I asked parents this question: You Know You’re an SPD Parent When… The responses have been overwhelming. I believe we all want to feel like someone gets us. We can’t be the only parent with the crazy kid (who we love of course). Sensory Processing Disorder shows up in so many ways. And yet, many of…
Book: Your Child’s Motor Development Story: Understanding and Enhancing Development from Birth to Their First Sport By Jill Mays Your Child’s Motor Development Story is written by an occupational therapist who describes for the everyday parent how BEST to help their kids develop. She takes them from birth to crawling, all the way to their first sports. Problems like slouching are…
What may seem as defiance or acting out can sometimes be the anxiety created by sensory issues. Next time your child is “acting out” think about what may be triggering this behavior. “Anxiety manifests in a surprising variety of ways in part because it is based on a physiological response to a threat in the…
Okay. You all know how much I love sensory activities. You didn’t really think I was going to let Easter approach without giving you some great sensory ideas to do for the season, did you? So here it comes…. 12 Easter Sensory Activities! I’ve put together a list of 12 great sensory activities you can…
Speak Up and Get Along!: Learn the Mighty Might, Thought Chop, and more Tools to Make Friends, Stop Teasing, and Feel Good about Yourself by Scott Cooper Speak Up and Get Along! If getting along were easy, everyone would do it. No one would fight, argue, bully or tease. We’d all know how to make…
Book: Parenting a Child Who Has Intense Emotions: Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills to Help Your Child Regulate Emotional Outbursts and Aggressive Behaviors By Pat Harvey ACSW LCSW-C, Jeanine Penzo LICSW Temper tantrums in the supermarket. Tears that seem to come out of nowhere. Battles over homework that are more like wars. When your child has problems…
New Findings on Topics Ranging from Genetic Causes to Meeting the Needs of College Students ‘On the Spectrum’ Recent years have seen exciting progress in key areas of research on autism spectrum disorders (ASD): from possible genetic causes, to effective treatments for common symptoms and clinical problems, to promoting success for young people with ASD…
Does your child get overwhelmed by sounds. Does he covers his ears when our in public, but you don’t know why? Sounds that seem innocent enough to us can be extremely overwhelming to children with auditory sensitivities. Even now, my son will sometimes say he’s just too overwhelmed by a loud room. I love this…
Nobody’s Perfect: A Story for Children about Perfectionism: Written by Ellen Flanagan Burns, Illustrated by Erica Pelton Villnave About Sally Sanders is good at everything she does, or so it seems. Secretly she is afraid that if she can’t do something well, or be the best, she will feel like a failure. She is scared that she…
With the closing of March, I want to extend a very warm welcome to The Sensory Spectrum’s newest followers. I’m glad you’ve joined us on this road to helping our sensory kiddos. And I’m so grateful to my dedicated followers. I love reading your comments and emailing back and forth. Your feedback fuels me to…
Book: Building Sensory Friendly Classrooms to Support Children with Challenging Behaviors: Implementing Data Driven Strategies! By Rebecca A Moyes Rebecca Moyes, a teacher, author, renowned lecturer, and mother of a child with Asperger’s Syndrome, helps walk any regular education or special education teacher through the process of setting up a sensory-friendly classroom in this easy to use…
Patches of Cortical Layers Disrupted During Brain Development in Autism Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Allen Institute for Brain Science have published a study that gives new evidence that autism begins during pregnancy. The study was published in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The…
This study has a lot of people chattering about what it all means. I’ve got an interview with an expert at Rutgers to help answer some questions. Plus, I encourage you all to join my Facebook discussion designed for parents of sensory kids (including Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder). JOIN HERE. Expert Interview About CDC…
Springtime is upon us… which means a whole host of new sensory activities for Spring! From an edible rainbow sensory bin to birthday cake play dough for your Spring babies, this should launch some new ideas for you and get you inspired to give your sensory kiddo some new outlets and things to explore. CLICK…
The Sensory Spectrum welcomes author John Pagano, Ph.D., OTR/L of Fab Strategies.The following article is reprinted with permission by the author. Appropriate behavior for learning is enhanced by engaging sensory activities that teach rule based inhibitory movement control. Behavioral problems frequently involve inadequate inhibitory control of movement involving the arms (e.g., punching, slapping, scratching), legs (kicking) or…
