My sensational kids had a pretty good day. We hit sensory overload early this afternoon, but it was to be expected. None of us had much sleep and we skipped brushing this morning.
Merry Christmas, I hope you had a wonderful day!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Therapeutic Listening
If I wasn't convinced that TL was working before, I sure am now. With the Christmas approaching, I've been packing orders for my Etsy shop or writing and I've been in a serious time crunch. Unfortunately, I haven't been as consistent as I should be with the headphones. I don't know why I let myself lapse; I know how much it helps him. I knew that skipping headphone would mean a bad day the next day. By nighttime, I'm just too tired to fight with him to do the headphones.
Yes, it's a struggle to get him to do the headphones. It's even worse after a few days off. When he hasn't worn them for a few days they are scratchy and hurt him because he is more sensitive to the feeling of the ear pieces. He also just doesn't have the patience to sit and listen to them.
We play games and do puzzles for headphones time. It's special mommy and Caleb time and that makes him a lot more willing to sit with me. I think he knows now that the headphones help him feel better. He's almost five now, so he can recognize that he feels better after headphones and brushing. He doesn't know why, of course, and he can't yet tell me when he is out of sync. That's a big goal for us in the next year for him to recognize when he needs something to help him regulate.
Tomorrow, we do headphones. Yes, it's Christmas Eve, but he needs to get back in sync.
Yes, it's a struggle to get him to do the headphones. It's even worse after a few days off. When he hasn't worn them for a few days they are scratchy and hurt him because he is more sensitive to the feeling of the ear pieces. He also just doesn't have the patience to sit and listen to them.
We play games and do puzzles for headphones time. It's special mommy and Caleb time and that makes him a lot more willing to sit with me. I think he knows now that the headphones help him feel better. He's almost five now, so he can recognize that he feels better after headphones and brushing. He doesn't know why, of course, and he can't yet tell me when he is out of sync. That's a big goal for us in the next year for him to recognize when he needs something to help him regulate.
Tomorrow, we do headphones. Yes, it's Christmas Eve, but he needs to get back in sync.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Christmas Gifts for SPD Kids
It's too late for Christmas shipping this year, I'm afraid, but my SPD boys have January and February birthdays. What are some good gift ideas?
I'm going to do a post tomorrow with some more ideas, but for now, share ideas. Thanks xoxo
I'm going to do a post tomorrow with some more ideas, but for now, share ideas. Thanks xoxo
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Speech Therapy for SPD Eating Disorders
The largest struggle we have with David's SPD are his eating issues. As if taste, texture, and smell sensitivities aren't enough for the poor kid, he also has low muscle tone and poor motor planning. For years he kept saying he didn't know how to swallow. He lives on PB&J, how can he not know how to swallow?
Well, turns out he doesn't know how to swallow...new foods that is. When things are new or different for him, he has a hard time figuring out how to swallow them. He had a swallow test and upper GI and everything works right, so it must be motor planning. The low muscle tone means he is actually in pain from chewing dinner. He must feel like he's been working out for an hour just eating a meal!
After years of this, it's no wonder he's become the pickiest. eater. ever. Ever.
I put him on the list for Speech therapy over two years ago and he finally got in about 2 months ago. His ST is really silly and really gets him motived. We (usually he) picks one new food every two weeks to try with her. They play a game and take a bite in between turns. The game is first; eating is secondary. wink wink He is rewarded with a turn on the equipment in the "big room" which is full of OT equipment he used to play on.
Today I took a slice of American cheese. He ate half of a slice in 45 minutes. We were thrilled with half a piece of cheese! He even ate another half for dinner. He promised her he would eat 6 half pieces in the next two weeks.
Well, turns out he doesn't know how to swallow...new foods that is. When things are new or different for him, he has a hard time figuring out how to swallow them. He had a swallow test and upper GI and everything works right, so it must be motor planning. The low muscle tone means he is actually in pain from chewing dinner. He must feel like he's been working out for an hour just eating a meal!
After years of this, it's no wonder he's become the pickiest. eater. ever. Ever.
I put him on the list for Speech therapy over two years ago and he finally got in about 2 months ago. His ST is really silly and really gets him motived. We (usually he) picks one new food every two weeks to try with her. They play a game and take a bite in between turns. The game is first; eating is secondary. wink wink He is rewarded with a turn on the equipment in the "big room" which is full of OT equipment he used to play on.
Today I took a slice of American cheese. He ate half of a slice in 45 minutes. We were thrilled with half a piece of cheese! He even ate another half for dinner. He promised her he would eat 6 half pieces in the next two weeks.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
After School Transitions With SPD
David has always had more problems with transitions than his younger siblings. Luckily, at age 8 he can handle the transitions fairly well even if he doesn't like them. The poor guy eats lunch at 11 and doesn't get out of school until 3:30. You better believe by 3:30 he's starving (insert best 8 year old whine here). A starving, out of sync 8 year old who doesn't transition well is not a child you want to take to the store.
We head to pick up the younger two from their second week of preschool. They are doing well, but still adjusting. Caleb, 4, is the model preschooler until his tush hits the car seat. Then all bets are off. He doesn't stop screaming, crying, and fighting until bedtime.
All I had to do was a quick stop at the post office and get cat food at Target. That's it. Why, why, why did I think this would be OK on the way home from school??
The whiiiiiiiining!
They were starving.
They wanted to go home.
She touched me.
He hit me.
He looked at me.
She thought about touching me.
Luckily there were no major melt downs in public. No, my sensational kids reserve their bad behavior for when it's just them and Mom. I practically begged Caleb to jump on the trampoline when we got home. We settled for some brushing and cuddling.
Did I mention they were using their very loud vacuum right next to Caleb when I got there to pick him up? I get that they are in a hurry to get home, but running a vacuum right next to a child who is hypersensitive to sounds? Really?
We head to pick up the younger two from their second week of preschool. They are doing well, but still adjusting. Caleb, 4, is the model preschooler until his tush hits the car seat. Then all bets are off. He doesn't stop screaming, crying, and fighting until bedtime.
All I had to do was a quick stop at the post office and get cat food at Target. That's it. Why, why, why did I think this would be OK on the way home from school??
The whiiiiiiiining!
They were starving.
They wanted to go home.
She touched me.
He hit me.
He looked at me.
She thought about touching me.
Luckily there were no major melt downs in public. No, my sensational kids reserve their bad behavior for when it's just them and Mom. I practically begged Caleb to jump on the trampoline when we got home. We settled for some brushing and cuddling.
Did I mention they were using their very loud vacuum right next to Caleb when I got there to pick him up? I get that they are in a hurry to get home, but running a vacuum right next to a child who is hypersensitive to sounds? Really?
Monday, December 6, 2010
Pardon my dust
Pardon my dust while I get things set up. As you can imagine, being a mom of three kids doesn't leave much time for blogging :)
I will be working on this a little at a time and will officially launch sometime in early 2011. I just added the about us page today over there =====>>>> I'm still working on some posts and resources. Still working on what direction I want to go with this blog.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Sensory Processing Disorder Awareness Ribbon
I have searched the Internet and I can't find an "official" awareness ribbon. I am finding blue, purple, and orange, but blue seems to be the most popular and cited as the official color by the SPD Foundation in a third party email on a blog.
I wanted something with some more meaning than just a solid blue. I added waves to represent that SPD kids (adults) can be highly sensitive or or their sensitivity can be too low.
If you like this, please leave a comment. Feel free to share this, but please give me credit for the design.
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