Help your child’s teachers and treatment providers recognize these triggers also so they can be aware of the early signs of dysregulation and hopefully avoid the big meltdown. Recognize when they are in fight/flight and emphasize emotion regulation strategies that help them express emotions in healthy and safe ways. Integrate sensory tools into your child’s school environment by having the teacher provide noise cancelling headphones in your child’s classroom or limit unnecessary sensory stimuli when possible. Examples include skin brushing, jumping on a mini-tramp, listening therapies, and eye exercises. A sensory diet provides your child with regular exercises tailored to meet his or her sensory needs. Create a “sensory diet” for your child.Here are some interventions drawn from play therapy and occupational therapy that I have found helpful:

You know your child best and can help teachers and other professionals working with your child understand your child’s sensory world. Once clear about your child’s diagnosis this knowledge is essential in coordinating efforts among your child’s treatment team. As a result he could have greater control of his mouth when learning new speech sounds. For example, the speech pathologist working with my son had him wear a weighted vest that helped him feel his body. If you have a child with multiple diagnoses it is important that all professionals understand the role that sensory processing is playing for the child. A teacher, speech pathologist, or psychologist who can integrate tools for sensory integration can make greater progress towards their learning treatment goals. Recognizing and addressing the underlying nervous system activation often helps children with SPD learn how to focus their minds for learning. For example, SPD can contribute to inattention and hyperactivity but medications that treat ADHD may worsen symptoms, create further agitation, or simply be unnecessary. Knowing the right combination of symptoms and diagnoses allows you to target the right kind of treatment and to avoid unnecessary ones. Children with early trauma, neglect or attachment disruption often develop sensory integration challenges.Anxiety and heightened fight/flight nervous system activation.Autism and difficulties with social emotional communications.ADHD and difficulties with focus, attention, hyperactivity, and self-regulation.Dyspraxia (movement and coordination difficulties).

Therefore, sensory processing disorder often accompanies other disorders such as: Sensory Processing Disorder has its own biological and neurological underpinnings however, our sensory system is complexly intertwined with the neurological mechanisms responsible for spatial awareness, attention, language processing, emotional regulation, and learning. For a child, this can become a repeated habit repeatedly wiring the brain for survival. The brain hijacks higher functioning learning systems and engages lower brain resources as if we are experiencing immediate threat. When in fight/flight activation it is difficult to pay attention, learn new information, and communicate effectively about our experienc e. If we cannot orient to where we begin and end in space we tend to feel anxious. This sensory feedback helps to organize the the information we receive from the world and how we respond. The vestibular system gets information from the body through proprioceptors, sensory neurons located within the joints of the body. Underlying all our sensory systems is the vestibular system which functions within the inner ear which takes in information about our relationship to movement and gravity and provides ongoing feedback between mind and body about where we are in space. However, a 2013 study out of UC San Francisco, revealed that sensory processing disorder is linked to quantifiable differences in brain structures and has a biological basis differentiated from other childhood disorders. Rather sensory challenges were thought of as symptom indicating another diagnose in the same way a fever was a symptom but a virus or an infection was the cause. Historically, sensory processing symptoms were not considered to comprise a standalone diagnosis. Read on to learn interventions drawn from child-centered play therapy and occupational therapy that can help your child with the tantrums, challenging transitions, and anxieties associated with early childhood developmental disorders. Once clear about your child’s diagnosis, this knowledge is essential in developing the right treatment plan for your child. Sensory Processing Disorder and Related Diagnosesĭifferentiating between sensory processing disorder, ADHD, learning disorders, autism, anxiety, and early trauma exposure requires diagnostic skill and accuracy.

Dyslexia processing issues