When we first started seeing how delayed Liam was and quickly learned how "stumped" he made his doctors, I vowed to share whatever I could about his condition to hopefully help out other parents with kids like mine. I've been accused of blogging because I'm "seeking attention" when in reality I'm seeking knowledge; thanks to my blogs and updates so many friends or acquaintances have shared their experiences or helpful information. I hope my blogs will one day return the favor.
The newest development in Liam's therapy is Sensory Therapy. Since Liam is unable to clearly communicate with us, from time to time he has meltdowns when trying to express what he wants or needs. Also due to his delays, he gets very uneasy in new situations. His routines make "communication" easy for him because he knows what to expect; he doesn't know how to adapt to new or different scenarios. Two weeks ago Liam started OT. Knowing Liam's history his therapist anticipated a meltdown and responded to it with a sensory box.
Like all new tools, I was eager to see how Liam would respond, but didn't want to get too excited. Believe it or not, the sensory box completely calmed him down and ended his meltdown. His therapist encouraged me to create a box for our home and one for the car to take to preschool or to new/different locations.
Below is a picture of our sensory box (it imitates the one in his therapy sessions). Kids like Liam don't respond to situations or people like the average person. So when you don't know what they need or how to calm them down, you have to create an outlet for them; hence the sensory box. Each kid responds differently to each item. Liam favors the hard bristle brush and vibrating massager. When he is upset we rub the brush from joint to joint; so on his arm we rub it from his elbow to his wrist. He will grab the vibrating massager and put it somewhere on himself that calms him; it seems he favors it on his face.
Once he calms down he'll explore the rest of the items in the box. After roughly 5-10 minutes he's calm enough to introduce the original activity or therapy or explore his new surrounding. We've used the sensory box at home to calm him down and so far so good!
So if you're in a similar situation with your child and don't quite know how to get through to them or calm them down, try a sensory box and see if it helps them focus and get centered.
Small, compact, and effective Sensory Box
The green and blue chain can be manipulated and shaped. The green frog and yellow duck are soft to touch, their bristled can be pulled on, and you can squish them and manipulate them. The shaker and clacker create sound. The colored tube is filled with small beads to problem solve with and watch move throughout the tube. The colored, spiked ball is another item to touch and stimulate action like bouncing, throwing, etc. The vibrating ball has tough bristles to rub on the skin or once it's vibrating can be held for comfort. And finally, the bubbles are touchable bubbles that you can blow, stack, catch, and play with.
Hoping this treatment therapy continues to due the trick - at least until he can form words!
xoxo