Making Sense of Your Sensory Behaviour

Sensory approach

for parents and carers

AANANEANE FANE FOANE FORANE FOR AANE FOR A'ANE FOR A'

Sensory approuch for Parents and Carers

ContentsSenses 2

Hearing, Vision and Taste/Smell

Movement, Body Awareness 4and Internal Sense

Sensory Strategy 6

General Support 8

Supporting Actions of DailyLiving 9

Activities in the Garden 12

“Me Time” Technology 13

Connecting Moments 14

Me and Senses 15

My Sensory Day 16

Children with Disabilities TeamOccupational TherapyWritten by Lesley Beath, Paediatric Occupational Therapist,Children's Services, Falkirk Council

This booklet is for parents and carersto look at their own sensorypreferences and sensitivities.

About 8 years ago we wrote the firstof our booklet on sensory issues.Many who work with children havefound the booklets useful. They haveallowed parents and carers to becomedetectives in making sense ofchildren’s sensory experiences, and inunderstanding the impact on theirlives.

Exploring sensory issues with familiesand carers has made apparent thevital truth that we are all affected byour sensory experiences which canaffect the quality of our interactionswith others. Supporting the childrenwe are caring for in a range ofenvironments can be helped by beingat our ‘sensory best’. Being calm, butnot too chilled out, helps us beeffective. We need to be detectivesto recognise our own sensory selves.

This booklet has been designed toallow you to look at your ownsensory world, to let you be moreaware of your sensory likes anddislikes. It hopes to help you to seesensory ideas that help you becomecalm or be more alert, to be your bestsensory self. This will help youunderstand and help others,especially children, with sensoryissues.

“What are we like”We all respond to sensoryexperiences. From someone whoneeds the music turned off in the carwhen they are not sure where theyare going in order to concentratemore (sense of hearing);to the

pregnant mum who notices she is notas good at judging the space sheneeds to get between objects as herbody has changed quickly (bodyawareness); to the teenager wholoves roller coasters (developingmovement and body awarenesssenses in a growing body). Finally, atthe end of a hard day you might feelthe need of relaxing in a hot bathwith your favourite bubble bath andscented candle (touch, smell, visionsenses).

It may be useful to be more aware ofour own sensory likes and dislikes. Bylooking at what we enjoy or don’t,we begin to see our sensorypreferences or sensitivities. As welearn to read ourselves we can buildinto our lives things that help us staycalm or makes us alert as and whenthat is required. It will also help usstay calm while helping a child calmdown, or support us to be more alertto pay attention to the details of thechild’s needs.

Finally, it can help us be more awarethat our sensory likes and dislikesmight be totally different from ourchildren’s and inform us to be aware,leading to calmness when we mightoverreact.

Reading your signsYou may already have an idea of yoursensory preferences. Some peopleknow that they need a break whenit’s too loud and busy or the lightstoo bright. More careful examinationof your senses might give you a wayof looking at what you might need toadd or remove from your day tomake it more balanced and make youbetter able to help others.

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You aremore

likely tojump ifsomeonetouchesyou on the back if you areuptightthan ifyou are

calm andrelaxed.

Highly Sensitive Low Sensitivity

Feel noise levels magnified.Do not like loud music.Do not like going into noisyroom.Hate sudden loud noise.Overloaded easily with lotsof people talking.

Love loud noise or music.Loud music in car mighthelp you feel good.Don’t notice soundseasily.Need someone to repeatsomething to catch yourattention.Not easily distracted bynoise or busyness.

Hearing

Overly sensitive to light Under-sensitive to light

Dislike bright lights.Prefer darker, dimmerlighting.Prefer candlelight.Notice and bothered byglare.Easily distracted by light.

Need a lot of light.Like lots of differentlights, reflections.Feel good with brightlights, flashing discolights.Enjoy bright sunlight.

Vision

Over-sensitive toTaste/Smell

Under-sensitive toTaste/Smell

Do not enjoy strong tastes.Prefer more plain food withless spice etc.Over-react to new taste orsmell.Can react to smell/taste byretching or feeling sick.

Love crunchy food.Enjoy strong flavoursand smells.Not easily affected bystrong or bad smells.Might not notice if foodis off by taste or smell.

Taste/Smell

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Touch

Our sense of touch is all over our body. If we are anxious, we are especiallyprone to overreact to touch. We can find we feel startled and respond in a‘fight or flight’ type of reaction to any touch and this can be very wearing.

We may find when we are anxious, we cannot discriminate objects by toucheasily. For example feeling for keys in our bag seems more difficult. We seemto rake around and feel panic rising that we cannot find the key, then moreanxious as we think it is missing.

These are our body’s reactions to touch. They are different if we are calm oruptight. You are more likely to jump if someone touches you on the back ifyou are uptight than if you are calm and relaxed. We also have memories ofpast experiences of touch. Our reaction to a wasp or ladybird might be verydifferent although their touch is the same on our arm.

Oversensitive to Touch Under sensitive to Touch

Fussy about feel of clothes/textures.Avoid touch if possible.Don’t like getting hands dirty ormessy.Overreact to someone’s touch.Very sensitive to pain.Very sensitive to temperaturechange.

Enjoy lots of deep touch.Like hugs or like to put on aheavy jacket.Can find you are heavy handedor grip too tight.Can stand too close to dothings.Do not notice temperaturechange.Very high pain threshold.

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Three other senses aresense of movement,body awareness andalso our internal senses.

If you are sitting still forany length of time youmight begin to loseconcentration and needto move (sense ofmovement). You mighttouch your finger on toyour thumbs with youreyes shut because youare very much aware ofwhere your body is allthe time (sense of bodyawareness). The leastwell known sense isinternal sense in ourbody including organs.For example, eventuallyyou won’t be able toconcentrate any moreunless you go to thetoilet (internal sense).

Oversensitive toMovement

Under sensitive toMovement

Hate swings, spinning.Feel dizzy very easily.Hate lots of busy placesfull of moving people.Avoid escalators orstruggle steppingon/off them.

Always busy, needinglots of movement.Very fidgety whensitting (tapping foot,moving around).Enjoy a lot ofmovement exercise.Love moving fast butnot always wellco-ordinated.

Movement

Oversensitive to Body Awareness

Under sensitive toBody Awareness

Don’t like others tooclose.Aware you make yourown boundaries eg howclose you sit to others.Don’t like crowds.Don’t like crowds orpeople in queuestouching you.Don’t like peopletouching you as theytalk eg really touchypeople.Always aware where youare in the room relativeto others.

Always bump intothings.Stand too close toothers.Trip over your feet.Need to look at yourfeet goingdownstairs.Like to touch thingsas you pass.Like pressing backinto a chair or couch.Some days poorerhandwriting (butvariable).Need to look closelyfor fine motor tasks,find them hard andfrustrating.

Body Awareness

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Oversensitive toInternal Senses

Under sensitive toInternal Senses

Can easily be aware ofyour own heartbeat.Very aware if you areslightly unwell.Irritable or agitatedeasily if you are slightlyhungry or thirsty.Overly sensitive ifthinking you need thetoilet (maybe feel a bitobsessed with it).Easily ‘fearful’ e.g.aware if your musclestense or heart races.

Not aware when youare unwell.Maybe don’t easilyread how hot/coldyou are.Maybe don’t readhow tired you are.Not easily aware youare ‘full’ wheneating.Leave going to thetoilet until the lastminute withoutbeing aware you aredoing this.Don’t ‘feel’ signs offear e.g. tensemuscle tone orheartbeat.

Internal SenseThe leastwell known

sense isinternalsense in our body

includingorgans.

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Would webenefit fromstrategies?We would all benefit frombeing at the right level ofattention needed at theright time. We want to becalm enough to noticechanges in children torespond to their needs.

We want to be alertenough to pay attention tothe details, becomingdetective to support them.

Calming/Alerting ideasWe might benefit from alist of ideas when we areover-stimulated or anxious.These can be just a quick fixor longer term ideas tobuild into our lives. Youmight want to tick theideas you could try.

Calming Alerting

Wrap a heavy blanketaround you.Find a body/handmoisturiser you like thescent of and massagein slowly.Place your hands onyour head and pressdown.Give yourself a hug.Play with squeeze ball.Get a cup of tea/coffeesit and chillUse lavender roomspray.Try an aromatherapydefuser.Ask someone to giveyou a deep hug.Stroke a petTake a deep breath andslowly release.

Take a quick, briskwalk.Take a quick jog onthe spot or a fewstar jumps orsquats.Clap to a loud pieceof music.Dance (with theblinds shut!)Transfer yourweight side to sidequickly.Eat crunchy food.Suck a sour sweet.Chew chewing gum.Have a really‘alerting’ handmoisturiser smelland rub in quickly.Open the windowsand cool down

Quick Fix

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Calming Alerting

Make a calm room you can retreat to filledwith things you like, decorated with calmcolours,.Have a calm treasure chest of activities in theroom (regularly change the activities in it).egnice candles, soft blanket, nice body creamReorganise the furniture in your room (lots ofdeep pressure pushing).Dig up the garden you keep meaning to getround to or have a digging plan you can goback to again and again.Have an exercise routine you enjoy in yourweek (e.g. swimming, gym).Try yoga exercise (or hot yoga).Have a lot of planned breaks for short walks inyour day if it is to be a busy day or in your weekif it is a busy week.Take a relaxing bath, in soft lighting, withsweet or favourite bubble bath and dry yourselfafterwards with a soft, warm, fluffy towel.Have a short gym ball activity routine you cando for a few minutes.Organise a box of relaxing smelly things youenjoy (bath bombs, candles, music). Keep boxtopped up.Regularly slowly hand massage with amoisturiser you enjoy.

Take a needle pointshower.Use citrus or mintshower gel.Use an exfoliatingscrub.Towel dry with arough towel.Have a regularroutine of movementbreaks.Have regular exerciseroutine ofmovement.Include in your dietcrunchy foods, strongtastes.Timetable in yourenjoyable alerting‘quick fix’ ideas intoyour day.Sit on a gym ballwhile doingactivities.

Longer Term Ideas

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GeneralSupportsIf we know what is happening andfeel organised we tend to feelcalmer. If we don’t enjoy a taskbut we know we get somethingback when its completed, we getthrough it more easily and morecalmly if we are already relaxed.

If we look after our internal needs(for example make sure we getenough sleep) then again oursensory anxiety or lethargy isaffected. More general strategiescan also help to be in the rightsensory place to help others.

Try:• Become a little more organised -you might not like too muchorganisation but work out theright amount for you, so youdon’t get too anxious oroverwhelmed and give up.

• Try a visual plan. Make it uniqueto you. You might want todecorate it with things thatmake you smile or colours youenjoy.

• Take a minute - remember justto stop and breathe.

• Make use of ‘to do lists’ - tick offor erase or scrub out. Do what ismore satisfying for you tocomplete.

• Work/life balance is always oneveryone’s agenda. Maybe justget round to looking at anychanges you can make when youfeel able. Small steps, not giantleaps. Regularly revisit to reviewif you have the right balance.

• Sometimes simply ‘now’ and‘next’ strategy that you may usewith children is good for youtoo. Stops you looking too farahead.

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Activities of Daily LivingBuilding independence skills inyoung people, especially withdisabilities, requires time,patience, routine. It requires a lot of determinationpersistence and repetition. It requires a calm, positivesupport from the carer - that’syou. Eating, drinking, personalhygiene are all essential lifeskills, but in our busy lives weneed to face up to the factthat there are no quickanswers to building skills.

In our first booklet we lookedat ideas for the young person.In this booklet these are someideas for you to try.

Personal Care Support

• Intimate care can causestrong reaction in us from asensory view - smell, touch,visual reactions to mess canall be an issue. Take time torecognise your own reactionand plan ways to supportyour own reactions.

• Take a moment to relax andbreathe before you start atask.(get in the right zonefor the task)

• Recognise your tendency isjust to get something overwith quickly if you dislike thetask.

• Recognise the need to buildtime to allow independencein toilet routines.

• Recognise that sometimesyou need to prioritise time tostay at home to get personalcare skill started with theleast amount of changes ofenvironment. Plan for this asa family.

• With intimate care let theyoung person see what youare doing, say what you aredoing. Say if something iswet or soiled, hot or cold.This will build their ownunderstanding of intimatecare support for future.

More general ideas:

• Decide when you are readyto tackle a task. Is it better inholidays when you havemore time, or evening whenyou are not rushed?

• Do you need to change yourroutine?

• Is a visual support helpful?

• Do you need a ‘motivator’ ofa reward when there issuccess?

• Remind yourself of whatsupport is needed and behonest when you realise youare doing too much just tobe quick - then slow down.

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Dressing

• Think about your reaction totouch, smell, colour, patternof clothes. Make sure youare not irritated by child’schoice this will reduceconflict over what is actuallynot important.

• Are you better sitting orstanding to support? Youmay have pain or discomfort.Choose what’s right for you .Often, we don’t notice ourpatience might be limitedsimply because we need tomove while helping with atask.

• Are you tired or hungry?Just let yourself be aware ofthis. Addressing it can takethe edge off your reactions,giving you more calmresources to draw on.

Eating/DrinkingWe find that this is the mosthighly stressful thing we findfor parents and carers.

To feel your child does nothave a wide enough diet or isnot eating or drinking enoughcan make you feel a failure.Eating difficulties are anxietyprovoking for carers or parentsand this in turn affects howthey support young peoplewith eating difficulties.

First, recognise all of us findeating and drinking difficultiesstressful. The anxiety is veryacute and we need strategiesto feel calm.

Our reactions can affectchildren’s own already-sensitive reactions and canend in a challenging cycle ofdifficulties.

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Some suggestions to think of:• Recognise if you have foodsensitivities or preferencesyourself. Are you a fussy eater? isit challenging for you if visuallytouching food or certain texturescauses a reaction in you? Perhapsyou are extremely sensitive tosmell. All this knowledge aboutyourself can give you an insightand help you relax instead ofreacting subconsciously to thesensory sensitive activity.

• Are you the right person to assisteach meal?, draw on familysupport?, a different person canhelp you and sometimes changedynamics to help change things

• Recognise your anxiety affectsyou. Use your calming strategiesfrom the ‘quick fix list’ beforemealtimes.

• Try creating a calming atmospheregenerally in the room you areeating in - music you enjoy orquietness with screen timeremoved. Look at the room andmake sure it feels calm to you aswell as the young person. Makesure you have plenty of time.

• Create sensory snack times toenjoy the activity together but notnecessarily to require eating at thetable.eg a picnic in the garden

• Spend time playing with foodtogether, just building the joy ofconnecting with the young personand food

Think aboutmessy play injelly or slush.

Think aboutcrunch foods to

crumble byhand or tool.

Think aboutbuilding

blocks of cheeseor carrots, ortriangle or

circle pictures.

Think aboutideas with

seeds or lentils.

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Activities inGarden toshare sensoryexperience

• Think about growing foodtogether e.g. tomato plants,carrot patch, potato plants. .

• Think about digging/planting. Look at pictures ofwhat you planted. Waterand weed together andwatch as they grow. Harvestyour crop together. Cook andput on plate. Share thesemoments, building the trustof working with food whenyou cook. Be ready to touch,smell, look at and even bringto lips. But do not be anxiousto insist on taste - that’s abonus. The building ofsharing food experiences isthe first priority.

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‘Me Time’• The phrase ‘me time’ isfamiliar to us all. We wanttime to relax or build ourinner resources. Think aboutyour sensory experiences in‘me time’. Try to widen yoursensory experiences usingmore resources.

• Try a walk (movement,natural sounds, visualexperiences, smells).

• Try exercise (body awarenessand movement).

• Try music (either to relax orto become more alert. Musicwith words can be veryalerting).

• You may enjoy reading buttry listening to a story orpodcast again to vary thesenses.

• If you enjoy puzzles etc. trychanging the environmentwhen you do them. In thegarden or a different roomfrom normal.

• Build yourself a summerhouse or area in the houseespecially for down timewith no screens or socialmedia and see if a short timethere is helpful.

• ‘Me days’ e.g. spa ormassages etc. can be relaxingand multi-sensory butcoming home can bringchallenges. Try planning the‘ending’ of your timepositively e.g. arrive homewhen the children are in bedor mid-afternoon to getorganised (not at tea time!).

• Look at the type of activitiesyou enjoy. Are they ‘calming’or ‘alerting’ types ofactivities? You might want towiden the range of activitiesbut of the type you enjoybest.

TechnologyWe can all be guilty of lookingat phones or tablets too much.Vision and sound stimulation isenjoyable but remember:• Take a break to let yourother senses get a chance towork too.

• Stop using social media or a game before you aredesperate for the toilet - it might be adding to yourstress.

• Looking at your child andlistening to them is moreimportant as they grow and thrive - your phonedoesn’t need your time togrow and thrive!

• Your sense of movement andbody awareness can makeyou calm and organised orcan alert and make you moreobservant - much more thansitting at a phone or tablet.

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Relationships are always at theheart of our time withchildren. If we build reallyenjoyable moments it’srelaxing and builds positivememories and is fun!Connecting in sensory activitieswith your child can help usrelax or be alert and enjoy thetime. They might take thestress out of a life skill and weare supporting a child todevelop. They are also a verypositive way to build ourrelationships. Here are somesimple areas related to dailyliving tasks:

• Try turn-taking with theyoung person with showergel, making a mess orpattern on your child or bath or shower.

• Try turn-taking withbath/shower crayons orblowing bubbles in bubblebath or splashing in bathwater.

• Try dotting your fingers andchild’s fingers on your handwith scented moisturiser.

• Try exploring together asensory basket of washingtype activities e.g. clothes,soap, bath scrubber etc.

• Try exploring a sensorybasket of other daily lifeskills e.g. dressing, dressingup dolls, buttons, studs andzips, pairing socks and sockpuppets.

• Try copying what the childmight enjoy playing with e.g.water, bath toys, bubbles.

Connecting Momements

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Memories and Senses We all build our sensorymemories. Some are good andsome stressful. You mightremember the smell of yourgran’s house as a child andflashback to your childhoodwhen you smell the same scent.You might see a coat thatreminds you of a time you went on a nice holiday.

We link all our senses to memoryespecially our sense of smell.

We can look at our senses and be aware if they are colouring us to be more strained with thecare of our child because of a past sensory memory, a sight orsound or smell etc. it might evokein us. We can also build positivesensory memories for us and ourchildren. We can begin to replaceold memories with new happysensory memories.

We can alsobuild positive

sensorymemories forus and ourchildren.

Out and AboutMake walking more sensory,provide connected movementsand encourage movement.

• Go for it - jump in a puddle(with your wellies on!).

• Get wet in the rain togetherand enjoy it - explore theconcept of wet/dry afterwardswith your child (you could ask:if you get wet what might youdo etc.)

• On a walk, stop and both ofyou close your eyes to listen tosounds, feel wind etc.

• On a windy day feel the wind,look at movement in trees etc.Let the wind blow you bothdown or up a hill.

These are just some of the wayswhich might help youthink/connect with sensoryenjoyment times together.

MySensoryDay Take time now to fillin what would be a‘good sensory day’for you. Feel free toextend it, changeexamples to bettersuit your sensorypreferences. Buildthe day that feels justright for you (tick thebest option for you ifyou start with theday opposite).

(Screen time is notmentioned but youcan see if visual /auditory while sittingwith very littlemovement is part ortoo much of yourevening sensoryexperience. Maybeadding other sensesis needed.)

We hope this sensoryapproach is helpful.

We hope you will bemore sensory-awarein a way that helpsyou, your family lifeand supporting yourchild with sensoryneeds.

Sensory approuch for Parents and Carers

Gettingup I like

Curtains closed to keep it dark.Curtains open to bring in light.

I feel bestin themorning

A needle point shower.A soft rain shower.A bath.

I like Vanilla or sweet scented showerfoam.A strong citrus or mint scrub.A rough hand scrub, nopreference to scent.

I enjoy a Fluffy warm bath sheet to wrapinside.A quick towel dry.

I go forbreakfast

Like to sit at table.Like to sit on soft couch.Stand at breakfast bar.

I enjoy Crunchy breakfast cereal.Soft, warm, sweet or saltedporridge.First coffee (enjoy smell).Cold, fresh juice.

I am atmy bestworking

In the morning.By mid-morning.Afternoon.

At lunchtime

I like a seat and chat.I like to go for a walk.I like to read a book.

Midafternoon

I like a movement break.I like a hot drink.

When Icomehome

I like to sit e.g. with a hot drink.Like dinner as soon as possible.

In theevening

I like a quiet night sometimes inthe bath or shower.I enjoy a different routine everynight.I like exercise or hobbies.

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Notes:

SWCF 11

JULY 2019

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