Top 12 of 2012

As 2012 draws to an end and I reflect on the past year, I realize how blessed I am and what a year it has been! 2012 will always be remembered as the year I got engaged, discovered the ski slopes of Utah (sorry, Colorado), got married, hiked the Grand Canyon, rode my bicycle across Iowa (for the fifth time!), enjoyed one last perfect night in LA, moved across the country, settled into a new city, and started a new job!

2012 was also my first full year of blogging, which I've discovered is not as easy as so many bloggers out there make it appear. This past year has been full of blogging highs and lows. The lows including not having the time or blogging energy to share everything that I would like to share with my readers. Also, finding a balance between work, life, and blogging has been an ongoing challenge. So far, the highs continue to far outweigh the lows, and I look forward to another year of blogging, although possibly not as consistently this next year, as I try to figure out this whole blogging balance.

Now onto the highs! Blogging has given me the opportunity to connect with readers of all kinds, from parents to other therapists to prospective occupational therapy students to app and product developers. People that I never would have connected with, without this little blog of mine. I've also had  more visitors to my blog than I ever imagined possible. To all of my readers, I would like to extend a HUGE thank you! Thank you for reading and for sharing your thoughts with me. To all of the bloggers who have welcomed me as a guest blogger, Thank You! To all of the parents who have participated in my Parent's Perspective feature, THANK YOU! My blog wouldn't be where it is today, without all of you!

As I reflect on my year of blogging, I tried to come up with my Top 12 of 2012, as the title suggests, but I couldn't narrow it to only 12, so let's disregard the title and reminisce about the past year!

Based on page views, it seems like readers really enjoy easy to implement tips, like ways to adapt paper for math and tips for teaching shoe tying. DIY therapy ideas also seem to be a big hit. Some of readers' favorite DIY's included how to make a slant board, how to make an adapted crayon, and how to make a weighted glove.

This year, I began using my iPad as a therapy tool and reviewed some of my favorites here on my blog. For handwriting, I especially like Ready to Print and LetterSchool. A couple of my favorite apps for use in early intervention are Baby's Musical Hands and Baby Finger. I hope to continue reviewing my favorite apps in 2013 and sharing how I use different apps therapeutically. I will keep my iPad apps page updated as I do so!

By far, my proudest blogging moment of 2012 was debuting (and keeping it going!) my Parent's Perspective feature. I could never choose just one for this list, so I recommend you head over to my Parent's Perspective page and check out all of the words of wisdom shared by so many amazing parents. If you read only one thing on my blog, I would recommend that it be the (almost) weekly Parent's Perspective features.

2012 was also year of guest posting for me. Some of my favorites included a post on Down syndrome, this post all about Sensory Processing Disorder, '5 things your school OT wishes you would do this summer', and 'Tips for feeding your toddler with autism'. I was also honored to guest blog for Ellen at Love That Max, with my 'Summer fun for kids with special needs' post

While this next post was not a big hit in terms of page views, I think it is something that all OTs can relate to, and as I've mentioned, it's something that I'm continually working on. In honor of World OT Day, I wrote about how I try to find balance.

Thank you again for reading and here's to a happy and balanced 2013!