Sensory Diet Activities

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The sensory diet, a term originally developed by Occupational Therapist and Sensory Processing Disorder research pioneer Patricia Wilbarger, is a carefully designed, personalized activity schedule that provides the sensory input a person's nervous system needs to stay focused and organized throughout the day. A person whose nervous system is on "high trigger" will need more calming input, while someone who is more "sluggish" will need more arousing input to "jazz" up her nervous system. Infants, young children, teens, and adults can all benefit from a well-designed sensory diet.

http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Sensory-Smart-Child-SensoryProcessing/dp/0143115340/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336190524&sr=1-1-fkmr0

References: 

Raising a Sensory Smart Child, By Lindsey Biel, OTR/L and Nancy Peske, with a foreword by Dr. Temple Grandin 

More Sensory Resources (Including Sensorimotor, Movement & Self-Regulatory Titles) you will find at

http://www.parentbooks.ca/Autism_Sensory_&_Sensorimotor.html 

  

Tactile

Tactile input is the sense of touch and includes texture, temperature, pressure, and more. Don't forget that the tactile system includes not only the skin covering your body but also inner skin linings such as inside the mouth.

        

Toddlers and Preschoolers

Let her drink plain seltzer or carbonated mineral water to experience bubbles in her mouth (you can flavor with lemon, lime, etc.). Play with foamy soap or shaving cream, add sand for extra texture, use fingerpaint, play with glitter glue, mix cookie dough and cake batter, and so on. Let your child use the playground sandbox or create your own at home, filling a bin with dry beans and rice or other materials. Use clay such as Play-Doh (the classic Play-Doh Fun Factory provides excellent proprioceptive input as well). Don't force a child who is unwilling to touch all these "yucky" substances. Let her use a paintbrush, stick, or even a toy for cautious exploration.

      

Schoolage kids

Eat frozen foods (popsicles, frozen fruit or vegetables), dress up in fun costumes to get used to the feel of unfamiliar clothing, garden and repot indoor plants, play with make-up and face painting.

Smell

If your child has sensory problems, certain odors can stimulate, calm, or send him into sensory overload.

• Explore scents with your child to find the ones that work best to meet your goal (either to calm or to wake up). While everyone has different preferences, lavender, vanilla, and rose are generally calming. Peppermint and lemon are usually invigorating. Let's say your child needs help staying calm and loves lavender. You can use lavender soaps and bath oils to ease bath time, lavender candles or oils in an aromatherapy burner or machine at bedtime, and lavender body lotion. 
• If your child is overtired at the mall and you know scents help, have her smell her favorite scent or stop into a strongly-smelling store that sells candles and soaps. 
• Play a smelling game with your SI child. Have her close her eyes or wear a blindfold and try to identify smells such as maple syrup, apple, peanut butter, and soap. 
• Life stinks sometimes. Accept your child's opinion about something she thinks smells "gross." Then help her find something that smells nice.

Taste

Taste input is strongly influenced by smell (e.g.: chew gum until the flavor is gone, then hold a lemon under your nose; the gum will taste like lemon). 

• Strong tastes can stimulate the mouth of a child with SI and make him more willing to try new foods. Before presenting new foods, let the child have one peppermint, sour gummy bear, or other strong-flavored food. 
•  If your child does not have a strong negative reaction to refined sugar (becomes very "hyper" or gets very sleepy), get an assortment of flavored jellybeans. Eat one at a time, and have her guess which flavor it is. 
• Children will be more likely to taste something if they help make it. Let him help you select foods. For example, let him choose between chicken or fish, string beans or sugar snaps, and potato or rice. Then let your child arrange the meat in the baking pan, break off vegetable tips and dump in water, and so on. Let him help you arrange food on each plate into a pleasing presentation. 
• Don't forget to play with your food. A so-called picky eater may be more willing to eat "rocks and trees" than meatballs and broccoli.

Sample Sensory Diet

Here is a sample sensory diet, created for a second grade child whose sensory seeking behavior interfered with his attention and learning. We've used the annoying term, "as directed," to avoid providing a cookbook recipe. Activities should be individualized for each child and modified frequently to meet changing needs. A separate program was worked out for this child with the school, including frequent movement breaks, an inflatable seat cushion for wiggling while remaining seated, and providing crunchy/chewy oral comfort snacks at handwriting time. 

Morning Routine Massage feet and back to help wake up   Listen to therapeutic listening CD  Use vibrating toothbrush and vibrating hairbrush  Crunchy cereal with fruit and some protein   Spin on Dizzy Disc Jr. as directed  Jump on mini-trampoline as directed

After school Go to playground for at least 20 minutes Push grocery cart or sister's stroller Spinning as directed  Mini Tramp — add some variety: have him play catch or toss toys into a basket while jumping Massage feet to "reorganize," use theraputty, body sox, make body sandwiches, wheelbarrow walk Do ball exercises as directed Listen to therapeutic listening CD  Oral work — sucking thick liquids through a straw (smoothies, etc.), crunchy and chewy snacks (to give input into jaws and teeth) prior to and/or during homework

Dinner Time Help with cooking, mixing, chopping, etc.   Help set table, using two hands to carry and balance a tray  Provide crunchy and chewy foods

Night time Family time: clay projects, painting projects, etc.  Warm bath with bubbles and calming essential oil  Massage during reading time