Home "therapy"

Someone from the Autism yahoo group I'm a part of (reminder: Jake's not autistic but has some of the behavioral symptoms, and most autistic kids have sensory issues . . . so they let me stay in the group.  LOL) posted about her dollar store finds for some fun sensory toys.  So I thought I'd take a second and write about the things I bought at the Parent/Teacher Store and Target last week (two weeks ago now?) to do home activities with Jake.

(this post is continued by clicking below.)

PT store:

threading/lacing cards
playdoh scissors and accessories
musical band in a box (10 percussion instruments)
plastic children's scissors
a gooey kush ball thing
scented markers
peg board and pegs
bean bags
sponges shaped like letters of the alphabet
popsicle sticks
stickers and reward chart
pipe cleaners

Target:

Floam (kind of like playdoh, but textured)
Crayola Color Wonder Finger Paint (he has yet to touch it!)
3 medium sized plastic tubs (for doing activities)
building magnets set
purple playdoh (because he has an extreme aversion to purple things.)
shaving cream
children's foaming body wash soap (shaving cream texture)
baby wipes (to keep nearby when we're doing messy activities)
a pack of balloons
silly string
lacing beads
vibrating toothbrush (to try to stimulate his gums and mouth)
a random squeezy thing (hard to explain)

That's all I can think of right now.  With a lot of these things, basically I went through with the thought "What will make my child uncomfortable?"  Because the point is to gradually stretch him beyond what he's comfortable with until he can deal with things normally.  Thus the gooey kush ball, the floam, the scented markers, silly string, the shaving cream, etc -- these are especially to help deal with his tactile over-responsiveness.  The other things are to try to help be able to do structured activities with him to get his brain active and his attention focused for the activity.

We make shapes and structures with marshmallows and toothpicks (touching and smelling the marshmallows, dealing with it when the sticky part gets on his hands.)

We do shaving cream car washes (put shaving cream in a plastic tub or all over a cookie sheet and bury the cars -- then he has to dig them out and put them in a plastic tub of water.  we're working on him not SHAKING his hands when they have shaving cream on them, but rather putting them in the water and then on a kitchen towel.)

I put two of the plastic tubs on the kitchen floor, one filled with water.  We use the alphabet sponges to transfer water from one to another until it's full, and then back again.  He would to this FOREVER if I let him.

He won't finger paint, but I squeeze finger paint on a big pad and let him roll his little machines through the paint to make tire-track paintings.  He inadvertently gets paint on his fingers and is getting good about wiping it on a towel instead of freaking out.

We just started playing Chutes and Ladders (and he TOTALLY beat my his first time!) and he's getting good about sitting through a game, following directions, waiting his turn.  This is kind of hard for him.  Next on the list?  Candyland!

When he's hyper, I'll get the bean bags and throw one down the hall for him to run and get, and when he gets back, throw another one.  He has always loved playing "fetch" and it's a great way to get his energy out.  We also use the bean bags for a throwing game -- I'll use some train tracks to make a line to stand behind, and he'll try to throw the beanbags into a dump truck or plastic tub.  I put it against the wall to make it easier -- it bounces off the wall and into the tub.  LOL.

With the peg board, I try to get him to help me line up pegs according to color making lines, or I'll make a line of pegs by rainbow color, take one away and ask him to tell me which color is missing.  We were trying to make letters and numbers one the pegboard the other day, too.  The pegs are something that he does great with for independent play -- he likes to put pegs in a group, then sit his Cars vehicles on top of them for "time out"  Then the Sheriff car comes by and says "These cars are in a heap of trouble"!  ha ha ha.

And of course there are the old stand-bys -- setting up his Lego trains or his metal trains and track and letting him have at it, playing with flashcard sets and talking about letters or numbers, playing memory with Booh Bah or Thomas cards, doing puzzles together, reading books, letting him play play-doh, letting him cut a piece of paper to shreds with his scissors (hey, it's helping his fine-motor skills.) 

I'm starting to think I might be amusing him a little TOO much, because now when we're done with an activity, he says very expectantly "What we gonna do next?!"  So I'm trying to alternate between activities and making sure he has "free play" time to just be independent and let his little mind go where it will.

Note: a lot of the ideas for activities are from The Out-Of-Sync Child Has Fun, by Carol Stock Kranowitz.  And here is the next activity book I'm getting, recommended by Shelly.

Comments

[Shelly]

Very cool list and ideas! I found some oral exercises when I went through looking for some paperwork for Sean. I need to scan them in and send to you. They strengthen the facial muscles and help moving the mouth around for oral sensory.

[kristin :)]

these are GREAT!! i've bookmarked this post, and your blog, and will definitely be checking back (how come i didnt know you had a blog?? ;) )

those activities that you *didnt* get from TOOSCHF, you should submit to them! she's always taking new ideas, and is working on her next version, so get those in to her - it could potentially help other parents and kids big time! you are doing some AWESOME stuff with him!

[Kelly]

VERY VERY AWESOME!!!!!

[Ninotchka]

Dude, see why I'm so impressed with you? Way to get in there and get your hands dirty, so to speak. Jake is so lucky to have you as his Mommy! YOU ROCK.