15 How To Manage Your Child’s Sensory Needs

<p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><strong>Guest Introduction:</strong></p> <p class="">Catie Sondrol is an occupational therapist and co-owner of Milemarkes therapy who has served many families throughout the Mohave Valley county in Arizona for the past 18 years. They provide occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, music therapy, habilitation, and adult day programs and work service programs.  She has completed mentorship training with the STARS Institute and Avanti Therapeutic Projects.</p> <p class=""><strong>Interview from the dialogue:</strong></p> <p class=""><strong>How would you in your own words describe sensory difficulties for the client’s you have seen in your past?</strong></p> <p class="">Confusion, disorganization, or chaos of inputs to the body.  When the brain is connecting the dots, the 8 senses afford a clear understanding of what’s happening both inside and outside of the body.  But when the mangled messages become impairing or overwhelming it can lead to a variety of defensive behaviors.</p> <p class=""><strong>Do only children on the spectrum experience sensory issues?</strong></p> <p class="">No, sensory doesn’t discriminate.  Oftentimes there is a comorbidity.  Sometimes there isn’t.   </p> <p class=""><strong>What may sensory processing difficulties look like?</strong></p> <p class="">Avoiding or shutting down, fleeing or escaping, or anger and fighting.  When the body becomes overwhelmed by an input or is confused by how to process the input these external “behaviors” are what we often see.  Routine and structure become input in the person’s life so that they can structure their environment to minimize the likelihood of experiencing the noxious sensory event.</p> <p class=""><strong>What are the various sensory (senses) that individuals may have trouble with?</strong></p> <p class="">We all learn about our 5 senses in school.  So of course those are senses we can have trouble with.  But in OT school we learn about 3 other senses.  Interoceptive, vestibular, and propriocep