ARK Therapeutic

18,299 followers
·
1,006 following
www.arktherapeutic.com
Columbia, SC  ·  We're a family business that makes innovative sensory oral motor tools for the special needs community, all made in the USA!
ARK Therapeutic
ARK Products
141 Pins
ARK Products / What happens when a speech language pathologist (SLP) & a mechanical engineer join forces? Speech therapy tools! In 2000, Debbie & her husband John teamed up to create tools that Debbie needed in therapy, but didn't exist at the time. To date their company ARK has invented over 75 products for speech, feeding, oral motor, sensory, and fine motor development. All made in the USA, and all inspired by & for the children Debbie works with. These are their stories! Newest inventions are at the top.
Blog Posts by ARK
150 Pins
Blog Posts by ARK / Debra C. Lowsky, MS, CCC-SLP is the amazing therapist behind all of our products, with over 35 years of experience as a speech language pathologist and feeding therapist. Below are tips, strategies, and exercises that have proven successful for her over the years for speech, feeding, and sensory oral motor development. We hope you find them useful! All of the children in the pictures/videos are Debbie's therapy kids - a big thank you to them and their parents for letting us share!
Oral Motor Activities & Games
353 Pins
Oral Motor Activities & Games / It takes an interaction of 72 muscles to speak. That's a lot! Oral motor therapy works on developing these muscles so that they have the awareness, strength, coordination, and endurance not just for proper speech, but also for feeding development. Follow this board for all things oral motor, from general information to specific therapy exercises on how to improve tongue lateralization, tongue elevation, lip closure, jaw grading, and other movements of the articulators.
Z-Vibe Tips & Exercises
48 Pins
Z-Vibe Tips & Exercises / ARK's Z-Vibe is a therapy tool specially designed by a Speech Therapist for speech, feeding, and oral motor therapy. Its smooth vibration "wakes up" the mouth through added tactile input and sensory awareness. Highly recommended for children and adults with low oral tone, hypo or hyper sensitivities, food aversions, eating problems, or difficulties with oral motor skills and movements. Follow this board for tips, techniques, and exercises on how to use the Z-Vibe.
Food & Texture Aversions
133 Pins
Food & Texture Aversions / Food aversions can stem from many different factors, such as smell, appearance, taste, temperature, and texture. Follow this board for feeding therapy strategies on how to encourage texture acceptance, broaden your child's diet, and decrease oral sensory defensiveness.
Feeding Therapy
421 Pins
Feeding Therapy / Does your child have oral defensiveness? Too much or too little sensitivity in their mouth? Low tone or awareness? Texture or food aversions? Is he refusing foods? Only eating certain foods and not others? Does he stuff his mouth with food, pocket food in the cheeks, swallow food whole, or gag? Follow us for feeding therapy ideas on all of these eating problems and more.
Food Play
617 Pins
Food Play / We’ve all heard the popular “Don’t play with your food!” adage. But contrary to popular belief, playing with food is actually a wonderful way for kids to learn about and discover new foods. It's particularly beneficial for children who have sensory issues, food aversions, and/or problems with different food textures. Follow this board for lots of food play ideas, and visit this link for more information on why it's helpful: arktherapeutic.com/post/1358
Picky Eater Ideas
505 Pins
Picky Eater Ideas / There are a lot of reasons why a child might be a picky eater. Does he have oral sensory issues and therefore food/texture aversions? Does he refuse food because he knows he doesn't have the oral skills to manage it? Does he just not like trying new foods? Follow this board for pins on all of these possibilities and more. And visit our other boards for more feeding-related posts.
Biting & Chewing
57 Pins
Biting & Chewing / Does your child need to develop biting and chewing skills? Build jaw strength and oral tone? Does he chew on his hands, knuckles, pencils, shirts, etc.? Follow this board for all things biting and chewing. Tips, tricks, exercises, activities, and tools for oral motor practice. Plus ideas to redirect oral habits to safer chewing outlets.
Sensory Play & SPD
1492 Pins
Sensory Play & SPD / Sensory play therapy is a great (and fun!) way to provide tactile and proprioceptive input. It's also a great pre-mealtime strategy for kids with sensory issues or texture aversions. Follow this board for lots of sensory games, exercises, activities, and ideas for children to calm, self-organize, de-sensitize, and/or get exposure to new and varying textures.
Calming Activities for Kids
369 Pins
Calming Activities for Kids / Follow this board for ideas on how to help kids calm, organize, and regulate themselves, whether it be a temper tantrum, sensory overload, stress, or anything in between.
Speech Therapy Ideas
593 Pins
Speech Therapy Ideas / Almost anything can be turned into an opportunity for speech and language play! Follow this board for inspiration for your speech room and/or ideas to promote your child's speech and language development. Speech games, activities, ideas, strategies, and more.
Speech Therapy - Articulation
411 Pins
Speech Therapy - Articulation / Follow this board for games, activities, ideas, and tools for improving articulation and phonology in speech therapy and language development.
Fine Motor Fun & Games
733 Pins
Fine Motor Fun & Games / Ideas and activities to develop hand strength, hand dexterity, grip, hand eye coordination, endurance, muscle memory, handwriting skills, and more! Follow this board for all things #finemotor
Handwriting Skills
438 Pins
Handwriting Skills / Follow this board for ideas on how to improve hand strength, finger dexterity, letter formation, letter spacing, pencil grip, grip force, writing speed, focus, and more - everything you need to know about handwriting!
Gross Motor Skills
361 Pins
Gross Motor Skills / Follow this board for games, strategies, and ideas on how to improve bilateral coordination, alternating movements, trunk control, trunk rotation, core strength, and other gross motor skills.
Pediatric/School Based OT/PT Blog Posts
8159 Pins
Pediatric/School Based OT/PT Blog Posts / This is a board for peds OT&PT bloggers to submit their posts so readers can find their fav blogs all on one place! Its a great alternative to following blogs on an RSS feed! If you write an OT or PT blog, have a Pinterest account, & would like to be added to this board, pls contact PediaStaff at heidi at pediastaff dot com. Pinners pls remember direct links to blog posts only (no TpT links here). If not free, pls denote with a "$" in description - Heidi
OT PT SLP Therapy
10723 Pins
OT PT SLP Therapy / Occupational Therapy ideas, Physical Therapy Ideas, Speech Therapy Ideas for children.
♥ Therapy Successes
27 Pins
♥ Therapy Successes / These magic moments are why we started ARK, and why we love what we do. If you have a story/picture you'd like to share, we'd love to post it! Email info@arktherapeutic.com.
Success at School
153 Pins
Success at School / Follow this board for tips and advice on how to help children do their best in school.
Kid Crafts
674 Pins
Kid Crafts / More than just a fun activity, crafting is an engaging way to help kids learn about almost anything. It's also an excellent opportunity to develop fine motor skills, problem solving skills, sequencing, cause-and-effect, turn-taking, and much more. Follow this board to get crafty with your kids!
Kid Spaces
53 Pins
Kid Spaces / Kids learn from the world around them. So follow this board for ideas on how to make fun, engaging, and inspiring environments for imagination and childhood development.