here at CTC, we call chores “Life Skills” because that is simply what they are. Although not always the most preferred thing for your child to do, washing dishes, washing clothes, making the bed, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, grocery shopping, cooking, and many more are essential life skills that are necessary when becoming an independent adult. Not only are they necessary, they are also very helpful for the development of time management skills, executive functioning, sensory regulation, and even emotional regulation.

You may be wondering how you can gauge what skills are appropriate for your child. Below is a short list of age appropriate chores to get you started based on your child’s age:

Life Skills for 2-3 years old

Picking up toys
Wiping up a mess (wiping off the counter after eating or messy play)
Putting laundry in the hamper after taking off dirty clothes

Life Skills for 4-5 years old

Making the bed (even if it is assisting you with the task!)
Starting simple meal preparation (putting thing into bowls, stirring, etc.)
Helping wash/rinse dishes

Life Skills for 6-8 years old

Feeding pets
Vacuuming, sweeping, mopping
Folding laundry/putting away own clothes

Life Skills for 9-12 years old

Prepare simple meals (heating up a hot pocket, TV dinner or oven pizza)
Taking out garbage
Cleaning areas of the home other than own bedroom (bathroom, living room, outdoor areas)
Helping make a shopping list and helping to find items in the grocery store

13-18 years – Include all listed above with increased to total independence!

So your child may be age appropriate for the tasks at hand, but what if you wonder whether they are developmentally, emotionally, physically or cognitively appropriate for the task at this age? Recently CTC held a Life Skills camp with 4 days of fun while completing tasks that increase independence within the home environment. The kiddos in this group worked on grocery shopping, meal preparation, cleaning up after themselves, household life skills, taking care of pets and plants, team work and communication. During the camp, each child was asked to review their skills and determine the toughest part of doing “chores”. The #1 answer was time management and feelings of overwhelm when presented with multiple tasks to complete. We all worked to develop either written or visual (picture) schedules for each kiddo to take home to aid in these concerns, making getting these life skills done easier and less frustrating!

Talk to your child’s occupational therapist to see if these could be options to help your child regulate their emotions, plan their time with greater efficiency and learn new skills after mastering current ones! If your kiddo struggles to complete their daily activities, call our clinic at (252) 341-9944! Your child may benefit from an occupational therapy screening or formal evaluation!

Here is 2 recipes of foods that were made during the camp:

Rice Kripsy Treats – The Original Rice Krispies Treats™ Recipe | Rice Krispies®
Soup (written by a kiddo in the camp)

Ingredients

3-4 boneless chicken thighs
1 medium onion
3 carrots, sliced
2 chicken stock boxes
1 small rice pack (boil in a bag)
1 can black beans

Add a pinch of…

Pink Himalayan Salt
Chili powder
Seasoned Salt
Black pepper
Red pepper flakes

MIX TOGETHER IN A SMALL BOWL

Steps:

Make the rice according to directions on the rice bag
As the rice is cooking, cut chicken into 1 inch cubes
Sprinkle seasoning onto chicken
Cut carrots and onion into preferred size and cook until preferred texture
Cook the chicken until done in saucepan
Once all ingredients are finished, combine with stock in a pot and boil for 2-5 minutes
Simmer for 10-15 minutes

Written By: Shelby Godwin, COTA/L, AC

CTC Ranked in North Carolina’s ‘Best Employers 2023’

Posted on June 9, 2023October 4, 2023

Who ranks North Carolina’s Best Employers of 2023?

See Our Ranking Below Under ‘Medium Sized Employers’

See the FULL issue of Business North Carolina’s annual list of Best Employers HERE

What sets Carolina Therapy Connection apart from other Employers?

Carolina Therapy Connection is a therapist-owned, growing private pediatric outpatient practice with sensory clinic locations in Greenville, Goldsboro, and New Bern, North Carolina. For the past 12 years CTC has been providing OT, PT, ST, and educational services to children of all ages and diagnoses including: autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorder, cerebral palsy, feeding disorders, and developmental delay. Children are served within our newly expanded, state-of-the-art sensory clinics, within the community, and within school settings. In 2023 we added Mental Wellness and Counseling to the umbrella of services CTC offers.

Carolina Therapy Connection is the first outpatient therapy clinic Certified Autism Center™ (CAC) in Eastern North Carolina. Carolina Therapy Connection covers the cost of all staff to complete this professional certification within their first year of hire. Our culture at CTC is faith-based, built around serving others while creating a fun and exciting place to work that will motivate you!

Just a few reasons to join our team …

Competitive Compensation with weekly and monthly incentive bonuses (salary or pay per visit- based on yourpreference and goals!)
Flexible schedules perfect for therapists with families (all staff choose their own schedule- what works best for you?)
Fun, social clinic setting with company sponsored events every month (team building, potlucks, snack bars, ice cream socials, etc!)
Prizes that reward team members who carry out our core values and supportive culture (monthly core value cash prizes!)
Multi-disciplinary setting with supervision and mentorship programs to help you grow and based upon the support you need!
Supportive, faith-based culture that values teamwork as well as individual team member goals (meetings on a monthly and quarterly basis to check in on your personal and professional growth!)
Opportunity for growth within the company including management and leadership opportunities (clinical and administrative ladder programs)
Web-based, electronic documentation system (document anywhere that suits you!)
Simple IRA with retirement matching (no vesting period!)
Health, vision and dental group insurance through BCBSNC with Company contribution
Disability insurance
Life insurance and Employee Assistance Program (free mental health/wellness services) paid 100% by employer
PTO and all major holidays observed (let’s hear it for no weekends or holidays!)
Continuing education compensation and company sponsored CEU opportunities
We invest in every team member to receive credentialing as an Certified Autism Specialist or Autism Certificate through the IBCCES certification program
We credential all of our interested clinicians in becoming certified in the Interactive Metronome treatment modality
Private offices for speech language pathologists (and SLP assistants)
Clinical Fellowship program with close mentorship and training
Relocation assistance and sign on/retention bonuses for certain positions
Annual licensing fees and professional liability costs covered
Referral bonuses
Travel reimbursement
Computers and other technology options (iPads) for each employee
15,000 sq.ft. clinic with state of the art sensory spaces for enhanced therapy experiences
All treatment equipment and assessments provided by company
Amazing administrative staff that handle all scheduling, billing and insurance authorizations (YES… Let’s hear it for less time spent documenting!)
A variety of settings offered based on clinician preference (schools, homes, daycares, clinic)

Interested in joining our team? Head over to our Careers Page to apply NOW!

We are GROWING in Goldsboro and New Bern!

Posted on April 26, 2023October 4, 2023

Our Expansion in New Bern & Goldsboro, NC

Carolina Therapy Connection has been providing services in Goldsboro, NC for over 3 years and in New Bern, NC for just over 2 years. As the need for services in the Wayne and Craven County communities grow, we want to do the same! After a lot of thought, prayer, planning and time, we are excited to announce our next expansion journey! Our goal with expanding our services and clinic spaces in Goldsboro and New Bern are to offer skilled therapy to MORE families in need, decrease wait times for evaluations and treatment, develop state-of-the-art facilities with the latest equipment, and continue carrying out our mission to offer families a warm and supportive environment where they can learn about their child’s developmental needs and how to nurture their child’s capacity to succeed.

New Bern Expansion

Our current New Bern building is 2,500 square feet, which means we will TRIPLE in size to 7,000 square feet when we move into our new building! The new clinic space is also on 2.5 acres of land, which leaves ample opportunity for outdoor treatment areas, playground equipment, and MORE! Our New Bern clinic location will provide Speech Therapy, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Mental Wellness and Counseling Services, community events (Teen Hangout Nights, Parent Support Groups etc) AND summer camps! We will have a much larger sensory gym with more fine motor rooms, physical therapy and speech therapy treatment spaces, and kitchen areas for feeding therapy. We are beginning the process of renovating the inside of the building, cleaning up the outdoor areas, and purchasing new equipment and furniture to fill the space. We are hoping to move in to the new building and begin providing services there in August, 2023! We will provide updates as we work through this process! The address is of the new clinic is 609 McCarthy Blvd., New Bern, NC 28562.

Goldsboro Expansion

We currently rent a small space in Goldsboro, providing occupational therapy services only. After we move into our new building there, we will TRIPLE in size and provide occupational therapy AND speech-language therapy! This space will entail multiple speech therapy rooms, fine motor rooms and a sensory gym with new equipment! Our new address in Goldsboro will be 1308 Wayne Memorial Dr. Suite C, Goldsboro, NC 27534. We are planning to begin providing services at our new address in late May, 2023! We will keep you updated on this process as we prepare for move-in. If you are currently receiving speech therapy services in Greenville, but would like to switch over to Goldsboro, call us at (252) 341-9944 and our staff members will be glad to help you!

Give us a call at (252) 341-9944 OR email us at in**@ca***********************.com if you have ANY questions or concerns about our moving process or would like to switch services to one of our New Bern or Goldsboro clinics! We are so excited to bring you alongside this new chapter with us!

Mealtime Tips For Your Picky Eater

Posted on January 20, 2023October 4, 2023

Why Is Mealtime So Important For Children?

The 3 most important things for humans to survive is: food, water and oxygen. For some parents, the concern for their kiddos health and well-being becomes heightened when they notice their kiddo isn’t eating as much food or as many types of foods as they may have at one time. Some kiddos who are referred to Occupational Therapy are considered “Picky Eaters” and others may be referred to as a “Problem Feeder”. We all know a picky eater. This is a person/kiddo who has at least 30 foods in their repertoire. Whereas a “Problem Feeder” is a person/kiddo who has less than 20 foods in their repertoire. There are many reasons this could happen such as trauma, sensory related challenges, anxiety, behavioral challenges, and more. As Occupational Therapists, we are trained to assist these kiddos by addressing these challenges which can increase their tolerance for trying new foods! Keep reading to learn more picky eater tips we have below!

So why is MEALTIME so important to assist with this?

One of the first things we will ask as OTRs or COTAs is “What does mealtime look like at home?” Some parents may say,

“We all sit down as a family every night for dinner but we are busy or gone for breakfast and lunch”, “We are so busy that we are lucky to eat all at the same time”, or “(The child) eats all day but won’t eat the food I cook at dinner”. Of course these are just examples, but can you relate to any of them? It’s a possibility!

Asking about mealtimes is very important to your therapist because this gives us an idea of how your child eats during the day. Kiddos need fuel to keep their bodies going. However, WHAT they are taking in and HOW/WHEN they are taking it in will make a huge difference in behavior, attention, ability to process/retain information and regulate emotions/emotional responses. To give you an idea of why the “what”, “how” and “when” are so important, I’ll follow up on the questions above.

1. “We all sit down as a family every night for dinner but we are busy or gone for breakfast and lunch”

This could be a beneficial time to incorporate feeding techniques and build interest in the foods around the table. Interest always comes before action. A child must first be interested in the food before they will interact with it. This is one reason that mealtime is so important for kiddos. It can be an opportunity to build interest in various smells, sights, and textures of foods provided by parents in a supportive and positive manner.

2. “We are so busy that we are lucky to eat all at the same time”

How can you work your schedule to have a least one meal together every other day? We understand that this busy world requires busy people to keep it going. However, when you are overwhelmed and exhausted your child may pick up on that. Children are very intuitive. Incorporating as many mealtimes as possible may assist with parent/child interaction and decreasing anxiety and overwhelming emotions in adults which can in turn make eating less stressful for a “picky eater”.

3. “(The child) eats all day but won’t eat the food I cook at dinner”

Grazing is when a kiddo eating little snacks all throughout the day. Have you ever seen a child leave a snack on the table, go play for 30 minutes, then return to finish the snack? If your child is doing this all day, it may explain why they are not eating at mealtimes. Typically, the brain lets us know when we need to refuel because the digestive system sends signals saying, “I’m empty in here!”. When grazing, a child’s brain will begin to have a hard time distinguishing when the child is hungry due to constantly having food in the digestive system. This can effect metabolism and the ability to regulate hunger. When given mealtimes, the body has time to regulate, digest and filter out what it needs for fuel. Additionally, if given processed snacks that are high in sugar or carbohydrates throughout the day, the body will begin to crave them. This can create a difficult loop to break when introducing thing like vegetables, meats and some fruits. Positive interactions at mealtimes can assist with parent/child interactions, lowering anxiety and stress levels, giving the child’s body time to process what it needs for fuel and providing learning opportunities for the sensory system. This can be a major changing factor in how your child engages with food!

Additional Mealtime Picky Eater Tips

Picky Eater Tips #1: Don’t force foods on children

As parents, we want our children to eat a variety of foods, including vegetables, fruits and other healthy snacks to help them grow to be strong and healthy. Studies show that forcing a child to sit and eat until they have cleared their entire plate is not the best method for achieving this goal. Instead, parents should promote foods that may have not been a hit the first time around. You can model this yourself by trying a food you haven’t liked in the past, and explain that you’re giving it another chance because your tastes may have changed. We want to show kids that we are adaptable. Remember: It can take as many as 10 or more times tasting a food before a toddler’s taste buds accept it.

Picky Eater Tips #2: Get Creative With Food Bingo

You can also put together a list of new foods for the family to try and make a game out of it—what will we try tonight? You can make it interactive and fun by doing something creative like Food Bingo. There are many free printable online similar to the image shown below. You can even make your own! Hang it on the fridge and have your child place a sticker or check off the new foods they have tried. You can even add in a reward for them getting “bingo” – a trip to their favorite place, a new toy, a play date, or something else they really enjoy!

Picky Eater Tips #3: Don’t Make a Second Meal

When you serve a meal to your family and your kiddo refuses to eat it, we recommend having simple and consistent back up options, such as yogurt, a cheese, nut & fruit snack pack, apple sauce, cereal etc. It’s important for children to know that if they can not eat the meal you have prepared, they will receive the standard option – rather than the usual chicken nuggets baked quickly in the oven. We should also teach kids that a meal isn’t ruined if it comes in contact with something they don’t like. Finding an unwanted pickle on your cheeseburger will not contaminate it. Children should be encouraged to push food they don’t like off to the side, or onto another plate, or offer to share it with someone else.

Picky Eater Tips #4: Involve Your Kiddo in the Meal Prep Process

Some cooking tasks are perfect for toddlers and small children (with supervision, of course): sifting, stirring, counting ingredients, picking fresh herbs from a garden or windowsill, and “painting” on cooking oil with a pastry brush. Allowing our children to interact with the foods they are going to eat will help to promote and encourage them to try it!

Picky Eater Tips #5: Food Chaining

Once your kiddo tries a new food and that food is accepted, use what one our Occupational Therapist’s favorite pickle eater tips call “food chaining” to introduce others with similar color, flavor and texture to help expand variety in what your child will eat. Children with sensory concerns have difficulty with leaping from the types of food they are willing/able to eat. Food chaining builds a bridge to get to those foods you really want your child to eat one step at a time through links to food they’re already eating. Examples include:

If your child likes pumpkin pie, for example, try mashed sweet potatoes and then mashed carrots.
If your child loves pretzels, try veggie straws next, and then move on to baby carrots or carrot sticks. Carrots are hard, crunchy, and stick shaped, but are cold and have a different taste.
If your child loves French Fries, then give a try to Zucchini fries.
Move from cookies to Fig Newtons, to jam toast, to jam sandwich, to bread with sliced strawberries, and lastly to fresh strawberries
If chicken nuggets are the fan favorite, try to first change the brand of nuggets, then move to homemade chicken nuggets, then to homemade tenders, and lastly to a baked chicken breast.
Maybe your kiddo love goldfish crackers. Next give Cheeze Itz a try, and then move on to saltine crackers, and lastly to saltines with cheese slices.

How Can Carolina Therapy Connection Help?

In addition to utilizing the tips above at home, we know that sometimes children need an extra push to expand their food repertoire. At Carolina Therapy Connection, our occupational and speech therapists provide feeding therapy that uses a collaborative approach to work closely with you and your child to determine the source of a child’s feeding difficulties, and develop specific intervention plans to make the entire eating process easier and more enjoyable. Often times, feeding therapy happens on a weekly basis and may consist of working on difficulty with trying new foods, chewing, swallowing, sensory issues, irritability at meal time and so much more. Our goals are to broaden your child’s scope of foods, teach them the benefits of healthy eating, and develop oral motor skills needed for optimal growth and nutrition.

Our Occupational Therapists take a sensory-based feeding approach to therapy. They focus on: oral motor skills, sensory sensitivities, progressing through food textures, and using adaptive equipment and tools to develop self-feeding skills. They also use a process called food chaining, which is a child-friendly treatment approach that helps introduce new foods while building on the child’s past successful eating experiences. In this process, the child is presented with new foods that may be similar in taste, temperature, or texture to foods the child already likes and accepts. Our occupational therapists are certified in the SOS Feeding Approach, a nationally and internationally recognized approach for assessing and treating children with feeding difficulties.

Our feeding therapists have 15-20 years of experience with children of all ages and a variety of feeding disorders. They have certifications in SOS and AEIOU approaches and significant training from around the country on feeding approaches, treatment strategies, and focused plans. We also having consistent collaboration with other professionals in the community to guarantee the best care. Call our clinic at 252-341-9944 for a free phone screening with one of our feeding therapists and schedule an evaluation today!

Blog Written By: Shelby Godwin, COTA/L, AC & Morgan Foster, MS, OTR/L