Falling On One's Nose

Dear Parent,

I fall a lot.  One time I fell right on my nose.  Didn't break it, so all was well.  I fall so often that when I texted my husband about an accident outside the house between a bicyclist and a SUV, he texted back, What hospital are you going to?  Huh, wah?  It took three texts to clarify to him I wasn't talking about myself, but rather about a stranger in the front yard. I have undiagnosed sensory integration issues.

Both of my kids had and still have proprioceptive and vestibular deficits.  They fall a lot, have trouble riding skate boards and bikes, slam into closed doors, spill stuff, drop stuff, put things away with lids ajar, hug like jellyfish or nutcrackers, and clean up like blind-folded raccoons.  Physical life is hard for them and my empathy has not always been as high as it is now.  

Frankly, I didn't understand the constant physical mayhem running around me, but I wish I had. If so, I would have participated more fiercely in Occupational Therapy with them.  As it was, I sent them, but didn't realize I could have contributed to making their lives easier by providing some of the following:

• My presence in the session (instead of in the car on my iPhone)
• Wilbarger Brushing Technique (a labor intensive body brushing procedure prescribed by Occupational Therapists)
• Full Body Deep Pressure Touch (pressing pillows on the child’s torso gently and firmly—not on the face)
• Joint Compression Activities (just what it sounds like, but get direction from an Occupational Therapist)
• Interactive Brain Gym Play (buy any Brain Gym book and put the activities into practice)
• Crash and Bump Play Space (build a play area with old mattresses, climbing, jumping, rolling, riding, spinning opportunities)
• Massage (just the basics any old way that feels good—hands, feet, foreheads)
• Sensory Engagement (shaving cream pies, mud pies, sand play, water table, blindfold guessing games, hands in olive oiled spaghetti)
• Rough and Tumble Play (easy peazy—get on the ground, wrestle around, rough house)

What are you doing every day to help your child integrate and organize the sensory input of living?  It matters more than soccer practice.

Until children feel their bodies in space, they will be constantly disoriented.

Love matters,

Ce

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