Monthly Archives: January 2021

Sensory Exploration – Touch

Hi Everyone,

I hope some of you enjoyed making and exploring some sensory playdough together last week. This week I am going to give you a little bit more information on the 8 human senses and share a few more touch focused activities before moving onto a different sensory system focus next week.

Following on from the link in last week’s blog to an ‘Introduction to Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)’ by Becky Liddon, founder of ‘Sensory Spectacle’, I thought I would include the link below which provides some insight as to why some children or adults may find it difficult to wear certain clothes. I know this can be an issue for many of our young people and can be as a result of sensory integration issues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWlkSxCBFAg

Humans have eight senses, which might come as a surprise as we are generally taught the five senses: taste, touch (tactile), smell (olfactory), vision and hearing (auditory). However we also have: proprioception, that is the sense of our body position in space, we get lots of this sensory information from our joints; vestibular, that is related to body position and movement, and the information relating to this sense is gathered from the inner ear; interoception, that is a sense which helps you feel and understand what is going on inside your body, examples of this would include recognising you are hungry, full, thirsty, hot or cold.

Some of our pupils may be extremely sensitive, or hypersensitive, to some sensory input. These pupils will try to avoid or minimise that sensory input, for example covering their ears when they are in a room with others if they are sensitive to sound.

Some of our pupils may be hyposensitive to some sensory input, which means they will seek lots of it, for example someone who loves to rock, or spin may be hyposensitive to vestibular input and therefore seek a lot of input through big exaggerated movements.

Touch is so important in the development of emotions. Loving, safe touch provides a sense of security and affects our personality are we grow and develop.  A nice idea is to collect some items from around your house for ‘massage’ on the skin of the hands, arms or feet.  For example you could collect a sponge, a loofah, a paint brush, a clean feather, satin or silky material and a body brush. Try exploring massage with these on the skin, and gauge your child’s reaction. They may prefer some sensations to others, they may like firm touch rather than light or vice versa. This might give you ideas about other objects to include in a ‘massage’ pamper session. To finish off you could get some nice body lotion or baby oil and give your child a hand or foot massage.

Below is a link to sensory treasure baskets with some good information and advice on how to create one for your child’s needs.

making-treasure-baskets

Below is another link to a sensory box guessing game. Children can explore items using their sense of touch.  This is lovely game to support language development in your child too. You could give them a visual choice of what they think they can feel, e.g. is it a banana or an apple?’.  Brothers and sisters might enjoy getting in on this too.

A HUGE List of Sensory Bins and Bags for Kids

Finally, I have included some simple large boardmaker symbols in the link below that you could use to allow you child to communicate likes and dislikes and offer a yes or no choice during touch activities.

like don’t like yes no

Please remember if you have any questions, require any support or would like help to source any materials or print outs my email address is lindsey.robertson1@eastayrshire.org.uk or alternatively you can contact the school directly.

Have a great week,

Lindsey

Communication

Image

Hi everyone.

I hope everyone is well. Our pupils use lots of visuals throughout their school day and they are used to support learning and understanding, helping them to make sense of the world.

The Benefits of Using Visuals-

  • they help us communicate and help our communications be understood
  • they let us see what is being asked and what is being said
  • they help us make and communicate choices
  • they can reduce anxiety
  • they increase predictability
  • they can increase participation and engagement  in activities

Some visuals may be useful for you to use at home particularly if your child is having difficulty coping with how different everyday life is at the moment.

A child who benefits from routine and knowing the order of the day might use a visual calendar or schedule to familiarise themselves with upcoming activities or events. A child who struggles with transitions such as leaving his/her home, moving on from an activity might find pictures illustrating the appropriate steps helpful.

Below are some examples of visual resources which can be tailored to your individual needs. If there is anything you would like to try at home then please send me an email and I will get these organised as quickly as possible – limara.thomas@eastayrshire.org.uk

If you would like to know about any particular resources that your child uses in class then this can be discussed at your weekly check-in’s.

DAILY/VISUAL TIMETABLE – a series of pictures or symbols to communicate a sequence of activities. They provide structure and improve understanding of what is happening over a specific period of time. Allows individuals to anticipate events and helps understanding of time, routine and expectations. Can be used for parts of a day or a full day.

                  

ROUTINES – a series of pictures or symbols showing specific steps during a specific activity or routine. These improve understanding and also encourage independence.

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FIRST AND THEN BOARDS – one of the simplest forms of visual schedule presenting what we are doing now (FIRST) and what we will do next (THEN). They are used to help individuals understand what is happening, helps them focus on an activity, especially if it is a less desirable one and can help transitions from one activity to the next.

 

CHOICE BOARDS – a visual tool that allow pupils to make and communicate choices between activities, items or tasks. They can have a choice of 2 or more, whatever is most suitable and can use photos or symbols.

 

EMOTIONS – these visuals can help pupils communicate how they are feeling since many find it difficult to express their emotions.

ZONES OF REGULATION – a cognitive behavioural approach used to teach self-regulatory skills using symbols and colours. If they are in the red zone, what can they do to get back to the green zone and feel happy again?

  

INDEPENDENCE SKILLS – a series of symbol steps to encourage understanding and independence to complete activities, tasks or routines. These can be broken down for any task and into as many steps as needed. 

 

SYMBOL RECIPES – recipes which  are broken into small steps and have symbol supported text to encourage comprehension and independence of functional skills. 

         

TOKEN BOARDS – a system that rewards desired behaviours and allows pupils to work for a motivating item or activity. Pupils can choose the reward from a choice board. The number of tokens can vary according to the individual.

Please have a look in the Album section of the Hillside Family Help and Hugs! Facebook page for more examples or get in touch for advice.

There is also a variety of resources and guidance to support learning at home from Education Scotland and The National Autism Implementation Team.

https://education.gov.scot/improvement/learning-resources/learners-with-complex-additional-support-needs-resources-and-guidance-for-parents-to-support-their-child-s-learning-at-home/

https://www.thirdspace.scot/nait/education-resources/

I hope these are helpful. Please let me know if you would like more information. Visuals which are relevant and appropriate for our wee people really can help!

Limara