Fisher explains that SPD’s can oc-
cur by themselves or with other chal-
lenges such as Down Syndrome, cere-
bral palsy, attention deficit disorders and
autism spectrum disorder. SPD’s are not
just a childhood issue, they also occur
in adults. In addition to that, it is impor-
tant to understand that we all have sen-
sory needs, states Fisher. She suggests
thinking about sensory needs as being
on a continuum. On one end of the con-
tinuum are people who can take in the
information from their senses and keep
it organized. On the other end are people
who become dysregulated by sensory in-
formation. Fisher explains that this dys-
regulation can affect the person’s ability
to function well in all areas of their life.
Making Family Gatherings
More Manageable:
When Your Child has a Sensory Processing Disorder
I
— By Karyn Robinson-Renaud MSW, RSW
used to dread going to family
parties with my daughter. My
daughter would get over stimu-
lated by the sights, sounds and people.
Then, in an effort to cope with the stim-
ulation, she would run laps around the
place. Sometimes she would end up
bumping into people or furniture. We
learned through working with an occupa-
tional therapist (OT), that our daughter’s
hyperactivity was partially due to having
a sensory processing disorder.
Kranowitz states that there are five exter-
nal senses and three internal ones. The
most familiar, are the external ones: see-
ing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touch-
ing. The less familiar ones are the three
internal senses. Kranowitz describes them
as: interoception (sensations from internal
organs), vestibular (how we understand
where our body is in space and stay bal-
anced) and proprioception (information
from stretching and contracting our joints
and muscles.) Most of us can easily make
use of the information coming in from
Sensory processing is the way the
our external and internal senses and use
brain makes sense of information taken
it well. However, people with a sensory
in from our bodies and the world around
processing disorder (SPD) have difficulty
us, explains Carol Stock Kranowitz, in
managing the information coming in from
her classic book, The Out-of-Sync Child.
their senses, explains oc-
cupational therapist, Joc-
Simple Tips to Help You Stay
elyn Fisher. Fisher has
been working with chil-
Calm When Your Child is Not
dren and their families
Deep Breathe. Breathe in through your nose for
for over sixteen years.
four counts and out through your mouth four counts.
She helps parents and
Repeat four times or more if needed.
professionals
increase
Find a reason to laugh. Your annoyance level will
their understanding of
come down quick if you can find some humor in the
SPD’s. She also helps to
situation.
create intervention plans
Hug your child. The deep compression will be
that support the sensory
good for both of you.
needs of her clients.
12 WNY Family November 2018
If you are not already connected
to an occupational therapist, see if your
family doctor or your child’s school can
refer you to one. In the meantime, check
out the strategies below to see which
ones can help you take the dread out of
family get-togethers and parties.
Determine your
exit strategy.
Before you go to the party, figure
out when you will leave. Base your exit
time on how long your child can typi-
cally handle being in a stimulating situa-
tion before becoming out of control. Let
your child and host know up front that
you will be doing this. Explain to your
child that you will only stay until a spe-
cific time and then plan something else
fun you can do together afterwards.
“Workout” before
the party.
Give your child opportunities to
climb, run and jump before they are
stuck some place where these things
probably should not be occurring. Con-
sider going to a park, indoor play cen-
tre or put on a kid friendly workout at
home. Checkout the hilarious site www.
gonoodle.com.
Identify a quiet place.
Ask your host if there is a room in
the house where you can get away from
the party and perhaps dim the lights. If
there is nowhere to go, consider just tak-
ing a break in the bathroom with your
child. You can calm them by hugging
them close to your body and/or sing-
ing to them. Using headphones and