The expression "stop and smell the roses" has a hidden message behind it that we all know in the back of our mind that helps in finding one’s true sense of self. Anybody can be busy but it takes a person to who know that wherever it is they are they got themselves to that place. Whereever you go there you are. But body position is another sense within itself. We are speaking of smelling today and sometimes you have to make yourself stop and smell the roses once in awhile. The world around us might have us busy, nervous, overwhelmed, and stressed but sometimes it’s in our best interest to stop and smell the season around us. Whether it be at the beach to listen to the waves, or the smell of pumpkin pie at thanksgiving, our senses of the seasons help define a great deal of sensational self. What is this sensational self you speak of? I am who I am without having to know what season it is right. Well, through understanding how our senses intake the world around us we can understand that who we are in the summer has a different rhythm than whowe are in the autumn, and life is not just one continual season starting in summer of life when we are born and ending in winter of life after we lived our life instead our seasons of life should be a constant rejuvenation of one’s self through all the stages we go through. I hope that the in my winter with barren trees I can find within myself an endless summer. The seasons change and the pull on the energy influences new smells and sights for the new season. It can be overwhelming for a person with sensory difficulties or autism to flow with these changes and certain times of the year can be harder than others, just like summer is the one of the easiest seasons for me to enjoy. How many people can related to SADD, one could say this seasonal affect is a sensory processing disorder because our senses are not receiving the correct amount of light. Sensory process can cause a person to be scared of Santa Claus because he does not fit into your daily routine, or how about the exact opposite and write to Santa every day as part of your regime. The nervous system is an interesting topic and as I dive into my seven sensations I want to first stop and smell the roses.
Have you ever been walking down the street and get a big whiff of McDonald’s and think of French fries? The little tiny particles in the air that cause that whiff cannot be seen with the eye but the nose knows best and can spot that McDonald’s smell it seems as soon as you step out the gym. Are you hungry enough to want to taste McDonald’s, probably? Is it a coincidence they put a McDonald’s right down the street from the gym, probably a secret plot against your new year’s resolution right?!! Which is why I workout at home!
Why does smell cause us to relate pictures and places to them and why can a smells recall a memory that McDonald’s fries are so good with a chocolate shake quickly enough to have you waiting in the drive through for a small French fry and shake before you can remember to put your seat belt on.
This power sense of smell is one of the sensation that can help create positive memory recall as a means to therapeutically retrain negative experiences that people with sensory difficulties may have in concurring reoccurring behavior even addictions. Smells can act as triggers to help retrain the smoker from wanted a cigeratte with the right calming oils. Smells can help food addicts calm down before eating as a suppressant. These powerful little particles that are not even big enough to be seen are strong enough to change our behavior and when harnessed correctly can be used to treat anxiety, addiction, or other compulsions.
If every day the children come into the classroom with a smoothing smell of jasmine in the spring or peppermint in the winter, there senses will be pleased and gain memory recall to the lesson about the holidays more when associatating the classroom experience with the smell of pepperiment. Christmas is one of the best times to use the sense of smell to create fun memories with children. We bake cookies, put up pine trees, burn scented candles, and eat feasts of food. However these changes in our everyday life can be overwhelming all at once. As the seasons slowly, change make you to slowly add changes to the routine.
Since it is summer I feel it necessary to stop talking about Christmas, although this would be a good place to add that I will be collecting a donation of toys this Christmas in July at all my sensory facials for a great cause. Toys are one of the great sensory items children with autism like and need to use to learn and explore. Feel free to contact me if you have any toy clutter that you would like to donate to My Christmas for Autism in July this summer! Now getting back to summer....
A good place to transition kids with sensory dysfunctions to get to the beach with as few meltdowns as possible i would start with a Barney Beach video in the living room where you can practice putting your bathing suit on, pretend pack the towel bag, and put on their sandals to get ready to walk to the beach. Sensory Sand tables would be a good place to start if the child does not like the way the sand feels or you do not know how the child will like the way the sand feels. Exposure is always best when warming up to the nervous system with changes. I used an infatable pool without water to fill with books to sit back and read at the pool, so that when its break time at the pool the child will have a familar activity. Definitely practice applying sunscreen as the season changes into summer because just like its hard to transition out of the winter coat and even though most kids love lotion, this change in routine needs to be slowly introduced because it does smell and feel different than most lotions. After you have played with sand maybe fill up the pool or play in a sprinkler to clean off before heading inside or out for a blanket picnic and possible naptime undernearth an umbrella on their beach towel in the middle of the living room watching Beach Barney would be a good way to end this sensory experience so the child begins to develop a regime about going to the beach rather than just taking them there without any prior knowledge. Lack of exposure to change is one of the main causes that I have seen cause meltdowns when dealing with sensory processing disorder!
Why does smell cause us to relate pictures and places to them and why can a smells recall a memory that McDonald’s fries are so good with a chocolate shake quickly enough to have you waiting in the drive through for a small French fry and shake before you can remember to put your seat belt on.
This power sense of smell is one of the sensation that can help create positive memory recall as a means to therapeutically retrain negative experiences that people with sensory difficulties may have in concurring reoccurring behavior even addictions. Smells can act as triggers to help retrain the smoker from wanted a cigeratte with the right calming oils. Smells can help food addicts calm down before eating as a suppressant. These powerful little particles that are not even big enough to be seen are strong enough to change our behavior and when harnessed correctly can be used to treat anxiety, addiction, or other compulsions.
If every day the children come into the classroom with a smoothing smell of jasmine in the spring or peppermint in the winter, there senses will be pleased and gain memory recall to the lesson about the holidays more when associatating the classroom experience with the smell of pepperiment. Christmas is one of the best times to use the sense of smell to create fun memories with children. We bake cookies, put up pine trees, burn scented candles, and eat feasts of food. However these changes in our everyday life can be overwhelming all at once. As the seasons slowly, change make you to slowly add changes to the routine.
Since it is summer I feel it necessary to stop talking about Christmas, although this would be a good place to add that I will be collecting a donation of toys this Christmas in July at all my sensory facials for a great cause. Toys are one of the great sensory items children with autism like and need to use to learn and explore. Feel free to contact me if you have any toy clutter that you would like to donate to My Christmas for Autism in July this summer! Now getting back to summer....
A good place to transition kids with sensory dysfunctions to get to the beach with as few meltdowns as possible i would start with a Barney Beach video in the living room where you can practice putting your bathing suit on, pretend pack the towel bag, and put on their sandals to get ready to walk to the beach. Sensory Sand tables would be a good place to start if the child does not like the way the sand feels or you do not know how the child will like the way the sand feels. Exposure is always best when warming up to the nervous system with changes. I used an infatable pool without water to fill with books to sit back and read at the pool, so that when its break time at the pool the child will have a familar activity. Definitely practice applying sunscreen as the season changes into summer because just like its hard to transition out of the winter coat and even though most kids love lotion, this change in routine needs to be slowly introduced because it does smell and feel different than most lotions. After you have played with sand maybe fill up the pool or play in a sprinkler to clean off before heading inside or out for a blanket picnic and possible naptime undernearth an umbrella on their beach towel in the middle of the living room watching Beach Barney would be a good way to end this sensory experience so the child begins to develop a regime about going to the beach rather than just taking them there without any prior knowledge. Lack of exposure to change is one of the main causes that I have seen cause meltdowns when dealing with sensory processing disorder!
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