Tag: Parenthood

OT and Sensory Processing

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This is another question I’m often asked whenever someone learns that J is going to Occupational Therapy (OT).

As I mentioned in a previous post, J was wiped out after his first session of OT and definitely a bit off during his second. I felt that he was more sensitive, being triggered more easily and not listening as well as he normally does. I posed the question in some of the SPD Groups I joined on FaceBook. As I assumed, this is all normal. Other parents had experienced the same with their child in the beginning stages of OT, and some even continued as time went on. One mom shared her concern over her son being sensitive after his OT sessions. She has a cousin that is also an Occupational Therapist and reached out to her to see if this was a typical reaction. Her cousin assured her that it was perfectly normal. She explained that it may be a delayed reaction from being in an environment that felt good and organized his body. When going back to regular life, it kind of kicks the sensory system out of whack. She recommended discussing strategies with his therapist for the transition. I will be taking this advice as well.

Ok, but what does OT actually do to help with sensory integration? The following was taken directly from the STAR Institute for Sensory Processing Disorder’s website:

Occupational therapy with a sensory integration approach typically takes place in a sensory-rich environment sometimes called the “OT gym.” During OT sessions, the therapist guides the child through fun activities that are subtly structured so the child is constantly challenged, but always successful.

The goal of Occupational Therapy is to foster appropriate responses to sensation in an active, meaningful, and fun way so the child is able to behave in a more functional manner. Over time, the appropriate responses generalize to the environment beyond the clinic including home, school, and the larger community. Effective occupational therapy thus enables children with SPD to take part in the normal activities of childhood, such as playing with friends, enjoying school, eating, dressing, and sleeping.  

We’re still in the beginning stages of OT. It will take a lot of work and I look forward to coming up with the right sensory diet for J. This will help prevent or help us better deal with triggers. Like I said before, hard work pays off!

Click here to learn more from the STAR Institute. 

Random Acts of Kindness Day

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There’s an official day for everything now. National Chocolate Chip Day, National Cold Cuts Day, Marching Music Day, the list goes on and on. Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day which should be an official day, everyday.

We talk about the importance of being kind with J very often. It’s important for him to be kind to his sister, his friends at school and our family dog. He’s so sweet and considerate that this comes pretty naturally to him. It’s amazing when we watch him do things for others without any prompting.

The world is a scary place and I don’t think there’s a question that more kindness is needed. If we can keep teaching our children kindness, than maybe as time goes on, the kindness will push the scary out.

Do something kind today and then practice it everyday. Do it for a friend, a family member, an animal or a complete stranger. Treating others the way you wish to be treated is the golden rule after all.

And now, a favorite video in this household, Tori Kelly sings “Try a Little Kindness” with the Sesame Street gang:

How Do You Stay Organized?

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Life is chaos! Family, work, friends, playdates, errands…the list goes on!

My husband and I always talk about (and slightly dread) the days when extracurricular activities are introduced. We feel like we never have time as it is, we know at that point it’ll be nuts!

With the kiddos at 3 and 1, I already feel pulled in different directions. To all the more experienced parents, I know what you’re saying. When I look back, I these days willIMG_8424.jpg seem easy.

For some, technology definitely makes things a lot more convenient. My husband uses his iPhone and google calendar to keep track of his day to day. When I worked in an office, I was a post-it queen! Being a SAHM, I definitely feel busier than ever. I like to see all our plans written out on a monthly calendar. I’m old school that way so I opt for a good ol’ fashioned organizer. It helps me plan the weeks and months out and get a good view of the whole picture.

Moving forward, I foresee a big family calendar in the kitchen so we can all keep better track of our daily life.

How do you stay organized?

 

What’s That Sound?

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In another life, I worked at an exhibit doing Experiential Marketing. As a way to interact with our kid visitors, we had a “guess the sound” game.

There were pictures of different items and about 6 cans with an item per can. The children had to shake the cans and guess which picture matched the sound. They sat there and played over and over.

Cut to 12+ years later and one of J’s favorite shows is Sid the Science Kid on PBS. They did an episode all about sound and I decided to recreate the game for him!

I picked up a few things from the Dollar Store; coffee cups, paper clips and toothpicks. I combined them with some items I had around the house and boom! A new activity is born and he loves playing it!

My version is definitely a lot more basic than the one we had in the exhibit, but it works. I’m definitely not crafty, but I do find a few easy  activities on Instagram or Pinterest from time to time. I’ll either copy what I see or it’ll make me think of something else I could do.

Being a parent definitely means being more creative.

Not Always a Happy Birthday

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Happy Birthday to YOU

Happy Birthday to YOU

Happy Birthday Dear (Insert your name)

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Now make a wish and blow out the candles!

birthday-cake

This is normally a joyous song! Family and friends get together and honor the birthday recipient.

For J, it is anything but joyous! Don’t get me wrong-he likes the song and can sing it. What he hates is to hear a group of people singing it.

A couple of years ago, we were at my Great Uncle’s 95th party. While everyone was singing and celebrating, J was screaming and crying. This was before I even knew of Sensory Processing.

This happens anytime a group sings Happy Birthday. Or when a group of people cheers their glasses. Or if too many people say YAY! It’s all too overwhelming for J.

Recently, it was my daughter’s 1st birthday. We had a lot of people at the house and although he wasn’t upset, J was definitely extra hyper. I think he was trying to process so many people in his house all at once. Before we were going to sing Happy Birthday and even though I would’ve loved to have him there, I told him what was about to happen and gave him the option to not be in the room if he wasn’t comfortable. He took grandpa downstairs to the playroom and we sang to his sister.

At the end of the song, J came back upstairs crying. While downstairs, he had gone into his playhouse, closed the door and the windows as if to hide out. My dad told me that by the end of the song he was crying. Once I got him calm, he said he wanted to blow out candles too. So I relit one for him, told him to make a wish and he blew out his own candle. Within a few minutes he was back to the party.

Situations like this isn’t just a 3 year old having a tantrum. And if this was the only thing he did that didn’t seem right, I might not think anything of it. But when you combine it with other triggers we’ve noticed, it’s hard to dispute that Sensory Processing seems to be the culprit.

 

 

Day 1 in the Books!

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Today was our first day of Occupational Therapy. I’d call it a success since J is looking forward to going back on Monday!

It was a bit of a bumpy start. We walked into the waiting room, where PJ Masks was playing and I just so happen to have his PJ Masks sippy cup with me. A perfect match! But I digress. Once we turned the corner, he saw a couple of people waiting and froze. He tried to get back out the door and said he wanted to go home. With some coaxing, I got him to sit on my lap and eventually started playing games on my phone to try to shake the nervousness. His therapist came out, introduced herself and asked if he wanted to go back to play. Since it’s his first day, I went back with him. Luckily, once he saw the gym, he was all in. He played with the swing, tunnel, puzzles, putty, magnetic letters (his favorite) and the trampoline. I went over some of my concerns and filled out paperwork.

Today was all about introductions, learning more and most importantly getting J comfortable with his new surroundings. Much like speech therapy, to J, it’s having fun with someone one on one.

I look forward to his progress as time goes on and coming up with new ways to prevent or calm his triggers.

Is This a Real Thing?

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I’ve mentioned before that one of the reasons I started this was because of the other blogs and articles I had read that helped me. Maybe my story might help another parent going through a similar experience!

Facebook groups have also helped. A community of parents asking questions, telling stories and sharing their experiences. There was a discussion one day as to how others react to learning about Sensory Processing. One person shared that her husband initially hadn’t even wanted their child evaluated. Others talked about their parents telling them that they just don’t discipline well enough. The kids get away with too much. Have too much. Some other family members and even doctors just didn’t believe it was a real thing.

Yet those parents that trusted their gut, got their kids the extra help they needed, had a much better quality of life. They were able to predict and most times prevent triggers. They now know what can calm their child. What their mind and body need to properly process information and self regulate in those disorganized situations. That mommy (or daddy) gut will never steer you wrong.

In ‘The Out-of-Sync Child,’  it states that research regarding Sensory Processing has been going on since the 50’s, even though most of us never heard about it. Much of the cause seems to be genetic, but there is still more research being done. I know when I was younger you never heard about this, but you also never heard much about food allergies. With the internet and especially social media, I think there an inundation of information regarding varying issues.

Again, because a child is “out-of-sync” doesn’t mean there is something wrong. It just means they need a little extra help going through the motions of daily activities.

Click here to read my blog What Is Sensory Processing, which includes even more reference links.

And don’t forget parents: Trust Your Gut!

A Little More Waiting

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Today was supposed to be J’s first day of Occupational Therapy. However, just as we were getting ready to leave, his therapist called and said she had to go pick up her son from school because he was sick.

As a mom, of course I understand! I just got over a week and a half of a sick cycle in my house. Can’t be helped!

giphy

The other side of me was disappointed because I was really looking forward to today. I had prepped J with the daily agenda and was looking forward to kicking off this journey!

But this journey will just have to wait two more days.

In the meantime, I have a little more time to get questions together and have all the information prepped to ensure J gets the best out of this experience!

It’s the Final Countdown

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What a week it’s been!

Baby J’s sickness developed into a virus with a new symptom everyday! A few trips to the doctor and a week later, she’s finally feeling better!

Big J had a snow day from school on Tuesday and was back in the grind on Thursday. I’m so happy he loves going to school…I’m sure one day he won’t!

It’s the Final Countdown to OT! We start on Monday! With everything going on lately, Itenor haven’t even had time to think about it too much. I definitely want to write down some questions and get him ready for the addition to his routine. Due to the timing availability of OT, we have to rearrange our Speech Therapy schedule. With J so comfortable with his awesome speech therapist, it’s easy to make adjustments without it affecting him.

I need to catch up on my reading of The Out-of-Sync Child and gear up for Monday! I’ll be sure to keep you all in the loop with our new journey!

How Do We Start The Conversation?

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Some people in our life, including our closest friends and family, are just learning about J’s Speech Therapy and soon to be Occupational Therapy through this blog.

We weren’t trying to hide anything, weren’t embarrassed, not worried about being judged and we weren’t too overwhelmed to talk about it. It’s hard to put into words why this is news to most, but I’ll try.

J is a healthy, happy boy. He loves cars, puzzles, anything letter related, going to the park, Disney (it’s in his DNA), his family and his friends. I don’t feel anything is “wrong” with him. Thankfully, he’s not sick. He just has to work a little harder at things than some other kids do. And also not as hard as some other kids do.

So this raises the question-how do we go about starting the conversation? To make a big announcement may seem like it’s a bigger deal than it is, in the sense that something is “wrong.” By not saying anything, it may seem like we are holding back or that more is going on.

I don’t have an answer and would love to hear from other parents! There’s no shame or embarrassment in kids needing some extra help along the way and it’s important to talk about.

Feel free to comment below, Follow me on Twitter or if you know me in real life-reach out personally! I would love to hear from all of you!