Snug as a Bug in a Lycra blanket

I have recently started working 30 or so hours a week with a commute that is an hour one-way. That leaves oodles of time for thinking and contemplating, but virtually no time for writing. My "aha" moment was to do a few video blogs, however I then spent 3 days trying to get a 4 minute video to load. Finally I just said, "Forget it" and I'm back to typing. However, when you wake up at 6:30 am and have a cup of coffee by your side, it isn't so bad.

To try and keep abreast of current events I will postpone the recipe post of how to make a delicious spinach smoothie (that was the video) to talk about the second visit with Paula, my son's OT. Last Friday was the appointment. She brings in this HUGE zippered beach bag full of goodies. We have nicknamed it "Miss Paula's Magic Bag" because my son looks like Mary Poppins, with the whole top half of his body inside as he eagerly searches for a new activity.

We have determined that my son needs lots of physical activities, stuff that he has to use almost all of his muscle strength to complete. Some of the favorites from this visit were: a little plastic tub with a hole cut out in the lid just small enough that he had to really work to push wooden golf tees through, then work again to get the lid off. A firm styrofoam block that he then hammered the golf tees into. Some wooden veggies that were velcroed together, then he used a wooden knife the "slice" them. A wooden puzzle that had hinged doors with magnetized animals inside - getting the animals out was quite a task.

The most popular activity, the one he could have done for the entire hour was the lycra swing. This blanket is simply two lycra sheets sewn together with a rope inside the perimeter. It's approximately 4 feet long and 3 feet wide. Miss Paula would take one end, I would take the other and with my son inside we would lift the ends up to create a hammock-like cocoon. We would gently swing my son or shake the blanket (more vibration). Oh my goodness, all you could see was a thousand-watt smile and all you could hear were squeals of delight. We would do this for approximately 3 minutes, put the blanket down, my son would sign for "more" and we would do about 2 minutes more. Then we would engage him in another activity, with blanket breaks about every 20 minutes or so. The blanket got him so excited and "talking" quite a bit. It also provided tons of body sensory to fulfill that aspect he craves so much. He could twist and turn in the cocoon and at every point the lycra is "pressing" back onto him. Paula was saying that many neurosensory kids love the blanket and actually push their face into the fabric because it feels so good to them and they've been craving it. See, when this craving is satisfied, it then leaves his mind space to focus on other things. Post-blanket activities were much more focused and directed. When we see kids crawling all over furniture and jumping around, they are simply trying to fulfill that need. I know in my parent's living room, the way he gets that full-body sensory need met is to crawl all over the couch and recliner.

Over all, Paula, observed that my son seems more focused and that he's not as "flighty". That was nice to hear, because we have been really trying to bring in activities that set him up for success and doing the brushing twice a day. Our bedtime routine has changed to include 10 minutes of pillow fight and wrestling, then bath time, followed by bed. We also put him to bed with a small rice-filled muslin rectangle that we warm in the microwave and put lavender essential oil on it. That way he has a warm "pillow" he snuggles with that he can squeeze at night (verses my arm or love handles). We took a plastic sandbox from the back deck to the basement and filled it with beans. That's an awesome sensory activity when I'm trying to do laundry. We also found a great recipe for microwave play dough that requires hand-kneading the food coloring in. That activity is good for at least a half hour of play, plus he's using his muscles to physically work the color into the dough. Right now I'm stalking Craigslist for a small trampoline with a handle that he can jump on. Now, if he'd just stop trying to take toys out of the hands of other kids in daycare :)

The Art of Brushing

Since my two-and-a-half year old is lagging in the speech department we had an evaluation performed through the Early On program. A note for my fellow chiropractors, make sure you are familiar with this program (administered through the school system) so that you can refer children if needed. There are many aspects about this process I could post about. Maybe eventually I will get around to it, but for right now I want to share my experience with the occupational therapist assigned to my son's case. With the training in pediatric care that I've had, Miss Paula and I were speaking the same language.

Miss Paula came Thursday for our first session. We started with an in-depth conversation about what my son's personality, routine and diet are like. She was pretty excited about what we had already been doing. Things like lots of fresh fruits and veggies, supplements, chiropractic adjustments, cooking with coconut oil and making sure he has outside time every day. Since my son is "high octane" (lots of energy and the best smile you've ever seen) we focused on things we can do to ground him, hence the brushing. I had heard of the technique, especially for dealing with sensory processing disorders, but had no real idea what it involved.

The brush is a simple surgical-prep brush. As you can see in the picture, I'm pressing pretty firmly. This is a must, because you are wanting to stimulate the deep pressure receptors. Using strong, firm strokes you can either brush one direction or rub back and forth in a smaller area. This is done on the limbs, hands, feet and I include the back. You follow this act with joint compression of the brushed areas. "The most important part," Miss Paula said "is the joint compression you do after the brushing". Now, this made complete sense. When you perform quick and light distraction and compression of the joint you are resetting the proprioceptors of the joint capsule. I will manually do this to his upper limbs and for the lower limbs I either have him jump a few times or pick him up an inch or so and lightly thump him back down on his feet. Also, I press down firmly on his shoulders a few times as I look into his eyes nose to nose and make funny faces.

My son takes in much of his environmental input thru physical means - he is very tactile and always touching or doing something. Brushing, for him, is very grounding and helps focus his energies for a bit. Brushing can be used for hyposensory situations or hypersensory situations in children. However, if you do the brushing without resetting the joint after then you leave the nervous system in limbo. As you can imagine, this is very upsetting for a nervous system that is already in a state of irritation and dysfunction.

Here's the exciting conclusion . Brushing and other occupational therapy techniques and chiropractic adjustments are just different facets of the same purpose . . . to RECONNECT DISCONNECTED KIDS. To improve the communication between the brain and body. This is why children with neurosensory issues have the best results using a multi-faceted approach - each small act (adjustments, brushing, exercise, diet, etc.) contributes to a greater movement toward equilibrium which benefits everyone.

Meeting Miss Paula has been a blessing. My son has been absolutely loving this brushing technique as have I. It's been a great way for him to slow down and really focus on something he enjoys. Also, the connection with each other in those short seconds is priceless.