Tag Archive for: Sensory Processing Disorder

12 Ways to Help your Child who is Sensitive to Textures (tags, socks, sand)

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Children with tactile defensiveness or hypersensitivity will avoid, become fearful of, or bothered by  various, every-day touch experiences that typically would not cause alarm or issues for others. Their avoidance of tactile experiences and lack of engagement in tactile play ultimately limits their learning experiences and development of gross and fine motor skills.

Tactile defensiveness and hypersensitivity happens because the nervous system is not interpreting touch sensations and stimulation accurately, resulting in a child responding with fear, avoidance, withdrawal, or acting out with a “fight-or-flight” response. Your child is not acting this way to intentionally make life difficult for your family. Don’t get upset, blame your child, or punish your child, but advocate for your child’s difficulties, and help them get the treatment and accommodations they need!

Following are 12 ideas to help your child who is sensitive to textures:

1. Seamless socks (www.smartknitkids.com )Boy putting on Sock

2. Cut tags out of clothing

3. Go shopping with your child and allow them to choose clothes and shoes that they like

4. Make your own Play Doh:

CHOCOLATE SCENTED PLAYDOH:

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup salt

1/2 tablespoon cream of tartar

1/2 tablespoon cooking oil

1 cup boiling water.

Mix flour, cocoa powder, salt, and cream of tartar together. Add cooking oil and boiling water to mixture. Stir quickly and mix well. Cook over low heat until dough forms a ball. When cool, mix with your hands. Store in airtight container.

5. Administer deep pressure when a child is irritated by texture… Practice deep pressure often. “Deep pressure” refers to a type of touch that may help to desensitize your child’s tactile experience. This could include massage, a “bear hug” or wrapping your child snugly in a blanket.

6. Wearing spandex or lycra clothes under regular clothing has a calming effect because deep pressure is distributed over the body/limbs.

7. Engage in play with undesirable textures for short periods of time and in a non threatening way. Try to slowly increase the time that it is tolerated. For example, shaving cream, glue, sand, dry rice, etc.

8. Keep crunchy foods on hand for your sensory-sensitive child, as these foods facilitate an important “sixth sense” called proprioception, which allows a person to accurately perceive body awareness, movement and body position. Crunchy foods may help your child to develop better proprioception.

9. Separate textures during meals. It may help to avoid mixing foods together that have conflicting textures, such as mashed potatoes and gravy.

10. Fun activities to try:

  • Play Doh, Moon Sand
  • Finding objects buried and hidden in dry beans or rice (uncooked)
  • Fingerpainting with pudding or fingerpaints
  • Towel rub down after a warm bath (firm, quick strokes)
  • Messy play with paints, foams, etc. in the tub where they can immediately wash off if bothered by it
  • Lotion massage to extremities

11. An Occupational Therapist (OT) may guide you in administering the Wilbarger Brushing Protocol, which has the purpose of decreasing tactile sensitivities.

12. A child with tactile defensiveness and sensitivity needs to be in Occupational Therapy. Tactile hypersensitivity and defensiveness will not go away on its own! Tactile sensitivity is often part of a larger problem, called Sensory Processing Disorder. An occupational therapist can help your child decrease sensory sensitivities and improve overall sensory processing for improved daily functioning in all areas. It is an OT’s goal to introduce tactile experiences slowly and gradually as the child is ready to experience them, so this defensive/aversive reaction is avoided! In order to achieve proper developmental milestones and develop social skills, these children need to have the underlying sensory defensiveness addressed.

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6 Ways Aquatic Therapy Can Help Your Child

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Aquatic therapy is a wonderful activity for children and adults of all ages. If your child likes the bath and is motivated by water, aquatic therapy is aqua therapygreat way to build their skills and confidence.

Below are 6 ways that aquatic therapy can help your child reach their full potential:

1. Gains in range of motion:

After an injury, such as a broken leg or an ankle sprain, joint movement is often limited by swelling or decreased strength to muscles. Aquatic therapy pools are generally set to a comfortable 80-90 degrees, which is warmer then a normal pool. Using the warm temperature of the water, joints will be able to be more flexible and stretch to new limits.

2. Increased strength:

Once proper range of motion is achieved at a joint, proper strengthening is needed in order for the muscle to perform well at its new length. Using the principle of resistance, muscles are able to gain strength by performing simple actions in the water, such as lifting a leg to the side of the body.

3. Achievement of gross motor milestones:

Children have an easier time completing gross motor milestones, such as rolling, walking and jumping in the water secondary to buoyancy principles. For example, a child with cerebral palsy may learn to roll in the water with the assist of a therapist and the buoyancy of the water. Once the nervous and musculoskeletal system in the child’s body learn how to roll in the water, it will be easier to learn on a mat table in the clinic and then transfer to rolling in bed at home.

4. Increased tactile input:

For kids with sensory processing disorders, the water can provide the deep pressure input that they crave. This deep pressure and overall increased tactile input will help a child who has difficulty processing sensory input transfer into a more organized, calm child.

5. Helps with breath support:

For kids with speech issues, aquatic therapy can be very helpful. By using techniques such as holding their breath under water, deep breathing and by raising their arms up and bringing them down with the resistance of water can all help with proper breath support for speaking.

6. Better social interaction:

Completing gross motor activities can often help to decrease social anxiety. Often times, jumping into the water or swimming across the length of the pool can encourage speaking in children who have anxiety. Kids can also learn a swimming stroke from watching each other, share toys and participate in fun games together in the pool setting.

Aquatic therapy can be a great way to help your child reach their full potential. Not only can it help with gross motor skills, but can also help with speech and social interaction. So, if your child is motivated by the water, encourage them to jump on in!

Have aquatic games you would like to share? Leave us a comment and let us know!

How to Prepare a Child for a Visit to the Dentist

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Going to the dentist, whether for the first time or the tenth time, can be an intimidating event for both children and their parents-especially children with sensory processing disorders. Children and parents usually have a lot of questions about what is going to happen at the appointment.Kid visiting the dentist

Parents wonder: Will my child have a meltdown? Have we been brushing his teeth enough? Will my child have cavities?

Children wonder: Why do I have to go to the dentist? Will it hurt? What will is smell like? Will it be loud? How long will it take? Do I get a prize at the end?

Below are some simple tips to try out the next time a dentist appointment is approaching, so that everyone has a worry-free experience.

5 Simple Tips to prepare your child for a dentist appointment:

1. Make sure to talk to your child ahead of time. Let them know which day they will be going to the dentist and tell them some of the events that may occur (e.g. sit in a special chair, clean their teeth with toothpaste, look in their mouth with a small mirror and other silver tools).

2. Talk about their 5 senses. Let your child know what noises they may hear with their ears, see with their eyes, taste with their mouth, touch with their hands or mouth, or smell with their nose (e.g. bright lights above their chair so that the dentist can see all of their teeth; cold water from a little hose to rinse out their mouth).

3. Drive past the dentist office a day or two prior to the appointment so that your child can see where they will be going. Talk about landmarks nearby, especially if they have been to that area before or have a special interest in something nearby (e.g. “There is the grocery store we go to each week to buy our food” or “there is the post office where all of our letters go”).

4. Have your child mark off the days on the calendar or create a countdown on a wipe-off board one week prior to the appointment. This will give your child a visual cue and help them to take an active part in the upcoming appointment. Click here for more information about the benefits of visual calendars.

5. Make your child comfortable.  Allow your child to bring 1 comfort item with them (e.g. small stuffed animal/blanket, squeeze toy or favorite car etc).

Feel free to share some of your Dentist Tips with us by leaving a comment below!

A Little Roughhousing Goes a Long Way

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As a pediatric occupational therapist, this story on The Today Show this morning caught my attention.Dad roughhousing with boys

The story illustrates that roughhousing helps “self- esteem and physical development” and that “it can actually make kids smarter, emotionally intelligent, likable — even lovable”.

For years, I have been prescribing home exercise programs to parents with children with sensory processing difficulties that include just this, a little roughhousing.

Recommended Roughhousing With Your Children:

  • I recommend pulling couch cushions on the floor and having their children jump around. I suggest squishing their child between pillows and making a “sandwich” out of them.
  • I also advise parents to wrap up their child in a blanket and have them log roll across the floor. This roughhousing is actually intense proprioceptive sensory input (the input your body receives from your muscles and joints).

This type of play provides kids with the input that they need to help them be more organized for every day activities and is regularly used in pediatric occupational therapy sessions. In fact, these activities help your child to learn and be more aware of their bodies.

So go ahead and have a little fun!

Disc-o-Sit | Easy Home Activities That Target Balance and Core Control

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The Disc-O-Sit cushion is a fun and easy tool to use at home.   This round, rubbery cushioncan be used to work on balance, core strength and postural control.  Below are suggestions for a variety of activities that your child will enjoy!

Using The Disc-O-Sit Cushion While Standing or Kneeling:Disc-O-Sit Product

  • Tape a piece of paper or a picture to the walland have your child color while reaching overhead
  • Play baseball or bowling
  • Play catch
  • Play balloon volleyball Read more

The Oprah Winfrey and Sensory Processing Disorder Controversy

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There has been a loud voice from many people who advocate for sensory processing disorder (SPD) after a segment on the Oprah Show which aired on Friday February 18th, about a seven year old boy with multiple mental health diagnoses, one including sensory processing disorder.  http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Children-Dealing-with-Violent-Rage/1

What The Oprah Show and SPD Commotion Was All About: Oprah Show

Many advocates have voiced concern that sensory processing disorder has been misrepresented on the show, leading viewers to believe that a child with SPD is violent, aggressive and gets pleasure from events that may cause pain for others. I do not believe this was the intention of the family or the show, but it still may have been perceived as such.

The explanation from Oprah’s summary on her website states SPD is “a condition which alters the way one processes stimuli- sound, touch, smell- from the world”. The mother does explain that Zach has a combination of hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity and that he would do things like throw his body on the ground and would get pleasure and laugh when other children would be hurt. His mother also explains that sounds, light and clothing bother him.

Why Sensory Processing Disorder Advocates Were Upset With The Oprah Episode:

I understand the focus of the episode is about this young boy’s tragic story and his family’s struggles through their journey, not to focus on defining sensory processing disorder because let’s face it, SPD can not be simply summed up in one sentence, but this is such a simple explanation for such a complex diagnosis. There was no explanation of which diagnosis affected the boy in which ways, what diagnosis medication was given for, the different patterns of SPD or how it may present differently in each child that has SPD. The show also does not mention that SPD can affect movement, social skills, posture, participation in daily activities, fine motor skills, attention or even school performance. SPD may affect one or two areas of one child’s life or just about every aspect of someone’s life including their entire family’s dynamic. There was no discussion of how SPD is treated or what treatment consists of.

I think it’s great that the not-so-well known disorder is getting national recognition on a well-trusted show such as Oprah, even though it may have been brief and unclear. However, like I mentioned above, this was not, nor should have been, the focus of the show. The many responses to the episode just demonstrate a need for continual advocacy and education for sensory processing disorder. My hope is that SPD will be more accurately represented and understood in the future, as more media coverage completes stories on those affected by the disorder.

For more information on Sensory Processing Disorder Click Here

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I would love to hear your opinion on the show!

Halloween Tips For Children With Sensory Processing Disorder

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Halloween SPDHalloween parties, costumes, make-up, masks, trick-or-treating, and treats. This all sounds like fun to many children, but Halloween “fun” can be a sensory nightmare for children with sensory issues. Fortunately, there are ways to help make Halloween more enjoyable for the child who struggles with sensory issues.

SPD For Halloween Tip 1 – Exposure to Halloween early and often

Start early in explaining Halloween to your children to ensure a successful night. Repetition helps kids with sensory processing difficulties understand an event or holiday.

SPD For Halloween Tip 2 – Pick the right costume

  • Choose a non-scary costume
  • Let your child help select a costume. A bumblebee suit with wings and bobbing antennae may be too much to handle, but a silly shirt or a handheld prop might be perfect.
  • Try out the costumes, make sure they are a good fit.
  • Practice walking and sitting while wearing the costume.
  • Wearing a mask may be uncomfortable. He may prefer to hold the mask or just skip it. 
  • If costumed, make sure it’s something she can partially or fully remove so she doesn’t have to go home if she becomes uncomfortable.
  • If your child is not wearing a costume, make sure they know there is nothing wrong with them.
  • If your child is afraid of trick-or-treating and seeing others dressed up in costumes, stay home and hand out candy from the front yard or the doorway.　 
  • Your child can wear his costume in safe and familiar environments such as the neighbors’ and relatives’ houses. 
  • Never force your child to wear a costume. If they do not want to wear one at all, that’s okay!
  • Experiment with face make-up as tactile exploration. However, bring baby wipes to remove it just in case.

 

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Does Your Child Have Bad Behavior at School, or Is it Sensory Processing Disorder?

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Sensory integration (SI) is the organization of sensory input and sensations (touch, sight, sound, smell, taste, movement, body awareness, and the pull of gravity) in order to produce appropriate responses to situations, events, emotions, and expectations throughout the day. Sensory input flows constantly into our brain from our body and from the environment at a very rapid rate. The brain takes in information from our sensory systems and forms a combined picture of this information so that the body can make sense of its surroundings and react to them appropriately. This sensory information needs to be processed, organized and co-coordinated, and acted upon if a person is to behave appropriately and learn efficiently. If these sensations can be well managed, the brain can form perceptions, then concepts, and then derive meanings which results in acquiring skills and learning. Sensory integration provides a crucial foundation for more complex learning and behavior to develop.

While the process of SI occurs automatically and without effort for most of us, for some, the process is inefficient and is called Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). SPD is a neurological problem, which affects behavior, learning, and Read more