"When one door of happiness closes, another opens;
but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
Helen Keller

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Next on the agenda: Creating a Sensory Diet


When I first heard the term "sensory diet," I thought it had to do with feeding your child a variety of textures, colors, smells, etc. But after a few OT appointments under our belt and a little more reading in "The Out-of-Sync Child" book, I have found out what a sensory diet really means...and I COMPLETELY agree that we need to include more of this daily.

In short, it means we need to include a variety of sensory input activities based on Brycen's mood and cravings. Overall, Brycen is hyperactive, so we need to encourage some quiet activities like playing with a tub of rice to encourage a slower activity or having him swing so he is getting that active sensory input he is craving, but is doing it in an orderly and calming way.

The activities will need to vary and be available to change as needed due to his change in moods and sensory needs that go along with sensory processing disorder.

Check out this link I attached that explains this more in depth and all the different areas that a sensory diet includes! It's a lot of information to take in, especially when I know it will need to be addressed daily to ensure his sensory needs are being met...but to combine this with all the therapy appts, another toddler to keep entertained, housework, and the responsibilities of mine and Mike's jobs...Wow, it's definitely going to take some time to get into a routine of incorporating these examples every day as he needs them!

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Autism and Our Family

"Autism"----It's one word that can change the life of a child and family in so many ways. Autism Spectrum Disorders are being diagnosed at a rate of 1 in 68 children currently. If you do not already know someone that has been diagnosed, the statistics say it won't be long before you do.

Our son developed typically until around the time he turned 2 years old. We heard words...we saw him play with other kids...we watched as he played with his toys appropriately...we made eye contact with him...overall we understood his wants and needs. In a matter of a few months, that was all taken away from him. He began lining up toys, lost all of his words and signs except for one word "ball", ignored other kids, could not sleep through the night, lost eye contact and the ability to follow directions, and he had no way of letting us know what he wanted or how he felt. It was heartbreaking to see something happening to our child that we couldn't stop!

Brycen began receiving home therapy 1-2 times per month for about 6 months before we realized it wasn't just developmental delays. We knew it was Autism...we just didn't want to say it outloud to anyone. He was officially diagnosed with Autism (classic form and regressive), as well as Mental Retardation in August 2009 by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

We continue to learn as we make our way through this journey with Brycen and we will continue to share this journey with you on this blog! The blog has been a great therapy for us to be able to vent our frustrations and struggles with accepting that we have a child with special needs, while sharing how blessed we are to have a child teach us what life truly means. It has also been a great way to inform others of his progress and changes over the last couple of years.

Thank you for your support of Brycen and our family! We hope you are able to learn something through this blog no matter if you are a parent of a child with special needs or a neurotypical child, a teacher or therapist, a family member, or just someone that is interested in the journey that a family goes on as they learn their child is battling a life-long disorder.