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Special Words for Special Needs ~ Sensory Problems!
1:21 AM, Oct. 17, 2008
Welcome again to Special Words for Special Needs! Today I would like you to imagine that all the information you receive in a day is from a radio. You can get news, songs, chit chat, or sports just by changing the channels. BUT there is one problem there is static on this radio. A constant whining irritating static. You fiddle with the radio knob. You can fiddle with the antenna. After fussing and adjusting the sound is better but the whine still fades in and out. This program though is worth the effort. So you listen intently and try to ignore the static, tensing your muscles to catch every word. Fifteen minutes later you shut off the radio in defeat. You now have a headache and you feel exhausted from the effort.
That is how a child with Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) can feel. The static on the line to his brain is interfering with everything he does in a day. SID happens when there is a breakdown of the sensory system and its ability to send signals to the brain. The brain either doesn't get the proper signals or the brain gets inconsistent signals. Research seems to indicate that up to 70% of children with a learning disability have SID. SID tends to come with other problems such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Autism, or ADHD. SID can also be on it's own with no other problem. Here is a small list of possible signs of SID. - Gets upset with hugs and arches out of them - Does not like bath and water particularly the wet feel on their hands and body. - Craves strong intense food such as licking a lemon - Head bangs or throws their body at objects such as a mattress repeatedly - Spins and doesn't get dizzy or gets dizzy at the least disturbance in balance. - Cannot stand clothing complains of fit, rubbing or scratching - Other milestone problems can be seen in conjunction with SID gross motor skill delay is the most common. Thus the "clumsy child". There is a more complete list of symptoms and information of SID at the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation http://www.spdfoundation.net/ So if you suspect this is a problem with your child what should you do? Generally an Occupational Therapist (OT) is able to help you. They will evaluate your child's sensory needs and help you to come up with a "sensory diet". That is a way to deal with the sensory problems your child is having. This therapy should be aimed at teaching you and your child what is needed to calm, alert, or organize themselves as they need it. Music therapy and biofeedback can help as well. SID is something that you and your child will be dealing with all their life. The good news is with the proper tools and techniques things do get better! What can you do while at home? First let me send you to a few good books. Dr. Stanley Greenspan deals with SID as part of his therapy for autistic children. In his book "Engaging Autism" He does an excellent description of sensory modulation problems faced by many autistic spectrum children. Sensory modulation refers to the whole process of in-taking sensory information, sending the signal to the brain, and the brain properly responding to sensory stimulus. "The Out of Sync Child" and "The Out of Sync Child has Fun" are great. Mine is dog eared  . You can also find great tips and ideas from OT catalogues http://www.southpawenterprises.com/ is a big one, http://www.abilitations.com/ is another good one. There are many more I did not recommend because I haven't had time to read them yet. I would be interested in any recommendations of material. Where are the areas of problems? You are acquainted with the five senses touch, taste, vision, hearing and smell. There are two more vestibular and proprioceptive. Vestibular sense gives your body information about gravity, where you and your body parts are in space, and balance. Proprioceptive gives your body information through the structure of your body, bones, joints ligaments, as to where you are and how you are moving. These senses can be felt too much, hypersensitive. They can be felt not at all or slightly hyposensitive. There are also a group of children that will feel some hypersensitive things and some hyposensitive things. So how can this information help your homeschool tomorrow? Think about your child's extreme likes and dislikes. Are they clueing you into a particular sensory issue? My son Gabe once almost took apart a wall divider at the neurologist's office. He was highly stressed by the appointment and then he found the carpet like feel of the divider and began to head bang. Your child will try to feed his own sensory needs. Gabe was telling me "I am stressed! I need input badly!" Children crave balance in their system. If you are able to help them attain that balance learning and life will be much easier for the entire family. Hypersensitive, these are the children who misinterpret a hug for a painful bone crushing event. Their clothes are always bothersome. Tags are a torment. The sun is too bright the crickets are too loud. They are experiencing the world with out filters and it can be painful. Holding a pencil or other writing instrument hard?.... Try letting your child play with a pizza tray of shaving cream, writing their letters in the cream. Use a large Zipploc baggie with paint inside. Have the child feel the texture without the possibility of getting messy. Shoes are a big problem for hypersensitive kids..... Get loose adjustable shoes so that there are no possible tight spots. My son had to have loose shoes but he welcomes tight soccer socks?! Listen and adapt! I go shopping right after Halloween to the local fabric store. There are tons of sales on a large variety of shiny, smooth, furry, even beaded material. Use this array of material to make into scarves and let your child play with them. Gently rub the varying materials on their arms and legs to help them get use to different textures. Some children are over sensitive about the position of their head, such as they will not lean back to have the shampoo washed out of their hair. Use an exercise ball to slowly get them use to the feeling of leaning back. Hyposensitive these are the children that rampage through life leaving a wake of unintentional damage. They cannot feel the area around them so they are bouncing off everything. Their clothes are on backwards and they don't feel the problem. They run up to their little sister and knock her right over. They could not judge where they were as to where she was and the entire thing was done at top speed. They are the bull in the china shop. Pencils and crayons breaking constantly? Try pencil grips that force the child to use only their finger tips. Hold their hand and show them the pressure needed for a crayon to make color. Also before you start the day use some clay or play dough to get out the surge of energy. Hyposensitive children respond well to heavy exercise. Jumping rope is great! Marching around the room with arms swinging. A trampoline is great but can be dangerous try an old twin mattress thrown on the floor. When you do table work use an exercise ball instead of a chair. The movement will keep their bodies busy so that their minds can focus on the work at hand. Don't forget the smell of taste sensations. A wedge of lemon with a meal can perk up the entire meal for a hyposensitive child. It wakes up there taste buds and nose. Also try salsa or ginger, think strong but tasty. Making an orange pomander with cloves will be a huge hit! There are other items that can help such as a weighted vest, brushing techniques, and joint compression exercises. Those are best shown to you by an OT. I have found with my son listening to the signals he sends and immediately helping him can avoid a lot of trouble. If he begins spinning in circles at the grocery store instead of telling him to stop I help him spin several times without hitting anything or anyone. Turn spin the other way and then stop him. This little thing can mean the difference between a grocery store run full of things being knocked off shelves as we go or a few minutes looking odd in the soup aisle. This time of year can also bring out the worst in sensory kids. The hyper kids are overwhelmed by the lights, glitz and general Christmas urgency. Hypo kids can suck it all in until they pop and begin running around without the ability to stop themselves. Aim shopping trips for low shopping hours such as weekday morning. Watch the TV commercials too they are designed to rev up child. When we first went to an OT for help I was in tears. Gabe would not wear shoes and it was winter. I was so happy at the wonderful time OT therapy became. Gabe was able to organize his senses and calm down. We were able to get him into shoes, at least for the outside. We are four years down the road from that and we still have problems. Gabe is getting much better at helping himself calm down. The difference is wonder. You can do it! You can change the sensory problems with the right exercises! Your life and homeschool will be blessed for your work. God bless! Yours in Christ, Heather Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 7 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ Comments 
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