My Ears! My Ears!…Sensory Strategies to Help with Auditory Sensitivity

Does your child become disorganized and have difficulty staying calm and focused in situations where there is a lot of noise and activity going on around him?  He may have difficulty processing the auditory input in his environment.  Listed below are several sensory-based strategies to help him self-regulate in noisy situations/environments.  As a parent or caregiver, it is important to be aware of what is going on in the environment and the impact it may have on behavior, attention, and emotions.  Planning ahead and bringing along a “Sensory Tool Kit” can help you and your child have some readily available strategies wherever he may be.

1.  Before going to a loud place (sporting events in gyms, auto races, loud, echoey places with poor acoustics, musical or theatrical events, movies, etc) do some type of “heavy work” activity-pushing, pulling heavy objects, working muscles and joints against resistance.  Do some more when you get to your location.

2.  If your child can manage it, chew gum.

3.  Chew on straws or a “chewy tube” or a bandana rolled up and tied around the neck.

4.  “Necklaces” that can be chewed on are available from many therapy supply companies.

5.  Increase the amount of chewy and crunchy foods in your child’s diet.

6.  Eat a chewy or crunchy food at the event or just prior to going into that environment.

12 “Heavy Work” Ideas for School and Community Outings

Last week’s article included suggestions for “heavy work” at home.  This week’s ideas are for school and when you are out in the community with your sensory sensitive child (grocery store, mall, playground, etc).  The idea is to integrate these types of activities, where muscles and joints work against resistance, all throughout your child’s day to keep him well-regulated.

School can be difficult when the expectation in many cases is that the child must be able to sit for longer periods of time and pay attention.  Incorporating some of these activities during the school day may be enough to make a difference.  Ask teachers and other caregivers to give them a try and see what results.

1.  Hold the door open for classmates and others.

2.  Stack the chairs at the end of the day.  Unstack them in the morning.

3.  Clean whiteboards or chalkboards.  Clean desk and tabletops.

4.  Help the gym teacher, if there is one, get the mats and move them into place.

5.  Carry books to the library.

6.  Climb on playground equipment.

7.  Sharpen pencils using a manual sharpener.

8.  Do chair push ups.

9.  In the grocery store, push a kid-sized cart filled with some heavy items.

10.  Help get items off lower shelves and carry to cart.

11.  Do animal walks like bear walks or crab walks to transition between “centers” or other activities.

12.  Wear a backpack with some books in it to give it some weight.

Try some of these and let me know what you notice, if anything.  This is just a small sampling of ideas for “heavy work” at school.  What activities do you already use that work for your child?  These ideas come from a variety of sources but most especially from an excellent Advance for OT article titled “All Work and Some Play:  Working the Muscles Helps Regulate the Brain” by Elizabeth Haber-Lopez, MS, OTR/L and Deanna Iris Sava, MS, OTR/L.

12 “Heavy Work” Ideas for Home

Last week I tried to explain a little more about what proprioceptive input or “heavy work” is.  This week…a list of “heavy work” activities, activities rich in proprioceptive input, that are naturally occurring at home.  Give them a try and let me know what you discover.  I would love to hear from you!

1.  Play “Row, row, row your boat”.  Both you and your child or two children both sit on the floor and push and pull each other using your arms.

2.  Pull a heavy trash can or laundry basket.  Pushing it is good too!

3.  Do household chores like vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, dusting, wiping off the table after meals, helping change the sheets on the bed and throwing the linens down the stairs to the laundry room.

4.  Carry heavier items like milk when bringing in the groceries and other weighted objects.

5.  Fill a pillow case with several stuffed animals for the weight.  Let your child drag or pull it around the house, lift it, push it, etc.

6.  Use the sofa cushions on the floor to jump on, crawl under or over, squash

Proprioceptive input…what is it anyway???

If you’ve read my blog, you’ve seen me write about “heavy work” or proprioceptive input quite frequently.  You may be unclear though about what exactly “heavy work” is…Let’s see if I can explain…

Proprioceptive input comes from our muscles and joints and as we move against resistance, a message is sent to the brain that helps us understand where our body is in space, where we are in relation to other people and objects, and how our body parts all fit together or our body scheme.  This is all important to body awareness and our ability to motor plan movements like cutting with scissors, writing our name, brushing our teeth or hair, and getting dressed every day.

If our brains have trouble and do not process proprioceptive input adequately and appropriately we might have trouble and play too rough with toys and other people.  We might frequently “crash and bump” into other people and objects like furniture or walls. 

Giving Up the Pacifer…Part Two

Last week I wrote about several “mouth tools” to help your child give up his or her pacifier.  Along with those “mouth tools”, there are several “body tools” that may help to supplement the oral sensory input being provided by the “mouth tools” you are using.  The pacifier soothes and calms.  “Body tools” also can soothe and calm!

“Body tools” include “heavy work” to muscles and joints.  “Heavy work”, also called proprioceptive input, includes any kind of activity where your child’s muscles and joints are working against resistance.  This type of input has an organizing and calming impact on the brain and nervous system and may be just the extra sensory input your child needs to give up that passy!  Here are a few fun “heavy work” activities for you to try at home that don’t require any special equipment other than a little imagination!

*  Animal walks-anytime your child bears his or her body weight on their hands and arms, it provides “heavy work” input.  Walking like bears, crabs, cats, dogs, spiders, and elephants all require your child to get in a crawling position where they bear the weight of their body on their hands and arms.  This provides “heavy work” input and can have a positive impact on how calm, organized, and focused your child can be.  And if they use the pacifier for soothing and calming, then adding in more “heavy work” may have a significant impact on giving it up!

*  Crawl up the wall-have your child position themselves so their back is facing a wall.  Have them bend over and put hands on the floor and “walk” their legs up the wall, into a handstand position with their legs propped against the wall.  This puts a significant proportion of their body weight over their hands and arms and provides a great deal of input.  Supervise your child and be sure the area is clear of hazards and obstacles.

*  Pushing and pulling heavy objects-load up the wagon or laundry basket and have

Giving Up the Pacifier

It seems that recently I have had several parents ask me for suggestions to help wean their child from using a pacifier.  You have probably been told already to poke holes in it, cut the tip off, or dot it with a drop of clove oil.  But pacifiers are soothers.  The pacifier facilitates relaxed breathing and there is an association of comfort with it.  So how do you replace the “soothing” input at 12 months when you are trying to wean your child off the passy?  Here is a list of 5 things to try to help your child give up the pacifier.

1.  Provide alternative “mouth tools” for your child.  Chewing on a straw, using a chewy tube, or if your child can manage it, chewing a piece of gum can serve as alternatives to the pacifier.

2.  Increase the amount of chewy and crunchy foods your child is getting in his diet.  Incorporating chewy and crunchy foods at meals and snacks is a natural way to provide more oral sensory input without having to add much to do in your day.  This will help increase the amount of sensory input to your child’s mouth and may serve to help quell the need to use the pacifier.

3.  Try adding some flavor to the foods your child eats.  He may prefer bolder, spicier, or sour flavors to help “wake up” his mouth with sensory input.  Experiment with ketchup, hot sauce, salsa, lemons/limes, etc and see how your child responds.  You can also vary the temperature of foods.  Cold foods are generally more alerting and warm foods more calming.

4.  Use straws to suck thicker liquids like pudding, jello, yogurt, applesauce, smoothies, and milk shakes.  Start off with wide straws like you can find at most fast food restaurants.  Cut them in half and then use them for meals and snacks.  This resistive sucking provides calming input that can help your child stay organized without using the pacifier to do so.  It also serves the dual purpose of strengthening the muscles around the mouth that we use for speech.

5.  Try using a vibrating toothbrush.  There are many inexpensive kid-sized versions with characters like Sponge Bob, Cars, and others.  Experiment with toothpaste flavors.  Your child might really like using a bolder flavor like peppermint or cinnamon.  A bland flavor at bedtime might also be helpful.  Be sure to use kid-friendly versions just in case your child swallows any toothpaste when brushing.  This can be another tool to provide intense oral sensory input that again, may help your child give up his passy.

Check back next week for more tips on giving up the pacifier that you may never have considered!!!!  I would love to hear your comments and suggestions for strategies you may have used to help your child give it up!

Toys, Toys, Toys

Here are a few great toy ideas broken out by age groups.  I hope this helps you narrow your search for the perfect toy.  Remember to consider your child’s developmental age when looking at the recommended age ranges on toys and games.  Toys that can be used in different ways are great for problem solving and creative play.  Toys that encourage independent and creative play skills are also great for teaching your child how to engage in solitary play away from your support.

Toys for Babies:  Rattles; plush toys with appendages that crinkle, make noise, and/or squeak; teethers; stuffed animals of different textures; mobiles and bedside lights that project slowly moving colors and shapes on the wall and ceiling

Toys for Toddlers:  Pounding benches; stacking/building blocks; busy boxes; simple puzzles; large pop beads; shape sorters; large peg boards; balls; picture books; bathtub toys for pouring and sticking on the tub wall

Toys for Preschoolers:  Puppets; dress up clothes; farm and community play sets; simple construction toys; books; puzzles; craft items/sets; crayons; paints; drawing paper; easels; dolls; stuffed animals; balls; musical instruments

Sensory Play:  Fingerpaint, Floam, Playdough, clay, putty, Moon Sand, sandbox and sandbox toys for digging, scooping, pouring, building castles and forts

Gross Motor Toys:  Spring rocking horses; ride-on toys; tricycle; bicycle with training wheels; mini trampoline with handle; movement games like “Hullaballoo”

Games:  Card games like “Old Maid”, “Go Fish”, or “Slap Jack”; board games like “Candy Land”, “Balloon Lagoon”, “Don’t Break the Ice” and “What’s in Ned’s Head?”; more competitive board games like “Connect Four”, “Battleship”, “Jenga”, “Operation”, and “Trouble”

Just a few suggestions to make your holiday shopping easier!  Check back in January for my next article on strategies for giving up the pacifier.  Happy Holidays!

*  Adapted from “A Season of Giving:  Choosing Toys to Fit Needs” by Michelle Tobias and Ilene Goldkopf in the November 7, 2011 issue of Advance for Occupational Therapy Practitioners  and other sources