Archive for: Sensory Processing

Archive for Sensory Processing – Page 2

Biking (& Sensory)

By zfortadmin
Thursday, July 8th, 2021

Riding a bike is fun. It’s a nostalgic, warm-weather activity, passed down from generation to generation. It’s an enjoyable experience on many levels, and can be either an exciting social activity, or relaxing individual experience. It can even be a great way to get in a bit of welcome exercise! Bike riding also stimulates the vestibular system. This system, which is located in our inner ear and detects movement, helps our body to make adjustments and corrections to maintain balance and complete gross motor skills efficiently. This input can be regulating for many, which is why after a nice bike ride it can be hard to get a rider off their bikes, but when they do, they are more relaxed.  

Learning to ride a bike, however, can be a difficult and trying experience for both the child and the teacher. In the end, though, it’s well worth the process. Though the therapeutic benefits of biking are numerous, biking doesn’t come easily to everybody! Not to fear; we can learn together.

Learning to Ride

Toddler's Pink Bike Near Wall

Particularly for children with delayed motor skills, coordination and motor planning difficulties and/or low muscle tone, learning to ride a bike can be challenging (to say the least). At Sasco River Center, we work diligently with your child creating strategies and developing the skills required for them to ride their bikes safely and independently. During bike camp, your child will participate in games, activities, and crafts all geared towards getting your child riding his or her bike through mastering one skill at a time. Learning to ride a bike is beneficial to your child mentally, socially, physically and developmentally. Riding a bike helps to strengthen your heart muscles and build stamina promoting health awareness at such an early age. Children develop a sense of responsibility and independence as well as gain confidence from learning how to ride a bike. Riding a bike with peers and neighbors allows for your child to interact and build social skills with other children in an active environment. Biking is a great activity for a child to get outside while still working on their core strength, balance and muscular coordination, all while having fun!

By the way, there is no “right” age to learn to ride a bike, but if your child is ready, check out some tips below!

3 Secrets to Teaching Bike Riding

Secret 1: Don’t use “training wheels”

No Training Wheels Allowed! | by Steve Nazarian | LinkedIn
  • They teach kids to balance on training wheels, not on their own two wheels
  • They are slow and inhibiting (even for the best of riders – and I’ve seen some VERY proficient training-wheel riders.)
  • They don’t do corners well, and in fact teach muscle memory of the wrong technique.
  • They become an unnecessary crutch that prolongs a movement towards riding without training wheels at all.
  • Either simply remove pedals from an existing bike, or get a balance bike. (You can get a balance bike on Amazon for less than $100)

Secret 2: Start with developing trust in their own body

The best way to teach a child to ride a bike | Seattle's Child
  • Build up skills. First try having them keep their feel flat on the ground while they walk the bike. This way, they get to experience the sensation of leaning without falling. As an aside, make sure the bike fits properly; your child should be able to stand flat-footed over the top bar of the bike. If in doubt, a smaller bike is better than a larger bike. (As another aside, if you want to see truly AMAZING kids bikes, check THESE out! If I could back in time, I’d get one of them.)
  • Assure them that their feet will keep them from falling as they walk the bike forward and experience the sensation of leaning without falling. 
  • Eventually, they learn to trust their body. It’s at this point when lessons become fun. Students are now motivated and excited to learn!

Secret 3: Be calm, present and patient

mom consoling her son who fell off his bike
  • This is more about you than your Child, but trust us, it helps.
  • The goal is to decrease anxiety and fear, while boosting confidence. Your calm and patient presence helps them maintain the desire to continue working while they experience setbacks and unfamiliar sensations.
  • Our demeanor, particular when children are learning a challenging new activity, very much affects children’s responses to learning something new. 

Biking Fun At Home

It is never too early to start working on skills to help our kids learn to ride a bike.

Here are some activities to work on balance and coordination for our early bikers. These skills will help work on balance, which is certainly one of the most important steps to becoming an independent rider. Here are some biking activities seen at bike camp that you can do at home once your child is ready for the bike.

Off the Bike Activities

Try these to “warm up” our balance before getting on the bike

  • Jumping on each foot 10x with arms out to side
  • Walk across a line pretending you’re on a tight rope with arms out to side

Scavenger hunt

bike riding scavenger hunt checklist

While on bike, have children go around looking for nature items outside to work on all aspects of biking such as coordination, balance, motor planning and strength. (The child can be scooting, gliding or pedaling)

Red Light, Green Light

Three children practice scooting and gliding on bikes with no pedals

Red Light = STOP, Green Light = GO & Yellow Light = SLOW DOWN.

How To Play: Start with everyone along the starting line, When you say ‘Green Light’ everyone will move towards the finish line, When you say ‘Red Light’ everyone must immediately stop. If players are still moving when you call ‘Red Light’, they must go back to the starting line.

BONUS TIP: To get your child more involved, have them come up with a color and a rule/ movement for that corresponding color to add into the game. 

Want more? Try Bike Camp/Lessons with us!

Do your kids want to learn how to ride a bike? We can help! Sasco River bike camp can help your children gain the confidence and skills needed in order to get pedaling! At the end of bike camp, your child will walk away with not only confidence and a fun experience, but also a biking “license” to remember their hard work and dedication.  Find out more HERE, or email us: hello@sascoriver.com.

EMAIL US AT HELLO@SASCORIVER.COM
mom helping her son learn to ride a bike

By-Line Note

Though Mark Maidique is listed as the Author, this post was written by a team of Mark Maidique, Teresa Salzillo, and Deanna Lindberg.

Categories : Advice, Parenting, Sensory Processing
Tags : , , , ,

“I’m Bored”

By zfortadmin
Monday, December 21st, 2020


“I’m Bored”: Down Time and Praxis at Home

Woman in White Long Sleeve Shirt Sitting on Black Chair

As we continue to practice social distancing, we all have a lot more free time on our hands than we are typically used to. While the beginning of quarantine may have been very productive, the motivation for most of us has diminished over the long months. Recently, you may notice that you and your family are having an increasingly difficult time coming up with constructive activities to do and are turning towards technology more and more. This can be particularly true during school breaks that would typically be spent visiting family or traveling, but now are filled with hours of down time. Your children (or spouse) may be coming to you more saying: “I’m bored”, despite having many things to do around the house. This feeling, one we know all too well, can be amplified for children that have difficulty with praxis.

What is Praxis?

Praxis is often associated with motor planning or planning movement, but this is really only the tip of the iceberg. More specifically, praxis is the neurological process where cognition directs motor actions (Ayres, 1985). In other words, praxis is the planning of what to do and how to do it. 

Man Wearing Black and White Stripe Shirt Looking at White Printer Papers on the Wall

In practice, praxis is the complex series of events that an individual’s body must execute in order to produce a desired outcome.

  1. First, we must conceive the idea of what to do using ideation (i.e. kicking a soccer ball into the net);
  2. Then, we have to plan how we are going to achieve the desired outcome using motor planning (i.e. giving self a running start and kick with your right foot).
  3. Next, we need to execute the movement correctly in order to be successful (i.e. kick the ball with enough force and good aim);
  4. Lastly, we need to be able to reflect on the feedback from the movement to adapt our actions to increase likelihood of success for the future (i.e. kick the ball harder using a longer running start);

For most people, praxis is a complex process that we take for granted since it occurs mostly automatically. However, for some children, learning novel activities is something that requires extra practice and effort due to a missing piece in the multi-step process. In today’s society where a lot of activities are planned and video games have rigid objectives and processes, praxis can be underdeveloped simply because it has not been practiced! Think of riding a bike; while most people learn this skill at a young age and practice it throughout their lives, there are adults that have never learned how to ride! Similarly with praxis, if we didn’t learn and practice this skill as children, we may not have developed it fully.  Either way, working on praxis can help everyone, especially when we think of what to do in down time.

Signs of Praxis Difficulty 

Green and Black Coffee Mug on Air

If your child is having difficulty with praxis, you may observe:

  • Difficulty learning new motor skills or requiring more practice time than their peers (i.e. riding a bike, learning a dance, etc.).
  • Appearring clumsy or uncoordinated.
  • Unable to follow multi-step directions to complete a physical task (i.e. an obstacle course). This becomes particularly apparent with verbal cues (instead of visually demonstration) 
  • Avoidance of gross motor or novel activities.
  • Difficulty retrieving the right materials for a play activity.
  • Appearance of laziness and incomplete work (Caused by not knowing how to start).
  • Failure to perform movement(s) safely. 
  • Difficulty knowing where their body is in space.
  • Frequent falling, tripping, or bumping into obstacles.

Praxis Difficulties & Technology Use

Flat Screen Monitor Turned-on in Office

Simply put, technology is both a blessing and a curse. Even prior to the pandemic, balancing technology and physical play was a common concern voiced by parents. However, during the pandemic, the world has increased its reliance on technology to include almost all daily functions. From attending remote school to having virtual holiday parties, technology has become one of the only outlets to safely interact with the people around us. With this increased reliance on technology, children and parents are having an increasingly difficult time separating the now blurred boundaries between productive technology use and “down-time” technology use. Video games and YouTube videos are a preferred activity for children with praxis difficulties because it eliminates the need to come up with activities to do independently. Technology use also fulfills our natural need for stimulation and impacts the pleasure systems of the brain by releasing dopamine and can, therefore, become addictive. In addition to making children feel good, it is often used more so as a crutch for children with praxis difficulties due to their difficulty with planning and executing activities. Methods to decrease technology reliance include but are not limited to: setting “tech free” breaks, fostering motivation by including siblings, giving explicit ideas of activities, encouraging outdoor play, and setting expectations for screen time and down time.

Home Praxis Activities 

Man in Blue Polo Shirt and Woman in Beige Pants Sitting on Blue and White Mat

Try these activities to try at home to increase praxis skills:

  • Simon Says
    Can help improve ability to spontaneously movement plan and improve body awareness.
  • Floor is Lava
    Can help to improve ideation and problem solving skills determining safe and efficient ways to avoid touching the floor. 
  • Unstable Obstacle Course
    Create an obstacle course with unstable surfaces: walking or climbing over unstable surfaces is a great way to increase strength and motor plan unpredictable movements. 
  • Twister
    Increase body awareness while building upon the problem solving skills to determine the best way to move your body with obstacles. 
  • Yoga Cards
    In addition to the many benefits of yoga, it challenges the ability to process and motor plan actions by giving a visual demonstration of the movement. 
  • Animal Walks
    Increase problem solving and ideation naming an animal and having your child act out how the animal would move. 
  • New Card Game
    Learn a new card game and teach the family
  • Heads Up
    This is a great way to help your child learn how to describe a particular topic/word
  • Mix ‘N Match
    Give your child 5 items and see how many different ways they can use them! For example play dough, a coin, a string, a cup and a marble!
  • Charades
    Can help improve ideation of desired movement and increase problem solving and processing when conceptualizing the other person’s movement.
  • DIY
    Create your own game! Don’t forget to tag us @SascoRiver in your creations.

Tips for Praxis

Woman Holding A Poster On Proper Hand Washing

Tips for children with praxis difficulties

  • Use “first, then” language
    This helps the child understand what sequence they need to complete the demand. For example, “first have a snack, then start your homework.” 
  • Break instructions into parts
    Instead of saying, “go and get your shoes and backpack and go outside”, say “get your shoes”. Once that direction is accomplished, you can continue to the next direction, “get your backpack”, and etc.
  • Give visual cues
    Children with praxis difficulties can rely heavily on their visual system to “mimic” novel motor actions. Giving a visual cue for an action will increase the ease of processing the movement. 
  • Physical cues
    Physically guide the child through the action so that they can learn what the movement feels like. 
  • Repetition
    Practicing the movement allows for increased success rate and increased confidence. 

“I’m Bored” 

Dices and Wooden Pieces on Game Board

Adapt to Praxis challenges during long breaks from school with these tips:

  • Activity Bingo
    Use a blank bingo board and put different activities for your child to do in them, you can even have them help you fill it out. You can give a little extra “tech time” or other reward every time they get Bingo! 
  • Make a visual “menu” of activities
    Sometimes it is helpful for children to visually “see” options
  • Make a new game!
    Keeping things new and novel can increase motivation to participate, including others can also help. For example, have your child make a scavenger hunt for other family members and then take turns doing the scavenger hunt. The act of making it works on praxis and increases the time engaged!
  • Have your child “video” their activity to send to family members
    While this uses some technology, helping your child feel connected to others while doing a physically engaging activity can be more regulating than simply using technology. 
  • Make a visual schedule
    This can help children to visualize when it is time for “tech” and time to engage in other activities. While we typically think of this for scheduling extracurriculars, it can also help to know when it will be time for their “preferred” down time activity is within the house
Further Reading

If you’re interested in learning more about praxis, see these resources:

Categories : Parenting, Sensory Processing
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Managing Strong Emotions

By zfortadmin
Friday, November 13th, 2020

Managing Strong Emotional Reactions in Children and Teens

Woman in Gray Tank Top

Have you ever been so overwhelmed with an emotion that it felt all-consuming? Like you were stuck in a deep, dark emotion pit without a ladder? When emotions take the reins, they can make it really hard to focus on the situation at hand, to process logical reasoning, and to problem-solve. The crippling impact of overwhelming emotion is even stronger for children and adolescents, because they are still developing neurologically and don’t have the same capacities as adults to self-regulate. So what is a parent to do when their child is swallowed up by fear, worry, anger, or sadness? Following are some tips to help you help your child manage strong emotions:

Address the Emotion

Father holding cheeks of son in face mask

When children or teens are having meltdowns, many parents try to speak to them rationally. While parents do this with the best of intentions, the problem is that when somebody is in an emotional tailspin, the logical part of their brain is completely shut down. Even the most revelatory comment will go straight over their heads until the emotional arousal comes down.

So when emotion carries your child away, instead of trying to problem-solve, start by addressing the emotion. If they are too far gone to access language, label the emotion for them (e.g., “I can see that you are very upset”) and validate why they feel so upset, even if you feel they are behaving inappropriately (e.g., “I understand that you are really mad that you have to finish your homework before you watch TV”). Oftentimes having somebody acknowledge how you feel helps bring the level of the emotion down to a tolerable level, which then makes it easier to reflect, redirect, and problem-solve.

Help Your Child Ground

Person Wearing Red Hoodie

Another way to bring down emotional arousal is to force the brain to think about something else. “Grounding” skills are techniques that are designed to direct your focus to something occurring in the present moment, rather than having your brain carried off by emotion.

One helpful grounding skill is the 5 Senses Activity. Guide your child to identify:

  • 5 things they can see
  • 4 things they can hear
  • 3 things they can touch
  • 2 things they can smell, and
  • 1 thing they can taste.

In a pinch, you can do even simpler grounding activities, such as counting activities (e.g., How many light switches do you see in the room? How many tiles are on the floor? How many surfaces can you sit on?). Try it yourself right now – the more you have to focus on something in your immediate environment, the harder it is for your brain to get distracted by anything else, which gives your emotions time to cool off.

Preempt the Emotion

Close-up Photography Of A Girl Eating Bread

These first couple skills are for use in the moment, when the emotion has already taken over. In the long run, it can help to identify patterns and warning signs. Spend some time observing your child and getting a feel for common triggers. This can help you preempt significant escalations in emotion (for example, if your child tends to get “hangry”, save difficult conversations for after they’ve had a snack).

That said, it’s also good for children to learn to “build the muscle” of tolerating difficult emotion (the world won’t always be able to accommodate them as well as a parent can!), but this needs to happen in a graduated way. In calm, quiet moments, work with your child to help them identify when they tend to get upset and how they know their emotions are rising. What do they feel in their body? What thoughts go through their head? Once they become familiar enough with their own signs of emotional arousal, they can practice self-regulation skills before it’s too late, such as deep breathing, positive mental imagery, or separating themselves from a difficult situation. At first, you may need to help guide them to use these skills when you notice an uptick in emotional arousal, but in time, these skills will become more automatic, and they will be better able to initiate self-regulation strategies independently.

Model Self-Regulation Skills

Child With Woman Holding Map

Children learn about emotions from those around them. The more you are able to regulate your own emotions, the more they learn to do so themselves. This doesn’t mean being an emotion robot – many parents worry about their kids seeing them upset. What’s most helpful to kids is to see that it’s okay to feel these feelings (at safe levels), and that there’s something they can do about it. So when you’re upset about things, it’s healthy to let it show in front of your kids in small doses, to talk about your feelings in developmentally-appropriate language, and most importantly, to talk about what you’re going to do to help yourself feel more calm. Young children will enjoy joining you in self-regulation activities, such as the ones listed above, and it will be good practice for them to get into the habit!

Build Your Own Tolerance For Their Distress

Ethnic father and kid relaxing in bedroom

While children are growing, their bodies are too small to handle the big emotions they sometimes feel. It is typical for children to have big reactions to strong feelings while they get the hang of self-regulation. The goal is to help them feel confident in their abilities to self-soothe, but this doesn’t happen overnight, and too much pressure to regulate faster than their bodies are capable of can hinder the process. 

When your child is having a meltdown, remind yourself that they are doing their best in that moment, and you can continue to help them build their regulatory muscles when they are calm again. Take a few deep breaths, and trust that if you are able to stay regulated yourself in those most difficult of moments, it will help your child see that they are safe and protected by you even when they don’t feel safe and protected in their own bodies. And remind yourself that you are doing your best, too! Learning to self-regulate is hard work for everybody. It’s okay if it feels impossible sometimes. It will become easier in time!

Still too much?

As always, reach out to us if you need more information or help.

Categories : Advice, Parenting, Sensory Processing
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Benefits of Heavy Work

By zfortadmin
Monday, September 14th, 2020

Think about the feeling that you have after exercising or doing yard work: your body is more awake, you’re aware of all the muscles you were using, and your mood improves. These incredible benefits are produced through the work of proprioceptive input and heavy work!

What is Heavy Work?

group of boys jumping rope
Junge im Park zusammen mit Freunden beim Wettbewerb im Seilspringen im Sommer

Heavy work is defined as any type of activity that pushes or pulls against the body and/or lifting heavy objects or items. This specific type of movement provides proprioceptive input (sensations that underlie body awareness) to the muscles and joints. Like children need food or water to survive, their bodies require sensory input in order to stay focused throughout the day. Every child has unique sensory needs that can be assessed and discovered through clinical observation. Through the combined efforts of professional intervention and sensory tailored activities, the effects can be instantaneous, effective, and, most importantly, fun!

Who can benefit from Heavy Work?

young boy in a ring in the pool
Watch out for pool sharks though (Photo by VisionPic .net)

Everyone can benefit from heavy work activities! Especially with the sudden transition to remote learning and social distancing, everyone is spending an increasing amount of time sitting still. Movement is a critical aspect of everyone’s routine that is utilized to increase stimulation, focus, and alertness. Children and adults with sensory processing disorder and other mental health conditions in particular can especially benefit from implementing these types of activities into their daily routine.

Benefits of Heavy Work

group of kids on a trampoline
These are all siblings, I think… (Photo by Karolina Grabowska)

There are a multitude of advantages to incorporating heavy work activities into your child’s daily routine. Heavy work can be used to calm a child’s body through organizing and regulating their sensory systems, subsequently reducing their anxiety and stress. Often times, children with sensory processing difficulties don’t know where they are in time or space. This results in children seeking input through crashing into things, typically in an unsafe and uncontrollable manner. Heavy work activities can be utilized to give children the sense of grounding they are searching for and increase their body awareness. Think about how your arms feel after you’re carrying something really heavy. Even after you put the object down, you can still feel the weight; you’re more aware of the muscles in your arms. This results in a residual effect, where given the right amount proprioceptive input, can prevent sensory overload. This can keep a child calm and focused long after the activity is completed. Additionally, heavy work activities will decrease the need to chew in children who self-regulate through chewing on objects such as their shirts or sleeves. Lastly, heavy work releases Serotonin which is the “feel-good” neurotransmitter and is responsible for improving your mood while simultaneously regulating your sensory system.

Examples of Heavy Work activities:

  • Swimming;
  • Monkey bars;
  • Wall push ups;
  • Push ups;
  • Tug of war;
  • Chewing crunchy/chewy foods;
  • Jumping on a trampoline;
  • Jump rope;
  • Doing chores;
  • Wheelbarrow walking;
  • Crab walking

Tips & Tricks

little boy doing push ups
  • Finding the “just right challenge”! The goal of the “just right challenge” is choose activities for your child that is neither too easy nor too hard. The purpose of these activities is to empower, motivate, and challenge your child.
  • Make the activity functional and enjoyable! It can be difficult to engage a child in an activity if it is simply carrying something heavy. Give your activity purpose! For example, have your child help out with the gardening by carrying items over to you.
  • Don’t use these activities as punishment! Although heavy work activities can be calming for some children, it is important to not have your child associate regulating activities with negative reinforcement. It’s not their fault that they do not know how to accurately regulate their bodies.
  • Have your child complete heavy work activities prior to remote learning! This will increase your child’s arousal and help their bodies stay regulated and organized while sitting still, even for long periods of time.
  • Heavy work activities affect everyone differently! It is imperative that an adult closely watches the child’s reaction to these types of activities. As always, consult your Occupational Therapist if you have any questions about what you observed!
  • HAVE FUN! (:

Want to know more?

Email us at hello@sascoriver.com with your question!

Categories : Advice, News, Parenting, Sensory Processing
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The ‘Senses’ and Skills of Gardening

By zfortadmin
Thursday, August 27th, 2020
young girl watering plants
Gardening is fun! Photo by Maggie

Gardening is a great, enriching activity to perform, especially for children – not just in the summer, but in the fall as well. Children naturally learn and develop novel skills, through the interactions that they have with their environments. Gardening enables children to build upon these skills in a natural environment and it allows them to be exposed to various forms of sensory input.  

The Seven Senses

graphic of the 7 senses

We all are familiar with our five external senses:

  • Sight (visual)
  • Smell (olfactory) 
  • Touch (tactile)
  • Taste (gustatory) 
  • Hearing (auditory)

However, we also have two internal, lesser-known senses:

  • Vestibular
  • Proprioception

The Vestibular System is located in our inner ears and is activated when we move our head in space (up/down, side to side, or lateral direction).

The Proprioceptive System is located in the receptors of our muscles and joints, and is activated any time one performs an activity that entails pushing, pulling, or lifting an object (or in other terms “heavy-work” activities).  The proprioceptive system also acts as a regulator. When the proprioceptive system is activated it releases a neurotransmitter, serotonin, which is calming to the nervous system. Gardening is an activity that can provide proprioceptive input, by one actively engaging in the performance of heavy-work tasks (i.e. carrying a filled watering can). A child who may experience sensory processing difficulties naturally seeks out this type of input, in order to help them be in a more regulated state.

The ‘Senses’ of Gardening 

Think about this: Before heading outside, you apply sunscreen (tactile input). When you step outside of your house, you are hit with an array of sensory stimuli (visual, olfactory, auditory, and/or tactile). Initially, you feel the warmth of the sun hitting your face (tactile input). You grab your tools and place them in your wheelbarrow filled with the flowers and herbs you had just recently bought. Then you wheel the wheelbarrow over to your garden (proprioceptive input). You empty out the contents of the wheelbarrow, bend down, and sit on top of your knees (proprioceptive input). Then grab your hand shovel and start digging holes in the soil, looking down at the garden bed below (proprioceptive and vestibular input). As you’re digging, you feel the dirt slightly touch your hands (tactile input). You suddenly hear a bumblebee buzzing past your ear (auditory input). You stand up and look around (up/down and left/right) to see where the bumblebee flew (vestibular input).  And to think, this is just the beginning of the sensory input that one may experience while gardening. 

No Green Thumb Needed 

As mentioned, gardening works on numerous skills, in a fun and interactive manner. Below is a list of skills (not all inclusive) with some examples that one may be working on while engaging in this activity.

FINE MOTOR SKILLS

  • Fine motor precision – Carefully placing one seed at a time into individual cells of a seed tray.
  • Bi-manual coordination – Opening up a seed packet – stabilizing the packet with one hand, and utilizing the other to open it.
  • In-hand manipulation – Placing seeds in the palm of your hand, and manipulating one seed at a time into the pads of the fingers to place into a container (palm to finger translation).
  • Promotes grasping patterns (i.e. pincer grasp) – Picking up a seed with the thumb and index finger. 

GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

  • Strength 
  • Endurance
  • Bilateral coordination

DISCRIMINATION SKILLS

  • Proprioceptive Discrimination (the ability to grade force on an object)
    • While removing a plant from a plastic pot, one must grade  their force appropriately. Pulling too hard could result in one  accidentally removing stems or leaves off of the plant.
  • Tactile discrimination (the ability to feel an object without relying on the visual system)
    • Feeling different sized seeds in the palm of one’s hand, without the need to look.

SEQUENCING SKILLS

MOTOR PLANNING / PRAXIS SKILLS

BODY / SPATIAL AWARENESS

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING SKILLS

AND MORE…

Gardening can also help improve one’s:

  • patience (delayed gratification),
  • frustration tolerance,
  • cognitive flexibility (as one may need to change their original plan), and
  • social skills (if working with another peer or family member). 

Create Your Own ‘Sensory Garden’ 

A ‘sensory garden’ can incorporate a mix of plants and/or garden décor, to provide one with a unique, sensory experience. 

  • Visual  – Utilizing plants with vibrant or different colors, varied heights, or those simply unique in nature, can provide some visual input to one’s garden.  
  • Olfactory – There are an abundance of plants that have scents. Think of herbs that you may use while cooking, like rosemary or basil. 
  • Tactile – Plants with texture – soft, hard, spikey, or bumpy – are a fun way to add tactile input to your garden. Providing different landscape textures (i.e. sand, rocks, or mulch) are another way to provide additional tactile input.
  • Gustatory – Think of herbs, fruits, or vegetables that you can grow, and eventually eat!
  • Auditory – Provide your garden with sound by either hanging up a wind chime or perhaps having a water source (like a small fountain). 

Have fun, and be creative. There is no right or wrong way when designing your own garden!

————————————————————————————————————

If you or your child has any allergies (i.e. environmental, oils in plants, insect bites, etc.), there are other alternatives that can be performed (i.e. utilizing faux flowers). 

Due to these unprecedented times, many local garden centers/nurseries are now offering free contactless delivery or contactless curbside pickup to ensure the safety of their customers. 

Categories : Parenting, Sensory Processing
Tags : , , , , ,

Behind the Mask

By zfortadmin
Monday, August 10th, 2020

Getting Used to Masks: Strategies for Tolerating Face Coverings

Is your child struggling to tolerate a face mask? Does the mask end up on the floor instead of their face? Well, looks like they’re here to stay so hopefully we can help them get used to masks

Child wearing Mask
You can’t see it, but I’m smiling. Photo by Janko Ferlic

After months stuck at home, wearing a face mask will help to reopen your child’s world. They will be able to safely engage during play dates, participate in camp activities, or visit family members they haven’t seen in a while. In fact, tolerating a mask either has or may become a daily demand as face coverings are now required to go to the dentist, return to school, or shop in a store. For many children, however, this new mask requirement can feel overwhelming, anxiety-inducing, or sensory overloading. The ability to wear a mask for longer than a few minutes may take time, patience, and practice. Remember to frame the mask experience positively. Be mindful of how you, as parents, talk about your own mask wearing experience. This is a difficult time for all of us. Empower your children to feel in control of their health and safety by wearing a mask. 

Masks: Sensory Overload

Masks cause light touch sensations behind the ears, across the nose, over the mouth, and just below the jawline. Many of these areas of the face and neck are very sensitive to tactile input and, in general, light touch input is more alerting than firm touch input. At first, wearing a mask may make your child feel more on edge or alert. 

The tactile sensation of the mask may not be the only input alerting your child. Their auditory system is also working harder to interpret garbled verbal communication. They are most likely struggling to interpret body language without the nonverbal cues we can usually read on someone’s face. These factors can all contribute to sensory overload. 

Fortunately, there are several strategies you can utilize to increase your child’s tolerance level for wearing masks. 

Incorporate Calming Inputs 

When practicing wearing a mask, pair the experience with calming deep pressure and weight bearing inputs. A weighted blanket, yoga poses, or gentle squeezes up the arms may help to offset that light touch alerting response. 

Getting used to it: Feel and Fit

Is that a bunny?

Many of your child’s preferred clothing brands have released their own lines of masks which can be a great place to start your search! Consider the different textiles used to make masks: cotton, nylon, polyester, spandex, etc. Take fabric scraps or clothing materials and have your child explore the different types against their cheek. Ask them which one feels the best. 

Consider the type of mask. Does your child tolerate a mask with elastic that goes behind the ears? If not, perhaps a mask that ties around the head or has adjustable ear loops would be more comfortable.  Maybe your child does not tolerate the metal wire that sits along the nose. Explore wire-free masks whose shape and flexibility still provide that contoured fit. 

Get creative!

Repurpose their favorite shirt they’ve outgrown and turn it into a mask. There are tutorials available online to help create a mask that is the right size and fit. 

Have a Fashion Show 

Work that mask

Together, try out a few different masks! Let your child pick their favorite one based on comfort and appearance.  Whatever type of mask they choose, pick a fun way to describe face coverings like “ninja” or “superhero” masks. This has the added benefit of giving your child additional practice wearing masks.  

What Did You Say?

My bear can’t understand you.

Masks can affect speech, making language sound more muffled or muted. Hearing the difference between similar sounds (think a “p” and a “b”) can be  harder when speaking through masks. This can be challenging and frustrating. Sensory overload can affect your child’s listening skills, emotional regulation, and frustration tolerance. When giving them verbal directions through your mask, speak slowly and check for comprehension periodically. Use visual cues and exaggerated body language to help get your point across.  

Mask Game Night

Hold a masked family board game, trivia, or karaoke night. The interaction necessary for these games will allow your child to practice communicating with this new obstacle in a low stakes environment. The whole family can practice tolerating, speaking, and listening together!

Funny Faces Game

Masks can significantly impact our ability to read facial expressions or recognize even a familiar face. This can feel unsettling. For a child who struggles socially, masks can make it even harder to pick on on social cues. 

Play a facial expression game with family members. When you are all wearing masks, have your child try to guess if you are making a happy, sad, silly, or surprised face. This will help your child to learn to rely on other parts of the face and body in order to pick up on others’ feelings. 

Don’t Forget: Take a Moment to Breathe

At first, the new experience of a mask may lead to increased feelings of anxiety. While wearing a mask, remind your child every half hour to take 5 deep belly breaths. Have them place their hand on their belly to feel their belly rise and fall. 

Get used to Masks: Small Steps Lead to Big Changes

Some children may have to begin by touching the mask to their nose or giving it a kiss. From there, trial wearing a mask for just a few minutes at a time while doing a preferred activity. Build stamina by wearing it at home before branching out slowly to familiar places. Just like other sensory work, this will take time. Remember that every time we wear a mask we are working towards a future where we will no longer have to!

Remember, if you or your child have sensory issues, we can help. We are the area’s leading practitioner. Head over to our Intake tab to get started!

Reference:https://paautism.org/resource/desensitization-mask-communication/

Categories : Advice, Parenting, Sensory Processing
Tags : , ,

6 Signs of Sensory Processing Difficulties

By zfortadmin
Wednesday, May 6th, 2020

Often when we think of signs of sensory processing challenges, we picture children distressed by clothing tags or covering their ears at birthday parties. While this is a very real possibility, in actuality, there are thousands of sensory processing profiles that may not always look overtly “sensory.” For instance, both poor coordination and picky eating are presentations of sensory processing challenges that may be harder to identify. For this reason, sensory processing difficulties can go undetected, be mistaken for quirks, or even be mislabeled as behavioral issues. 

With such a wide spectrum of presentations, how can you tell if your child has sensory processing challenges?  Well, there are some tell-tale markers. Here are 6 signs of sensory processing difficulties that are common across all sensory profiles: 

1. Tendency to fidget

person playing with a fidget
(Photo by Retha Ferguson)

Does it feel like your child can’t sit still? Do they frequently kick their legs against the chair, tap their hands on the table, or get up from their seat? Fidgeting can be a telltale sign of sensory processing challenges. 

Balance and body awareness are sensory functions. The vestibular system controls your balance and movement and your proprioceptive system is responsible for body scheme and awareness. When one or both of these systems are not working as they should, your child has to fidget in order to provide himself with more feedback about where his body is in space. 

2. Trouble focusing

group of kids playing an app on a tablet
(Photo by Harrison Haines)

Is your child in need of frequent redirection? Do they have difficulty tuning into your verbal cues or get visually distracted? Does your child rush through homework or skip over words when reading? Trouble focusing can often indicate sensory processing difficulties. 

Our vestibular system is linked to attention and alertness. It works in tandem with the proprioceptive, visual, and auditory systems, helping us tune into the task at hand and tune out distractors. When there is a breakdown in one or more of these systems, attention and focus will become more laborious. 

3. Resistant to change

time for change image
(Photo by Alexas Fotos)

Does your child respond strongly to even minor changes? Are they particular about food brands or clothing materials? Are they rigid in their routines and dislike to deviate from their norm? Discomfort with change can signal issues with sensory processing.

Humans are creatures of habit, but we should be able to adapt to changes in our routine without becoming overwhelmed. Children with sensory processing challenges tend to strongly prefer familiar experiences as they foster a sense of control. 

4. Cognitive drain

young girl resting her head on a post
(Photo by Matheus Bertelli)

Does your child appear on edge, overtired, or just mentally exhausted? Do they seem to tune you out or seem absent during dinner conversations? Does the quality of their schoolwork show a steep decline as the day goes on? Fatigue that comes on quickly or zoning out can be symptoms of a sensory processing disorder.

Sensory kids are often working extra hard to get through life’s daily demands as they are using more cognitive effort to perform tasks that come more automatically to others. Their brains frequently operate in overdrive to process their surroundings and make sense of the world around them. 

5. Meltdowns

young child resisting a meltdown
(Photo by Alexander Dummer)

Is your child prone to meltdowns or tantrums? Do you see a large response to a seemingly small problem? Does it sometimes feel as though they have to melt down in order to feel better? While this may often be viewed as negative behaviors, they can point to sensory processing issues.

Explosive behaviors like crashing, kicking, and hitting can be signals that your child is seeking more proprioceptive feedback. Children often find these types of behaviors give their body the release they are craving. 

6. Struggles with sleep

young kid struggling to sleep
(Photo by Tatiana Syrikova)

Is your child waking up frequently throughout the night or having trouble falling asleep? Do they seek heavy blankets or need to be wrapped tightly in order to fall asleep? Does your child experience hunger, thirst, or the need to use the bathroom throughout the night to the degree it disturbs their rest? Frequent disruptions to a full night’s sleep may be due to struggles with sensory processing. 

Quieting our brains and bodies requires far more coordination of our sensory systems than most of us realize. Furthermore, poor quality sleep can impact your child’s mood and regulation, making them even more susceptible to becoming overwhelmed by their sensory processing challenges throughout the day.

Do you spot any of these Signs of Sensory Processing difficulties in your child? Are any of these signs surprising to you? Let us know via hello@sascoriver.com, or in the comments below.

Categories : Advice, Parenting, Sensory Processing
Tags : , , , , ,
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