Our Favorite Sensory Diet Ingredients

Around age 2 both girls were diagnosed with Sensory Processing Dysfunction. Abby has always been a sensory seeker of the highest proportion. We always thought that as time went on it might be reduced, but that has not been the case. On the other hand, Grace tended to be more of a sensory avoider. As she has gotten older she does MUCH better with texture and even crazes it to some degree. 

What has always astonished me is how much better both girls function when we pay attention to their sensory diet needs. I thought I would put together a list of some of the items that are must haves on our sensory diet list. 

The Gymnic Movin' Sit Inflatable Seat: This little powerhouse has been sat upon by almost every hynie in the house. I must admit on particularly hyper days even I can be found swaying to and from to keep my attention level up. Abby get a lot of input from the dimples, but Grace and I enjoy the ability to move while you sit. Costs just over $30 so a great buy. 

 

Z-Vibe: Although the Z vibe finally died in our house after 6 years of use, it is a great tool for kids whose sensory needs involve the mouth. For us, that was both girls. Abby used to stuff her mouth and her OT suggested that we use this to give her input before she ate. It did a great job at minimizing stuffing and creating feeding awareness. Grace avoided certain textures so we tried this before she ate things she usually avoided. It helped us get her to eat yogurt and smoothies, but she still won't eat anything with lumps like oatmeal. 

 

Chewy Necklaces: At nine years old I still often find Abby wearing one of her many chewy necklaces. They beat the heck out of fingernails or sleeves for kids who look for input by chewing.  

Chewy Tubes: In that same vain we have an entire bin (I kid you not, a bin) of various chewy tubes that have been collected over the years. Abby's absolute favorite are the P's and Q's, probably because I can attach them to a necklace.  They are inexperience and can be thrown in the dishwasher to keep clean. 

Raising A Sensory Smart Child: This book was just about heaven-sent to a Mom who had never heard of SPD before the day both of her kids were diagnosed with it. There is a book and a cool guide to activities, both of which I loved and used frequently. I highly recommend you invest in both!

Weighted Blankets: Abby has always been a terrible sleeper. When her OT suggested a weighted blanket it almost sounded like a form of child abuse. Little did I know this well known sensory secret is a must for sensory kids who struggle to sleep. Both girls used them from about 3 until 6. Abby continued to use hers until she outgrew it last year. That being said I am considering buying a larger one for her to use now. 

Please excuse the shameless Amazon plug here, but that is truly where we ordered all of our sensory products. There are some great companies out there selling awesome products but when buying for two kids with two different kinds of needs Amazon fit our budget. 

Looking back

Not sure why I decided to post this walk down memory lane but here it is. :D

My sweet, perfect little girls!

 We hated that dang tube! 

 Got her glasses around 9 months

 Grace started to move and groove but Abby was still stuck in the Boppy. 

Eye surgery was around 10 months.  

 The walker came at around 16 months. 

 By 18 months she could almost keep up with her sister!

 Being bribed with lollipops didn't hurt. :D

 At about 20 months she started to cruise

 And by 2 she was off to the races!

A dog for Abs?

Last year during one of the monthly meetings with Abby's social worker (who I miss SO MUCH! she was so helpful) she mentioned the idea of Abby someday having a service dog. I filed it in the back of my brain... largely because I remembered reading an article about a little girls with developmental delays and motor issues like Abby who had her life changed by a service dog. I hadn't thought much about it until about two months ago when I read another article about service dogs being such a huge help for so many different kinds of people. (People think they are for blind people or those wheelchair bound, but they do so much more.)

I decided recently to start poking around and I was quickly shut down when I read that they cost minimally $5,000 to adopt. I could never justify that kind of cost unless it was a MUST.

My sister told me about two months ago that she knows a woman who adopted a dog who was trained to be a service dog but was unable to pass the certification test for small reasons. It got me thinking that maybe adopting a dog who couldn't pass because it didn't go under an airplane seat or something minor might be a good way to go. I sent a couple of e-mails to inquire but didn't hear anything.

After we lost Rex I felt like I needed to let it go for a while so I put it back on the back burner. Then, out of nowhere, I got TWO responses to my e-mails. Both e-mails (from two different organizations) told me that adopting a "career change" or retiree would be difficult since the lists are so long. BUT they explained that the cost of adopting the dogs is usually covered through fundraising, contributions, company matching and sponsorship. I was a little thrown aback. It might actually be a possibility.

So I am doing a little looking into it. There are age requirements so I am not sure what the timeline would be. I just love the idea that when she is 10 and she wants to walk around the corner to my Moms house she could go "by herself" (instead of me walking her) with her dog and I wouldn't have to worry about her falling and hitting her head or breaking anything. It would be such an amazing thing for her.

I think it will be a long process but it looks like it might be one worth starting.

Deep Pressure shirts

With the increasing amount of anxiety that Abby is experiencing so too are those around her. She is showing the beginning signs of obsessive compulsive behavior. This occurs in some cases of RS (at least according to the literature) but we had so hoped to avoid it. We have begun the search for a good behaviorist who can help us to figure out what WE should be doing when the anxiety increases.

In the meantime we are trying to do what we can do to decrease the anxiety. We have put the girls tent back up in the playroom and filled it with sensory toys (squeezy balls, bean bags, pillows, etc.). We are increasing the intensity of her sensory diet. We are increasing her access to oral input when she needs it (gum, chewy tubes all over the house, etc.). One of the newest additions is compression garments under her clothes. Her OT at school thinks it is going to be critical for her to have input throughout the day and this is one of the best ways. So we have been on the hunt for a good compression shirt. We paid the whopping almost $30 for a Sens-ational Hug shirt from Fun and Function but find that it isn't giving her quite enough input. We have bought two other under armor type shirts in the girls XS size but they swim on her. We have settled for thermal shirts and the one sens-ational hug shirt but would love to find something better.

It just seems like as soon as we get things settled into a schedule or routine it is time to shake it up again... Better start playng the lottery to start affording these pieces of equipment. :D

**Looks like the shirt at Fun and Function may be on sale so if you are in the market check it out now.

Abby's new ride

I think I may have posted about our struggles to find a stroller that will accommodate Abby and not break our budget. We have found some accommodative strollers that we LOVED but they cost upwards of $500. I have been searching for a jogging stroller that not only has a higher weight allowance but also would accommodate her as she grows taller. While she weighs a little over 25 pounds at 3 and a half (which doesn't even put her on the charts) she is in the 5th or 6th percentile for height.

Anyway, we finally found a stroller we liked, it goes to 75 pounds (while getting good marks for it's height allowance). It also has great bells and whistles like shocks on every wheel AND was a closeout of this years model so it was almost half off!!!



We ended up with the Baby Jogger Summit Single. I think it is going to make all of our lives so much easier!

What's next?

In the wake of the blocked handicapped incident we have started thinking about what the next step is. She doesn't need a chair but she is getting too big for the regular sit-and-stand stroller. With my hand in the cast it is hard to carry her and keep Grace safe. It is a challenge. There are strollers that have higher weight requirements (although we can't get her much past 25 pounds) and are for taller kids. They can just be so darn pricey. Not sure what the next step is but we need to find something that is going to make life easier on all of us.

Abandoning the braces

About six months ago Abby was fitted for Sure Steps. We were skeptical about whether they would work and whether the $600 or so would be worth the investment. We quickly went from skeptics to believers. She walked better. She fell less. Her pronation was significantly improved. So we have slowly backed off of her wearing them. She now only wears them when she is really tired or when she rides her bike. It just seems like she walks equally well with them as without them. If that is the case then why make her?

She starts PT this week at school so I am curious to see how the PT feels about it. I am hoping she agrees with us about leaving them off. I guess we'll see. :D

Braces Update

It has been a few months and I thought it was about time to update on the braces. Despite being a bit of a skeptic the braces have been tremendous. Abby is falling less. She is more brave in her motor activities. She CHOOSES to wear them. They look (to me at least) to be uncomfortable but she rarely complains. We have even found a pair of sandals she can wear them with. So, while they were very expensive they were well worth the money. When she goes without them it is very obvious how amazing they are.