OT Sensory Tips and Ideas

Need a cheap sensory toy? I bought light up balls with pointy edges in the toy bargain section at Walmart for $1. I bought about 6 of them. All 3 kids love them.  Toysrus and Target have them too, check their $1 section bins.

Searching for exercise ball to help your little one relax? Most Family Dollar stores or 5 Below stores have them. Don't fill them up too much or your kid will be on the floor. Leave them a little flat so they can bounce and sit on them easily. The toy sections in most stores also has bouncy balls with handles, some with cartoon characters for the kiddies! Another option are those inflattable punching bags. They were huge in the 80s and are making a come back but they call them Bop Balls nows.
I found some on clearance at Big Lots and I saw some at Target on clearance too, in the summer toy aisle.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dtoys-and-games&field-keywords=inflatable+bop+bag

How about a sensory mat?  Ikea has these cloth seats called Sagosteen in the kids section. We bought the one with a star on it. Put padding in it and you have a crash mat for sensory input. Don't forget to buy the padding! http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/20166754/You can also try those plastic inflattable chairs at the discount stores and use those. Although we go through a lot of those.  try not to pay full price for those. http://www.target.com/s/chair+inflatable+kid?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google&CPNG=furniture3&adgroup=kids+furniture&LNM=Chair%20inflatable%20kid&MT=broad&LID=30p4742176&KID=5b5da096-90ea-8089-bbca-000076da5103

You can also fill up a bunch of balloons or plastic balls and put them under the bedspread-- your kid will love it. If you're looking for those plastic balls from ballpits-- check out craigslist, ebay, or consignment sales.  A lot cheaper than when bough new. Just fill the tub with some bleach and it'll disinfect them. A bean bag that gamers use is also a good crash mat. Or if your kid is like mine-- a good old fashioned pillow fight or cushions from the sofa and you can have all the sensory input and lots of giggles you need.

Flour and salt, pasta wheels or elbows during craft time, playdoh, epsom salt baths or oatmeal baths for sensory input. I give JD epsom salt in his hand-- especially the clump and he dissolves it. We just did it tonight to calm him and his upset tummy down. He loves the sensation of the abrasive salt as it dissolves on the tub floor. JD loves playdoh. Add some salt/sugar to it for extra input. He loves playing with ice cubes and water too. Of course that makes a bit of a mess so that gets annoying.

I've been looking for a weighted vest idea that I could do myself. So I've bough some rash shirts-- those swimwear tight shirts and JD can wear them underneath his clothes, kind of like compression shirts for sensory input. Go buy a sweater vest or vest and sew in weights and you've got a weighted vest.  I've also been relying on Pinterest to help me find some ideas for this. So if you're looking for sensory toys or things to use-- don't forget to check Pinterest or to think outside the box.

Hope these ideas help!

Potty Train, Hands off the P. . .

You know how we're potty training all 3 over here in Twingle house? I'm not crazy, just being practical! The girls are walking so why not? Apple's speech therapist inspired me. She has a client who has down syndrome, non verbal I believe and can't hold herself upright but she's potty trained. She's younger than my girls, so if that baby can be potty trained surely my 3 can be too! I was inspired and I'm on a mission to get out of diapers. It's expensive to have 3 kids in diapers. We buy 2 cases of diapers a month on our tight budget. I NEED them to be potty trained! But will I survive the training?

My goal was to potty train while we were on our 3 week break in August. Well that didn't work. So now we started with school. We are using Good Nights and Pull Ups, no diapers because he's a big boy and big boys use the potty train. http://www.amazon.com/The-Potty-Train-David-Hochman/dp/1416928332- Great book. I think I know it by heart.

Our routine- Potty in the morning, twice at school, before & after each meal, before bath time at night. If he actually goes in the potty he gets 2 stickers to put on his reward chart ($2.00 for stickers & chart at the dollar section in Target). 1 sticker if he sits on the potty the whole time (meaning I don't have to chase his naked butt down the hallway). We read all 3 of his "potty" books while he sits in the potty & we sing the ABCs and he can get up when he's done singing. Sometimes (AHEM, Usually) he fights sitting on the potty. Once we've wrestled and he's sitting we fight about getting off, flushing over and over, unrolling and throwing toilet paper, putting stickers on the toilet seat, kicking the bathroom door, yelling. Its all sorts of fun. Oh and the new one-- squirting while peeing because its like a "hose". Good Lord child! Once I'm exhausted and whimpering  I have to sit the girls on the potty too.

Last night I went in to check on the kids before I went to bed--JD was soaked! JD and his fascination with all things underneath the pullups and good nights- yes I do mean that. He says it feels nice, I guess so. Well it causes leaks when the pullups aren't pulled back into place. I changed him and he slept through it all! Now to wash the sheets again. It's become a daily morning routine. I consider it a win if I can get him to sit in the potty most days. A morning where he sits in the potty and transitions to school without a scream, kick, or argument? Priceless. At least we don't get "looks" in the parking lot. Well we do, but only because I star in my own baby parade with the stroller and the tot. Not the other type of look where I'm the bad parent.

I leave you with our newest funny and one my hubby will probably wish I hadn't shared but you guys get it right? We have to laugh.

Since we switched to pull ups and Good nights:
"Buddy its private and not in the store ok?" And there he is hands in his pants at the check out. Usually happens there for some reason, guess when he gets bored. Go ahead, its funny. He does it while he's watching tv too. "Buddy that's private, only in your room." Oh and this prompted an interesting conversation about our stance on masturbation, religion, and calling body parts by proper name. My stance-- its all good unless you're hurting someone or can get arrested for public indecency/lewdness. So gotta teach buddy boy that it's private!

Apparently my "stranger touch" conversation was a bit too confining. His teacher and my sister were told by Buddy Boy that "don't touch my penis, only mommy and daddy." Hmm, need to add unless its the doctor, teacher, or family. "Mama, Ms. Teacher can't touch penis,its not good. JD is better." JD speak for they can't touch me, only I can."

Strolling along anywhere "Buddy, hands in pockets."-- it sounds better than "Don't touch your Penis." If I keep saying that in stores I'm going to get looks.

Oh and in case I haven't said this enough, I don't give a flying F*ck about anyone's opinion on my parenting. I am doing the best I can, I might never win Mom of the year, I'm sure I screw up at least 10 times a day, I might never win Wife of the year either. But I love my kids and my hubby and I'm doing the best I can. Until you live here and walk the walk, stop talking out of your a**. Nobody gives a damn about your unhelpful and often ignorant opinion.-- Yes Dear Lady at the Walmart, this is for you.

Making Friends

Nothing is as contagious as my son's sense of humor. Nothing quite as exasperating as his stubbornness or his high pierced scream when he's arguing with me. The way his eyes twinkle and sparkle with glee over something fun or when he's thinking of misbehaving. All these unique parts make up my wonderful little boy. When he can't make friends, when friends snub him, when kids don't want to play because of his social challenges-- it breaks my heart, it really does.

 

JD loves to play with kids & he loves play dates. But he struggles with the greetings A LOT! He needs to be reminded each and every time to say hello, state his name, and ask if they want to play. His excitement gets the better of him, his speech goes a mile a minute, his slaps his hands over his wrists (his version of flapping), he stomps his feet sometimes too. JD tells me it doesn't feel good-- meaning it doesn't feel normal for him to do the "normal" greet. He's very vague when I ask him but he seems to be trying to express that discomfort. He says "say hi is not good, playing is better. I say hi and then play. Say hi and name is bad, not good." Expressing his emotions is difficult, although that itself is not atypical for a toddler. Toddlers aren't very good at explaining their emotions.

 

This past Thursday we were at the playground for Apple's PT (our therapist met us there) and an older girl who didn't want to play or be chased by JD called him weird--you should have seen how fast my head whipped around! I was ready to eviscerate her. What type of parent does this little girl have that she thinks calling kids weird or anything mean is appropriate? Then I took a deep breath and I reminded myself she's a little girl and I shouldn't be mean to her. I've met grown people, some supposedly friends, who don't understand that we can't be mean or use people when its convenient. 

It was fine to play with him for 5 minutes but now not so much since my kid beat her at tag?

 

I said he's not weird, he's a little boy who wants to play, he has autism and he has a hard time greeting and calming down. He's smaller than you, you should be nice to him. Calling kids weird is not nice. One of her other playmates spoke up and said his brother had autism and he'd play with him. The other girls grabbed his hand and off they went. I watched my little boy being lead back into the group to play. From then on the whole group played with my son for about an hour.

Whenever he got too excited one of the girls counted down with him to calm him down. They'd by now seen that I give him hand massages or deep pressure hugs. They asked me why, and I explained since he's little, that he needs help to know when he needs to calm down. The kids were great with him! The sounds of JD running and screaming his little head off was the background noise through the rest of our physical therapy session.

 

It was pure magic. I almost didn't want to bring them home. I never wanted it to end, judging by my sweaty smiling boy-- neither did he. As we rolled back home-- all 3 kids in their wagon, me pulling it along, I asked if he had fun. "Yes I had friends."