New Year, New Sensory Equipment (Pt. 3)

We have a lot of new fun things here in the house for Rocket Boy! Most are from Christmas, but some are just being added (or gifted) to grow our repertoire and create an environment that Rocket Boy thrives in.

The first major piece to be added was a crash pad. Now, there are high priced (and large) crash pads out there, some are like gym equipment, some are made for therapy. But bottom line is that our space and our budget don't allow for those options. So I had to wrack my brain a bit for an alternative. 

What we ended up with was a sleeping bag (found at the thrift store for $3 - and I couldn't resist the retro MLP print) and an assortment of blankets and pillows to stuff it with. Most of the stuffing is just extra things from the linin closet that don't get pulled out much. 

Now, it's not perfect, but it does the job for now. Ideally, I will get some upholstery foam scraps to stuff it with and sew it closed and make a dedicated cover for it. But for now we "fluff" the stuff inside every couple days and cover with a spare blanket to give it a washable cover. 

Rocket Boy loves this thing. I could not begin to guess how often this is jumped on. He jumps from the couch to the pad, from the floor to the pad, from the pad to the couch...jump jump jump. But I'm not complaining - it saves my couch from some abuse. He has a dedicated spot to jump into instead of jumping on the couch, all over, all day (which is what he did previously). 

I never thought I would be encouraging him to jump on things, but you change your idea of "good parenting ideas" when you have a sensory kid! 

While it will be nice to upgrade to upholstery foam in the future, this was a quick and almost free solution I'm pretty proud of. What sort of diy contraptions have you made for your kiddos? 

The Holiday Rush

I'm sneaking in one more post before Christmas - the holiday season throws me off my normal routine, including blogging.

One of the biggest changes around our house lately has been the instillation of some new sensory items - and they are REALLY helping.

I made a crash pad, though it needs some tweaking. But I found an old sleeping bag, stuffed it with all the spare pillows and blankets, and it sits at the end of the couch. This way Rocket Boy can jump off the couch onto it. It has seriously saved my couches from further abuse. He jumps off one spot instead of jumping up and down all day on the poor couches.

The other addition has been a trampoline. We came by the trampoline through family - for free! My sister-in-law got it as a gift for one of her children but they have a large outdoor trampoline so they never even opened it. I mentioned our SPD diagnosis and things were looking for in conversation, and she offered the trampoline to us.

These two items are only the start of our sensory collection but we have already noticed a huge difference in behavior. His aggression towards Rocket Baby has almost totally disappeared which is a huge stress reliever for the whole family (probably especially for R.Baby!).

 We have started to do "roll-ups" before bed and now he asks for them. Basically we just roll him in a medium sized fleece blanket (with his head out) and then I rock with him - big rocking motions. He starts out rigid but then he starts to relax and is all ready for bed.

Next on our list is a Sensory "sock", which is on its way to us, is going to be a hit I think. Rocket Boy has a major obsession with wrapping up in blankets and this sock will hopefully give him his own little cocoon without messing up my bed. We are also going to look into getting a weighted blanket and a fidget seat.

The holidays are causing some over-stimulation and craziness in our house, like it does for most people. But all in all, I think he is handling things well. Thanksgiving was with a different group and in a new place this year, which made him get a bit anxious and we had to leave early due to the behavior that brought to the surface. We are hosting Christmas dinner this year, which will either be easier (his own space) or way too overwhelming...we shall see.

I will ask you to insert some awesome pictures in your mind of Rocket Boy jumping like crazy on a trampoline and of our Christmas tree...because I don't have time to edit them right now. Happy holidays everyone!

Official Diagnosis, Round 1

After meeting with the psychologist, occupational therapist, and the school district team we have an official diagnosis - Sensory Processing Disorder.

While I don't think this will be our last stop on the road to answers, it does give us a great starting place. They identified that he is a sensory seeker, especially in the vestibular and proprioceptive areas. (Try saying proprioceptive three times fast...)

He has avoidance behaviors in a few areas, mainly with auditory issues. For Rocket Boy, mechanical noises are especially hard - vacuums, the garbage disposal, hairdryer, our clanky car, etc. He also has some tactile avoidance, mainly with sticky/gummy textures or foods.

The school mentioned that he has evidence of some very advanced problem solving skills and is advanced in some other areas as well. They noticed some of his scripting and rote conversations and stimming, which at the very least was affirming to me that I am not imagining things. They noticed attention issues as well, but they were able to bring him back to task pretty easily.

The psychologist says that the testing shows "autism-like behaviors" driven by sensory issues and possible ADHD. While they don't diagnose ADHD in children this young, she sees sure signs of it especially given the strong family history. I'm not sure that she ran the full assessment that should have been done (actually, I am sure she didn't as she said so herself) but for now we are at a point where we can get OT help and see what improvements we see.

We are working on making some simple changes at home to help with his seeking behavior. I made a DIY "crash pad" for him with a sleeping bag and extra pillows and blankets. I plan to make a post soon showing this little project. While it needs a little tweaking, it works as a quick fix for a kiddo who CAN.NOT.STOP.JUMPING. He really seems to love it and our couch is getting a little break.

We changed around our Christmas lists to include a lot of sensory items, and I'm hoping to pick up a mini trampoline on Black Friday. Trying to explain to family that we need things like fidgets and weighted blankets instead of another electronic toy is a bit difficult, but hopefully they will follow the list anyway.

Speaking of Christmas - here is a little peak at taking card photos with my two Rockets: