Search Results for: blog fun with foods for sensory integration dysfunction

“Stop Touching Me!” Symptoms of Tactile Dysfunction

Our skin is covered with microscopic receptors that send information to our brains. This is our sense of touch, or tactile sense. We use our sense of touch to experience all kinds of things from itching, to tickling, pressure, hot and cold, pain, vibration, and movement. The “tactile sense” is necessary for all kinds of activities such as walking up steps, writing on a chalkboard, hugging someone, getting dressed, or testing water temperature. From infancy we require tactile stimulation to meet nearly all of our physical and emotional needs. We even need our tactile sense to develop good social skills. … Continue reading →

FUN with FOODS for Sensory Integration Dysfunction

Is your child a picky eater? Creative food play might help. In San Antonio, Texas, a group of families who have children with Sensory Integration Dysfunction (DSI)–and other eating disorders– get their kids together for a special kind of play group once a month. They appropriately named their program “FED UP.” Each “Fed Up” meeting not only provides a social opportunity for the preschoolers and toddlers involved, but it’s based around a theme. On one gathering, the theme was “balls and circles.” The children began their socializing in a ball pit in a tent to warm them up to the … Continue reading →

When Your Child Won’t Eat Anything

Posted on by

Many children who have some form of a sensory processing disorder struggle with food. This can cause some kids to absolutely refuse to eat much of anything at all, to the point where the child is on the verge of malnutrition. The more a parent can understand about what their child is experiencing, the better the chance there is that the child will, eventually, choose to eat something. It’s not unusual for children to go through a stage where he or she becomes a “picky eater”. Often, this is something that happens when a child is transitioning between baby food … Continue reading →

Helping Your Child with Hypersensitive Gagging

The gag reflex is designed to be a normal response of the mouth and throat, to prevent your baby from swallowing foreign objects or getting food trapped in the airway. When a child gags, the reflex pushes the food off the back of the tongue and forward out of the mouth. Infants usually have an automatic gag response when the back of the tongue is touched, as part of this natural protection nature provides. Yet ideally, as the child progresses from liquids to strained foods to solids, the gagging reflex diminishes. For some children with disabilities, however, the gagging continues … Continue reading →

8 Difficult Autistic Behaviors (And Why They Happen)

Children with autism have numerous challenging behaviors for parents to deal with. Sometimes the behaviors seem to make no sense whatsoever. The child might seem unreachable, temperamental, and impossible to deal with. However, when we take a look at the underlying deficits that contribute to the problems, we can gain a better understanding. And with a little understanding, we are better equipped to find ways to help. The following is a list of eight typical behaviors of an autistic child, and their likely causes. This is not an exhaustive list of all autism symptoms, and some autistic children will only … Continue reading →

Have You Brushed Your Kid Today?

When my son Kyle, who has autistic disorder, was in preschool, his teacher gave me a little yellow brush with soft bristles and a sponge-like grip. I was told that it was for “brushing,” and that I should brush Kyle’s arms and legs several times each day. Can Autism, ADHD, and DSI be Brushed Away? I must confess, I tried it a few times, but eventually abandoned the whole concept. That’s because I had no idea what on earth I was doing. Secretly I thought this might just be somebody’s ridiculous idea or some new-fad treatment that wouldn’t amount to … Continue reading →

Deciphering Toddler Eating Habits

Toddlers are notorious for their very unique eating habits. They are at the cross roads of a very important time in their lives: in between infancy and independence (relatively speaking). Frequently, toddlers have unique eating habits that can sometimes present a challenge to parents. The trick is to take it all in stride. Check out these tips to handling feeding your toddler! I Love Green Foods! Just Green Foods! Do you have one of those kids that only eats one thing? They decide that they like one particular type of food and they stick with it. They reject all other … Continue reading →