Sensory Bible

As many of you know Yang has what is called Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD for short. If you are not familiar with SPD, or would like to learn more you can read my post, Living Sensory, from December 2012.

One of our biggest sensory tools is what Yang and I call our Sensory Bible. A book written by Angie Voss OTR/L, Understanding Your Sensory Signals. When Yang first received the sensory dx I had a roller coaster of emotions. For one I had never heard of SPD so I knew I had a lot of research to do. I was happy to have answers but scared at what this may mean for my daughters future. I quickly came across a group on facebook, Sensory Parents. I asked why Yang would be pulling her eyelashes out to the point that she didn't have any. Why she would pull her hair out of the ponytail and actually pull her hair out. Some great parents answered my question and also advised I buy two Angie's books, Understanding Your Sensory Signals and Your Essential Guide to Understanding Sensory Processing Disorder. At the time even tough Angie's books are VERY reasonably priced I could not afford to purchase them. One of the parents in the group contacted Angie and purchased the books for me! To this day I do not know who it was but I love this person dearly! They provided me with some very essential sensory tools that have helped Yang and I drastically. I received the paperback copy of Sensory Signals and then later went and bought the ebook version so I would always have a copy with Yang or I. Earlier this month while I was in Florida visiting my Dad I was able to pay it forward. Even though my Dad and his girlfriend have been together for 15 years I had never meet her daughter. She came to visit while we where there. Her oldest son is autistic so I graciously gifted her my paperback copy of Sensory Signals. Although I have mentioned Angie's books to several people, it felt so good to be able to finally pay it forward.

Angie has now released her 2nd edition of Sensory Signals, and you can get it for free for a limited time. With over 210 new sensory signals you will definitely find tons of useful information. If you have not already, head over to her facebook page Understanding Your Sensory Signals and like her page. After you have liked her page you will be able to download the book for free. However, I do have a few favors to ask. 1) After you have read her book please head over to amazon and write a review. It will only take a few minutes and really helps Angie out. 2) Whatever you do, PLEASE do not download any of her books, or any other author's books, from illegal sites. Continue to show your support for authors by not adding books to these illegal sites either.

I was not asked nor paid in anyway for this post. I simply wrote it to bring light to SPD and Angie's wonderful books.All links leading to amazon.com are affiliate links.

Reader Spotlight - SPD and the use of essential oil

Today I've asked fellow homeschooling and sensory Momma, Shannon H. to share with us the use of essential oils with her sensory children (Sensory Processing Disorder).  

Let me start out by saying how much I love reading your blog, and the many others that I read weekly from others who take the time out to share and help others!  I guess I am going to need to jump on the bandwagon of blogging as for some reason people do seem interested in how I have chosen to live without modern medicine and live more “naturally”. Before I set out on my journey blogging, I would love to share my experience with essential oils and Sensory Processing Disorder! My three beautiful children all share different aspects of this disorder and though not diagnosed yet, I feel as if I need to provide any type of help I possibly can.

For our own personal reasons we choose not to use modern medicine. Instead we turned to essential oils to treat almost any ailment that comes at us. As far as SPD goes in our house, calming down techniques are a TOP priority! Our arsenal of oils can help us fight some of the battles we endure. In midst of a deep meltdown with kicking, hitting, screaming and even banging her head, our nearly 3 year old daughter can be found in a tight corner asking for her oils! “Eels, no crying more”, she says to us. Now, I am no expert, but I know that they must be calming to her. I am using them myself and know that they work. I was however surprised that she was feeling relief as well! We use our oils and then follow with the sensory input that is needed at that time.

We have now been using our oils from Heritage Essential Oils for a week with dramatic success, and some for an entire month from a previous order through DoTerra. I love our current stash for lifting our moods which includes lavender, peppermint, lemon, a blend that includes orange, ylang ylang, and patchouli; and Vetiver. Vetiver is one that has been considered a life saver in our house. It is known to have a calming effect! Yay, just what we need at certain times, right?! We also bought Potential, this is more for my eldest and I, as we tend to have a lot of anxiety and OCD type issues, and oils in this blend have been shown to help with that. Potential has also been extremely beneficial in this first week . We are noticing when we need more oils on us as well, as essential oils need to be reapplied every couple hours (which is the hard part for some people.) I am one that doesn’t remember to take vitamins so I thought it would be difficult, but we are drawn to the oils and their benefits. We use many other essential oils than I mentioned by the way, for asthma, arthritis, and even ganglion cysts right now! Check into using essential oils, I am sure you will just as surprised as we were at the relief they bring! 

There are many different places essential oils can be purchased. We use Heritage Essential Oils now, but when we first started using essential oils, we used DoTerra, which is also a wonderful company.  I do think a quality oil is necessary and have done heavy research on many different companies. We decided that we would also try to save money on our stash of oils since there were so many we needed. I spent a couple weeks researching through the ailments on the Health Tab on Heritage Essential Oils and came up with my order. It was all very exciting! 

What lead you to trying essential oils in the first place?

I hate chemicals and anything unnatural.  I spent many years on modern medicine that never cured my ailments only masked them and ended up with even worse side effects! Four years prior to our newest journey in essential oils, we had been using coconut oil for a natural diaper rash solution and tea tree oil to cleanse and disinfect our skin and laundry. This newest journey started out looking for better ways to calm myself and ended up finding ways to calm my children as well thanks to the website I shared. 

Are there side effects other she watch out for?

I don't know that I would use the word side effect as there really aren't any. I would say some people may be sensitive to the aroma or have minor skin irritation if they do not dilute the oil with a carrier oil such as coconut oil, almond oil, or other carrier oil. You may even use olive oil from your pantry as a carrier oil! There are a few essential oils that are considered "hot" and it will say right on the directions to dilute it with a carrier oil. It also should be known that if you allergic to something, for example, cinnamon, it is very wise not to use Cinnamon Bark essential oil of course. I am very impressed due to modern medicine's negative side effects that I have not found any with essential oils. 




All pictures are click able links back to the original website. They are not mine, and I am not claiming them as mine. As mention above since there can be certain allergies and possible health concerns, I advise anyone looking into using essential oils to check with their health care professional first. 

 

Living Sensory

I belong to approximately 40 different group on facebook. A mix of homeschooling and SPD/LD groups. Recently in a non-SPD group someone asked about SPD, and now I feel it is my duty as a Sensory Momma to bring some light to SPD to my followers.

Just 6 short months ago Yang under went speech and occupational therapy evaluations. While I always thought it was odd she would not wear jeans I never realized there could be a real reason why, nor had I ever heard of SPD. As I filled out questionnaire after questionnaire I began to think there has to be something to this. When we received her results I was shocked, curious and happy (What a combo right?) Shocked because I had never heard of SPD. Curious cause I wanted to know more, well everything about it actually, and happy because we FINALLY had answers. But what did that mean?

What is SPD???

SPD stands for Sensory Processing Disorder. SPD is a neurological disorder causing difficulties with taking in, processing, and responding to sensory information about the environment and from within one's own body (visual, auditory, tactile, olfaction, gustatory, vestibular, and proprioception).

Sensory Processing Disorder can effect the way someone -

• interactions with others
• functions daily
• social and family relationships
• behavioral challenges
• regulating emotions
• self-esteem
• learning

OTR/L Angie Voss, and her books have been an absolute blessing! She has been the beacon of light in all that we have endured. Her time, dedication, compassion, understanding, and willingness to help have truly amazed me. She really does go above and beyond!

I would suggest anyone that has been blessed with a sensory kiddo in your life to start with read Your Essential Guide to Understanding Sensory Processing Disorder. I read less than 20 pages of this book before breaking down. I felt like someone had interviewed, observed and written a book about Yang, and not just another book about a disorder. If you have a sensory kiddo, or care for a sensory kiddo (baby-sit, teacher, etc) I STRONGLY suggest buying Understanding Your Child's Sensory Signals. Yang actually calls it her Sensory Bible and we do not leave the house without it!

You can purchase all of Angie's books below. For Understanding Your Child's Sensory Signals and The Survival Guide for Traveling with a Sensory Kiddo the second book photo listed below is the Kindle version.

 What is it like for someone with SPD?

Yang deals with many of the issues in the picture above, although she does not suffer from all. It is important to know that each sensory kiddo is different. What may bother one child may not bother another, or to the same severity. Yang does not like her hair washed or brushed, although we have come a long way with this one. She does not like bright lights, and we often keeps the windows closed and lights off/to a minimum. I think EVERY child has selective hearing! LOL! She sticks to certain foods/textures and will rarely try something new. There are no such things as tags in anything Yang wears! She gets very rough, very quick and does not realize it at all. She will actually tell you that tickling is bad for her sensory brain!! Yang will be 8 in April and is still unable to ride a bike, walk a fine line, balance beam, etc. Doing our school work takes extra long due to concentration issues most days. Yang is getting these in pink for Christmas to help with her noise issues. We actually spent an entire theater performance in the bathroom because she could not deal with the noise.
She chews on her hair and almost an object she is holding. She rarely wears socks so we buy shoes that do not require them most times.


So what are some sensory essentials?

• An indoor swing
• Something to bounce on such as a hippity hop ball, mini-trampoline, or BOSU ball
• A sensory retreat
• A large therapy ball
• Weighted blanket or compression clothing
• Variable items depending on the child's sensory needs...oral sensory tool, fidget toys, noise cancelling headphones, sunglasses or large brimmed hat.

The next time you see a child in the store, at the park or wherever and they seem to be "throwing a fit" or "misbehaving" please remember before you judge, that this child could have a hidden neurological disorder called sensory processing disorder. Their parents do NOT need your parental advice, comments or stares. A silent prayer is enough. Our lives are not always easy. We have sleepless days, meltdowns over what may seem small or trivial to most and need LOTS of patience. We welcome your questions, not judgement, comment or stares!

In the words of Angie Voss,

Keep it Real.
          Keep it Simple.
                    Keep it Sensory.