FUN AND FUNCTION! HOW A HAMMOCK SWING CAN CALM A SENSORY MELTDOWN AND AID IN YOUR CHILDS SENSORY THERAPY Ashton loves his new indoor hammock swing! It is his new #1 calming activity when he experiences a meltdown brought on by being under or over stimulated. For all of you who know Ash, his rocky horse has been #1 for over a year now, and has even rocked himself to sleep and fallen off his rocker :) but now rocky horse has some major competition for #1. When Ash has a meltdown it consists of rocking on all fours until he almost knocks the breath out of himself, yelling, wanting to jump, bounce, twirl around on the floor in circles, bang objects that he rides on, etc. He used to hit himself, bang his head on furniture, and bit everything in sight, but with a sensory diet that he knows he can rely on everyday to calm or satisfy him, the worst of those have stopped. If your child experiences any of these you may want to have a sensory profile done to see if they have Sensory Processing Disorder (also called Sensory Integrated Disorder). Once you realize your childs sensory triggers and/or needs it is often times possible to help your child through a meltdown more effectivly and sometimes even avoid them. A hammock swing both calms and satisfies Ashton. To understand how it works for him you need to be familiar with a few terms. 1.) SENSORY INTEGRATION- is the ability to capture information through the senses and meaningfully process that data in the mind. Some children need sensory integration therapy because they have a dysfunctional sensory integration system, where one or more of the senses OVER react or UNDER react to environmental stimuli. Standard therapy usually focuses on the following areas: 2.) tactile (sense of touch) 3.) vestibular (sense of movement) 4.) proprioceptive (sense of body position) The typical goal of sensory integration therapy is to help the child re-organize or re-process sensory information in order to have a more accurate response to external stimuli. The main form of sensory integration therapy is a type of occupational therapy that places a child in a room specifically designed to stimulate and challenge all of the senses. Some examples are swings, slides, play gyms, ball pits, etc. To most children these would be fun activities, but to children with SPD these activities are first challenges, uncomfortable and even at times painful, but then as they are successfully integrated they become FUN and help overall FUNCTION. For example when Ashton first started, he was very uncomfortable with a ball pit. He hated the weightless sinking feeling and the balls touching and covering him. After a few sessions he did not care one bit. He would let his whole body but his face be covered. All you could see was his little eyes and mouth smiling! At first, he hated the weightless feeling the swing gave him and the feeling that came from having to balance from the shift of the swing. Now, it is his favorite thing to do. Ashton is a sensory avoider on a few things, but mostly is a sensory seeker which means he is aways on the go, loves new things, and the rougher the play the better. He loves the deep pressure (big hug) that the hammock swings gives and he loves the back and forth movement which is exciting but calming to him as well. The hammock allows up to 200 lbs. so parents can get in the hammock with their children and have special time together. You can also buy separately a story board which is a board that lays on their laps that makes like a desk top to play or work at. You would never know that a few seconds before he was in this picture he was experiencing a meltdown would you?! Thats what I call FUN! (...therapy shhhhh!) For more info on Sensory Processing Disorder this is a very helpful link. spdfoundation.net/about-sensory-processing-disorder.html This is also a very helpful link and explains benefits of swing therapy for Autistic children. takeaswing/bos.html
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 21:50:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015