Re: Sensory in the classroom

[Guest guest]

That's what I was thinking, the ot at the school she went to preschool

at said she didn't need an eval b/c she obviosuly didn't have sensory

issues (b/c she mostly craves not avoids). But I was hoping to get

the school ot to do anything we can get right now while we 1) wait,

hope and pray for tefra b/c our insurance doesn't cover any ot and she

is exempt from ryans law b/c she was dx at 9 and 2) we have been on a

waiting list for private ot for 6 month already. But I guess its not

going to help. Any suggestions for doing stuff myself or suggesting

things until we can see a private ot

And yes she says she has observed her in the classroom and resource

and she doesn't see a difference (which we feel is bs since last year

her eagles teacher couldn't believe when she heard the issues the reg

ed teachers had since she did so well in a small class setting)

On 11/19/10, Catcelia <c2cats@...> wrote:

> Sensory issues can cause any number of behaviors so it's difficult to have

> one definition. And sensory issues can change and the child's reaction can

> change. Dealing with sensory issues has been very difficult for us because

> once we found a solution it seemed to only work for a short time before it

> become ineffective.

>

> Some kids can get over stimulated by seeing all the stuff on the walls of

> the classroom. I've heard that some kids are bothered by the buzzing of the

> florescent lights. Does the OT observe this child in her classroom setting

> or only in the therapy room? There can be a big difference in behavior

> between the 2 locations.

>

> It sounds like this OT is not that familiar with sensory issues. There are

> an amazing number of OT's who are not familiar with SI. Out of the 9 or 10

> school OT's that I dealt with (preschool thru elementary) I would say only 2

> or 3 were very familiar with SI. And sometimes I knew more about SI than the

> rest of those other OT's.

>

> I'd advise requesting a full sensory integration evaluation by an OT who is

> qualified in dealing with SI.

> http://www.spdnetwork.org/

>

> Good luck.

> Caroline

>

>

>>

>> So what issues would you see if sensory is an issue in the classroom?

>> I've read the out of sync child, I think there is the out of sync

>> child in the classroom? The school ot is saying she doesn't see any

>> issues in the clsssroom. She says she sits still fine (the teacher

>> says she can't stay in her seat). She doesn't do her work, ot says

>> its by choice. I say she gets overstimulated. Ot says she melts down

>> just as much in resource (only 6 kids) as the regular classroom (20

>> kids) so it must not be overstimulation. So what else should I look

>> at?

>>

>> --

>> Sent from my mobile device

>>

>> -mommy to Emma, Becca, ,

>> , , and Leah

>>

>

>

>

--

Sent from my mobile device

-mommy to Emma, Becca, ,

, , and Leah

[Guest guest]

My son was not dx'ed with sensory issues until his second yr of preschool. Even

then the dx was mild SI. But today at age 15 SI issues continue to be an issue.

We've experienced varying levels of SI issues along the yrs. At one point it was

his most serious issue. Now that he's older he knows how to deal with it better.

One OT told us that it was not uncommon for SI levels to vary at different

times.

My son was a sensory seeker as well. Some of things that helped my son get thru

his elementary school years was to have the teacher aware of what SI was and try

to help identify when my was rev'ing up. If the teacher noticed he was rev'ing

up then she would assign him a task to help him get the sensory feedback he was

craving. Some of the tasks included carrying a heavy back pack to the office.

The office secretary would look at it then send it back to the class with my

son. Other tasks were moving piles of books around the classroom, wall push ups

or chair push ups, having a hand fidget to play with quietly. One OT put old

bicycle tire tubes around the chair legs so that my son could put his feet on it

rather than have them dangling. If these classroom inteventions failed then the

teacher would send my son to the OT room for a sensory break. Also some of his

teachers had a quiet reading area that any student could use when they had the

time and/or needed a break. What doesn't work is setting up a quiet area in a

closet. One teacher did this and my son absolutely refused to use it. I didn't

blame him because the space was about 4x2 feet blocked off from the rest of the

class with a curtain. At recess your daughter may benefit from using the swing

or the jungle gym.

One thing to watch out for is when certain coping techniques stop being

effective. We stopped investing in OT tools because invariably we'd just get

them home and they'd stop being effective. So we used things that we already had

at home like having my son push a basket of books along the carpeted floor or

have him move around the kitchen chairs. We even had a game where I pretended

that I needed my son's help to push me into another room. I would put enough

pressure on him that he was getting feedback but would allow him to push me

along. We set up a large container of dried beans as a indoor sandbox. My son

loved playing in the beans or in the outdoor sandbox.

Another thing for my son was there was a fine line between when a method was

helpful and when it started to rev him up. A prime example was jumping on a mini

trampoline. It would help him if he did it only for a few minutes but he loved

jumping on it and would continue until he was totally rev'ed up. We would have

to get him off it after only a few minutes before he became too rev'ed up from

it.

Oh, one last thing, what always seemed to help my son was spending some time

outside each day. Something as simple as taking a walk seemed to help him. I

read somewhere that there has been research done on the outdoor environment and

its impact on sensory issues. Basically it said that the constant but typically

gentle changes in an outdoor environment helps one learn to adjust their senses

more easily. And it is better to take a walk across a lawn or thru the woods

than on a sidewalk because of the feedback of the uneven surface gives to you

when you are walking. Again you have to watch out for repetitive behavior while

outdoors. My son likes to pace and we try to make sure that he is not pacing

while outside. Now that he's a teenager it's difficult to drag him outside but

we do what we can.

Good luck.

Caroline

> >>

> >> So what issues would you see if sensory is an issue in the classroom?

> >> I've read the out of sync child, I think there is the out of sync

> >> child in the classroom? The school ot is saying she doesn't see any

> >> issues in the clsssroom. She says she sits still fine (the teacher

> >> says she can't stay in her seat). She doesn't do her work, ot says

> >> its by choice. I say she gets overstimulated. Ot says she melts down

> >> just as much in resource (only 6 kids) as the regular classroom (20

> >> kids) so it must not be overstimulation. So what else should I look

> >> at?

> >>

> >> --

> >> Sent from my mobile device

> >>

> >> -mommy to Emma, Becca, ,

> >> , , and Leah

> >>

> >

> >

> >

>

> --

> Sent from my mobile device

>

> -mommy to Emma, Becca, ,

> , , and Leah

>