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For today’s 12 minute talk, I’m interviewing Dr. Brittany Ferri.  She is an occupational therapist, and she has a passion for talking with kids about disabilities.  Brittany talks about her program, Social Fly, a social and motor skills curriculum that educates kids ages 5-12 about disabilities.  This program is great for parents, teachers, child life specialists, and anyone else who is interested in learning how to talk to children about these topics.  

In this episode, we talk about…

[1:10] Branching out from our professions to broaden our reach

Dr. Brittany Ferri is an occupational therapist.  She has her masters in OT as well as her PhD in integrative mental health.  She had been an OT in mental health settings for around six years, and then a couple of years ago she transitioned full time into her business, Simplicity of Health.  It is a health writing business, and they also do a lot of consulting, program development, and product creation.

Her journey is similar to mine, in that we both have professions that we love but we also wanted to branch out because the information we have is so important.  Parents are so deserving of knowing it, and we want to share it with as many people as possible.

Brittany loved being in the clinic, but she feels like her reach is a lot more broad these days.  She gets a lot of positive feedback from her writing and content creation, and she feels like she has a lot of impact when people are really understanding and using the information she shares.

[2:19] The Social Fly program

Brittany developed a program called Social Fly, which educates children ages 5-12 about motor skills, social skills, and children with disabilities.  These are all really important for kids to learn, and it has been especially tough throughout the pandemic.  Children have not been getting the interaction they need, so Brittany wanted to create this program that works on the go.  It can be used at home, in schools, in hospitals, and wherever else those skills may be needed.  She wanted to make it available to parents, because they play such a big role in their child’s development.

When parents get in front of medical professionals, they can feel overwhelmed.  The easier it is to guide parents, the more beneficial the program can be.  This program is for all children.  It talks about disabilities, so it lets kids know that they aren’t alone in their disabilities, or that there are other people out there that are different from them, but it’s nothing to be afraid of or intimidated by.

That is the premise of the educational material, and then it has a lot of activities based on fine and gross motor skills, cognition, sensory processing, motor planning – things that are crucial to kids’ development during that period of time.

[5:39] Integrating occupational therapy into everyday life

If your child receives services outside the home, it is still important to do as much as you can at home.  Many parents have other kids, busy schedules, and their own issues to deal with, but therapy is only as good as what is happening at home.

Brittany would encourage parents to ask their child’s service providers how they can make progress at home as well.  It might be something as simple as doing something differently during the morning routine to give your child some independence to participate in the process.  Small changes in behavior can really help encourage skill-building in children.

We often talk about children being a little bit different than them.  We use words that aren’t stigmatizing.  So if we’re talking about a child with muscular dystrophy, we’re not saying they’re weak, or they can’t do X, Y, Z.  We might phrase it as, they can’t build muscle in the same way that you do.  That doesn’t mean they’re not strong. That just means they have to do things a little bit differently.  Maybe they need more help with getting dressed in the morning, or something like that. We want to break it down, explain it in their language, and eliminate that fear and that stigma that sometimes develops from the unknown.

[7:32] Phrases to use to discuss disabilities with kids who are typically developing

We often talk about children being a little bit different than them.  We use words that aren’t stigmatizing.  So if we’re talking about a child with muscular dystrophy, we’re not saying they’re weak, or they can’t do X, Y, Z.  We might phrase it as, they can’t build muscle in the same way that you do.  That doesn’t mean they’re not strong. That just means they have to do things a little bit differently.  Maybe they need more help with getting dressed in the morning, or something like that. We want to break it down, explain it in their language, and eliminate that fear and that stigma that sometimes develops from the unknown.

[9:15] Having tough conversations with your kids

Having these conversations with your kids can be tough at first, and it can be difficult to answer big questions.  It does, however, make a huge difference in the long run if you actually sit down and talk to them about it – instead of either sheltering them from it or ignoring it, or even worse, lying to them.  In order to put it into terms they can understand, maybe you can liken it to a favorite show or a video game character they are familiar with.  INcorporate an anecdote or an analogy based on what is familiar or what they already know.  Chances are, they’re going to relate to what you’re saying a lot better.

It’s always a good sign when your kids are asking about these things in the first place, because that means they’re curious.  You never want to dim that light of curiosity, but instead you want to use it as a teachable moment.

[12:25] How to connect with Dr. Brittany Ferri

Dr. Brittany Ferri

Occupational Therapist at Simplicity of Health

Creator of Social Fly 

www.simplicityofhealth.com

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