Ready Bodies, Learning Minds; Cultivating the Complete Child
Concepts, Strategies, and Motor Labs for All Children
What is the sensory-motor connection to the academic success of children? Why do they fall out of chairs, hold their pencils tightly, chew their shirts? How can a motor lab help? We recognize physical activity is important to learning, but why? RBLM explores our physiological systems within the context of the dynamics systems theory of development and our current culture of education.
This program was created to support the developmental, motor, sensory, and academic growth of all students—special education, at-risk, and regular education. In a pro-active manner this research-based strategy is also being used as a Response to Intervention resource and program. This presentation will highlight intrinsic movements (also known as reflexes), developmental and educational theories, classroom strategies, handwriting, and behavior.
The Ready Bodies Motor Labs will be demonstrated by classroom participants and videos of school students. The activities are designed to be implemented as an individual intervention to be used by a therapist, as a classroom center or activity, as an adaptive physical education, or as a campus-wide curriculum. The program is simple to administer, does not require specific referrals, and can be used for all students.
For full course description, please visit our webpage at https://readybodieslearningminds.com/rblm-seminar-...
Your Instructor
Athena Oden, PT, graduated from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and has spent the last 40 years in pediatrics, working in public and private school settings including schools for the blind and deaf and early childhood, residential facilities, and non-profit organizations for children. She has created and implemented successful motor programs for schools throughout the U.S., headed Assistive Technology teams, designed accessible playgrounds, and served on the founding Board of Directors for a private school. She presents both nationwide and internationally on childhood development and its importance in an academic setting.
Her newest book, Ready Bodies, Learning Minds: Cultivating the Complete Child, is written for therapists, teachers and parents, and gives insight into the sensory and motor systems necessary for learning and success for students of all ages and abilities, incorporating research and references while outlining the curriculum for school-based motor lab programs. As a companion tool, The Manual for Ready Bodies, Learning Minds Screening Report assists therapists in identifying specific intervention strategies.
Athena was privileged to participate in the creation of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) White paper for The Role of School-Based Physical Therapy: Successful Participation for All Students, and to serve for six years as the Regional Representative for the South Central US States for the School Based SIG of the APTA. As the owner of Ready Bodies, Learning Minds, LLC., Athena is known for practical, compassionate, and down-to-earth training. She and her husband David, raised their 3 children in the Texas Hill Country, where she loves to garden, feed the cows, and sit with a cup of hot tea and a musty, old classic book.