Qualifier! Safe Touch vs. Forced Touch I want to clear up any misinterpretation about the post on Please do not turn my head. I dont want anyone to misinterpret that as meaning that touch is not good. To the contrary, I promote safe hands and warm touch to help foster the child to feel safe, accepted, connected, and engaged. Touch is a basic human need (however, we do need to respect comfort zones, especially those with tactile defensive). For children who are not tactically defensive I will often use a soft touch to the side of the head when drawing their attention, and providing warm affection. For some children I can invite facial referencing with soft touch to the cheek. This is totally different then grabbing the childs chin and physically turning it toward me. Grabbing can be perceived as very threatening and intimidating to the child, and reduces their trust in your touch. You want your touch to represent safety, not force. Use your touch to invite engagement, rather than pressure it. In my discussions regarding comfort zones, of course the tolerance and acceptance of physical touch varies greatly among children on the spectrum. This is where you have to know the child well, and invite touch, rather than force it. I have not seen a child yet who cannot establish trust in touch if it is not imposed on them. Even with children with strong tactile defensiveness can learn to trust and enjoy human contact when it is not forced.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 00:49:43 +0000
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