Taciturn Tuesday: When You Flip Your Lid

 

Dr. Daniel Siegel Presenting the Hand Model of the Brain

 

Different Times: Sensory Input Memories

image via:  http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x254542661/Looping-classes-rare-but-popular-in-Bakersfield-schools

 The hard part of having a child with sensory issues is trying to explain it to someone who doesn't understand.  The way schools are set up today a child must be very outgoing and social to be considered successful.  Schools didn't used to be so pushy about being social. When I was little, I don't remember having to crowd around the teacher on the floor each morning.  We sat at our desks, facing forward and listened to her directions.

image via:

 http://www.aia-mn.org/int_committees/ha_2011.cfm

The world today is full of sensory input that wasn't there when we were kids.  The library was redesigned few years ago, it had strobing/trailing lights at the entrance to the new Children's wing. I wrote to complain about how hard that would be to those with sensory issues and now I find the lights are pleasantly steady. I am sure I wasn't the only parent who complained about that particular issue.

 image via:  http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/2009/09/september-classroom-of-month.html 

Schools have changed too; I remember the only input at school was the back of the kid's head in front of me, the teacher at the front of the class, and maybe the smelly kid in the next row. Now all the desks are grouped together with the children facing one another, and someone sitting on either side. How hard is it to concentrate on your lessons when you have others looking at you and what you are doing all the time?

image via:  http://bvsd.org/bondproject/August%2009%20slide%20show/Forms/DispForm.aspx?ID=52

The memories I have of kindergarten are: a large room full of kids, two classes with a partial divider in between "classrooms. There was also a giant gym where we also ate lunch. 
First grade I remember a field trip and a visit from a herpetologist with a very large snake. It was surprising to me that the snake wasn't slimy, but had dry scaly skin. We had our desks arranged in a U shape, with a child on either side of me. I remember being put at a table in the library for some of the school day to do workbooks on my own. I loved doing that! When I finished early, I got to draw as much as I wanted. 
We moved and I ended up in a room full of kids, all desks facing front. The new school had the same big gym they also used as a lunchroom.  The playground had a giant fenced athletic field for us to run on during recess.  Second grade, I had no major sensory issues aside from starting music class.  
Third grade, they had two rooms open to each other, with a partial divider like the kindergarten set up from the old school. I was overwhelmed again. I don't remember much else besides all the noise from that classroom.
Fourth grade was back to a single classroom, desks lined up again. That arrangement made it easier for me to focus. I was moved to different rooms for some classes, with a bunch of other kids. That made it hard to settle down and concentrate, but it wasn't over the top. Fifth grade was again divided classrooms, also the switching for different math and reading classes. The best part about Fifth grade was the classrooms were adjacent to the library and we could go out there and look for books or read, if we finished up our lessons early.    

image via:  http://www.rittenassoc.com/prod01.htm

Sixth grade - Middle School.  What a sensory nightmare! We still all faced forward, but there was switching out rooms for almost every class. I remember being relieved to only have to go to the next room over and not through the maze of hallways with the crowd of kids to another room.  Having to deal with a locker in a "locker bay" was hard, it was loud and crowded and learning how to operate a combination lock was tricky.   I eventually figured out a work around and only went to my locker during quieter times.  Gym class was in a gigantic gym and now we had swimming. I never liked swimming, the whole putting my face in the water was disconcerting to me.  Now I had to deal with the echoes in the pool area, the sharp smell of the chlorine bleach, the itchy suits we were required to wear.  Ugh, it makes me shudder remembering it all. It was always a relief to have physical education outside.  Lunch was thankfully in a lunch room, smaller than the gym we ate lunch in during grade school.  I eventually adjusted to all the sensations of middle school.

image via:  http://www.moundsviewbasketball.com/page/show/70749-maps-to-gyms

Next came High School. It was truly an overwhelming nightmare. Switching classes with hundreds of other kids at the same time. Lockers slamming, stairways crammed with kids going in both directions. Every time someone bumped into me I was on alert.  I took to carrying a large tote bag to cushion the impact.  Eventually I learned to use the back stairs in each wing of the school, but sometimes that made me late.  We still all sat facing forward in rows except for geometry and art.  The gym wasn't just huge it was ENORMOUS. I hated gym and the locker room most of all. The smells from the cheerleaders using Ben-gay for their sore muscles, the perfumes and hair product smells were enough to gag me.  

It is telling that almost all the sensory memories are unpleasant. I learned to accommodate the overwhelming input over time, but it was helpful not to have to face other children when I was trying to pay attention and learn.  It was also helpful not to have lunch in a gym and I was very thankful for those back stairways in high school. Being able to avoid the crush of the other students was one of the few things that made it bearable. Over time I have outgrown some of my sensory issues, and some have become more apparent.  It makes sense to attend to the school environment and make accommodations when possible for our sensory sensitive kids.

Sensory Issues: A Grown Up Perspective

I just got a chance to take a little time by myself this last month and noticed some things. I started to think about my own sensory issues.

image via:  http://sushipot.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html 

We stopped to visit a second hand shop. You know the kind you find in the country on the side of the highway...antiques... a building crammed with dusty stuff. I was starting to get that fluttery feeling being in there, and it wasn't just the dust, it was ALL THAT STUFF. It was serious sensory overload.  Everywhere I looked there was a vista crammed with stuff. It was like a hidden object game, but even busier. I couldn't handle it. It might have helped if I had something I was looking for to distract me from my distress; my sister finds some really cool stuff. In my house with its limited amount of extra space, collecting knick-knacks or salt and pepper shakers is not for me.

image via:  http://detroit.ebayclassifieds.com/home-decor/warren/vintage-novelty-salt-and-pepper-shakers/?ad=1685000 

After shopping at several different venues I also realized why my SensiGirl really, really hates going to the Big Box store. The carpeted part of the store is okay, but the rest of the interior with its hard echoing floor and open high ceiling is a problem, especially with all the carts going by.

image via:  https://foursquare.com/v/mills-fleet-farm/4b6224c2f964a52042382ae3 

There is too much stuff in most stores. It is hard to sort out what you are looking for from what else is there.
Fleet Farm is probably the worst, since you could literally live your whole life from everything they have in that store. It's not just clothes, houses wares and hunting gear. They have food, veterinary supplies, automotive items, landscaping and gardening supplies as well as toys, crafting supplies and hardware. I am sure I missed a category or two in there. Again it did help that I had an item or two that I was specifically looking for.

image via:  http://planetgreen.discovery.com/quizzes/food-health/first-quiz/shopping-list.jpg 

I think from now on I will involve my SensiGirl more in following our shopping lists and asking her to find things for me. It helps to know your progress of your shopping trip and it is reassuring to see the items ticked or crossed off the list to know there isn't much time left until you can check out and go.

image via:  http://occupational-therapy.advanceweb.com/Article/Strategies-for-Sensory-Integration.aspx 

So I am sensory sleuthing again and trying to find ways for it to be easier for my SensiGirl to make her way in the world. I will say it again, if you are out and about and your child has some whacked-out behavior, it may be a sensory issue not a "behavioral" issue. Look around, listen, and use your sense of touch. How does the air feel on your skin, what does it smell like? Are the lights bright, do they hum? How about the refrigeration section of the store, is it loud? Is it too cold? Are there vibrations? It may be that their bodies have had enough sensory input and they are going into overload.  Keep sleuthing!

She's So Sensitive

SensiGirl was born sensitive. She is a screamer, the kind of scream that vibrates your eardrums. I've been told she has the scream of a grown woman.  She really started screaming when I left her with the teachers in ECFE,(Early Childhood Family Educacion.) The other kids really didn't seem to mind when the mommies went to have a little coffee and sit down talk about child development. They would cry a little and then notice some cool toy or have a snack and they were over it. SensiGirl did mind. She minded so much that we had to work for months to get a chance for me to spend some time with Random Guy in the bigger kid classroom or to participate in parent group for a few minutes.
The screaming was one of the reasons they thought a special ed. preschool classroom was warranted. There was testing when she was 18 months old and every few months thereafter. She wasn't keeping up with the other kids in speech acquisition. She was too sensitive to her environment, she was too sensitive to everything.

When I saw this study at the Autism Speaks website it made sense to me.
http://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/autism-risk-gene-linked-sensory-overload

We tried some different kinds of therapies but the one I think that has really helped her get over some of her reluctance to join us in our world was listening therapy. She was either checked out and spacey or she was screaming because something was too bright, too loud, too much.
When we started TherapeuticListening last year, I was hopeful, but didn't really know what to expect. Since we started Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy all at once, (due to insurance changes,)  it is impossible to tell which one is having the most therapeutic effect, but I know she doesn't scream at family gatherings any more and she can now go into a gymnasium and not lose it.
This therapy is done in concert with other therapies recommended by her Occupational Therapist, so I warn you not to do this without professional input as some of the tracks can have unexpected or upsetting effects. They are trained specifically in how to do this therapy and it shouldn't be done on you own to just try it and see.

http://www.vitalsounds.com/CustServ.aspx

photo from: http://www.aitinstitute.org/AUDITORY_INTEGRATION_TRAINING/boy_white2.jpg

She is learning coping strategies that help her deal with uncomfortable situations. Last Thanksgiving instead of leaving early because she had been crying for a hour, she spent the first half hour at Grandma's house with her fingers in her ears. She chose to stay in a quiet part of the house and after a few hours told me she was ready to go home. That hadn't happened before. She can tell us things now, she has figured out sometimes life is too loud and how to do something about it.  I am thankful that she is making progress.