Some great self-regulation tools from Chynna’s "Sensory Shelf”
As you can imagine, we have tons of great sensory tools. Some of Jaimie’s favorites, and what I recommend to include—whether you buy it or make it yourselves—are:
- Stress or anxiety balls – squeezing is a great stress or anxiety release
- Various fidgets – little rubbery toys that have different textures, shapes, smells or sounds are great ways to keep busy hands distracted to focus. Fidgets that tap into as many sensory systems as possible at the same time work the best.
- Lap cozies – these are little bags about a meter long or so filled with beads, beans or other filling. The whole purpose is to give weight, which many children with proprioception issues need. We have five with varying weights depending on Jaimie’s (and our son Xander’s) needs.
- Sit ‘n’ Go cushion or yoga ball – this helps give some vestibular input so your child will sit still.
- Headphones – auditory sensitivities or defensiveness can make it really hard to focus on a task at hand. A good set of headphones or ear plugs help to block out distracting noise.
- Heavy jobs – Jaimie needs vestibular/proprioception input every 60 to 90 minutes. We give her heavy jobs like carrying milk jugs, moving craft tubs, bringing a pile of magazines or books to the table, pushing a laundry basket with toys to a desired place, etc. Just think: push, pull, lift, drag, carry and similar activities to work the joints and muscles.
- A quiet place. Have a special spot—both at home and at school—where your child can go to regroup, calm down and reconnect. The area should have soft lighting, calm activities (like books or music and headphones), a comfy chair or something to wrap themselves up in.
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Jaimie, seven-and-a half, has decided she’d like to do a craft. She walks on her tip- toes, bumping into things in her path. It takes her several minutes to collect all of the items she needs for her craft idea as she gets them one by one, forgetting what she needs when she gets to the shelf. She sits on her chair but can’t sit still and doesn’t seem to know where to start. She gets visibly agitated and frustrated. “Your face is frowning and your body is squirmy, Jaimie. What do you need to make your body feel better?” I ask. She runs into the living room to her ‘quiet place’, grabs her heavier lap cozy, her pillow and her foot stool. She places the footstool under her chair, puts her pillow under her bum, places her lap cozy across her thighs. I line her supplies up in the order she needs to use them and put her Listening Therapy music and headphones on. Jaimie is then able to sit still for almost half-an hour to complete her craft.
As demonstrated in the scene above, children with ASD or autism often have high sensory and/or motor issues that interfere with the ability to concentrate on a task at hand. My daughter, Jaimie, is on the severe range of her form of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). This is because all seven of her sensory systems are affected from moderate to severe and she needs a tremendous amount of sensory input in order to remain regulated. It can be a lot of work regulating a child like Jaimie, especially when she needs constant reminders not only to ‘tune into’ what her body needs but also understanding what her body is asking for at a given time. A gift for all of us has been teaching Jaimie about self-regulation.
Self-regulation is the term to describe our ability to attain, maintain and change our level of arousal appropriately for a task or situation. What this means for children with autism or SPD is understanding what sort of sensory or motor input the body needs to feel ‘regulated’ or organized enough to concentrate on a task at hand. One of the main goals in therapy is connecting these children to their bodies so they not only understand how their bodies ‘feel’ with certain kinds of stimulation but also learning how to regulate themselves effectively. It can be challenging to attain this goal but it’s possible.
The key is to teaching self-regulation is taking baby steps, using tons of praise and repetition. Here’s what we did:
- Use simple words. I find that if I use instructions with too many words or steps, Jaimie gets lost then gives up immediately. Use short, descriptive words with less than five steps in total—no more than our fingers on one hand. It makes it easier to remember.
- Use visuals. Stickers, drawings, Clip Art through Word, or cut outs from magazines all make fabulous visuals to create a ‘social story’. Social stories are ways to work your child through a task using pictures and words together. For example, a sticker of a ball may mean “Get your squeezy/stress ball” or a picture of someone with headphones on can mean, “Headphones and music to help my ears.”
- Connecting how the body feels with what makes it feel better. This is probably one of the biggest challenges. It isn’t that your child is disconnected from her body; it’s more that some things make her body feel so bad it’s frightening to her. And rather than using something to calm her body, she acts out or chooses inappropriate ways to cope. So, for example, when Jaimie is walking on her tip toes, I know it means her proprioception system is out of whack and she needs weight to feel better. So I’d say to her, “Jaimie? Does walking on your tips make your legs feel happy?” She says, “Yes, Mama. I need to walk on my tips. It feels good.” So I’d say to her, “Jaimie, that means your body wants heavy. Here, this is your ____________ (give her a heavy sensory tool or heavy job to do). How does that feel?” Here we’ve acknowledged her need for weight and her usual way of coping with that need. And I gave her a more appropriate option. Jaimie will actually ask us to carry her Bottle Buddies or milk jugs or go grab her weighted vest or lap cozy.
- Name the feelings. This is also a difficult step because feelings can be scary too. But if you help your child figure out and name those feelings, they won’t be scary anymore. She’ll then be able to say, “Okay. I feel ____. That makes my body do ______. That means I need _____ to feel better.” So, to teach Jaimie about ‘nervous’ I used to say, “Jaimie. You’ve made your body so small and you’re hugging your tummy. Your face looks like this: (I copied her facial expression). You seem nervous. Let’s go over to your ‘calm place’ under your pillow and hug Lamby until your tummy feels better. ”Always be sure to connect how the body feels with her reactions then give it all a name. From there, talk about what makes her ‘nervous’ and offer strategies tools to help her deal with the feeling.
- Teach through movement. The last step is to move your child through the self-management action. For many of these children, the visuals, descriptions and naming feelings may not be enough. He may actually not understand how his body needs to move through the activity or understand the “I feel ____ so I need _____,” process. For Jaimie we would (a) show her what to do then (b) do it with her. This gives the visual as well as make the connection between feelings, body awareness and the activity she needs to do.
It took a great deal of work but, as you can see from the scene in the beginning, Jaimie has gotten to the point where she not only recognizes when her body is ‘out of sync’ but she’s gotten better about recognizing what her body needs and what tools to help her regulate on her own. Learning to self-regulate is a powerful tool. Not only does it give these children a sense of power and control over their bodies that they don’t always feel; we are giving them their independence. And that’s the greatest gift of all.
A note from Positively Autism: remember to consult with a certified occupational therapist when selecting weighted materials and using sensory strategies for your children.
About the Author
CHYNNA TAMARA LAIRD – is a psychology student, freelance writer and author living in Edmonton, Alberta with her partner, Steve, and their three daughters [Jaimie (seven), Jordhan (five), and baby Sophie (twenty-two months)] and baby boy, Xander (three). Her passion is helping children and families living with Sensory Processing Disorder and other special needs.
You’ll find her work in many online and in-print parenting, inspirational, Christian and writing publications in Canada, United States, Australia, and Britain. In addition, she’s authored a children’s book (I’m Not Weird, I Have SPD), two memoirs (Not Just Spirited: A Mom’s Sensational Journey With SPD and White Elephants – soon to be released) and a reference book about the Sensory Diet (coming January 2011).
Please visit Chynna’s website at www.lilywolfwords.ca, as well as her blog at www.the-gift-blog.com, to get a feel for her work and what inspires her.
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