Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Our new Occupational Therapist Tara left a little while ago and I am filled with so much more info! She is very sweet and I think will work very well with Brady. We sat and talked a lot about sensory issues and it made me realize so much about Brady that makes sense.

William's kids can have sensory issues, as do other non-William's kids, and she gave me a ton of tips on how to help Brady. I always joke about how hard we pat his back, it seems like we're really whacking him, and he settles by it. Apparantly, this is normal. Patting lightly or lightly touching is annoying to sensory kids, and I realized as she spoke I am the same way. Unless I'm getting a massage, I don't like being lightly touched or patted on my arm. Who'd know that??

Tara said tickling is actually a huge no-no with low tone, sensory-sensitive babies. Grabbing them deep is okay. She said when we're just hanging out we can be rubbing his arms and legs, as it desensitizes him. You figure the more they are worked, the more it desensitizes them.

Tara explained that scenario with a great example. She went to a conference where the speaker had a baby who did not crawl or walk. (I forget the age - maybe a year?) The speaker took two vibrating machines and attached one to each hip. It "woke up" his body. The brain now realized his legs were there. He crawled and walked around.

There is also a therapy for sensory kids where you brush them with a steel brush (not painful!). I had heard of this from another friend who had used it on her non-WS daughter. Tara said she has used it many times where you brush the child for two minutes every two hours. More than one time, over the course of a weekend, the child will walk and crawl and sleep through the night. She's going to bring the tapes at our next meeting in two weeks and hopefully we can start learning about it and maybe seeing if it is something that will work for Brady.

I never thought too much about the sensory stuff, but as she spoke I began to see where it affects Brady. He loves sleeping on the rug or the rough couch or the hard bed in my room. It comforts him to be whacked on the back, so to speak. He is also comforted by rolling him back and forth. Now that I am aware, I can use this knowledge to my advantage and start working on him.

5 comments:

Lisa said...

Wow that is all great to know keep sharing...Tatum also loves to be patted hard on the back...she likes loud rattles and hates to be tickled by Emma. She likes to roll on the ball back and forth and certian sheets and balankets...kinda crazy I can not wait to ask my OT about it.

She ate 2 today at daycare and drank 2 less bottles hmmmm any thoughts on that Email me :)

Love ya,
Lisa

Kati said...

Huh, this entry made me think: tickling??? Szabi loves when anybody tickles him, he laughes as loud and as sweet that everybody starts to laugh, too. And when we finish tickilng he gets our hands to do it more.
I can hardly imagine that I'd be able to brush his body, he wouldn't tolarate it, I am sure... And: he hates big ball, it is a part of his therapy, he cries (what cries: roars) every time when he sees the big ball... So every children (ws or not ws) is different :)))))))

Aspen said...

Great thoughts Kerry. I too have heard of the brushing technique. There is also a brushing technique for mouth sensory issues. This is the one we have to consider. Again, oh the things we put our children through.

Thanks for the tips!

Anonymous said...

This is very interesting, because I am the same way - I hate being touched very lightly (I wonder if it's heriditary??). I just looked up "sensory sensitive" online and there is tons of stuff on children who are sensory sensitive. The only adult I could find mentioned was Dustin Hoffman in Rainman. Did your therapist say what happens - do most kids grow out of it?

Kerry said...

They get desensitized, so they won't be bothered as much... I'm not sure if they "outgrow" it, they may always have a lttle sensitivity like we do.