Sensory Seeking - at Home Strategies to Improve Class Room Behavior

When you have the OT eval, talk to her about brushing techniques and joint compression. These NEED to be done at home. The OT will teach you how. There are also "fun" activities to do that involve wrapping him up in a blanket and kind of "massaging' him. What you do is tell him that you are making a sandwich. Laugh a lot when you do it. "Sandwich time!!!! Here's the bread, here's the ham, here's the cheese, here's the mustard!" Meanwhile, through the blanket, you're kind of "kneading" him. It gives him sensory feeling all over as you press on him. You can do this at home without specialized equipment.

Hope you can get the eval scheduled soon, P.!

Hugs~ Dawn

We have a sensory kit for Gracie at home.

1. A large tupperware container of dry, uncooked rice. It has large coins and small toys in it that she has to "search" for in tasks in the rice.

2. A large tupperware container of wet cornstarch. It has to be changed out now and then, but the goopy cornstarch is fun to play in.

3. We used to have a sand table, but after several years it was moved outside and unfortunately the weather did a number on it and we need to replace it.

4. A body brush. I brush her arms and her legs frequently. She's like a different child after brushing. I start at the shoulder using a brush in a texture that I let her choose herself. I go from the shoulder to the wrist in one swipe, top to bottom, all straight down. The next swipe I do in a slightly different location. I usually do ten, see how she's doing, and add two more swipes if it seems like she needs it. Then I do the other arm the exact same way with the same number of swipes. Then I do each leg the same way with the same number of swipes/brushes. Firm but gentle... not enough to scratch but enough to make the skin "white" when you first press. I always ask her if it's too soft or too hard and she'll often have me press a little harder. I start too soft on purpose.

5. It doesn't fit in the kit ;-) but I do joint compressions on all of her joints EXCEPT for her hips, shoulder, neck. So I do all of her knuckles, her ankles, her wrists, her knees, and her elbows. I start with her laying down on the bed and get comfortable. I start with her big toes and move and do each knuckle through her right foot. Then I do the left foot. I press each knuckle firmly, squeezing as much as she can tolerate... it "almost" hurts but it shouldn't hurt. I do a count of 5 on each joint. Then I move up to the ankles, then the knees. Then I do her elbows. Then I do her fingers starting at the tips of her thumbs moving outward to the pinkies and ending with her wrists. By the time we're done she's jelly. At the beginning she's saying "Ow, ow, ow" but also, "Keep going" and at the end she's soothed and jelly-fied.

6. She loves running her hands and arms under the water faucet. Again, it doesn't fit in the kit but it's fun AND it feels good. Bath time is GREAT for a sensory activity.

7. Chewing gum, ONLY for sensory input. She asks for it when she feels a meltdown coming, when she feels stressed or anxious, or she needs to focus away from something that's bothering her sensory-wise.

Remember that mornings are one of the hardest transitions that our children can endure. Every transition in the morning is a shock. If you can set up a chart, especially a visual one, where he sees each step of morning routine so that he sees what's next that might help him.

But think about the morning in extremes for a moment. He's warm in his bed and even though you may gently, gently, gently tell him it's time to wake up he may hear it as shouting. You're saying, "Honey, it's time to wake up," but he hears, "HONEY! IT'S TIME TO WAKE! UP!" like a scream in his ear. Maybe you gently pull down his blankets. You might as well throw snow on top of him. ;-) Right?

But he still has to open his eyes and go from darkness behind his eyes to BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT even if his room is still dim. Then his soft bed to touching a hard floor even if there's carpet. Then walking to sitting down on a hard, cold toilet to pee. Then sticking a horrible stick in his mouth to brush his teeth and tasting icky dragon breath that was perfectly acceptable to him to being forced to have minty and maybe burning minty toothpaste in his mouth that, incidentally, might also make his mouth feel cold. But wait there's more! Changing clothes! More air touching the body and then once he gets used to that he has to put clothes! back! on!

Then he has to go from his room to downstairs. Oh, the change. The smells are different. The light is different. The sounds are different. Maybe the TV is on. Maybe he notices the cars going down the street now. He can hear Mom and Dad talking now. He smells breakfast... and there are still more shocking transitions to go. After he finishes with all of these transitions, he still isn't done. He has to go from his safe, happy, comfortable house to OUTSIDE! where everything is unexpected and colder and smellier.

So you see where I'm going with this. He probably needs a gentler morning.

We had to add in sensory input. Brushing has helped a lot in the mornings. I also have allowed her to choose her clothes at night and even wear them to bed. I don't care about wrinkles if it means an easier morning for her. I make her favorite breakfast and waft it under her nose to wake her up. It often works. I get her invested in the routine of getting ready so that she's doing it on her terms, and if she goes off the routine she's more upset about that than in the shocks of the transitions in the routine.

I have some snacks on hand for her that she loves and happen to be very sensory-satisfying. For instance, Nature Valley oat and dark chocolate crispy bars. She also loves whole grain wheat crackers. But my point is that I keep sensory-friendly foods on hand for her.

EDIT: OH YES!!! Chewlery! I've mentioned it before but we also have a chewlery pendant for Gracie to wear and chew or suck or fiddle with in her kit.

My 4.5 year old son brings a "chew toy" to school and it seems to work well (he uses it at home, too). We tried the Chewelry, but he didn't like how it felt on his wrist so of course he took it off and lost it the first day. He also has a stand-alone chew thing but since it is not attached to anything, he will probably lose it soon. The one he REALLY likes is this:

http://www.amazon.com/Chewy-Charms-Chewable-Necklace-Stix...

(note: be sure to see that you only get one charm with the necklace, not all 5)

He also enjoys the brushing and joint compression techniques mentioned below.

Your son might like having a teacher-approved fidget at school. One thing we've seen is a texture strip that attaches under the desk so fingers can work while being out of sight. Another thing is a bumpy seat or balance seat to put at his desk (and use at home; my kiddo makes dinner or story time an aerobic event with all the moving around) to help focus.

My son likes the feeling of chewy foods best - tootsie rolls, taffy, etc - so we try to incorporate something suitable in his lunch as a mid-day sensory pick-me-up.

We are still working with him (and his OT) on self-calming ideas and awareness of when he is losing control. Progress is slow on that one, but he is still young so that plays a role.

Good luck!

Hi P., does he have OT? You can work with his OT/PT to come up with a sensory diet.

But here's some ideas.
http://sensorysmarts.com/sensory_diet_activities.html

I'm sure his evaluation will shed more light on the right sensory diet for him.

:)

Does he have one of those sensory cushions to sit on? That seems to help some kids.

Andy is 13 and I can't think of a thing that can be done at home for the sensory issues. What we do do is make sure that home mirrors school in any way possible.

What that looks like is if they have a plan for X action and they call it Y then when he does X at home we do the same and call it Y.

The biggest thing to making these kids lives successful is structure. Everything that can be the same should be the same so they know what happens next.

An occupational therapist with an emphasis on sensory integration is a valuable tool. A sensory diet can make a world of difference in his day. The key to a sensory diet is to make sure his needs are met. It is difficult to give suggestions without knowing your sons specific needs. My son is 7 and on the spectrum as well. My best friend has a son on the spectrum and has completely opposite needs of my son. My favorite and most effective occupational therapist is at Progressive Pediatric Therapy in Plano. Our sensory diet consisted of swinging (yes i bolted one into my ceiling), spinning in the swing, crashing into a beanbag, jumping jacks, wheelbarrow (hold his feet and he uses his hands to walk), etc. My son has vestibular and proprioceptive deficits. An OT can help you determine your son's needs. There are some small things that your teacher can do to help in the meantime as well.

My son used to need something in his hands at all times. For him, it was something soft. He had a blanket he had to take with him everywhere he went. When he was in preschool, they let him take a small piece of it with him, so he could have it in his hands.

He is 8 now, and has a stress ball he uses if he needs it.

His OT at school has also used a weighted vest. I would ask for your child to have an OT to work with him. They have done wonders for my son.

Hey -
You have gotten a lot of great suggestions, so far. I have not read them ALL, so I may be repeating some of the information.

Hope and pray that your son is diagnosed with a sensory problem because you will be AMAZED at the help that can be given to you son and the help that is REQUIRED to be given to him by the school. But, you have to have a diagnosis. MAYBE the diagnosis of autism is enough. I'm not sure. My son had sensory integration disorder and NOT autism. But, because of the sensory integration disorder, the schools had to make accommodations.

As the others have said, there is lots you can do at home. I ended up buying a small trampoline that had a handle on it where he could jump on it at the house (but he needed the handle to maintain his balance).

The brushing REALLY REALLY helps.

Honestly, for us, the therapies were just a plain miracle. I bought the book "Out of Sync Child" and in the book, the author said that early intervention could make a "world of difference". I asked our therapist what "world of difference" meant and she said that for some children, the way they process sensory information could be remapped. That's what happened with my son - his mind was remapped and he is 99% "normal" now. All the things that used to bother him don't bother him at all. But, he was very young when he went through the therapies and the book said that remapped worked best with young children. However, even if your child is not "remapped", the therapies can teach your son coping skills. Our therapist said that they teach the child how to recognize that a "meltdown" is coming on and they teach them the coping skills to address them before the meltdown - like standing and jumping in place. Now, I know most classrooms would not appreciate a child standing and jumping in class. But, if this is what prevents a FULL BLOWN meltdown, they will embrace the standing and jumping. And, the best part is - they HAVE TO accommodate your child.

You need to check and see if your school has a "sensory room". Some schools do. Our elementary school has one, but by the time my son went to elementary school, he did not need the sensory inputs. I never saw what was in the sensory room in our school, but I would not be surprised if there was a swing, bean bag...things in there where you could get some sensory input.

Oh, and as much as I am a huge advocate of the therapies, just a warning, they made me cry plenty of times - because they pushed every button my son had. He would cry and cry while they were making him do certain things (which is what made me cry).

Good luck!
L.