Tag: Sensory Processing

Sensory Spectacle Resources

On By justmymomsenseIn Uncategorized1 Comment

I am so thankful for Becky Lyddon, of Sensory Spectacle, for taking the time out of her busy schedule to be a guest blogger this weekend.

Sensory Spectacle is working to bring awareness to the Sensory Processing Difficulties community. Although based in the UK, they are providing information that spreads throughout the world.

If you missed this weekend’s 3 Part series from Becky, please click below for links:

Supporting a Sensory Lifestyle for People with SPD Part 1

Supporting a Sensory Lifestyle for People with SPD Part 2

Supporting a Sensory Lifestyle for People with SPD Part 3

Make sure to check out the Sensory Spectacle website and shop for more resources. Their presence on YouTube is so valuable for educating the public about sensory processing. I am thankful for having found the videos and being able to share them with family and friends. Click on the links below to follow Sensory Spectacle!

Sensory Spectacle Website

Sensory Spectacle Shop

Access and subscribe to the Sensory Spectacle YouTube channel

Follow Sensory Spectacle on Twitter

Follow Sensory Spectacle on Instagram

I’ll wrap up the series with this one video answering the question:

Why Do We Need to Provide Sensory Support?

Supporting a Sensory Lifestyle for People with SPD | Part 3 of 3

On By justmymomsenseIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Tips for Supporting Someone with SPD

It is important you understand what someone’s over-riding sensory needs is. This will be the sensory system which they are mainly ‘seeking’ or ‘avoiding’ in their day-to- day lives. Once you can recognize this you can be prepared to support them in all settings.

I suggest that parents and professionals are prepared with a ‘sensory sack’. This bag will contain a selection of items that will support a range of sensory needs (don’t forget needs may fluctuate and vary):

  • noise cancelling headphones, either in the ear or over the ear
  • sunglasses
  • cap with a peak
  • something which smells of that person (old tshirt)
  • a soft fidget like a small cushion
  • a rough fidget like a brush
  • a fidget which you fiddle with
  • a weighted beanbag
  • electric toothbrush
  • a massaging cushion

Most children and adults with SPD are already regulating themselves so try and notice how they are doing that and offer other strategies too. You can learn more about understanding these characteristics with our ‘Homelife’ video series on YouTube. Subscribe and share the videos for FREE!

SPD is currently not able to be diagnosed in the UK in it’s own right, it is only recognized with an Autism diagnosis. SPD affects many other people with additional needs too though, so please bear this in mind. 

An Occupational Therapist who is Sensory Integration trained will be able to offer support and advice for anyone who has SPD. If you would like to help your setting become more aware of sensory needs then why not download our ‘What is SPD’ sheet from our website.

My First Sensory Bottle

On By justmymomsenseIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve had my eye on sensory bottles for awhile now and finally got around to making one!

Sensory Bottles and Calm Down Jars are great ways for kids to learn and refocus their energy. Think back to liquid timers. They were all the rage at one point! This is the same idea. Not only can they be used for helping with speech (Ready, Set Go!), they can also be used to help calm a child that is feeling over excited by just turning the bottle back and forth.

Thanks to Pinterest, there are sooooooo many options. I plan to make more but with a letter obsessed child, I found the perfect place to start.

I followed instructions from therealisticmama.com. The only change I made was going with a plastic bottle (Core Organic Juice) instead of a VOSS bottle, since I was worried that ‘J’ would break it. I also used all the letters in ‘J’s’ name to make it a little more fun for him.

The pictures are from right after it was made which makes the bottle look a little more streaky. ‘J’ loves it and hopefully it can be used as a calming tool for him. I can’t wait to make some others!

Check out The Realistic Mama’s post about Calm Down Jars by clicking here!

OT and Sensory Processing

On By justmymomsenseIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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. 

Hard Work Pays Off

On By justmymomsenseIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

J is 3 1/2 and the hardest working person I know.

This week was his first real sessions of OT. Last week he met his therapist, we talked and got him comfortable with his new surroundings, but the real work started this past Monday and Wednesday. He did great!

We weren’t sure how he would feel about going back into the gym with just his therapist while I waited in the waiting room. Even as I tried to prep him for it, he said he wanted me with him. That would have been fine as we knew there may need to be an adjustment period. That feeling didn’t last. As soon as he saw his therapist, he was so excited and walked back with her. Luckily, he wanted to do the same the second time around.

On Monday, he was wiped out after his session! He was doing a lot of work on his stomach while on the swing and I think he finally met his match as to what can tire him out. I also noticed when we got home, including after his nap, he seemed a little off. A little cranky. Acting out a bit. The change in routine, a change in people and location and a half hour of sensory input, it would be naive not to expect some personality changes. OT will definitely be a lot more work than speech. He’s going to be challenged in ways he won’t like while on his path in figuring out what will help him in the bigger picture.

If anyone it up for it, it’s him. He works so hard every single day and doesn’t even realize it. He pushes through, gets excited and succeeds. We can all take a lesson from him. Keep your head in the game and hard work will pay off!

Not Always a Happy Birthday

On By justmymomsenseIn Uncategorized2 Comments

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!

On By justmymomsenseIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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?

On By justmymomsenseIn Uncategorized2 Comments

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!

When is it Empathy and When is it Sensory?

On By justmymomsenseIn Uncategorized5 Comments

This is a question I asked our speech therapist in the Spring of 2017. My daughter was a few months old at the time and if we were in the car when she started to cry, my son, ‘J’ would cry and tell me to help her. When he first did this, I thought it was endearing and a little heartbreaking as well. Although I don’t doubt that those things actually exist, I started to realize it might be more than that. I questioned it more when we were with my niece and if she would cry, ‘J’ would request to “go home” or “go to his room” so he could calm down. I questioned it when we were out to eat with his friend after a playdate and his friend cried because he wanted a toy car. ‘J’ once again would start to cry and ask to leave. One night while laying with him as he fell asleep, I started googling (always an interesting activity) and realized this might be more than just empathy.

As time went on, I noticed how often he seemed overwhelmed in various situations. I also gave it some time to see if it was a phase he had to grow out of. It wasn’t.

He was Woody from Toy Story for Halloween and the back of the costume had velcro. This was the first time he ever seemed bothered by clothing. From then on, he asks for tags to be cut out of his clothes. We visited a drive -thru Christmas light experience, which we thought he would love! As soon as we arrived, he took one look at the large guitar playing lit up snowman and lost it. It was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. I felt like I was watching him experience a real life nightmare.

51na3vVi9VL._SX320_BO1,204,203,200_

I started reading more into Sensory Processing and my gut said to seek out an evaluation. With the upcoming holidays and a Disney trip on the horizon, I wanted to make this happen sooner rather than later. Luckily I was able to get the evaluation done before the New Year and before our trip. I started to make notes for the evaluator regarding my concerns and when I was done I had over two pages. I was surprised, but once I thought back to things in the past I had brushed off and the recent months of new experiences we had, there were more than a few red flags.

This week we were approved for Occupational Therapy (OT) twice a week. I’m so happy and can’t wait to start! Seeing how much he’s grown and progressed with speech, I knowbeing in OT and doing exercises at home will help him better process his surroundings.

In recent weeks I’ve done even more research, joined Facebook SPD Parent groups and just started reading ‘The Out of Sync Child’ that I ordered on Amazon. Knowledge is power, right?

Click here to check out a video posted on YouTube explaining Sensory Processing Disorder. The video was posted by MichaelGrass House.