Sensory Diet
Autism and sensory needs go hand in hand...but so do many other diagnosis. Sensory issues are one of those things that there isn’t a simple “fix” for, however there are many things you can do to help your child fulfill their sensory needs. Both of my kids struggle differently with sensory issues. Guin has her own needs, but Jude has always needed A TON of sensory input! More than the average child, and it wasn’t until earlier this year that we decided to put him on a sensory diet, and man did it work.
I want to start by saying there are many different ways to do this, we had to tweak a few things, but find what works for your kid and stick to that. I’m going to list what I found online in my research first....then below that I’m going to write up exactly what we did for Jude, and what we do currently. I hope this this!
This is what I found online about the different types of sensory the body needs. In a strict sensory diet (which is what we did for Jude) you need to make sure you have several activities from each of these categories so that all of their needs are met. Then once you can narrow down which your child needs most you can start focusing on those and eliminating others. After the information below I will list what I use and do for my son that works the best. I will say ALWAYS GIVE THEM CHOICES!!!!NO matter how well you think you know what your child needs, it’s important to give them the choice of several things because they know what is best in that moment. How we did that was make choice cards for him while we narrowed it down.
Proprioceptive system
Kids who seek out rough play and jumping or crashing may need more input to this particular system. Proprioception is one of our movement senses. It contributes to coordination and body awareness.
Input to the proprioceptive system may include:
stomping
jumping
deep pressure
working against resistance
Vestibular system
This is our other movement sense. It’s related to balance and how we perceive our body’s orientation in space.
Some kids need constant movement and can’t sit still. Others appear sluggish or lethargic. In these cases, the following vestibular input can help meet the child’s needs:
swinging
rocking
swaying
bouncing
Tactile input
Tactile input involves the sense of touch. Kids who constantly touch and fidget with objects or who are always touching others may need more tactile input. These children may benefit from the following:
fidget tools
tactile sensory bins
deep pressure
Auditory input
Sensory experiences that involve sound refer to auditory input. When kids are constantly humming, yelling, and making other noises, they may need more auditory input than other children.
Good auditory experiences for kids who seek out this kind of input include:
listening to music with headphones
playing with toys that make noise
playing instruments
Visual input
Kids who require more visual input may look closely at objects. They may seek out moving or spinning objects. They may have difficulty focusing on information presented visually.
Activities that provide visual stimulation may incorporate light or moving objects, such as:
flashlight play
toys that light up
toys with moving parts
Olfactory and oral sensory systems
These two systems are how we process smell and taste. When kids seek out input to these systems, they may lick or smell objects like crayons or toys. Chewing also provides proprioceptive input, so kids may bite or chew on objects (think pencils or shirt collars).
These kids may benefit from exploring smells through play with the following:
chewy toys
chewing gum
chewy or crunchy snacks
scented markers
essential oils
Keep in mind that while some kids with sensory processing issues need more sensory input in one or more of these areas, other kids may be hypersensitive to certain types of sensory experiences. These children may require less input. They may also require strategies to prevent negative reactions to these experiences. (Jaci note: This is very important because where some of these a child might need more on one of the area...it could very well mean they need LESS in others. For Jude thats auditory. He can’t handle ANY NOISE, like at all! When he is stimming and having a hard sensory day we need to do our best to emilimate all noise, and a lot of the time light as well to help reboot his system. So even though you are adding things like deep pressure, or chews ect. you still need to eliminate others at the same time, like using headphones or a quiet room.)
WHAT JUDE’S SENSORY DIET LOOKED/LOOKS LIKE:
Jude has always struggled with sensory issues. He was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder at a very young age, but we never really fully understood what that meant until recently. We have always used tools such a chews, headphones, weighted vests/blankets ect. But wasn’t aware there was a right and wrong way to use them. No, thats not right. There was a more efficient way than what we were doing. Originally we just gave them to him as needed. But once his need increased it felt like he was using them non stop, which made them lose their usefulness. In reality, we were using a handful of tools without realizing they had a different purpose and his sensory needs were all over the place. So diagnosing what type of sensory need they are experiencing is very important, which is why I added the info above. For Jude his auditory needs are always #1, meaning he gets very overwhelmed by sound ALL THE TIME! It was very important for us to teach him to try and deal and work through this issue instead of just eliminating all sound. He has to learn to cope through it, but we also need to recognize when he has hit his limit. Therefor, we always have headphones on hand just incase he needs them, but he must request them. Once the problem or the loud noise has passed, we take them away until the need arises again. Otherwise he’d never get use to the fact that daily life is loud, and he needs to learn how to process the sounds, only eliminating them when he can’t take anymore and is at his breaking point.
When the Corona virus hit and we went on lockdown Jude became unmanageable. HIs sensory issue hit a all time high and he was needing so much more than I could offer. Nothing I did seemed to please him and his aggression and pinching/biting was out of control. His IEP team suggested a strict sensory diet. How that looked for us was using all of the suggestions above and offering him something every 15 minutes. (YUP 15) it was exhausting but within a day it cut his behaviors in half. I already had a lot of sensory items at home, so I just made up a daily schedule and offered him some type of activity or sensory game or resource every 15 minutes. after the first week of introducing him to all of these things I then would ask him which he wanted by using sensory flash cards. we took pictures of each and every item/activity and then would give him two options at a time having him pick a card. We also had a sensory options board made which was just a sheet with all the pictures on it then laminated it. when he was having a super hard time and just couldn’t chose or I knew he couldn’t ask for what he needed, we would give him the board with all the options. (It’s very important if you run out of something or it isn’t available to cross it off the board first.)
Some of the things that worked amazing for Jude:
Rollie Hugs- This I legit made up one day and it worked sooooo well I offer it every day and it’s his go to when over stimulated. All it is is him laying on top of me in a hug, then...you guessed it, I roll back and forth. I also sing a little song cuz I’m me. “Rollie hugs, Rollie hugs, Jude he loves his Rollie hugs.” while singing. HE LOVES THIS! And now he signs the song with me. Keeping in this vein I also came up with squeeze hugs.
Squeezie hugs- same as Rollie hugs just him on top while I squee on and off during the song.
Water beads- He used to love big buckets or baby pools filled with them and he would put them all over his body. That stopped helping, so we learned if he jumped with them on the trampoline he got his wiggles out while helping his sensory needs.
Slime Sand- He LOVES THIS! I bought a sensory table (Actually its a blow up soda cooler I got on amazon) and I filled it with a new activity every day. Slime sand, water beads, fake snow, Slime (which I HATE the mess but they love) Corn starch and water, rice, ect....
Pulling is another huge sensory activity that often gets missed. The pushing pulling helps them expel energy. You can easily do this with yoga bands, or any type of stretchy fabric. Also pushing a weighted ball around.
Jumping is another big one for Jude, but he would get bored with the trampoline so I came up with an actual very helpful idea for both of us. I had him help me break down boxe. I’d rip them open while he jumped on them, then helped me stuff them into the recycling can.
I also have him help me with laundry when he got too twitchy or pinching. It was a good use of his hands, and he had to pull the heavy weighted(wet) clothes out of the washer and put it in the dryer.A lot of the activities we do are actually every day things/chores but really help.
After doing an activity every 15 minutes for about 2 weeks we were able to lessen the time. We now do every 30 minutes to 1 hour and it works well. Same days he needs more than others. Another activity I made up that he loves when I can tell he needs some sensory input is a game I call “my turn, your turn.”
My turn, your turn- Basically which each take a turn picking what we want. “Want tickles. what do you want?” I want squeeze, your turn. I take a turn saying want I want, then it’s his turn to say what he wants. It teaches him to wait his turn, to think of others needs as well as his own, and its giving him options and things to choose from. The list I include in this game is: Squeeze, tickles, pound it, high fives, face kisses, and eat my ___(Sounds weird but basically he will say “eat my tummy, eat my neck, ect.) and I pretend to eat it. A lot of these things are very child like...but so is my son. So you can change it to fit the age of your child to make it more appropriate.
Now that we have faded out the diet from every 15 to every 30 ins-1 hr. The activities are more broad. I still will do one sensory activity a day, but the rest I fill in with a lot of water play. HE LOVES WATER. But I dont give it freely. HE needs to earn it with good behavior or chose it as a sensory need at the time. Water balloons is his prefer, but he would choose it all day long, so I limit that to usually twice a day or if hes earned it for good behavior. Then I add sprinkler, water slide with bubbles (We have a blow up water slide I will add bubble bath to) slime baths, color baths, and spraying with the hose.
I hope these ideas help. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out.