help with sensory integration disorder?

Question

My child has been diagnosed with sensory integration disorder, and i wonder what kinds of things other parents have done that helped their child.

Answer 1

First you might want to pinpoint what sensory issues he has and then tackle each with a specific exercise. Basically your child's body is processing incoming sensory information in ways that are not normal. An OT can help but finding ones with training with SID can be tricky depending on where you are. There's a book _The Out Of Sync Child_ that's very good in understanding what's going on. Someone highly recommended to me _Raising A Sensory Smart Child_ for SPECIFIC activites that tackle issues but I haven't read it yet. An example of what we do with my son who also has SID... when he gets apathetic/lethargic/disconnected I bounce him on a therapy ball (fitness ball... you can get them cheap at like Walmart) and it makes him more connected. When he's too hyper I put him on a swing and swing SLOWLY (Indoor Playground... support bar fits in a doorway and you can get swings, cuddle swings, ladders, platform swings,etc for it).
He also thrives on deep pressure (like Temple Grandin... get her books... absolutely fascinating... she was very very sensory)
so he has a pressure vest (LittleKiddle) and a weighted vest that
helps him sit still and concentrate on work in front of him.
He has sleep issues so we have a weighted blanket for
him and it immediately relaxes him. He was defensive with his mouth so we switched to using Oral B's Pulsar tooth brush that vibrates and now he loves toothbrushing! There are lots you can do at home to help. We lucked out that our school district also recognizes SID and we work with his school OT for his home program. Best of luck! Get those books!

Answer 2

An occupational therapist is trained to help your child with this. Some children need sensory input to calm them, others have sensory defensiveness (won't touch certain textures, won't eat certain textured foods, gag when they touch certain things like finger paint or rice in a rice table, etc). The strategies you need depend on your child's specific needs. Best wishes.