BookstoreAre you looking for Gow School athletic gear, sweatshirts, hats, umbrellas, or blankets?A variety of items can be ordered over the phone.Contact Bookstore Manager, Mary Kulpa at 716-687-2080 for more information.Shipping charges and local taxes apply.Are you interested in ordering a personalized rocking chair with the school logo? Standard Chair of Gardner will donate $25 to The Gow School for each purchase.Sign in to Flag as SpamCelebrate 25 Years with Abilitations Check out our NEW Special Needs Products for 2017! Save up to 86% on Special Needs Products While Supplies Last! Orthopedic Impairment Product Solutions. Celebrate with us and SAVE! Abilitations and School Specialty are committed to enhancing the lives of individuals with special needs. We strive to offer the most comprehensive assortment of products and solutions for all children, and the therapists, educators and families that support them. From theraputty to fidgets, to weighted blankets, swings and more we offer the most effective special needs resources and solutions available.
In addition, we reinforce our commitment and support through our Blog, our Bright Solutions tips from the pro's and our on-staff experts to answer all your questions. Lifetime Children's Stack Chair, Dragonfly Blue - 4 pack | Lifetime Children's Stack Chair, Fire Red - 4 pack | Children's 12" Stack Chair Chrome Legs with Swivel Glides - Assorted - 6 Pack | Lifetime Children's Stack Chair, Fire Red or Dragonfly Blue | Children's 12" Stack Chair with Chrome Legs - Assorted - 6 Pack | ECR4Kids 14" Stack Chair Select Color - 6 pack | ECRKids 12" Stack Chair, Select Color - 6 pack | ECR4Kids 14" Stack Chair with Chrome Legs & Swivel Glides, Assorted Colors - 6 pack | ECR4Kids 16" Ball Glide Stack Chair with Chrome Legs, Select Color - 6 Pack | ECR4Kids 12" Stack Chair Matching Legs with Ball Glides, Assorted Colors - 6 pack | ECR4Kids 10" Stack Chair with Matching Legs and Ball Glides, Assorted Colors - 6 pack | 10" Child's Stack Chair - 6 Pack - Various Colors |
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ECR4Kids 12" Resin Chair, Select Color - 6 pack | ECR4Kids Children's Chair, Natural Finish | Tablet Arm Chair Left Arm - Black - 4 Pack | MGI 14" Children's Stacking Chair, Select Color | ECR4Kids 14" Stack Chair Chrome Legs with Ball Glides, Assorted Colors - 6 Pack | ECR4Kids 10" Bentwood Chair, Natural Finish - 2 pack |The requested URL /Sensory%20Strategies.html was not found on this server.A perfect stranger pours her heart out to me over the phone. She complains that her six-year-old son is unable to sit still in the classroom. The school wants to test him for ADHD (attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder). This sounds familiar, I think to myself. As a pediatric occupational therapist, I’ve noticed that this is a fairly common problem today. The mother goes on to explain how her son comes home every day with a yellow smiley face. The rest of his class goes home with green smiley faces for good behavior. Every day this child is reminded that his behavior is unacceptable, simply because he can’t sit still for long periods of time.
The mother starts crying. “He is starting to say things like, ‘I hate myself’ and ‘I’m no good at anything.’” This young boy’s self-esteem is plummeting all because he needs to move more often. Over the past decade, more and more children are being coded as having attention issues and possibly ADHD. A local elementary teacher tells me that at least eight of her twenty-two students have trouble paying attention on a good day. At the same time, children are expected to sit for longer periods of time. In fact, even kindergarteners are being asked to sit for thirty minutes during circle time at some schools. The problem: children are constantly in an upright position these days. It is rare to find children rolling down hills, climbing trees, and spinning in circles just for fun. Merry-go-rounds and teeter-totters are a thing of the past. Recess times have shortened due to increasing educational demands, and children rarely play outdoors due to parental fears, liability issues, and the hectic schedules of modern-day society.
Lets face it: Children are not nearly moving enough, and it is really starting to become a problem. I recently observed a fifth grade classroom as a favor to a teacher. I quietly went in and took a seat towards the back of the classroom. The teacher was reading a book to the children and it was towards the end of the day. I’ve never seen anything like it. Kids were tilting back their chairs back at extreme angles, others were rocking their bodies back and forth, a few were chewing on the ends of their pencils, and one child was hitting a water bottle against her forehead in a rhythmic pattern. This was not a special needs classroom, but a typical classroom at a popular art-integrated charter school. My first thought was that the children might have been fidgeting because it was the end of the day and they were simply tired. Even though this may have been part of the problem, there was certainly another underlying reason. We quickly learned after further testing, that most of the children in the classroom had poor core strength and balance.
In fact, we tested a few other classrooms and found that when compared to children from the early 1980s, only one out of twelve children had normal strength and balance. Oh my goodness, I thought to myself. These children need to move! Ironically, many children are walking around with an underdeveloped vestibular (balance) system today--due to restricted movement. In order to develop a strong balance system, children need to move their body in all directions, for hours at a time. Just like with exercising, they need to do this more than just once-a-week in order to reap the benefits. Therefore, having soccer practice once or twice a week is likely not enough movement for the child to develop a strong sensory system. Children are going to class with bodies that are less prepared to learn than ever before. With sensory systems not quite working right, they are asked to sit and pay attention. Children naturally start fidgeting in order to get the movement their body so desperately needs and is not getting enough of to “turn their brain on.”