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I am testing out a new app, to see how it works. I received an iPad for Christmas, and I am trying to see if I can blog on it.

So this a test! 

Weighted Vest- Sensory seeker

Alligator has some sensory issues. One of which, is that they think he is a sensory seeker. Meaning, from my understanding, that is brain doesn’t get enough input about where he is in space, so he seeks out input by being constantly in motion, running into things…

One of the new things we are trying is a weighted vest. He is to wear it for about 20-30 minutes at a time when he I am trying to get him to do a seated activity. He loves puzzles, so I brought him to the table and got him seated. He was much less mobile during this time. I won’t say that it worked perfectly, but he definitely  was more still than he normally is.

Here is some information from a company called In Your Pocket: (note our vest is not from this company, nor do I know anything about their specific vests, but I was looking for some information on the vest.

Deep pressure is often used to assist the child to self-calm and relax so that sensory stimulus can be processed. The use of a weighted vest provides the child with unconscious information from the muscles and joints.

I will keep you updated as to how the vest works for him.

Finger painting with yogurt, Sensory Activity

My darling Alligator has some aversions to different textures. One texture that he really dislikes is creamy things like yogurt, ice-cream, and paint (not that paint is creamy, but it has the same sort of messy texture).

We are working with an Occupational Therapist to try to work on some of his issues. One of the things she suggested was working with yogurt. I thought I would try to make this a Christmas themed activity, but using the yogurt to decorate a laminated Christmas tree.

I gave him some squeegees to play with in the yogurt, but he wouldn’t dare touch anything but the squeegee. So we moved on…

 

Alligator is still obsessed with the alphabet. So I spread some yogurt out on the table, and wrote a letter in it. When he asked for the next letter, I told him he had to erase the other letter first. As you can see he was really into the activity. He disliked getting his hand dirty, but he was getting through it.

     

It is funny really, he liked smearing it, but it was the after he smeared and he realized that his hand was dirty that he wasn’t too happy.

But we got through M in the alphabet, so that was a success.

You can try this activity with pudding too, or cool whip. I find it helps to include his interests into the activity (like the alphabet).