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Since it's founding in 1997, the CYC-Net discussion group has been asked thousands of questions. These questions often generate many replies from people in all spheres of the Child and Youth Care profession and contain personal experiences, viewpoints, as well as recommended resources.
Below are some of the threads of discussions on varying Child and Youth Care related topics.
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Listen to thisHi everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone has done work with children with sensory processing disorder, especially very young children (ages 3/4/5)? And, can you point me to some resources (online) or provide any suggestions for managing the behaviour of children with SPD? I would be very interested in knowing whether there are programmes specifically for children with SPD or related issues, and find some information on how those programmes work, what models they use, etc.
Thanks,
Werner van der Westhuizen
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
...
Morning Werner,
Are you connected to linked in? I am sure that I saw
something on Linked in, peripherally.
Antoinette Meyer
...
Hi,
Are you working with an Occupational Therapist? I have been to various workshops on the "sensory diet" you may find information online if you look that up but it is important to work with the interdisciplinary team especially the OT.
Debby LaPointe
...
http://spdfoundation.net/about-sensory-processing-disorder.html
I've used how does your engine run to help try to integrate various sense into teaching self soothing methods.
If you have a local occupational therapist available to chat they could help you a lot.
Lisa Penner
...
Hi Werner,
Here's a couple online resources and articles:
A couple of helpful websites – some of these are companies marketing a curriculum or products, but I find them full of helpful ideas.
www.sensoryconnectionprogram.com
Here's a classic book which many have found helpful. You can read the introduction online as well as a couple dozen other articles at www.out-of-sync-child.com
Kranowitz, C. (2005). The out-of-sync child: Recognizing and coping with sensory processing disorder. New York, NY: Perigee.
And a brief article about how my program has used a sensory room to eliminate seclusion and support the nurturing of self-regulation: Freeman, J. (2013). The use of sensory activity in de-escalation. Relational Child and Youth Care Practice, 26(4), 72-73.
Good luck!
James Freeman
Southern California USA
...
Hi Werner,
I think this is also referred to as “sensory integration difficulties” which seems to have some relationship to mild forms of autism. A young boy I know experienced this when a pre-schooler. He would become almost hysterical during haircuts, when he heard a horse neighing, walking on grass barefoot, wearing woolly jumpers … Certain food textures also caused problems. He was referred to an occupational therapist (there are several who specialise in sensory integration difficulties in South Africa). One of the things which was used was a surgical brush to brush certain areas of the body in a particular way. The OT also indicated that many children grow out of it. The child had several sessions with the OT but not longer than a few months. He is now 13-years old and there are no further indications of sensory difficulties as far as I know.
I hope this helps ...
Jackie Winfield
...
http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/4819.asp
Dana MacCullum
…
Good evening Werner van der Westhuizen,
I am currently a student Mount Royal University, located in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, in the Child and Youth Care Counselor Diploma program
and within this we are required to complete a certain number of hours in
a practicum placement. For my placement, I am in a Child Development
Centre, working with ages of children 3-5. This Development Centre is
for children whose parents have gone through the Nurturing Parent
classes and are considered low income, or who face other difficulties.
Within this Development Centre there is a range of issues that these
children have. One of the main issues I have seen is children with
sensory issues. These issues range from children that are sensitive to
sound and sensitive to touch and textures. Within this the biggest topic
we have been talking about with Occupational Therapies is the issues
around primary movement patterns (or primitive reflex patterns).
In a recent group workshop with our Occupational Therapist, we talked
about different tools and activities that we can use with the children
to help them build on their reflexes. Such tools are known as
manipulatives (magnetic boards with shapes to form letters), short tools
(such as pens, pencils, and crayons that are smaller for their hands),
scissors that are fit for children and learning how to cut, and hair gel
(this is used in Ziploc bags with food colouring and sparkles for the
child to squish). During this workshop we also discussed the 5 primary
movement patterns (or the primitive reflex patterns). These movement
patterns are known to impact day-to-day development as the child ages.
As children come to this development centre we are able to help them
reshape their motor patterns because of the neuroplasticity of their
brain. These 5 primary movement patterns are:
1. Moro – This is the “Fight or
Flight” and provides for protective extension (involuntary reaction to
threat)
2. Tonic Labyrinthine – This forms
the basis for postural tone, moving head and maintaining balance
3. Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex
(STNR) – This is the change of head position causing change of arm
position
4. Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex
(ATNR) – This facilitates rotation; prepares the body for rolling and
crawling; hand-eye coordination
5. Gallant – This breaks up the trunk
of the body against extremity movement
There are numerous reasons why a child's primary movement patterns are
not developed for their age. Two key items that we had discussed were:
a) That strollers and car seats are
becoming overused with infants. As these positions only allow the child
to be sitting or laying on one plane, they are not getting the movement
they need in order to help these reflexes form. The
recommended form for babies is to be "worn" by their parent in baby
‘backpacks’, as this allows the child not only to help build on their
reflexes, but they are also connected to more sensory items (such as the
touch, warmth, sound, movement of the parent) as they are against their
parent.
b) Children are receiving too much screen
time, either through TV, Iphones, or Ipads and not enough stimulation
through play, music, or reading.
Sheila Flick, who is an Occupational Therapist in the USA, has provided
workshops for organizations that use Occupational Therapy as a way to
help the children that they work with. Sheila’s idea of “stacking the
odds for success” was the main theme throughout the workshop that I
attended (lead by a different occupational therapist).
Here are two websites that Sheila is affiliated with that may be of some
use to you:
http://www.therapeuticresources.net/index.php
http://www.vitallinks.net/
I am not sure if this information will be of much help to you due to
your location, but I would recommend looking at her websites as she is
highly recommended as an Occupational Therapist.
Best regards,
Kristin Larson
Calgary, Alberta
...
Hi Werner,
Look up Sensory Integration by the grand old lady of that discipline: http://scholar.google.dk/scholar?q=jean+ayres+sensory+integration&hl=da&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=0RRKVLT_Gob6ywPakYIg&ved=0CCwQgQMwAA
Med venlig hilsen/ yours sincerely
Niels Peter Rygaard
Denmark
…
Hi Werner,
Great question and from what I have experienced there are Occupational Therapists that are still attempting to utilize unproven, expensive products that do little to help (Weighted vests, brushing, Sensory Integration etc..) They all sound just and have wonderful theories as to why they are purported to work. Attempt to steer away from studies that have obvious conflicts of interest, rather seek out gold standard " Double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled studies". You will find very few. I do know that this research had been done on Sensory integration and the O.T journal themselves found little evidence of the effectiveness in the techniques. Some may in fact work and I go by the (Time X money X harm ratio) If the technique is cheap , takes little time, and can do no harm why not try it if the client consents. As for brushing be wary as it takes a enormous amount of time, and I question the ethics of such intense contact by adults and sometimes strangers of a vulnerable population.
All the best.
Jason Guay
Niagara
