The Sensory-Sensitive Child : Practical Solutions for Out-of-Bounds Behavior

Rating:
Summary: Validating - read this and take a deep breath of relief
Review: Sensory integration is a misunderstood topic. Once you've lived with it though you understand it exists. Children whose senses interpret data differently are so often misunderstood and labeled as "uncooperative" or behavioral problems when in fact they simply perceive the world differently. These children are reprimanded and try to conform but without the same tools as those judging them often feel like failures and carry that shame and self-doubt with them making progress that much more difficult. Auditory processing is often out of sync with visual or kinesthetic learning so children with different tools in the tool box often experience life as misunderstood and frustrated leading to behavioral acting out.

This book is written not only by experienced clinicians but both authors also wear the hats of moms with "Sensory Sensitive" boys. The ground breaking work done by Ayres in the area of sensory processing variances has not received the degree of clinical acceptance and understanding until now.

I so highly recommend a book like this one for parents of children who are great kids but just not towing the line as expected. The "line" doesn't work for these children as it does for others and the idea here is to help a child, a family, a teacher recognize how to move the line so the child can feel successful. Once a child with sensory processing difficulty starts to feel assimilated the challenges lessen.

For me as a child without having all the psycho babble available it was always music therapy that put life in order. I couldn't learn my times tables so I had a teacher put it in a song. I still go back through the melody to remember the sequence. That very same sequencing by melody method worked for my son too who struggled and still does but maintains a gratifying sense of self accomplishment because we've tried to see his life through his eyes and ears, not ours.

Occupational therapy by a wonderful therapist is a most assured answer in practice as well as discussed in this book. The book preaches more than just patience. There are some very practical methods described here to make life less frustrating for a child who sees the world through a different filter. I always try to remember that Einstein also saw the world through a different filter and his contributions to the world are priceless.

The bottom line is this: if you think your child is struggling unnecessarily read the book and think about options that might make your life and his or hers less of a struggle and more of accomplishment. If there is even a chance of some suggestions by the authors working for your child it is worth the read isn't it?

Rating:
Summary: Validating - read this and take a deep breath of relief
Review: Sensory integration is a misunderstood topic. Once you've lived with it though you understand it exists. Children whose senses interpret data differently are so often misunderstood and labeled as "uncooperative" or behavioral problems when in fact they simply perceive the world differently. These children are reprimanded and try to conform but without the same tools as those judging them often feel like failures and carry that shame and self-doubt with them making progress that much more difficult. Auditory processing is often out of sync with visual or kinesthetic learning so children with different tools in the tool box often experience life as misunderstood and frustrated leading to behavioral acting out.

This book is written not only by experienced clinicians but both authors also wear the hats of moms with "Sensory Sensitive" boys. The ground breaking work done by Ayres in the area of sensory processing variances has not received the degree of clinical acceptance and understanding until now.

I so highly recommend a book like this one for parents of children who are great kids but just not towing the line as expected. The "line" doesn't work for these children as it does for others and the idea here is to help a child, a family, a teacher recognize how to move the line so the child can feel successful. Once a child with sensory processing difficulty starts to feel assimilated the challenges lessen.

For me as a child without having all the psycho babble available it was always music therapy that put life in order. I couldn't learn my times tables so I had a teacher put it in a song. I still go back through the melody to remember the sequence. That very same sequencing by melody method worked for my son too who struggled and still does but maintains a gratifying sense of self accomplishment because we've tried to see his life through his eyes and ears, not ours.

Occupational therapy by a wonderful therapist is a most assured answer in practice as well as discussed in this book. The book preaches more than just patience. There are some very practical methods described here to make life less frustrating for a child who sees the world through a different filter. I always try to remember that Einstein also saw the world through a different filter and his contributions to the world are priceless.

The bottom line is this: if you think your child is struggling unnecessarily read the book and think about options that might make your life and his or hers less of a struggle and more of accomplishment. If there is even a chance of some suggestions by the authors working for your child it is worth the read isn't it?

Rating:
Summary: Sensory Supportive
Review: Thank you Karen Smith and Karen Gouze (and each of your sons) for this most helpful book. I have had the vague "Sensory Integration Issues" diagnosis for my son since age three but had yet to find all the words to describe my own responses to our daily interactions with each other and all the well-meaning people in our lives, especially family members and peer groups.

My first reaction to this book was riveting. Standing in the library, holding this book and watching my son perform one of his "overstimulated responses" for the librarian and me, I knew that this book was going to be a must read for us. That same librarian had helped us last year to research the subject of Sensory Integration when neither of us clearly understood its meaning or significance in our lives.

The moment I began reading Karen Smith's description of her son, Evan, I knew that this was a voice of experience who could help us further identify more of the missing pieces of our journey.

She did. Within less than a day, we came to Amazon and purchased two copies of this book because it will be highlighted and shared with members of our family, our Occupational Therapist, Physiatrist and several Massage and Physical Therapist friends of ours who have been helping us on this path and groping for meaning and understanding with a beautiful child who, like Evan, is only just beginning to express to us many of the same feelings that Evan and his mother have shared in this book.

If your child responds to touch or light or sound in any way that makes you pause to wonder what might be happening, read this book. It is thoughtful and considerate of the reader by being well organized and informative but with clear communication in laymen's terms and expressed from the point of views of both the parent and child.

I give it four stars vs. five because there was a web site provided (www.sensorysensitivechild.com) but no means there or within the book that I've found for contacting the authors or further exploring this topic which is clearly described within the book as not yet fully understood or resolved. I expected and hope that these authors will use this book and their web site as an opportunity for dialogue among people dealing with this issue to go further and find more solutions together, including exploring topics such as natural health methods and therapies that have or have not been helpful.

In its next printing or in future website updates, I hope to see a forum arise through these women and their sons to allow further exploration of this area, including helping adults with these issues unravel the source of their discomfort that may have never been addressed.