WOW- this is great !!

[amy]

Cris Rowan received the following email from an occupational therapist who has given us permission to post it on our forum.

Chris-

Hi! I am an Occupational Therapist and I want to tell you how wonderful I think your website is!! I found it because of the article you wrote for the SI Focus Magazine last month. As I was reading your article my heart was pounding as I was thinking "who is this amazing woman... she is putting to words all the things I have been telling the parents/teachers I work with for years" .... UNPLUG!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this article!!

Last year I put together a presentation for elementary teachers on Sensory Integration in the classroom. The focus of my presentation was on the basics of SI and the importance of incorporating movement into the classroom on a daily basis. I could not believe how many of the teachers found this to be "enlightening" info!!! This fueled my passion for trying to help schools better understand why kids cannot sit at desks all day and be expected to pay attention.

I have now been asked to present to middle school faculty next month. They are organizing a day of presentations surrounding the topic of Technology. I was going to be presenting a similar presentation that I did for the elementary teachers... but because the day of presentations has a Technology focus ... I am trying to add a little more info on how technology impacts sensory development. I only have 30 minutes to present my portion! Your website offers some great stats that I do hope to mention and refer teachers to your site for more info. I also plan to take your webinar in early January to gain some more background info for myself!

I am also a national workshop presenter for The Handwriting Without Tears writing curriculum. I will be referring people to your site also as you mention several times about the importance of TEACHING printing to students and the link with literacy.

Thanks again... I am so glad you are doing what you are doing!

Paula

[amy]

Cris's reply to Paula's email.

Hi Paula,

Thank you so much for your e-letter sent Dec. 10 (WOW - this is great!), and for your efforts as an OT to promote movement of children in the classroom, and teach about the impact of technology overuse on the sensory and motor systems in adolescents.

In your teacher presentations, you might want to address how teachers can "manage balance" between sensory input and motor output. In order to optimize physical, mental, social and academic performance, children and adolescents need to balance technology use (input) with activity (output). Too much incoming chaotic sensory stimuli in the visual and auditory channels (technology), and too little output in the tactile, vestibular and proprioceptive channels (sedentary), combined with limited connection to the human element, is threatening sustainability of children as a whole.

Impaired sensory, motor, and attachment system development as a result of technology overuse is impacting child and adolescent development in the following areas:

Physical: developmental delays, obesity, impaired fine/gross motor function impacting ability to print/read (30% of Canadian children enter school developmentally delayed, 15% are obese; Kershaw 2009).
Mental: increased incidence of attachment disorders often misdiagnosed as mental illness requiring medication (14.3% of Canadian children have a diagnosed mental illness; Waddell C. 2007).
Social: isolation, aggression, violence (US has declared media violence a "public health risk" due to impact on child aggression; Huesmann L. 2007).
Academic: inability to focus or attend impairing ability to learn (overuse of technology is reprograming the brain to not use frontal lobe impacting impulsivity and learning; Small G. 2008).

You also might consider showing the "Suffer the Children" (4 min - problems) or "Balanced Technology Management" (7 min. - solutions) slide shows at your teacher talk, found on my website http://www.zonein.ca.

Chat with you more on the "Mixed Signals" webinar. Great work Paula and have some awesome Christmas holidays!

Cris Rowan, OT (Reg), BScOT, BScBi, SIPT, Approved Provider for ACTBC, AOTA and CAOT
CEO Zone'in Programs Inc. and Sunshine Coast Occupational Therapy Inc.
6840 Seaview Rd. Sechelt BC V0N3A4
604-885-0986 O, 604-740-2264 C, 604-885-0389 F
crowan@zonein.ca
websites: http://www.zonein.ca, http://www.suncoastot.com

PS - would it be okay to print your email and my response in The Source Forum on the website, which would enable other OT's who have similar concerns to benefit from this knowledge?