#156 - Hand Eye Body Coordination with the Expert Dr. Jacob Weiss

This episode is all about hand-eye-body coordination! To help us unpack this exciting and important subject, we have none other than Dr. Jacob Weiss, who is the Director of the HandEyeBody Academy!

We talk about how he got started, his magical history as a professional juggler, and unpack how hand-eye coordination can be utilized for different contexts and issues.

Jacob also situates his work in the realm of similar strategies, commenting on Bal-A-Vis-X specifically, and the founding principles of what he does, focusing on fun and novelty.

One of Jacob's main aims is to empower trainers and teachers to spread the methods he has developed. This sharing and collaboration is a key part of how our guest envisions positive change.

We hear about some of Jacobs amazing first hand success stories, and examples from the classroom. Our chat ends thinking about the near future for the Academy and how to get involved!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Jacob's role at the HandEyeBody Academy and how he got started. 
• The time that Jacob spent as a professional juggler! 
• The importance of hand-eye coordination in different contexts and age groups.  
• Therapeutic activities that Jacob uses and has developed for a range of abilities.   
• Comparing Jacob's methods to other similar approaches and how combinations can help. 
• Focusing on fun and novelty - how this helps influence the mindset when learning. 
• 'Training the trainer': the emphasis that Jacob puts on educating coaches and therapists.
• The wide array of interdisciplinary training available online at HandEyeBody Academy.  
• Challenges that Jacob has faced in his work, and recently, during the pandemic. 
• Examples of simple and fun exercises for the classroom!  
• How Jacob incorporates his methods in his own home with his young daughter.
• The next steps for HandEyeBody Academy; bringing in more personnel and developing a specific ball kit.  
• Where to find and connect with the HandEyeBody Academy online.
• Jacob's advice to listeners around the important questions to assess value. 

Be sure to check out the show notes on our blog at  Harkla.Co/Podcast.

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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dr. Jacob Weiss on LinkedIn
HandEyeBody Academy
Dr. Jacob Weiss on Instagram
Vanderbilt University
How I Built This
Bal-A-Vis-X
Harkla
All Things Sensory on Instagram
All Things Sensory on Facebook