the museum meltdown 2

Published March 3, 2009 by Nancy

Well, weren’t we the model family at the science museum last week!

No meltdowns, no yelling, no frustration.

Sure, we had to spend an inordinate amount of time at the visual game-maker exhibit. But heck, we were there early, and there was nobody in line. We did all the other stuff too.

What was remarkable was that there was no fuss. Just cooperation and enthusiasm.

A miracle, maybe. But I’m attributing it to six intensive months of neurofeedback.

the museum meltdown

Published February 13, 2009 by Nancy

Museums seems like a no-brainer for Asperger and PDD kids.

Golly, all those buttons to push, levers to pull, things to see and do!

All those lights. All those sounds. All those colours.

All that stimulation.

I wonder how many other SPD kids get “the museum meltdown.”

We have learned to avoid museums like liver and onions. Sure, everything is fine for the first hour. Then gradually, the storm builds. A little more running around, a little more franticness. Then kaboom, lightning, thunder, gale force winds!

Trying to interfere doesn’t work. It’s like trying to catch a tornado in a fish net. The barometer of his expectations has hit the stratosphere.  No button is good enough, no exhibit works the way he wants it to, the other kids are in the way, can we go back, can we go forward, I don’t want to do this now, I just want to hog this display for the next half hour and the other kids can just rot waiting in line, and no I don’t want to share, can you stop bugging me??

Other parents start to stare.

And we have to physically pick him up and get him out.

We have tried mouth tools, but you aren’t allowed to eat in a museum. We have tried drawing him away to the cafeteria, but easier said than done.

I don’t know what the solution is. But we need to figure it out soon.

Like, in two hours.

We are heading to Ottawa this weekend for Winterlude. Once we’ve skated the canal a few times (it’s durn cold out there now), the kids will be ready to do something indoors.

And there’s a great science museum.

[shudder]

The last time we were at a science museum was Easter. Let’s just say it wasn’t a stellar moment.

But it was exactly when we began our six months of intensive neurofeedback.

We’ve seen great results from neurofeedback. Hope springs eternal.

Is it possible that neurofeedback drove a stake into the heart of the museum meltdown?

We’ll find out…

piano lessons

Published February 8, 2009 by Nancy

When S was nine and having difficulty at school, we took him back to the OT. His handwriting was the issue. He couldn’t grip the pencil properly, so he couldn’t write very clearly.

Her response: It was more or less too late to fix his pencil grip. What he needed now was thicker pencils (easier to grip) and in time, a keyboard.

In the meantime, we should give him as much hand and finger exercise as we could, including small weights when he used the computer.

Okay. So we could do that. But then I asked:

He’s been taking piano lessons since he was four and playing lots every day. How can he have weak hand muscle tone if he plays so much?

Her response: If it hadn’t been for the piano lessons, he might not be able to grip the pencil at all.

I left that meeting a much bigger believer in piano lessons.

But not just because it’s good for sensory issues and muscle tone in the hands. Piano playing does far more for sensory issues kids than finger dexterity.

Started at an early age, piano lessons lay down miles of track inside the brain. Good track. Useful track.

Think about it. To play music you have to do all of the following — AT THE SAME TIME:

• coordinate your right and left hand to do different intricate tasks at the same time
• coordinate these actions by sound so that they fit together and follow the rhythm
• make the ear hear the rhythm and signal the hands follow it
• read the music with the eyes and send those messages to the two hands

So left brain, right brain, hands, plus eyes and ears are all working together on a single task. The task exists in space (keyboard, music book, right and left side) and time (counting, rhythm). It gets repeated several times every day. Presto — a vertical yarnball of nerve networks.

These yarnballs are cross-brain networks. As the child progresses in music, these cross-brain networks become stronger, and messages flow between them more and more quickly.

And not just for music cross-brain networks — but for all cross-brain networks. Once you have ‘em, your brain can use ‘em for anything. For example, math word problems require using both sides of the brain at once to apply analytical, reading, synthesizing, calculating, and imagining skills to solving the problem. Kids who have years of music training find word problems easy.

No surprise.

So how do you get a SPD kid to practice every day?

You don’t. You start by calling it “playing” the piano, instead of “practising” the piano. Then you get your kid to play the piano every day.

Set aside exactly the same time every day for practice, so that it becomes part of the day’s routine, like brushing teeth. Mornings are good, since the brain is most alert right after breakfast. The later in the day, the more tired the brain.

Find a piano teacher who likes fun music as well as classical music. Many kids like classical music because it’s predictable, but it’s good for them to experiment with modern rhythms.

Avoid exams and written theory. Just work on repertoire and a comfortable daily routine.

Finally, try not to avoid recitals. If they start early enough, kids learn to perform in front of others before they know about nerves or stage fright. This helps give them confidence.

solving tantrums

Published February 1, 2009 by Nancy

Tantrums. Wild, out of control, unprovoked, unexplainable. They quickly work up to hyperventilating, which leads to even wilder out-of-control behaviour.

Toddlers and preschoolers with sensory issues can’t deal with all the sensory distress they put up with in a day. They can’t filter it all out. It’s like being stuck with pins all day.

I’m not sure what it was that prompted me one day to approach him with crackers. He was huddled, terrified and shrieking, in his bed. I wasn’t even sure he would recognize them or be able to hold them, let alone eat them.

But he took them, like a drowning person reaching for a buoyline. I watched him munch, almost frantically, his eyes still wide, his breathing harsh.

By the end of the second cracker, he had calmed down quite a bit. Enough for him to start regaining control.

There is a lesson here. For sensory kids, too much of the wrong sensation can push them over the edge. Then the wildness of their own reaction becomes even more to handle, which starts to snowball.

But the right sensation can right them again.

Here are some suggestions.  But keep in mind: these vary from kid to kid.

1. Crunchy or chewy foods: The rhythmic chewing works the jaw muscles, which stimulate the inner ear, and also stimulates the mouth’s senses of taste, texture, and smell. By simultaneously stimulating many senses at once, these handy mouth tools short-circuit sensory overload.

2. Sucking from a straw: Similarly to the crunching and chewing foods, sucking short-circuits sensory overload, and the rhythmic suck-and-swallow calms all the senses.

3. Music: 1950s rock ‘n roll music is very stimulating. The strong rhythm and energetic sound can cut through a sensory overload tantrum. Once the kid is shocked out of the tantrum, provide something to drink.

4. Wrestling: A full-body workout with a parent may allow the kid to work out the frustration. Be aware that the kid must give permission first; otherwise, she may think she is being attacked. A milder alternative is any kind of rhythmic movement, such as patting the shoulder, rocking, moving the hands up and down, or moving the legs in a gentle flutter-kick pattern.

refusing to eat

Published January 30, 2009 by Nancy

The standard advice you get for a fussy eater toddler is “Just put a variety of foods on his plate. When he gets hungry enough, he’ll eat.”

Great advice — for most kids. But for toddlers with sensory processing issues, it’s not going to work.

We tried it. At two years of age, he was down to eating just five foods. Heck, you’ll try anything. And it sounds so reasonable.

But after a month of more screaming and distress than usual (which was a lot!), I put him on the scales.

He was down two pounds.

So we pulled out the five foods and let him at it as much as he wanted, all day long, till that weight went back on again. And we didn’t try tampering with his diet again till he was more than three years old.

Kids with sensory issues will go down with the ship. If they have to starve to avoid painful and distressing food sensations, then that’s what they’ll do. The pain of hunger is just one more type of pain, something they experience near continuously every day. Especially at the toddler age, they can’t distinguish between one type of pain and another. So you have to swim with the current, not against it.

Here are some tips for feeding toddlers with sensory issues:

1. Give them lots of food.

2. Figure out their preference patterns (e.g., smooth-textured foods, cold foods), and keep introducing more options in that pattern. Aim for foods with the highest nutritional content (e.g., dairy, protein, fruit, vegetable), and avoid introducing new low-nutrient foods (e.g., pasta, breads, starches).

3. Avoid pestering them about food. It’s distressing enough for them. Work in lots of rewards (e.g., extra desserts). We found that mini teddy-bear cookies were great rewards for taking a bite of something (e.g., eat one pea, get one cookie, eat another pea, get another cookie). As long as you keep it light and playful, it becomes something pleasant.

4. Experiment and push your boundaries of what you consider kid food. There is nothing wrong with eating tomato cocktail with a spoon, making gelatin out of pureed fruit, or eating pumpkin pie for breakfast. These are all fantastic food choices.

5. Provide stimulation. Turn on the music during mealtimes. Some kids settle down to eat if they’re listening to Mozart or sound effects music, but others prefer 1950s rock’n roll to keep their senses awake. Others like to have a dot-to-dot puzzle to work on while eating.

6. Keep in mind that in the toddler years, your focus is on health (his) and survival (his and yours). With all the sensory issues (and probably screaming) you are dealing with during the day, you need to keep meals relaxing and sustaining. It is too easy for him to learn to fear foods.

climbing trees

Published January 23, 2009 by Nancy

On the other side of the city, on the army base, there is a big granite hillock of the Canadian Shield sticking out the ground. At the back is a long winding path down through the bush to the lake — to a forgotten beach called Deadman’s Bay. Kids like to scramble up the rockface and explore among the mossy paths, scraggly bushes, and crevices. It can take up an entire afternoon.

They call it The Mountain.

The Mountain happens to have a very fat old tree growing in a nook of a rockface. Someone had placed some wide boards on the first set of branches to make a simple treehouse.

“Climb me!” it seems to cry.

“Come on!” cry the other kids, who have already monkeyed up and are looking down.

Climb up. Yeah, sure.

If your kid has vestibular issues, then he is chained to planet Earth, physiologically and psychologically. He is bewildered by how easily the other kids managed the climb. He will probably be fighting an inner battle between fear and longing.

With any luck, longing will win.

My advice: As long as it’s not a difficult or dangerous climb, sit back (not too far) and just watch. Avoid the temptation to interfere or micro-manage. Kids are pretty good at guiding each other, and your kid wants to do this by himself if he can.

Be on hand to give a boost if he needs it. But otherwise, let him explore the directions the other kids call down to him. The satisfaction he will feel upon reaching that branch will be much deeper if he did it himself.

Climbing back down is another story.

This requires the kid to turn around and reach down backwards and blind with her feet. Expect some distress. You’re going to need to coach her down in a calm, matter-of-fact voice, along with the other kids. Your role is to help her save face, so tell her that everyone feels afraid the first time they climb down.

Be calm, inviting, encouraging. Give step-by-step directions and a guiding hand where you can reach. Then give a hug when she gets to the bottom.

But don’t stop there.

Come back in a couple of days to try again, this time with a “picnic” to eat in the tree. Pack some mouth tools in the picnic to help calm and relax him while he’s up there. Each time he climbs, he paves the nerve networks of his climbing skills till he can climb as well as his friends.

bricks and boards

Published January 21, 2009 by Nancy

The last post was for northern hemisphere people who are dealing with record snowfall.

This one is for southern hemisphere folks who are watching palm trees sway.

Bricks and boards make a simple backyard vestibular game for younger children.

Place the boards on top of the bricks to make a balance beam pathway that twists and turns. The child walks along the boards keeping balance, as on a balance beam. Falling is not a big deal, since it’s a drop of a mere 4 inches (10 cm).

Into grass.

Except that it’s not grass. It’s an ocean full of sharks!

That’s part of the game.

Unlike a regular balance beam, this brick-board combination is not rigid or fixed. The boards wobble and move, depending where the child shifts his/her gravity. The child gets strong vestibular information from this activity, and doing it again but faster helps reinforce the skills.

You can turn this balance beam into part of an obstacle course, running from the swing set, over to the yoga ball, then back to the swing set.

Another option is to get the child to set up the bricks and boards to form letters, such as each letter of his/her name, then walk along the beam. Lifting and placing the bricks is a good proprioceptive activity, since bricks are heavy. Offer garden gloves if your child doesn’t like the feel of the brick against his/her hands.

snowbanks

Published January 20, 2009 by Nancy

I don’t know about where you live, but the snowbanks are high here.

Good and high.

High snowbanks make a great play place for kids. Especially in church parking lots, where the ploughs push the snow into mighty mountains.

Snowbank play exercises the proprioceptive sense, since it’s hard work climbing. But navigating up the slope and around the chunks and boulders also makes it a vestibular workout.

It’s fun and it’s interesting. I don’t know of any kid that gets bored climbing on a snow mountain. So it’s an easy way to get your kid outside in the fresh air for a while.

If kids slide down the side, even better.

Some kids hate the feel of cold air on their faces, so bundle up before going out. If they also hate the feel of heavy, bulky clothes, then invest in high-tech ski clothes or down-filled jackets.

No matter how you look at it, it’s better than sitting inside playing video games.

belly boarding

Published January 19, 2009 by Nancy

Belly-boarding is a great sensory exercise, especially for older kids. I read about this in Love, Jean, a book about Dr. A. Jean Ayres, who got the whole sensory thing started. This was the exercise she developed for her nephew Philip.

Philip was a young teen, but the exercise works for younger kids too. It gives a workout to the two biggies: the vestibular (gravity) sense and the proprioceptive (muscle) sense.

Here’s what to do:

1. Buy a wheeled board for doing repairs under cars.
2. Clean out your garage. Completely. Nothing on the floor, sweep it to perfection. Make sure nothing is hanging on the walls that comes within 2 ft / 60 cm of the floor.
3. Buy some strong gardening or work gloves.

Lie on your belly on the board, wearing the gloves, and use your hands to push the board around. Make it as much like swimming as possible. Push off the walls with your feet so that you can glide right across the floor. Turn and go right back again. Stop yourself midway across the floor and turn. Try turning without completely stopping.

When you are good at it, add some obstacles to course around, or objects to pick up as you whizz by.

Keep it up for about 20 minutes.

What does it do?

• pulls you out of a grouchy mood, especially after a long day at school
• calms you out of a wild and crazy mood, especially if you are feeling out of control
• gets your cardiorespiratory system working, which makes your whole body feel good

End it with a “mouth tool” snack — something crunchy, chewy, cold, hot, whatever works for you. You should feel refreshed and energized.

You can do this exercise indoors too if you have a smooth basement floor. In Love, Jean, Philip used the church hall.

the hotel pool

Published January 18, 2009 by Nancy

Just about everybody enjoys activities in the water. So here is my tip for any family on vacation that has an sensory issues kid:

Always stay in a hotel with a pool.

Pools are great. Pools can save an entire holiday.

And if you have an option for a hotel with a waterslide, take that one. Because a waterslide works faster than a pool and works at a deeper level.

When kids are growly, snarly, and unbearable after a long car ride, your goal is to get them onto that waterslide. You may have to cuddle and carry them into the water wailing and crying, you may have to comfort them. Everybody might even be looking at you. But at a certain point, the feel of the water and movement will awaken the kid enough to attempt the waterslide.

One splash, and you’ll already start seeing results.

Kids know when they need something. Your kid might spend the next hour on that waterslide, over and over again. That’s good. That’s filling a deep need for vestibular (gravity) and proprioceptive (muscle) movement. By the end, you kid will be in a reasonably good mood.

Getting the kid into the water in the first place can be a challenge, especially when a grouchy mood has taken over. And car rides do that. So have some mouth tools ready. For some kids, it’s crunchy food, for others, it’s chewy food, for others, it’s drinking from a straw. Use the food tools to take the edge off the grouchiness. Then be very calm and supportive of his/her feelings as you bring him/her into the water.