On-Your-Own therapies

So money is tight your insurance does not cover SPD therapies. What do you do? Lots. Read on.

This blog is about the natural therapy outdoors probably within a mile or two of your home...The park. The park is a great place for an SPD kid. Outside is better than inside..fresh air and natural light. Many times fluorescent lighting is disconcerting to kids, it is LOUD (the incessant buzzing!) and makes everything look green. Sunlight on the skin makes vitamin D, which helps fatigue. The fresh air and natural lighting also helps deeper sleep at night, as it helps to produce melatonin.

Swings are great for propreception and vestibular senses. They also help the child with bi-lateral coordination.

Walking a balance beam is VERY hard for a SPD kid, so much better to practice in a non threatening arena. Climbing ladders creates work for the eyes, balancing system, gross motor skills and bilateral coordination. Slides help the same way, plus it is a bit scary, but scary in a fun way. There are often smaller slides for the very gravitational insecure child. Start by having him climb the slide if he is afraid of climbing the ladder.

Jumping and running trigger language. Hanging from a bar gives muscular sensory feedback and helps with loose joints. Exercise reduces stress by releasing the fight or flight adrenalin built up from the day's problems. Spinning on a tire swing helps the vestibular sense.

The park should be fun. If you are pushing your child to "experience" the park, he or she will not want to go back. Make sure you have plenty of time to spend and have them go at their own speed. If they want to immediately go home, take them for a little walk around, and tell them you don't want to go yet. Introduce things gradually. You might even find yourself on the swing right beside them.

No reason you can't enjoy the park as well....

hugs to you from me for the week!

Hippa-therapy

First, if you are a mom reading this...HAPPY MOM'S DAY! I hope you had a lovely day.

I wanted to continue with some thoughts on other therapies that we have done, which I believe have made a huge difference in compensating with unreasonable fears, particularly when it comes to balance issues or gravitational fears (fear of falling, heights etc.) Some of the therapies are very conventional and well-known. However, there are therapies that are not mainstream.

While nothing works for every child, I believe the best tool a parent can have is KNOWLEDGE. The more you know, the more informed every decision can be.

So one of the first unconventional therapies we employed was hippatherapy. The word "hippa" is from the Greek word for "horse." The word "hippopotamus" means "river horse." So the hippatherapy is in fact the term for horse therapy. (not riding a hippopotamus!)

This therapy is pretty readily available in most medium sized towns, usually in conjunction with a rehabilitation or physical therapy clinic.

The horses are older, calm and uniquely trained specifically for the therapy. 2 volunteers are positioned on each side of the child holding him or her on the horse. The child wears a helmet and the horse is on a lead, with another volunteer leading the horse around the pen. The child will work with a physical therapist while on the horse. They will ride, play ball, put rings on pins in the pen, ride backwards, ride on their knees, and do other activities. Safety is always the most important issue...there is no way the child can fall or the horse can bolt.

The horse provides a high, unstable place. The child must use his or her muscles to adjust constantly to the movement of the horse. Ball playing helps to trigger eye/hand coordination while promoting their balance. A horse's height helps to desensitize the child to the fear of falling, and the fear of heights. (gravitational insecurity) Senses must integrate if the child is to be successful. Many times the child is also allowed to brush the horse and feed the horse a little treat. (Ryan loved this part!) Bi-lateral (using both sides of the body in tandem) coordination is also enhanced with the horse-riding skills.

Ryan did hippatherapy for 16 weeks, once a week. He did an 8 week run, and six months later the other 8 weeks. We followed the hippatherapy with some horseback-riding lessons. I believe it made a huge difference in my son's ability to balance and cope with fears of falling. It also allowed his brain to make some connections in his body that were not wired correctly.

Ryan was around 5 years old when we began the therapy. If your child is younger, talk to your physical therapist to get a recommendation for a time to begin.

If hippatherapy is simply not an option, stay tuned....there are other things that will help your child's coordination and gross/fine motor skills, as well as calm many of their fears.

Therapy

Today begins my series on therapies available to the SPD child. There are many therapies, both professional therapies and those easily done at home and through activities and sports. If your child has been diagnosed SPD, likely he or she has physical issues with coordination. If there are issues with gravitational security, there may be high anxiety along with the physical issues. Sometimes, there are speech issues due to the lack of ability the child has to "feel" their tongue and mouth to make and form words. Likely you have been referred to several specialists.

Every child is different, and sometimes exploring a wide variety of therapies, you hit on several that work.

Occupational therapy is a way to help your child read better, write in a correct manner (not gripping the pencil so hard it breaks, making handwriting legible, etc.) fine motor skills, planning, processing and better functioning in school situations. They work with training the eyes and the body to work in tandem. The occupational therapist will use many different methods of helping your child think and reason better, along with writing, reading and processing skills.

Physical therapy addresses the muscle laxity and coordination problems of the body. This might consist of swinging on a low swing near the ground on their belly, jumping in ball pits, riding bikes, hanging from bars, balancing on low balance beams and learning and following directions through an obstacle course. Many physical fears are addressed, particularly the gravitational fear.

Speech therapy is for both expressive (talking) and receptive (listening) language. There is also work done to better process language, follow story plots, etc.

The good thing about these therapies is that they work. They are time consuming and you may feel as though you are constantly spinning your wheels, but given time and patience, your child will be better capable of compensating for the SPD, with more confidence and less anxiety. The earlier you get therapy, the better for your child, but at any age, SPD children can benefit from therapy.

Call your insurance agency to see what is covered in your plan. Also call the school system and ask them to evaluate your child for therapies that he or she might qualify for. The public school system provides therapy to children over 3 that are in need, even if that child is in private education. Early childhood Intervention provides therapy for children under the age of 3. Many times you can also receive services with a public funded rehabilitation center, as they offer partial "scholarships" for therapies.

I believe therapy truly saved my son. He went from being a very fearful, uncoordinated, not confident child, to a pretty good defensive flag foot ball player. Will he likely be a professional athlete? No. But he enjoys biking, skateboarding, scooters, running, basketball and talking with all ages of people. He can navigate a playground and a kickball diamond with out fear. Perhaps not the most coordinated child on the playground, but he is no longer afraid.

In order to give your child the best chance to do well in life, therapy is important, accessible and necessary.

Next week I will talk about some unconventional therapies we have done in addition to the traditional.

Grati-Tuesday

I am dashing off a quick note..it is a busy week. First though, I have to brag about my son..he PASSED the TAKS test. (reading) He is about to be in 6th grade, and Texas standardized testing requires each 5th grader pass both math and reading tests to be promoted to 6th grade.

So one big hurtle down..whew. He did not pass the math, but will retake and only missed a couple of questions. so I am confident and grateful.

Grati-Tuesday is a great day!

Another thing I wanted to share with you parent to parent. So much of Ryan's early childhood required me to be on call most of the time. If you have an SPD child you know what I mean. Much of the time is spent calming or doing therapy or cooking special meals or just managing outbursts before they start. Very little time is reserved for those drudge things in life like housekeeping or laundry. In our case, it just went on hold.

I am so so grateful that I could spend the time I needed with my son. And I am grateful now to encourage other moms and dads that are feeling guilty for not being domesticated enough. If you don't have time to put the laundry away or mop your floor, I'm going to give you permission today to put it off.

Be grateful that your child needs you now, and that you have time to give. If that time is in expense of laundry in drawers, so what? Clothes still work and socks still go on feet when worn out of a large laundry basket. Get several baskets and stop worrying..

The laundry and house will be there when you are 80 years old and bored. Then it will be clean and everything in its place. Today is grati-Tuesday. I hope you are filled this week with gratitude every day.

And filling up on Easter chocolate is ok as well.

Grati-TUESDAY

This week starts my first Grati-Tuesday post. Sometimes I forget to appreciate the little things, so to remind myself to be grateful, Tuesday seems perfect.

Today I woke up and went upstairs to wake up my son. There are about 11 stuffed animals on his bed. He considers them "friends." They were arranged neatly around his head. It made me think about his caring and compassionate nature. He is naturally intuitive and loves people. And he cares about his friends just as much as his animals.

Perhaps your child is not so caring or compassionate, but has boundless energy. Maybe he or she is super demonstrative in their love. Perhaps they love to cook with you, or beating you at video games. Maybe it is a love of animals or an ability to do math or skateboarding. Whatever gifts your child has been given, take this Grati-Tuesday to be grateful and express that gratitude to your child.

Often SPD kids feel like losers in life. And their parents often wonder why they were not blessed with a normal child. But really, normal is so passe'. Different and special is so, so much better.

Know that your child is your child for a reason.

They are yours not because they needed you, but because you needed them.

Brushing and Joint Compressions

Here is my long awaited blog on brushing your child to reduce their tactile sensitivity. If your child loves to be touched and hugs too hard, she will crave the brushing...if he is overly sensitive to touch, he will also crave the brushing.

So what is brushing and what does it do?

First: the brush. Specialty SPD stores carry them. They are similar to massage brushes and have soft plastic bristles. Firm but not scratchy. Do not use a baby hairbrush..it will cause too much tickling as the brush is too soft. Order one.

Brushing is a way to reduce tactile defensiveness and provide the correct amount of stimulation to rewire the brain. What you are doing is helping to reduce the fight or flight response. When that happens your child will act out less, have fewer tantrums, calm easier and be able to withstand everyday tactile encounters.

Brushing works best when used with joint compressions. More on that in a minute.

To brush your child, have them lay on their back and start with the arms. Brush one direction firmly (have them indicate how firm) 8 times. Cover the front of the arm. Then do the other arm. Move to the legs and avoid the chest area. Same protocol...8 times firmly in one direction (usually down feels best.)

Have him turn over and do the back, neck, head, both arms and both legs. By now your child is probably very relaxed and feeling great. You can follow the brushing by pushing a pillow down on his legs firmly. He will relax further.

Now you can do the joint compressions. turn your child back over. Start with the hands and at each joint, press the joint together firmly with your fingers...Start with the thumb joints, then fingers, wrist, elbow and shoulders. 10 compressions for each joint. move to the legs and do the same..avoid the feet, since they are usually very sensitive.

You have provided the correct amount of stimulation to your child. he or she should be calm and ready for either sleep or play.

Joint compressions also come in handy when sitting for a long time. take your childs' hand and compress each joint 10 times.

Questions? I am ready to answer them...but brushing and joint compressions are a great tool to use as your child learns to compensate with this disorder. Continued consistent brushing and joint compressions can go a long way toward helping him cope.

Sleep...zzzzz

If you are the parent of a special needs, sensory sensitive child, perhaps you have forgotten what it is like to get a good night's sleep. Sleep is elusive when your child jumps at every sound, and the slightest temperature change can cause wake-fullness at inopportune times.

When my son was born, I was told "sleep when the baby sleeps." This was hard as he never slept, except on and off through the night. Naps were rare and short, and I lived in a bleary-eyed haze, much like I believe zombies exist. Ryan would not sleep. He was always awake and always clingy.

Ryan also had feeding problems, I tried desperately to nurse and he never did quite get the hang of it. At the time I was thinking we were like many new moms and infants that had trouble nursing. He could not latch on, I tried everything. Lactation consultants, nipple guards, soothing music, wrapping him like a burrito...nothing worked. We would nurse for an hour, half would leak out of his mouth and thirty minutes later, we were back nursing again. He could not get full, and I was a wreck.

So this blog is not about feeding...it is about sleeping. So let me skip to the point of the feeding part.

I was desperate one day, and opened up a bottle of the formula the hospital gave me. I fed it to Ryan and 10 minutes later, miracle! He was sleeping. Did this solve our sleep problem for good, no...but it led me to a pattern of things that did, eventually, fix the sleeping issues.

If your child is very very young....great. You can start then to teach them how to sleep. A sensory kid will not be able to cry themselves down...they will just stay up. It will be 3 a.m. and they will still be out of control. The cry it out solution does not work. don't listen to grandma or your doctor on this one...trust your instincts. Crying it out causes more stress to build up in the fight or flight mechanism and floods your child with cortisol and adrenalin. Not good sleep inducers. They will be out of sorts the entire next day.

So what do you do?

1. Get a black out curtain and remove the outside lights from the room. There should be no street lights coming in or morning sun to wake them. Roman shades are great, or you can duct tape a black trash bag to the window and cover with curtains. SPD kids are very light sensitive and it will cause a waking.

2. Get a sound machine. They are around 16 dollars and you can get them at Bed Bath and Beyond or almost any electronic store. Find a white noise setting that covers up any outside noise.

3. Make sure the room is cool. 69 degrees is the best sleep temperature for anyone. Cold room, warm covers. If the child kicks the covers off..get some footed warm fleece pajamas. Cold child- and they will wake.

4. Fill their tummy with good food before bed. No sugar. Cereal is usually good as well as oatmeal. No cookies. Sugar causes waking. Red dyes cause sensitive bladders. No cranberry juice...sensitive bladder again.

5. Not much liquid right before bed. So they don't have accidents if they are potty trained and they don't have to walk to the bathroom during the night.

6. get a green nightlight. the white ones are too bright.

7. Pajamas need to be loose and breathable. No tags! socks need to be seam free if they wear them to bed. And skip the underwear...it binds and is uncomfortable and unnecessary under PJ's.

8. routines are great with any child, but especially the SPD kid. Bath with epsom salts, then snack, then story, then brush teeth, then bed. or whatever order you choose. Do it that way every single night.

9. Bedtime needs to be the same every night. No staying up late on weekends. This is hard for some parents, but the childs' system will be more in tune if the bedtime is the same every night.

10. Be patient. it will take your sensory child more time to adjust to going to sleep by themselves. Make sure they have an animal, doll, blanket etc. You can also try a weighted blanket or brushing right before bed to help them calm. Sometimes I mash Ryan under pillows right before bed...he calms down!

11. go outside some every day if you can. The more outside time and the more exercise the child gets, the better and deeper the sleep. Swimming is excellent as it provides that deep pressure as well as cooling the body, which enhances the sleep cycle.

There is not a one size fits everyone sleep system. You will have setbacks and you will feel frustrated. Don't give up! When your child goes calmly to bed and is rested the next day, it will all be worth it!