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...
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