Sensory Advice - #1

Last night this was my status on Facebook: "Elise just went bonkity-bonkers at Ted's Montana Grill over the powdered soap, complete with gags and retching.... methinks we need to start packing our own hand sanitizer..."

I've mentioned that Elise has sensory issues, definitely sensory defensive, probably full-blown Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)...Certainly on the "spectrum", but we don't really know "how deeply". It comes up in weird ways, sometimes like last night, she's tired or sick and something that bothers her usually, sends her right on over the edge. Sometimes, the day to day exhausts her and flips her out at home...like too much "MUCH" at school translates to EVERYTHING at home is too much. Sometimes, she acts out. Sometimes, she sucks her thumb, til you are afraid it may fall off from the "gusto". Sometimes, we all get "pet", she strokes our faces, hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, and hands til you have no concept where you leave off and where she begins. You do not get any personal space. At All. Sometimes, she drowns her sorrows in the 10 millionth showing of her favorite movie, the repetition and isolation from the real world helps. Sometimes, a combination of the aforementioned list is mixed together...

I have a friend that has a child that is struggling with getting "TOO MUCH-ed" at school. He is a normal-sized 5 year old, who ends up needing to be worn in a sling, by his very petite mother, after a long day at school...After missing each other due to time zones, general mothering, and both of us homeschooling, I resorted to sending her a list of help ideas for calming after school.

Since I had a perfectly good, written list, I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone, and share it. Will this apply to you? Maybe. Maybe not. But I felt like I should at least post my "start" list for those it might help...

If you want, you can email me and tell me what tends to work on this list and I can offer more stuff in the same vein…Or you can email me or comment with more things that have worked for yourselves and your little peeps to share with those still searching for that magic bullet!!

These are things that have helped Elise at various junctures of the TOO MUCH-ness of day to day...Some worked at one point and not at others, some are non-stop happy places...but the key is, find something that keeps you and your little sensory bug sane!!

Okay, here you go:

1) Nexcare makes a neoprene and Velcro and elastic back brace/support belt ($20) that we took one elastic side off of and wrapped around Elise’s belly…she wore in on car trips when she was nuts and at school during transitions for years…and any day when she was totally strung out… The pressure was like a bear hug and she could deal with the loud and people “flashing” around her better. (You can get whole therapy vests, but they were insane expensive!)

2) Have you tried a weighted vest or blanket? If you sew in cherry pits, long cook rice, or seed corn, in rows or squares, it can be microwaved too…surprisingly, temperature changes helped Elise, too…they can be made inexpensively or borrowed at/from school…

3) Simple light weights on their ankles/wrists?

4) Under Armour (or similar) lycra shirts that are too small, act as a wrap too…in a pinch, ace bandages, no lie…

5) Do swings and slides help or hurt? If they help, speak with a teacher to get them first and last dibs on a swing or on some kind of interval plan.

6) Would a headset with music of their choice help? (I bought an iPod shuffle off a bartering site for $20!) Shooting ears (those headphone looking noise control earmuffs? Ear plugs? Take the sounds down a few notches…

7) If you have a swing chair, take out the safety body so it hugs them tighter… Try a cloth hammock hung from the same hook or a single safety hook in a stud…

8) A bean bag chair with half the beads taken out so it cups around them more…

9) Do they have a “petting” thing? She prefers to "pet" people, but Elise will willingly pet certain stuffed animals…We've been known to send in stuffed animals and scraps of faux fur in her pocket sometimes…she holds them under the table and pets them… (We've toyed with getting her a service dog and this would be one of the benefits, she will sit and pet our dog for forever, too.) Elise has a friend that keeps marbles in his pockets to fiddle with… so, really, whatever could help, sky's the limit.

10) Heavier/lighter weight fabric, in his clothes? Elise’s sanity level can be seriously impacted by sleeve length and weight…loose shorts will make her nuts, and tight shirts will flip her out…Seasonal changes are quite an exhausting transition for her...

11) Also, have you seen Smart Knit socks? They are on my short list for Elise’s birthday….

These can ALL be written into an IEP...

Hope this helps SOMEone a tiny bit…let me know if it's you...I will rejoice with dancing and shouting with you!!! :)