**This was the sensory flyer I was giving away this convention season at my table.**
Homeschooling:
Change writing utensils until you find a good fit (crayon, marker, pen, pencil, mechanical pencil…)
Use weights and/or pencil grips
Stikki Wix, play dough, therapy dough all help the hands and fine motor control
Create your own chalkboard or use a white board
Use papers with bumped lines, or textured scrapbook paper
Use highlighted paper
Chalk-use dustless or a glove
Stencils-they provide quick clear pictures for children struggling with fine motor issues.
Glue dots instead of liquid glue less mess, less problems with tactile defensive child.
Shaving cream on a cookie sheet- You can use this to help introduce tactile defensive children to more hand sensation. You can also use this for seekers where they draw out their letters.
Loop scissors for children that have fine motor control issues.
Print off material on colored paper-yellow, red, orange to stimulate interest in a laid back child. Blues, greens, and gray to calm a child that is already excited and needs to calm to focus.
For strong visual kids put posters up where they play, like the US map, or the alphabet.
Having problems learning the alphabet? Take your child outside to write it on the sidewalk or road. The rough surface provides tremendous feedback to help memory.
Family Life:
Creating a sensory diet can calm your entire household
Jumping jacks, jumping rope, marching, jogging, running, going up and down stairs can all help calm the proprioceptive sense
Use weighted blankets, vest, arm bands, or ankle bands to help provide proprioceptive feedback
For those sensitive to sound try ear plugs, ear muffs, shirts with hoodies, toboggan hats.
Be aware of triggers for sensory meltdowns and try to head them off. Have a plan as a family of what to do if a meltdown happens.
Sensory intense children can have STRONG likes and dislikes in food. Deal with that as soon as you see it because it can take over your kitchen and dinner.
Personal Care:
Use any strength toothbrush your child will accept (better to brush then not) or use the finger brush
Sensory intense children tend towards baths or showers
Buy clothes with tags printed on the material
Life Outside the Home:
Go shopping in off hours so you have fewer variables to deal with.
Have simple, quick sensory exercises to do such as you put your hands in a large circle and have your child spin in that circle several times to the left, stop, then spin to the right. Hopefully that will calm your child for the rest of the trip.
Be aware that the holiday season will be INTENSE for any child much less your already intense child, plan carefully your trip to the store/mall or get a babysitter until your child is old enough to modulate their responses
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Our goal is to help our children modulate and stabilize their own feelings. It will take time to get there. Start working on it now. Get assistance on an Occupational Therapist (OT) if you need help creating a sensory diet, or a specific plan on how to help your child.
Heather Laurie is a happy wife and mother to 5 children and 3 angels. She and her children have a genetic disorder that leaves them dealing with several medical and learning disabilities. The wide variety of problems they have dealt with or are dealing with has left Heather uniquely positioned to cover first hand a large variety of problems. Heather’s goal is to encourage, support, and inform those dealing with special needs homeschooling issues. Heather is a speaker, writer, and all around homeschooling cheerleader! You can contact her at www.specialneedshomeschooling.com or SpecialNeedsHomeschooling@yahoo.com