Remember when "stop hitting yourself" was something funny that Pee Wee Herman would say. Well in my house it's said quite literally. Instead of "No running in the house!" I say "No popping wheelies in your walker!" Another very frequently stated rule in my house is "Flat feet!" or more so"For the love...FLAT FEET!!!!" (Sadie giggles when I say that one). This is not only a Beebsism it is now a
Broism: Bro is walking on his tiptoes constantly. Ahhhhhh nooooo!!!! (thats what you were thinking, right?) Coupled with his ever so ridiculous picky eater syndrome I have been a bit paranoid about a sensory problem.
Our Solution: I traced and cut these feet out of shelf paper and placed them on our tile. One row is for walking with straight, flat feet. I tell my kiddos that walking across them and out the door ensures that they bring their flat feet with them outside. The other set is a set to practice a side step down the hallway for better balance and coordination. Both are a reminder to use FLAT FEET!!!!
As far as Bro's eating habits go, lets just say I'm ready to try hypnotism. He likes something from each texture group but he's a major gagger. I hope I'm just paranoid because of our experience with Sadie. But I won't be one of those moms who desperately turns away not wanting to deal with yet another special problem. No sir, I am informed and therefore responsible (dang it). I found this Sensory Processing Disorder checklist. Luckily I only checked off a few boxes for Bro where as Sadie would fill 80 percent of the test.That calms me a bit. It's a start and I intend to bring it to the pediatrician on Bro's next visit. Better safe then sorry.
BTW: if you have pretty wood floors unlike me maybe don't try this
Just traced little shoes
I will now be moving these closer to the wall due to Sadie's surgery set back.
I love your site! It's so sweet and heartwarming...I can't seem to stop reading it!
ReplyDeleteThis is a cute idea. Toe walking is not necessarily bad, albeit others think it looks odd. It's quite typical for toddlers. Doing deep pressure activities, massage, and the brushing protocol might help reduce the toe walking.
If you have financial resources or family that can pool their money together for the next B-day...a mini trampoline with a bar can do wonders for a boy trying to increase input to his feet and decrease sensitivity.
Thanks for visiting my site. I'm going to follow you too!
It's good to hear that tippy toes are okay, especially from an OT:) Funny you should mention the trampoline, we have a small one with a bar that Bro has kind of grown out of so as soon as my paranoia set in I set out to buy a bigger one and found the perfect size netted trampoline for little kiddos. He loves it and I am seeing a little bit of an improvement. Any tricks up your sleeve on how to get him to try new food?
DeleteI am going to share a quote with you that a friend told me just 2 days ago. "We all have a little autism in us." Meaning, we are ALL on the spectrum. Autism diagnosis comes into play when those specific characteristics impede an individual's lifestyle/function. Therefore, we all exhibit some of the characteristics of autism at some point or another, and some more frequently than others. For example, my characteristic is Misophonia (intolerance to noises that don't typically bother other people like chewing noises, scraping fork on plate, etc.). This is kind of funny since I work with the special needs population who exhibit these noises all the time. The question here is, how do you adjust to it? The answer is, exactly the way you are by being proactive and working with the characteristic instead of against it. A solution for the food is one from the recipe book "Deceptively Delicious". This is written by Mrs. Seinfeld (I forget her first name) and she writes about how she always puts a food on the plate that is "undesired" and also adds it pureed into the food so that the palate can adjust to it. The visual exposure allows them to get used to the idea while the taste is developed. My gagging daughter now eats butternut squash because she loved it in her mac n cheese (she didn't know it was in there until I told her and now she adds it in herself). Hope it helps!
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