OUT OF CONTROL: OUT OF SYNC: TAKE CONTROL: BRING CHANGE
What do you DO, when a child/adult enters your home, therapy room, convenient store, leisure centre etc. and they are totally out of control, and out of sync with the environment around them? They are those…
‘Head banging, ear covering, loud high pitch screaming, tearful, dragging their body to the floor, kicking anything around them, attacking persons and vandalising your property’
PARENTS ARE FEELING EMBARRASSED AND LOST
Then there is the child that enters so passive, no eye contact, no greeting, not a sound, appears totally oblivious to surroundings, under responsive to anything and everything.
OR
The child that is on the move, climbing everything, banging into everything, and simply cannot sit still..
Have you at this stage perhaps considered, could this be Sensory processing difficulties causing these behaviours?
WHAT DO YOU DO?
Unfortunately standing in a corner or reading that theory books is not going to help much when faced with intense behaviours. Practical solutions are what’s required in the heat of the moment.
UNFORTUNATELY, IN MY 2 DECADES OF EXPERIENCE, ALL TOO OFTEN INAPPROPRIATE ACTION OR NO ACTION IS TAKEN
Parents are perturbed, feeling embarrassed or ashamed. Crying out for help. Children are overloaded(sensory avoiders), under aroused(sensory under responders) and frustrated(sensory seekers). YET THEY ARE MET BY JUDGEMENT!!! STOP YOURSELF FROM…
FOR EXAMPLE: Is our first reaction to tell parents to take control of their child? Judge them as unfit parents and brand the child as undisciplined, that requires manners put on them. Are we asking parents to leave and take the child home?
I find that the lack of awareness, insight and understanding are the main causes for these inappropriate reactions from society in general and even trained professionals.
Many today don’t realise that `Sensory processing difficulties are found in many children diagnosed or undiagnosed with:-
Autism/ADHD/ODD/Dyslexia/OCD/Dysgraphia etc. and has profound effects on family’s lives.
This leads to a society branding children as Bold(naughty) and lazy, the terror child, the horror child, the demon child, the unteachable child, are amongst some of the labels I have heard come out of people’s mouth.
On a positive note awareness has improved over recent years, but it is nowhere close to the level required. There is still room for growth and improvement for us all. We can all contribute to change from a society ‘quick to judge, slow to help’ to a society ‘free of Judgement and swift to help’, showing compassion, true care and are willing to make a positive difference.
CHANGE IS POSSIBLE! IMPROVEMENT IS POSSIBLE! NO MATTER WHAT THE DIAGNOSIS. A DIAGNOSIS (IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM AND NAMING IT), IS NOT THE PROGNOSIS (POTENTIAL OUTCOME OF TREATMENT)
Allow me here to ask, did we know there are MORE than 5 sensory systems? Yes!!! it came as a shock to me too, if you wondering what he is on about?
“Why don’t they teach us these things in school I asked?” In my next webinar I will cover the lessons I learnt after school years.
Join me on the 23rd November 2020 at 11h00 for my Webinar when I will be focusing on 8(NOT 5) SENSORY SYSTEMS.
The topic for the webinar is:
Sensory Processing systems: Practical Insights and Tips
8 Sensory processing systems are of course the well-known 5 which is:
- Sight (Visual system)
- Sound (Auditory system)
- Touch (Tactile system)
- Smell (Olfactory system)
- Taste (Gustatory system)
But then we also have 3 more Sensory systems called:
- Vestibular,
- Interoceptive and
- Proprioceptive systems
We will unpack, make it as simple to understand, and by the end of the webinar hopefully we will all feel empowered to apply it to our daily lives.
Hope to see you all then. Remember that all ticket holders will receive recorded content to access at their own convenience. Thank you.
I wish everyone all the best for the rest this week, see you next Monday as our journey together continues.
Wow what a great read! Very informative. We are never too old to learn. “8 not 5 sensory systems”.