Today was chewy tube day. Whether it should be used not at all or maybe just at oral motor time was up for debate so we decided together to include the chewy tube into oral motor/sensory time for kicks we added toothpaste. The introduction to oral motor is off to a great start.
At first, there may be apprehension at first to different textures or scents near the mouth, however subtle exposure is helpful for everyone. The child who may not like chewing on the chewy tube, may really like looking in the mirror. However, our day started as usual. We were back to wondering what was in this CIRCLE box. So as to not develop rigidiness, sensory's main goal is to help develop flexibility to out of routine changes in the schedule, so today there was a box on the table that was in question. It was a different kind of box, with many different kinds of tools under its top. After we wondered what was under the box top, we opened it to see textures of balls to roll and pass to our friend. We sang songs about rubbing our different textured sensory tools on each body part for body awareness and exposure to different textures on the face and arms as we rolled the ball to our friend who has a different texture to rolll on our cheek.
So why after today am I left thinking about a chewy tube? What do we chew on to soothe our mood. Some smoke cigerrets and chew on tobacco but everyone has their own type of chewy tube whether it be gum, food, drinks, to feel the intake of oral stimulation is our most basic function when we learn to stuck our food from our mom. The sound of the milk going down the infants through, the smell of their mother, the way only their mother looked and felt are our first experiences with a chewy tube. A chewy tube is the means to an end of soothe and comfort. Our means to that end change over time but as humans we all basically have a chewy tube. So what's your chewy tube?
Chewy tubes(an actual T shaped tube of different textures) were our second activity, and we looked in the mirror to see how our lips, teeth, and mouth move and chew. We incorporated smell in this activity with tooth paste. We ended with rubbing antibacterial lotion on our hands for touch and safety before breakfast. What do you do before breakfast to get yourself ready for the day? Do you brush your teeth before going downstairs to eat breakfast? My chewy tube has definitley been my Mary Kay skin care regime to put care into my appearance before and now taking care of the breakfast I put into myself as well. I have a chewy tube that helps calm me down, do you?
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
I WONDER what's in this BOX?
After teachers started back to school this year, we have already experienced the eath quake and a hurricane storm through town, with not 1 but 2 school days closed and many more throughout the state. So today was not your typical first day of school, its was a first day delay. It was a Monday on a Tuesday, with brand new bunch of kids. Emergency mode, we hope, is all finished. Business as usual was back to normal and we were back to starting our day with S-S-S-Sensory time!
The first thing we do when we gather around the table is we wonder what's in a box? The box is see through so you can see what's inside to help promote creative answers to the song...what's in the box? However there is only one answer and by mid week they will all know about how sensory time is INside the box and by then you have the kids full attention grabbed on this magical BOX! What is in it?
During sensory time we'll pat our mouths and pat our cheeks, for oral motor to warm up with song. Then we go through our senses so we are aware of how to learn through what we see,hear, smell, taste, touch in our learning environment. Right now we are smelling sun and sand in the plugins by the table as we warm into the school year. We also awaken the sense of smell with baby powder & lotions. We see our selves in sunglasses as we look in the mirror with a microphone, singing "I'm a Rockstar" to the tune of 90210 for some reason but its what we do. We listen to the sound of a bell to promote full sentence structure with a sentence model I hear the bell ringing in my ear. We will also promote expanding listening throughout the year with songs and stories, however the attention span for everyone included might agree the first day of school is about the length a bell ringing. Ding, onto the next task of school. Ding, time for ABC's. Good morning, this school year has just begun and there's so much to get done. Ding! Then its time to dismiss!
The school year is kind of like the box, as we all begin to wonder what lies within its perimeter until next June. Thus far, this school year has an earthquake and hurricane inside of it. Our box is full to the brim and we have just begun. We are feeling the effects, so YOGA is reccomended for all to practice as a general rule for good health but studies also show that it helps improve brain capacities if joined together with speech lessons, so our yoga time will be right before speech. Last year the placement of yoga before speech seemed to help our kids to sit still longer during very involved speech lessons.
These are just a few of my favorite things to do to help warm up the day, get the kids attention for learning, while also creating a trust with the children in the classroom through eye contact, and joint exchanges. There is a repetitive nature to Oral Motor, so I believe its benefitial twice a day, therefore before circle in the morning we end our Oral Motor time with breakfast snack but in the afternoon we start our afternoon science lessons and end sensory/oral motor time with a lollipop. The first day routine was set and althoug it will have slight changes of what is inside of it due to seasons and themes, this Oral Motor time will remain in our schedule not because it takes up time because many teachers will argue that there just isnt enough time in the day, but I am blessed to work with a team whose core philosohpy is that this time of day in essence is the most important part of the day like yeast to a loaf of bread, without the ingredient the bread is not able to do what it was meant to do. My team has come to an agreement that sensory oral motor time is our yeast in the classroom and watching the bread bake in the oven is the best part of my day!
The first thing we do when we gather around the table is we wonder what's in a box? The box is see through so you can see what's inside to help promote creative answers to the song...what's in the box? However there is only one answer and by mid week they will all know about how sensory time is INside the box and by then you have the kids full attention grabbed on this magical BOX! What is in it?
During sensory time we'll pat our mouths and pat our cheeks, for oral motor to warm up with song. Then we go through our senses so we are aware of how to learn through what we see,hear, smell, taste, touch in our learning environment. Right now we are smelling sun and sand in the plugins by the table as we warm into the school year. We also awaken the sense of smell with baby powder & lotions. We see our selves in sunglasses as we look in the mirror with a microphone, singing "I'm a Rockstar" to the tune of 90210 for some reason but its what we do. We listen to the sound of a bell to promote full sentence structure with a sentence model I hear the bell ringing in my ear. We will also promote expanding listening throughout the year with songs and stories, however the attention span for everyone included might agree the first day of school is about the length a bell ringing. Ding, onto the next task of school. Ding, time for ABC's. Good morning, this school year has just begun and there's so much to get done. Ding! Then its time to dismiss!
The school year is kind of like the box, as we all begin to wonder what lies within its perimeter until next June. Thus far, this school year has an earthquake and hurricane inside of it. Our box is full to the brim and we have just begun. We are feeling the effects, so YOGA is reccomended for all to practice as a general rule for good health but studies also show that it helps improve brain capacities if joined together with speech lessons, so our yoga time will be right before speech. Last year the placement of yoga before speech seemed to help our kids to sit still longer during very involved speech lessons.
These are just a few of my favorite things to do to help warm up the day, get the kids attention for learning, while also creating a trust with the children in the classroom through eye contact, and joint exchanges. There is a repetitive nature to Oral Motor, so I believe its benefitial twice a day, therefore before circle in the morning we end our Oral Motor time with breakfast snack but in the afternoon we start our afternoon science lessons and end sensory/oral motor time with a lollipop. The first day routine was set and althoug it will have slight changes of what is inside of it due to seasons and themes, this Oral Motor time will remain in our schedule not because it takes up time because many teachers will argue that there just isnt enough time in the day, but I am blessed to work with a team whose core philosohpy is that this time of day in essence is the most important part of the day like yeast to a loaf of bread, without the ingredient the bread is not able to do what it was meant to do. My team has come to an agreement that sensory oral motor time is our yeast in the classroom and watching the bread bake in the oven is the best part of my day!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Did you see the hurricane?
The weekend came and went in a full storm of events, most of which you could see starting with longer lines like the holidays, but some of the mass hysteria from the weeks natural disasters, not just one but two in one week, was not exactly visible, just felt and understood they we were under emergency code of conduct. One could see we were ALL on sensory OVERLOAD with all the emergency preparedness at the forefront of everyone's thinking. So what were the tools that most people were returning today after they made emergency purchases to calm their sensory systems and feel prepared to weather the storm this weekend?
One could say these sensory kits we all rushed to put together consisted of water for our mouths, light for our eyes, food for our belly feeling full, and generators to keep life as we know it pretty consistent as possible. Each person has a special set of circumstances whether their basement started leaking, they had an outdoor wedding planned, while others were loading up on potata chips. Did you have a freezer full of meat that could not go bad if the power went out? Did you have bottles of water stacked as a secure wall to block out the flooding? Are you the type the prepares all year for these seasons of natural disasters?
Well the same consequences that we see during hurricanes have had on everyone's behaviors this week, animals included, my cat stayed sitting on the bible during quaking Tuesday, our children with autism have sensory quakes and hurricanes that affect their behavior before you can even have time to think lunch by noon. Their sensory systems are overloaded by external stresses of schedule changes, like the first day of school being canceled because there was rain over the weekend. The schedule is changed, and your nervous system is through the roof before you even get dressed or eat breakfast. If you felt like this daily, you would prepare for emergencies as consistently as the breath you take. Recovery mode lasts through lunch, while you eat only your favorite foods, a change in routine again could be upseting and send your sensory system back into crisis mode. These levels of sensory dysfunction are very similar to the level or wind or rain in a hurricane. When emotions are involved you could feel too sad to stop crying or mad to stop screaming, however that is what emergency preparedness is for. To prepare for the hurrican before it happens is what it takes when handling sensory dysfunction. The goal is to keep a balance out of recovery mode and into functional mode of getting their needs met, but remaining in control of their own sensory system.
This delicate balance is where social stories, picture symbols, sensory therapy, oral motor, behavioral therapy, and every kind of emergency tool you can think of to use to prevent crisis mode, during the hurricane! Hurricanes will come and go, but how prepared you are deligates whether you enter into crisis mode, or if you can bunker down and handle the sensory meltdowns without losing control over the situation so that every day functions can resume back to normal as quickly as possible.
As I finish this blog I am learning that school is opening back up and we are returning to functioning level out of recovery more quickly than hoped. It's only the second week of school and the first day back for some other counties and even thought he change in routine on this hurricane Monday was a welcome extra hour of sleep and extra to feel as though you were still on summer vacation, reality is setting in on my sensory system that school will resume to its normal operating hours in the morning. If only we could trick our sensory systems into thinking it were summer vacation all school year, and yet it this week is only the first hurricane coming our way that could uproot the routine at any given time. Will you be prepared next time we are on the edge of crisis mode!?
How can we help prepare our students for the next natural disaster on their sensory systems; such as the first day back to school schedule routine uprooted? Let's discuss amongst ourselves...
One could say these sensory kits we all rushed to put together consisted of water for our mouths, light for our eyes, food for our belly feeling full, and generators to keep life as we know it pretty consistent as possible. Each person has a special set of circumstances whether their basement started leaking, they had an outdoor wedding planned, while others were loading up on potata chips. Did you have a freezer full of meat that could not go bad if the power went out? Did you have bottles of water stacked as a secure wall to block out the flooding? Are you the type the prepares all year for these seasons of natural disasters?
Well the same consequences that we see during hurricanes have had on everyone's behaviors this week, animals included, my cat stayed sitting on the bible during quaking Tuesday, our children with autism have sensory quakes and hurricanes that affect their behavior before you can even have time to think lunch by noon. Their sensory systems are overloaded by external stresses of schedule changes, like the first day of school being canceled because there was rain over the weekend. The schedule is changed, and your nervous system is through the roof before you even get dressed or eat breakfast. If you felt like this daily, you would prepare for emergencies as consistently as the breath you take. Recovery mode lasts through lunch, while you eat only your favorite foods, a change in routine again could be upseting and send your sensory system back into crisis mode. These levels of sensory dysfunction are very similar to the level or wind or rain in a hurricane. When emotions are involved you could feel too sad to stop crying or mad to stop screaming, however that is what emergency preparedness is for. To prepare for the hurrican before it happens is what it takes when handling sensory dysfunction. The goal is to keep a balance out of recovery mode and into functional mode of getting their needs met, but remaining in control of their own sensory system.
This delicate balance is where social stories, picture symbols, sensory therapy, oral motor, behavioral therapy, and every kind of emergency tool you can think of to use to prevent crisis mode, during the hurricane! Hurricanes will come and go, but how prepared you are deligates whether you enter into crisis mode, or if you can bunker down and handle the sensory meltdowns without losing control over the situation so that every day functions can resume back to normal as quickly as possible.
As I finish this blog I am learning that school is opening back up and we are returning to functioning level out of recovery more quickly than hoped. It's only the second week of school and the first day back for some other counties and even thought he change in routine on this hurricane Monday was a welcome extra hour of sleep and extra to feel as though you were still on summer vacation, reality is setting in on my sensory system that school will resume to its normal operating hours in the morning. If only we could trick our sensory systems into thinking it were summer vacation all school year, and yet it this week is only the first hurricane coming our way that could uproot the routine at any given time. Will you be prepared next time we are on the edge of crisis mode!?
How can we help prepare our students for the next natural disaster on their sensory systems; such as the first day back to school schedule routine uprooted? Let's discuss amongst ourselves...
Thursday, August 25, 2011
How do you know the sound of your voice?
Have you ever had a fear to speak on a microphone, because you don't recognize the sound of your own voice as its amplified for all to hear?
Do you what your voice sounds like if you were to hear it played back to you without any cues that its your voice?
Probably so, because we take our voices for granted every day listening to everything we speak.
But can you imagine not having a voice. You may have sensitivities to noises and distinguishing a voice of your own because you have a hard time processing all sounds that you hear. How do you know the sound of your own voice if you don't have a voice of your own?
Everyone has desires and needs, but not all children have developed a voice to express those needs. Infants cry and hear the sound of a form of their voice because after they cry, they have their needs met thus creating communication. Early communication is mostly imitation from other people's voices until they develop their own voice, but what happens when communication is delayed and their voice is lost inside. When children with autism do not develop their voice, they have a hard time communicating their needs and we tend to see the visibly negative symptom of autism, which can include hitting, screaming, pinching, kicking, shaking, and these fits are a way for their nervous system to work out their unmet desire. The behaviors are a consequence of the disability,like a wheelchair is the consequence of having a mobility disability so just because a child with autism may have negative behaviors, they are not the screaming because they have autism. However, you'd probably be screaming too if you didn't have any other voice to express your needs. Autism is a communication disability.
At the beginning of each year, the main goal for all my classes is to show each child what their voice sounds like. However, the journey to find the voice starts with lots of therapy and understanding the the child acts the way they do because of a communication handicap not a behavior problem. There are ways to avoid meltdowns, coping during the turmoil of a meltdown, and teachable experiences within each time the child is acting out. They do not continue to receive positive attention for their negative behavior. So as long as the environment is safe, the child is under control and not causing physical harm to another child, all negative behaviors are ignored and not tolerated. There are conseqeunces and lessons to be learned for the child acting out, however it must also be rememebered that you are in control not the child, so negative behavior will not be rewarded with attention. Attention includes but is not limited to eye contact, vocal connections, removal from group, and put in quiet spot for safety reasons if untolerable behavior begins.
However, the goal is to reduce occurances of meltdowns through the development of their voice, starting with picture symbols and full physical prompting but fading away slowly until you get to hear what their voice really sounds like.
The magical time of day spoken of in a previous blog, How to Feel your Best, is also about speech development. During that magical time of day we work on basic sounds of our voice that we use when we wake up in the morning. We sing songs that concentrate our syllble sound like m, w, r, p, b, or chuncks like brush your teeth to make the chchchch are just a few examples of vocal development during oral motor. We look in the mirror and practice mouthing movements to add vowels sounds to those syllables for moo or waa. We use tools that the speech therapist has made to repetition to help show the child who doesn't know their own voice yet, recognize that they too have something to say
Do you what your voice sounds like if you were to hear it played back to you without any cues that its your voice?
Probably so, because we take our voices for granted every day listening to everything we speak.
But can you imagine not having a voice. You may have sensitivities to noises and distinguishing a voice of your own because you have a hard time processing all sounds that you hear. How do you know the sound of your own voice if you don't have a voice of your own?
Everyone has desires and needs, but not all children have developed a voice to express those needs. Infants cry and hear the sound of a form of their voice because after they cry, they have their needs met thus creating communication. Early communication is mostly imitation from other people's voices until they develop their own voice, but what happens when communication is delayed and their voice is lost inside. When children with autism do not develop their voice, they have a hard time communicating their needs and we tend to see the visibly negative symptom of autism, which can include hitting, screaming, pinching, kicking, shaking, and these fits are a way for their nervous system to work out their unmet desire. The behaviors are a consequence of the disability,like a wheelchair is the consequence of having a mobility disability so just because a child with autism may have negative behaviors, they are not the screaming because they have autism. However, you'd probably be screaming too if you didn't have any other voice to express your needs. Autism is a communication disability.
At the beginning of each year, the main goal for all my classes is to show each child what their voice sounds like. However, the journey to find the voice starts with lots of therapy and understanding the the child acts the way they do because of a communication handicap not a behavior problem. There are ways to avoid meltdowns, coping during the turmoil of a meltdown, and teachable experiences within each time the child is acting out. They do not continue to receive positive attention for their negative behavior. So as long as the environment is safe, the child is under control and not causing physical harm to another child, all negative behaviors are ignored and not tolerated. There are conseqeunces and lessons to be learned for the child acting out, however it must also be rememebered that you are in control not the child, so negative behavior will not be rewarded with attention. Attention includes but is not limited to eye contact, vocal connections, removal from group, and put in quiet spot for safety reasons if untolerable behavior begins.
However, the goal is to reduce occurances of meltdowns through the development of their voice, starting with picture symbols and full physical prompting but fading away slowly until you get to hear what their voice really sounds like.
The magical time of day spoken of in a previous blog, How to Feel your Best, is also about speech development. During that magical time of day we work on basic sounds of our voice that we use when we wake up in the morning. We sing songs that concentrate our syllble sound like m, w, r, p, b, or chuncks like brush your teeth to make the chchchch are just a few examples of vocal development during oral motor. We look in the mirror and practice mouthing movements to add vowels sounds to those syllables for moo or waa. We use tools that the speech therapist has made to repetition to help show the child who doesn't know their own voice yet, recognize that they too have something to say
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I feel the earth move
Boy, oo Boy, what an ordinary day turned upside down from a little rumbling of the ground. It seemed as though everyone was on sensory overload not only having being evacuated wherever they may have been at the time of THEE earthquake on the East coast this August of 2011. Why does this ordinary day already sound so official? Is it? The ground did shake.
How about feeling minor anxiety from your own nervous system quaking because of every ordinary day activities for some like going to lunch in the cafeteria, can be earth shattering to their nervous system thus sending the person with a sensory dysfunction, some call it anxiety, depression, hyper activity or sensitivities or compulsions. I'm going to call them pooh, eyore, tigger, and piglet. These characters from the classic story of Winnie the Pooh are very similar to the types of sensory that can be found by themselves or combined to form their own unique character under the spectrum of autism and other pervasive developmental disabilities.
After today I would have to say my sensory dysfunction was definitely an eyore. Even though I didn't lose my tail, I did NOT get excited, anxious, or paranoid about that earth shattering days events. My sensory system went numb and I acted and behaved as it were any ordinary day. What character from Winnie the Pooh were you? Were you nervous piglet, wise owl, or did you line all the kids up like Christopher Robin to make sure everyone was safe from the Bakson.
It's only the second week back and there is already so many sensory activities occurring. Tomorrow we all get to relax and take our chill pills with our day off, well all the Christopher Robin teachers have off at least!
How about feeling minor anxiety from your own nervous system quaking because of every ordinary day activities for some like going to lunch in the cafeteria, can be earth shattering to their nervous system thus sending the person with a sensory dysfunction, some call it anxiety, depression, hyper activity or sensitivities or compulsions. I'm going to call them pooh, eyore, tigger, and piglet. These characters from the classic story of Winnie the Pooh are very similar to the types of sensory that can be found by themselves or combined to form their own unique character under the spectrum of autism and other pervasive developmental disabilities.
After today I would have to say my sensory dysfunction was definitely an eyore. Even though I didn't lose my tail, I did NOT get excited, anxious, or paranoid about that earth shattering days events. My sensory system went numb and I acted and behaved as it were any ordinary day. What character from Winnie the Pooh were you? Were you nervous piglet, wise owl, or did you line all the kids up like Christopher Robin to make sure everyone was safe from the Bakson.
It's only the second week back and there is already so many sensory activities occurring. Tomorrow we all get to relax and take our chill pills with our day off, well all the Christopher Robin teachers have off at least!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Scrub with Sugar, Honey, and Tea?! Rinse Repeat!
Did you know that what goes onto our skin, goes into our bodies and thus our bloodstream and internal organs? It's not just lotion that your putting on, your skin is actually drinking the fluid into itself and ingestion of all the chemicals, or toxins that may be in your cheap dollar store lotion is occurring without you even tasting a thing. So in reverse you can not only feel the benefits of sugar in your tea as a beverage but also as a quick way to make your own body scrub to cleanse and exfoliate in the shower. The more natural the product, the more benefits it has to be ingested by your skin. Combined with aromatherapy scents, homemade sugar scrubs are a great sensory tool you can make easilier and inexpensively with your child.
How we feel, accept touch, or noperceive someone's brush against can affect our mood, interactions, and habits. Regular massage, intimacy, and touch can help regulate your digestion system just as much as putting vegetables and fruits into your mouth. You are putting sensation into the sensory experience of touch that deeply effects all internal organs, personality traits, and emotional stability. Without adequate touch, developent of certain attention spans do not occur.
Homeopathic, natural remedies are easier than ever to make and that can help treat tension, anxiety, depression, create alertness, or sooth and calm down. I recently made 2 new sugar scrubs and I will have to get the recipe for each to post later, but will be beginning use of my brown sugar scrub and lemon scrub to create an invorgating experience in the shower and then orange tea scrub to calm down and relax at the end of the night!
Brown sugar lemony scrub:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sea salt
1 tablespoon baby oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
Orange pekoe scrub:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons tea leaves (orange pekoe or any tea)
1 tablespoon baby oil
1 tablspoon honey
Mix all ingredients until it resembles a paste! Enjoy, I know I will!
How we feel, accept touch, or noperceive someone's brush against can affect our mood, interactions, and habits. Regular massage, intimacy, and touch can help regulate your digestion system just as much as putting vegetables and fruits into your mouth. You are putting sensation into the sensory experience of touch that deeply effects all internal organs, personality traits, and emotional stability. Without adequate touch, developent of certain attention spans do not occur.
Homeopathic, natural remedies are easier than ever to make and that can help treat tension, anxiety, depression, create alertness, or sooth and calm down. I recently made 2 new sugar scrubs and I will have to get the recipe for each to post later, but will be beginning use of my brown sugar scrub and lemon scrub to create an invorgating experience in the shower and then orange tea scrub to calm down and relax at the end of the night!
Brown sugar lemony scrub:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sea salt
1 tablespoon baby oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
Orange pekoe scrub:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons tea leaves (orange pekoe or any tea)
1 tablespoon baby oil
1 tablspoon honey
Mix all ingredients until it resembles a paste! Enjoy, I know I will!
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