We have been fortunate to have Cris Rowan, a pediatric occupational therapist from British Columbia with us the last two episodes, and she has shared some great information with us! After seeing how technology can really impact our children in today’s fast-paced and advancing world, I have asked Cris to come back for one more episode to share with us some of the strategies that parents, teachers, and therapists can do to help achieve a good balance between sensory and developmental activities, and the use of technology.

Cris reported that in a 10-year period of working in the public school system, she noticed a huge explosion of child diagnoses such as AD/HD and Autism. She was curious about the effect that technology had on the changes that were seen in these children. She started researching this area by asking parents how much their children were using technology when she met with them during school IEP meetings. Then she left her school system position and began to develop class interventions and workshops for teachers and therapists while in her private practice.

Cris shared with us the following steps to successfully unplug children from technology, based on her research and expertise in the fields of child development and technology usage:

  • Become informed.
  • Parents need to disconnect from technology to reconnect with kids and establish “sacred time” in their daily routines, during times such as car rides, meal times, holidays and evenings, such as one hour before bed.
  • Enhance child performance skills in alternate activities to build self-satisfaction (i.e.- climb a tree).
  • Ensure critical milestones of movement, touch and human connection are met at a frequency of 3-4 hours per day.
  • Address parent misperceptions of outdoor safety.
  • Restrict all technology use for toddlers under two years of age, and limit technology use to no more than two hours per day for elementary-aged children. (Cris would love to see TVs outlawed in pre-k and daycare programs.) She also has a rule of one hour in- one hour out to balance play time for children.
  • Restrict all media violence (including cartoons!) for children under the age of eight years.
  • Remove all TVs from bedrooms.

Cris has also developed numerous products and initiatives to make changes in how children to use technology, and she continues to develop new games, programs and resources for families all the time. Here are some of her products which can be found on her website:

Zone’in is a self regulation program that teaches children to harness their energy to focus and attend, and is complete with simple strategies and tools that achieve immediate results. Zone’in is accessible learning for all students, while making a teacher’s job easier.

Move’in is a two part program. A fun board game assesses fine motor skill components and provides individualized interventions to improve printing and reading. Move’in comes with easy-to-use software to create a database, as well as make custom work and journal sheets.
Unplug’in addresses TV, videogame and internet addictions in children, helping them develop the necessary skills to unplug. Traveling through the Me, We, Earth and Spirit dimensions builds performance skills, empowering children to unplug. Unplug’in brings imagination and creativity back into children’s lives!

Live’in improves child health and promotes a life long love of learning.  Designed for school and home use, the Live’in Resource Guide contains information regarding the negative effects of technology overuse, the Zone’in Research Fact Sheet, Technology Topics for Discussion, Technology Addiction Questionnaire, the Survivor Unplugged Challenge, Ten Steps to ‘Unplug’ Your Kids, Alternate Activities to Technology and the Technology Schedule.

Unplug’in brochures provide parents, teachers and health professionals with useful information and techniques to address TV, videogame and internet addictions in pre-school and elementary aged children.

She has also set up the following child health initiatives which can be found on her website:

  • Balanced Technology Management Champion Status: for Canadian Governments, Health Units, Elementary Schools, and Technology Production Corporations.
  • Linking Corporations and Communities Initiative- where she is working with large corporations such as Microsoft to redesign some of their programs and get them to put money back into community parks and nature, etc…
  • Creating Sustainable Futures Program
  • Unplug – Don’t Drug Policy Initiative

If you would like to contact Cris, sign up for her newsletters, participate on her new forum called “The Source”, or view her website, you can find her at:

www.zonein.ca
info@zonein.ca

1-888-8zonein (888-896-6346)
604-885-2666

Remember you have any questions or comments; please post them on The Sensory Show blog.

Thank you again Cris for everything you do. It’s obvious that you are passionate about taking such an active role in making a difference in this world for our challenging, but amazing children!

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