When it comes to supporting children with behavior challenges or developmental disabilities, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a widely used approach that helps teach and…

What is hydrotherapy? Hydrotherapy, also known as Aquatic therapy, is the use of water for therapeutic purposes. It has been gaining recognition as an effective…

Starting school is an exciting fun-filled time, but it can also seem like a big scary change and a step for children and parents. Planning…

Children today play less than previous generations, and this shift has significant implications for their overall development. Play is more than just fun and games…

Fostering self-advocacy in school-aged children with communication challenges.   What is self-advocacy? Self-advocacy is the ability to communicate your needs. Children who self-advocate are more…

Have you ever wondered about the magic that happens when you read a book with your child? How does that special time together shape their…

In the initial months after birth, it’s not unusual for parents to seek consultation with their paediatrician or a physical therapist due to concerns of…

Does your child ever cover their eyes and think they are invisible when playing games such as hide-and-seek? What about when you ask your child…

Many parents struggle in finding the right balance to set boundaries for their child, while also giving their child the freedom to express themselves through…

Hey amazing parents and caregivers! As we plunge into January—the gateway to the year and the month that celebrates the International Day of Education—let’s transform…

You know how the holiday season is a magical time filled with love, laughter, and precious family traditions? Well, let’s keep it real as it…

The journey to motherhood is a beautiful voyage filled with hope, expectations, and eager anticipation, as all parents eagerly await the arrival of their bundle…

Unlocking Communication: How Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Empowers Children in Early Intervention In the intricate journey of child development, effective communication stands as an…

Neurologic pediatric physiotherapy plays a crucial role with the rehabilitation team in enhancing the quality of life of children with neurological diseases. In this blog…

Introduction Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability characterized by persistent impairments in social communication and the presence of restricted repetitive patterns of behaviours,…

What is Disability Awareness Month? The Disability Awareness Month is a month to raise awareness about disability rights and the challenges that people with disabilities…

Why is vision important in children? According to research, 80% of what children learn is through their eyes. Research also shows that up to 80%…

March 2023 marked three years since COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Life in the UAE is back to normal,…

April is Cortical Visual impairment (CVI) Literacy Awareness Month.  The road to literacy is different for someone with CVI than someone with a different type…

As a parent, it can be difficult to understand and manage challenging behaviors in children with Down syndrome. As this is a common concern for…

Rett syndrome is a rare, progressive neurodevelopment condition that mostly affects females and is characterized by physical and cognitive developmental impairment (Gold et al, 2018)….

As the world observes the International Day of Education, we dedicate this month’s blog entry to the role of occupational therapists in helping super special…

What happens when my kid swallows? Swallowing is divided into three stages. The first stage, the oral–preparatory, is a voluntary process hosted in the oral…

Imagine you are on the phone with your best friend and you want to share your experience at an event you recently attended. You attempt…

In speech and language therapy, sentence expansion is one of the most widely used building blocks that promotes language development. It consists of listening to…

Understanding Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy On the occasion of the World Duchenne Awareness Day on 7 September, we shed light on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) through…

What is Spinal Muscular Atrophy? Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) refers to a group of rare, genetically inherited neuromuscular diseases that damage and kill specialized nerve…

What is Fragile X syndrome? Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a genetic disorder that affects a specific gene on the X-chromosome. This gene is called…

Children with progressive and non-progressive neurological impairment like cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, CDKL5 deficiency disorder, and myelomeningocele present abnormal and asymmetric muscle forces, which lead…

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) defines Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) as a rare neurologic sensorimotor speech sound disorder. A child diagnosed with CAS presents…

5 answers from the expert On the occasion of Autism Awareness Month, we invite Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou to share with us in this blog post…

Research proves that following daily routines such as bathing, feeding, changing clothes, and riding in a car significantly impacts children’s communication and language development, thus…

Babies are born ready to receive and capture all kinds of stimulation: auditory, tactile, visual, etc. This helps guarantee proper neuromotor development, the basics of…

What is joint attention? You are at the park with your toddler when an airplane flies overhead. He/she runs to you, tugs your sleeve, points…

In our early intervention clinic, we frequently meet with families preoccupied with their infant’s lack of words, or limited vocabulary. Our speech and language therapists…

Vibration therapy (VT) is increasingly used to address coordination, strength, and flexibility, improving the performance of children and adults in functional activities. The clinical application…

What is the SOS Approach to Feeding? The SOS (Sequential-Oral-Sensory) Approach to Feeding is an evidence based clinical program recognised internationally for helping children build…

Meaning of Proprioception Have you ever walked into a dark room and searched for the light switch? The sensory systems your body relied on to…

As a Pediatric Speech Therapist, I am privileged to work with children in various educational settings, including schools and nurseries. I often notice children who…

A child younger than 12 months has no control over their bladder and bowel movements. Between the ages of 12 and 18 months, they have…

A feeding tube is a medical device that is necessary when an individual cannot take food, fluids, or medication by mouth safely. This difficulty may…

Neurologist Dr Patricia Hartlage defines ataxia as the condition of being unable to get a taxi: When arriving at an airport, one usually hails a…

Hand dominance or hand preference is a common topic of discussion in our Occupational Therapy sessions. Parents often ask us when a child should have…

Taking notes in a book, using gestures to communicate, or pointing to pictures to express ourselves are forms of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). AAC…

As an adult, it is very hard to keep up with all daily tasks…completing all your chores at home, finishing that presentation at work, calling…

The choice between orthopaedic shoes and lower limb orthoses for children with movement disorders is widely discussed in the clinical setting, leaving parents and caregivers…

Becoming verbal requires abilities that we normally take for granted such as being able to volitionally control one’s voice, and to move one’s oral structures…

Imagine sitting in a chair with a cushion that makes your right hip higher than the other, pushes your left leg further forward than your…

When a child starts stuttering one of the questions that concerns parents is ‘what is the best approach? Wait or consult a speech therapist? Should…

The demands of children’s neurological rehabilitation are related to autonomy and independence, and often involve contributions from several disciplines, such as the physical therapist, speech…

Reading to young children is one of the most powerful ways to help them engage with literacy, but children with CVI may only focus on…

Are handwriting skills critical to your child’s success. In this digital age, children are swiping and tapping on screens before they are even able to…

What got me started? I was first introduced to the Neuro-Developmental Treatment (NDT) Approach in the year 2006, when I was seeking knowledge in neuropediatrics…

“Children with Speech Sound Disorders (SSD) have gaps and simplifications in their speech sound systems that can make what they say difficult to understand.” (Bowen,…

In April this year, High Hopes completed our first Stepping Stones Triple P parenting workshop series. This was accessed by families and professionals alike. In…

Think about how it feels to hold your child when they are fast asleep versus when they are clinging to you. The more activation, the…

Partial body weight support (PBWS) training is an evidence-based approach for walking training of children with neuromotor disorders (Novak et al., 2020) that uses task-specific…

This article is part of a continuing series about Cortical Visual Impairment. We’ve got to stop thinking that there’s a group of people who have…

Early diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder has generated big debates over the past decade. Some professionals find it inappropriate to “label” young children, when there…

If there was anything that I could use my magic wand on, to make it work better, it would be to treat Dystonia in Cerebral…

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” – Ludwig Wittgenstein According to “The Handbook of Bilingualism”, “Bilingualism – more generally, multilingualism…

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) occurs in each sensory system (Visual, Tactile, Olfactory, Auditory, Vestibular, Proprioceptive and Taste) and the manifestations may vary for each subtype….

The universal exercise unit, commonly referred to as the spider cage, is a structure used in neuropediatric rehabilitation to allow active and self-initiated movements and…

When loudness “unlocks” clear speech Many children that we see at High Hopes have motor speech disorders as a result of brain damage before or…

This article is part of a continuing series about Cortical Visual Impairment. As many children are now spending time with their families at home, parents…

In this time of global change, we are committed to continuing caring for our children and their families, hence the importance of the new healthcare…

I know that this a is a bit late in coming (sorry about that Lynne, Aida and the therapy team; I’ve been a bit busy),…

As the famous American restaurateur Guy Fieri once said ”Food is maybe the only universal thing that really has the power to bring everyone together….

Proprioceptive input is my most commonly used sensory input during therapy. It can be used with a diverse population of children to calm, alert and…

Introduction The ball has been used in physical therapy for about 60 years. It is an indispensable tool for physical therapists around the world in…

The Intensive Interaction approach was developed in the 1980s by teachers Dave Hewett and Melanie Nind, at a special education service near London. They realized…

Is it a good approach to improve the performance of children with cerebral palsy and other neurological conditions? A major concern in planning for the…

Cortical Visual Impairment affects the brain’s ability to process what the eyes are seeing. One of the central characteristics of CVI is visual complexity. Children…

Toilet training is a common concern for parents. When should is happen? How do you do it? Is your child ready? Are YOU ready? Read…

“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and – SNAP – the job’s a game!”…

Wipe attack?! The title of this blog is inspired by a routine I learned from the father of a very special kid that goes “Attaaaack……

Parenting is tough work. Parenting a child with special needs deserves a gold medal, and it is safe to say that during the last month…

Stretching is the pleasant, low-hanging fruit of an exercise program. Feeling every breath in a serene yogic pose is, to some, more appealing than chasing…

We are sensory beings. No matter which way you look at it, we need our sensory systems to make sense of ourselves and the world…

Worldwide scientific researches, especially in the genetic field, have identified a considerable number of new disorders, or have labeled some of those that do not…

This blog is part of a series of articles on CVI. For more information, What is Cortical Visual Impairment? offers a good introduction to CVI….

Speech is the most complicated motor act that children will ever learn. They must practice controlling more than 100 muscles at once to move their…

What is Aquatic Therapy? Aquatic therapy is treatment provided by an occupational therapist (OT) or a physical therapist (PT) in an aquatic environment. It is…

The Dubai hustle is demanding. It takes energy to climb the career ladder, keep pace with friends and raise upstanding little ones. Opportunities for rest…

What is play? Play is engagement in an activity that is enjoyable. Play can look very different for each individual as we all have different…

As a Speech and Language Pathologist who works with young children, my goals often involve literacy or the precursors to literacy. Why? Because reading and…

Cortical Visual Impairment is the most prevalent form of visual impairment among children from developed countries.i CVI is unique among visual impairments because it is…

One of the scariest challenges mothers can face is not being able to feed their children. Having a child who is a picky eater has…

“…the world is what your brain tells you it is, and the limitations of your senses sets the boundaries of your conscious experience.” (Coren, Porac,…

When you look up developmental milestones for your child, you might see charts and graphs with lines or circles that intersect, or long lists of…

Walking the style-bright streets of Saint-Honoré fashion district in Paris, a lighted sign catches your eye. You want to believe those words but, your rational…

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a neurologically based, childhood speech sound disorder. CAS affects the precision and consistency of the movements which produce speech…

Visual impairment generally refers to diminished sight, and it’s easy to assume that vision problems begin with the eyes. However, the eyes are just the…

While several facilities offer all therapies under one roof, it is rare that clinicians coordinate therapeutic strategies across disciplines to deliver integrated, goal-directed care. Traditionally,…