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2012年9月12日 星期三

Heavy Work Activities for Proprioceptive Input in the Classroom - For Kids With Sensory Issues


All children, but particularly those with sensory processing disorder, can benefit from movement activities in the classroom that provide input to the proprioceptive receptors in the joints and ligaments. In addition to providing exercise, these types of "heavy work" movements make it easier for the child to focus and attend. For the child with SPD, it's vital to get proprioceptive and deep pressure input throughout the course of the day as part of what's called a "sensory diet" of activities. It is not enough to get plenty of exercise and calming input before or after school, or during one session of OT. Most children with SPD need to be encouraged and guided to get the input they need throughout the course of the day.

There are many ways to help kids get this input within an ordinary classroom and school building. The child who is a sensory seeker will likely eagerly participate and even find her own ways to get the input she senses her body needs (be sure to guide her in finding appropriate activities, though). In contrast, the child with sensory issues who is underaroused or a sensory avoider may have to be reminded to follow the sensory diet the OT has set up. In either case, while it is great to provide opportunities for input, a child who isn't disciplined or self-motivated enough to carry out a sensory diet on her own will definitely need guidance to ensure that it happens. Given that the alternative is a child who is unfocused, becoming more anxious and agitated, and moving toward sensory overload and a fight-or-flight panic reaction such as aggression or total withdrawal, implementing a sensory diet during the school day during the school day is crucial.

When you integrate these activities into the classroom routine, and other children may participate as well, it helps the child with SPD to not feel quite so different or singled out. If the child is the only one doing the activity, give it a positive spin. Let her be the "playground equipment monitor," carrying the balls and equipment to and from the playground, or the "whiteboard monitor" who erases the whiteboard at the end of each day. You might even have a team of kids, including the children with sensory issues, in charge of washing desks or helping the janitor, and give them an honorary name such as the "clean crew." All of these strategies will reduce the stigma for the sensory child who must have an in-school sensory diet in order to stay focused.

Remember, the child who is focused on the discomfort in her body and her urge to move may be polite and obedient, appearing to pay attention when, in reality, her mind is not on what the teacher is saying. By incorporating a sensory diet tailored to the sensory child's specific, unique needs by a sensory smart school or private OT, you make it far easier for her to focus on what we would all like her to focus on: learning! If the child is verbal, be sure to include her in the setting up of a sensory diet. What works for one child may not work for another.

And check in regularly to be sure that she's really getting the benefit of the activities set up for her, and make it a goal to have her advocate for herself and meet her sensory needs in a socially acceptable way.

Here are some easy ways to get proprioceptive and deep pressure input within a classroom and school environment (of course, the playground and gym offer plenty more activities during recess and gym time, too):

* Move stacks of books

* Deliver items from one classroom to another place in the building (especially if it requires carrying something and climbing stairs)

* Stack items, such as reams of paper, books, or storage bins

* Erase blackboards and whiteboards

* Move chairs or tables, put chairs on top of tables at the end of the day and take them down at the beginning of the day

* Wash desks or cafeteria tables

* Set up and put away folding chairs and tables

* Carry bins of lunchboxes into and out of cafeteria

* Empty wastebaskets, sweep, mop

* Sharpen pencils with an old-fashioned, crank pencil sharpener

* Assist gym teacher or playground supervisor with taking out and putting away equipment such as bags full of balls, mats, scooters, etc.

* Do laps around the gym or playground

* Climb stairs

* Cut cardboard and heavy paper card stock

* Do pushups against the wall

* Do chair push ups (holding the chair on either side as you sit, then pushing up to lift the body)

* Bounce while sitting on an exercise ball (loose or in a holder)

* Press legs against a lycra band stretched around chair or desk legs

* Sit on an inflatable cushion such as the Disc O' Sit

* Walk up a ramp or incline such as a wheelchair ramp or hill on the playground

* Hold open heavy doors, or open them for individuals entering or exiting the building

* Push or drag boxes, carts, or furniture across carpeted floor.




Nancy Peske is a professional writer and editor and the mother of a child diagnosed with sensory processing disorder and multiple developmental delays. She is the coauthor of the award-winning book Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Processing Issues and has been active in the special needs community since 2002. She sends out a weekly newsletter of practical tips for parents and provides helpful information on SPD on her website at http://www.sensorysmartparent.com





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張貼者： 於 凌晨3:40 0 意見
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2012年8月31日 星期五

Sensory Activities for Autistic Children


Autism, a disorder that creates behavioral, social, and communication challenges, exists within the Autism Spectrum group of disorders. Autism can affect the child's ability to integrate input coming from different senses. Sensory integration therapy can help a child by stimulating and challenging all of his or her senses. Some sensory activities for autistic children can also help a child learn to tolerate different tactile experiences. In addition, the children can learn to have fun while being creative.

Some autistic kids are overly sensitive to touch; some prefer touching and stroking soft, smooth items for hours. Many children with ASD cannot tolerate the feel of new clothes, or scratchy textiles. Still others pat and explore the faces of their caregivers.

Some sensory activities for autistic children include rubbing or stroking their skin with different textures. Use firm pressure to stimulate the deep pressure receptors and to avoid exciting the nervous system. Other ways of encouraging building tolerance to rough or scratchy textiles can include play with sandpaper shapes and letters, or plastic or wooden blocks with raised letters. Create a sensory board with clippings of all different types of fabric and other materials that are made up of different textures: sandpaper, string, smooth glass, corduroy, aluminum foil that's been crinkled up and then straightened out, and cardboard.

Another sensory activity to have the child perform is to play with colored rice. This project is both tactile and artistic; the goal is to help build tolerance to different textures while creating a work of art, which makes it a favorite of many sensory activities for autistic children. Take one cup of dry white rice, one teaspoon of rubbing alcohol, a medium-sized bowl and a spoon, aluminum foil or waxed paper, and three to four drops of food coloring. Use the rice:rubbing alcohol:food coloring ratio for each color you'd like. Put the rice in the bowl, add the rubbing alcohol, and drip on the food coloring, making sure to stir well between each drop. When the rice is the intensity you like, spread it onto the foil or waxed paper and allow it to dry. Repeat it with the other colors. To make art with the rice, have the child draw a picture or word onto card stock or bristol board, then trace the image or word with white glue, one section at a time. The child can drizzle the colored rice onto the glue. As with many sensory activities for autistic children, some kids may become overwhelmed if they have too much colored rice at once. Try placing a small amount of rice into a small paper cup and refill as necessary.




Register for your FREE webinar training with a child autistic behavioural specalist now and discover the key to unlocking childhood Autism VISIT.
autismininfants.org





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張貼者： 於 凌晨12:12 0 意見
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2012年3月17日 星期六

Motivating Autistic Children With a Variety of Activities


For those parents of autistic children, you are probably aware of how to motivate the child by employing a variety of activities. However, if your child has just been diagnosed with Autism you are most likely not aware of this as you may not have had the time yet to educated yourself about how this affects the individual. Children as well as teenagers and adults with Autism have a great deal of difficulty conversing and interacting with others while also having impaired communication skills.

In order to help autistic children develop behavioral, language, and social skills, you have to find ways of motivating them to pay attention and learn from this. The key to developing certain life skills may be an early intervention, but these have become easier to teach thanks to the help of some newer motivational methods that are now available. The following are some suggestions for how to motivate autistic children by employing a variety of activities to accomplish this.

Use play therapy that encourages self-expression, provides a sense of accomplishment, and teaches skills to motivate children with Autism.

Allow autistic children to choose the activity they want to engage in such as dancing or jumping and then be sure that you participate in these activities with them. Keep participating with them in these different activities until they communicate with you spontaneously and make eye contact.

Activites involving scripting or "social stories" should be encouraged as it oftentimes helps the non-verbal child with Autism to become more verbal while learning more appropriate behavioral skills. This also helps to improve their communication skills and has the tendency to decrease social isolation.

Employ positive reinforcement during their learning periods and therapy sessions in order to keep communication going. Praising correct answers or prompting another answer after an incorrect one is an excellent way to motivate them into responding more frequently.

Introduce new drills and tasks while still using familiar ones in order to make learning more fun and interesting. Granted, routine and structure are essential to providing autistic children with a comfort zone and teaching them numerous skills. However, Autism studies have revealed that when tasks are interesting and varied, autistic children are better behaved, give more correct answers, learn quicker, and stay more focused.

Incorporate activities that involve sensory integration. These will decrease or increase the level of sensory stimulation that autistic children receive. When a child with Autism is overwhelmed with sensory input, occupational therapists help them to participate in certain activities that help them to filter the amount of sensory input they are receiving.

Finally, children with Autism can also be motivated by employing music therapy and singing. In some cases, autistic children who cannot speak a single word can sing when they are exposed to tunes with repetitive and simple lyrics or phrases. This actually helps them to develop language skills that are lacking while at the same time helping them to eliminate those monotone speech patterns that are so common with autistic children.




For the latest videos and training information on child development as well as books and curricula on Autism please visit childdevelopmentmedia.com.





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張貼者： 於 凌晨3:57 0 意見
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2012年1月11日 星期三

Summer Activities For Children and Children With Special Needs


The summer is a great opportunity to incorporate authentic learning experiences. Families frequently spend more time together and deviate from their typical daily routines. There are not specific activities or tasks that parents must do with their children, but giving mindful attention to communication, vocabulary development, community experiences, and preparing for the upcoming school year may support continued academic and social development.

Communication

Engaging communication provides continuous opportunities to converse with children and allows them to express their ideas and concerns. This dialogue is a great opportunity to learn about your children's thoughts and reasoning skills. People make decisions based on their thoughts and perspective, and sometimes parents are surprised by the behaviors and decisions of their children. This may occur because parents are not familiar enough with their child's ideas, beliefs, and interpretation of their world. Having open lines of communication fosters the development of a loving parent and child relationship.

Vocabulary development

Increasing vocabulary can be done through reading fiction, nonfiction, and by discussing current events. Begin in the area of your child's interest. Conversations also promote vocabulary development by aiding children to make meaning of words in context. Research has shown that children score higher on standardized tests with increased vocabulary. Ruby Payne's research about the language acquisition of children from ages 1-3 varies by economic households. Her work found that children in poverty with stable households possess as little as 10 million words while their working class and professional class peers have 20 million and 30 million words respectively. Vocabulary should not be taught in isolation with a spelling list to be tested at the end of the week, but should be taught in context of experiences. Vocabulary development is a link to increased comprehension and making meaning during reading.

Community experiences

Planning adventures in your local community can be a starting point to expand learning experiences. Vocabulary alone will not always fully provide children the meaning they need to understand unfamiliar or new concepts. Some ideas for community experiences may include visiting museums, parks, businesses, or utilizing varied modes of transportation. Also, traveling to rural, urban, and suburban communities with diverse cultural opportunities may bring life to the vocabulary that a child has acquired.

Preparing for the upcoming school year

As children relax and enjoy their summer, encourage and support them to journal their events. Keeping a chronological timeline is a great way to teach sequencing. The memories of the summer can also be organized and collected to summarize a specific event or period of time in their lives. Making both structured and unstructured ways of pulling the summer memories together help children learn to take the skills acquired in school and use them in their daily lives. These activities tie into both reading and language arts tasks that children are given throughout the school year. As long as learning takes place, children are always preparing for school. Actually, school is the preparation place for life. The more children engage in both school and out of school learning opportunities, the stronger their abilities to function and make decisions in life will be.

For children with Asperger's Syndrome and other mild forms of autism, the idea of blending socially with the rest of the world can be extremely challenging. During the summer time it is no different. Like most children, autistic kids want to get out and enjoy summer weather and fun too, and they should. Typically children with AU do not play well with other children. They parallel play with little social engagement.

Studies show that activities that build social skills and offer sensory integration can be more exciting for children with these forms of special needs. Sensory integration is always needed. Here are a few suggestions and reasons for parents who are looking for ways to engage their autistic child in the summer fun.

o Swinging

o Jumping rope

o Trips to the Jungle Gym

o Walking on sand at the beach

o Building sand castles (watching so that they don't eat it)

For more information and customized support for creating successful learning opportunities for your child, visit my website at http://www.practiceinmotion.com or email me at practiceinmotion@gmail.com




Patricia F. Glenn, Ed, S., is the President and Founder of Practice in Motion Training Institute, Inc. in Atlanta, GA. Practice in Motion's primary goal is to empower and equip families to better care for children with special needs. However its staff is trained in many therapeutic disciplines to serve all children from preschool through young adulthood. For more information about Practice in Motion Training Institute, its programs and services, visit http://www.practiceinmotion.com or email practiceinmotion@gmail.com





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張貼者： 於 晚上9:15 0 意見
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2011年12月24日 星期六

Heavy Work Activities for Proprioceptive Input in the Classroom - For Kids With Sensory Issues


All children, but particularly those with sensory processing disorder, can benefit from movement activities in the classroom that provide input to the proprioceptive receptors in the joints and ligaments. In addition to providing exercise, these types of "heavy work" movements make it easier for the child to focus and attend. For the child with SPD, it's vital to get proprioceptive and deep pressure input throughout the course of the day as part of what's called a "sensory diet" of activities. It is not enough to get plenty of exercise and calming input before or after school, or during one session of OT. Most children with SPD need to be encouraged and guided to get the input they need throughout the course of the day.

There are many ways to help kids get this input within an ordinary classroom and school building. The child who is a sensory seeker will likely eagerly participate and even find her own ways to get the input she senses her body needs (be sure to guide her in finding appropriate activities, though). In contrast, the child with sensory issues who is underaroused or a sensory avoider may have to be reminded to follow the sensory diet the OT has set up. In either case, while it is great to provide opportunities for input, a child who isn't disciplined or self-motivated enough to carry out a sensory diet on her own will definitely need guidance to ensure that it happens. Given that the alternative is a child who is unfocused, becoming more anxious and agitated, and moving toward sensory overload and a fight-or-flight panic reaction such as aggression or total withdrawal, implementing a sensory diet during the school day during the school day is crucial.

When you integrate these activities into the classroom routine, and other children may participate as well, it helps the child with SPD to not feel quite so different or singled out. If the child is the only one doing the activity, give it a positive spin. Let her be the "playground equipment monitor," carrying the balls and equipment to and from the playground, or the "whiteboard monitor" who erases the whiteboard at the end of each day. You might even have a team of kids, including the children with sensory issues, in charge of washing desks or helping the janitor, and give them an honorary name such as the "clean crew." All of these strategies will reduce the stigma for the sensory child who must have an in-school sensory diet in order to stay focused.

Remember, the child who is focused on the discomfort in her body and her urge to move may be polite and obedient, appearing to pay attention when, in reality, her mind is not on what the teacher is saying. By incorporating a sensory diet tailored to the sensory child's specific, unique needs by a sensory smart school or private OT, you make it far easier for her to focus on what we would all like her to focus on: learning! If the child is verbal, be sure to include her in the setting up of a sensory diet. What works for one child may not work for another.

And check in regularly to be sure that she's really getting the benefit of the activities set up for her, and make it a goal to have her advocate for herself and meet her sensory needs in a socially acceptable way.

Here are some easy ways to get proprioceptive and deep pressure input within a classroom and school environment (of course, the playground and gym offer plenty more activities during recess and gym time, too):

* Move stacks of books

* Deliver items from one classroom to another place in the building (especially if it requires carrying something and climbing stairs)

* Stack items, such as reams of paper, books, or storage bins

* Erase blackboards and whiteboards

* Move chairs or tables, put chairs on top of tables at the end of the day and take them down at the beginning of the day

* Wash desks or cafeteria tables

* Set up and put away folding chairs and tables

* Carry bins of lunchboxes into and out of cafeteria

* Empty wastebaskets, sweep, mop

* Sharpen pencils with an old-fashioned, crank pencil sharpener

* Assist gym teacher or playground supervisor with taking out and putting away equipment such as bags full of balls, mats, scooters, etc.

* Do laps around the gym or playground

* Climb stairs

* Cut cardboard and heavy paper card stock

* Do pushups against the wall

* Do chair push ups (holding the chair on either side as you sit, then pushing up to lift the body)

* Bounce while sitting on an exercise ball (loose or in a holder)

* Press legs against a lycra band stretched around chair or desk legs

* Sit on an inflatable cushion such as the Disc O' Sit

* Walk up a ramp or incline such as a wheelchair ramp or hill on the playground

* Hold open heavy doors, or open them for individuals entering or exiting the building

* Push or drag boxes, carts, or furniture across carpeted floor.




Nancy Peske is a professional writer and editor and the mother of a child diagnosed with sensory processing disorder and multiple developmental delays. She is the coauthor of the award-winning book Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Processing Issues and has been active in the special needs community since 2002. She sends out a weekly newsletter of practical tips for parents and provides helpful information on SPD on her website at http://www.sensorysmartparent.com





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