Sensory APP for therapy worth a look

Routine, routine, routine. If anyone is sensitive to routine, it's our autism kids. Not only that, there's a massive amount of sensory built into this. It can make your world chaos in more ways than one.

Recently I was approached through my Galaxy Zento page and told about an app that helps with schedule and sensory routines. I don't have an iphone because I'm archaic, but if you do you should check this out. LINK.

Sensory Processing Therapy is by Sensory Treat Ltd. Not only does the app have suggestions for activities but you can schedule and tailor to your child's specific needs. It boasts over 100 color coded activity illustrations. The activities are designed by occupational therapists (be sure to click on the description on the page for a very comprehensive list of possibilities).

Of course I'm posting some of the screen shots here, but if you scroll sideways on the page where the screen shots are, you will see several more.

I'm amazed at what's possible here and the suggestions for kids activities. Not only can you form a routine that works with your day and your child's needs, but they all have therapeutic value. I'm impressed.

You can put in your child's entire daily routine, enhance it and schedule the simplest of tasks or events. We all know how the littlest things have a mountain of effect on our kids. This is like having an assistant to help guide you while you spend your time redirecting and working with your child. It looks to me like an app that can help regardless of your child's functioning level.

Our kids' success is all about having the proper supports. This may just be one of them. Now it is pretty new so there aren't reviews to show. But I think they have demonstrated the possibilities very well in what you see.

One of my exact purposes in writing this blog is bringing things to my fellow autism parents that may be of help to them. I think this is worth a good look.

Restraint and Seclusion in our schools

All is peaceful as the 2nd grade student works on his spelling words along with the class. In the blink of an eye, something agitates him. He gets frustrated over something that others can only guess at and instantly shreds his spelling paper. His aide and teacher move swiftly and the child finds himself with arms held down in place, restrained against his desk. No one will let go of him until the thrashing and struggle cease. Unfortunately, while restraint has its place, this is not a scenario that restraint was required in.

The proper use of restraint seems to have gotten lost over the years since introduced as a solution in public schools decades ago. It’s getting used for infractions of behavior more as a punishment than a safety protocol. The proper use of restraint is for a child who endangers himself or someone else beyond the scope of being redirected from behavior. Consider my scenario again and ask yourself; who was in danger? Who was being hurt? A piece of paper, that’s all. At this point, it is time to attempt redirection of the child’s behavior and attention. Should that fail, and the child turns destructive behavior to self harm or goes for another student, then restraint may be necessary.

Seclusion is the next issue that’s causing problems. Consider this, therapists tell us that time out should only be used for a period of about a minute per child’s age. They’ll even tell you that a child with shortened attention span will have to be adjusted in shorter increments of time. How is it then, that our schools are locking children in “seclusion rooms” for 30 minutes and more? Some for more than an hour! Just to get started, that’s about 3x the amount that we are taught, isn’t it? As if that weren’t bad enough, seclusion areas could be anything from a blank concrete room to a janitor’s closet! Another thing that “time out” is not supposed to be is intimidating or frightening. Think about it.

So why have our schools gone to such extreme measures? I think they simply don’t know what to do with these kids and what ever conditions they may be living under. That’s why they need additional education. Let’s face it, the number of children who have autism, ADHD, or any other condition, isn’t dropping. In fact, it’s increasing by leaps and bounds. It’s creating a shift in the kinds of students that teachers are doing to find in their classrooms. This calls for the system to adapt to the changing needs of the students.

When it comes to restraint, we need to set a guideline for it’s use and train our educational staff in proper application. When considering the child’s needs what do we know about them? What is their medical condition and how does it affect them? There’s no need to be perfectly knowledgeable, but knowing the basics certainly can’t hurt. Here’s an important consideration; can the child in question be redirected from behavior? If so, there should be no need for restraint. If the child has fits that cannot be consoled or redirected, and they become dangerous to themselves or others, then safe and appropriate restraint should be used. But what does restraint really do to a child? In my next posting, I’ll be addressing just that.