I was asked to write a blog on my reflections on the STAR Summit’s Virtual Conference but now I feel it doesn’t begin to do it justice really. There were so many interesting talks – and as I say in the article, not by those I had expected.
Something I’ve been mulling on since but didn’t go into detail about was desensitisation. A few speakers mentioned that goals to work on toleration of sensation shouldn’t be encouraged. This had me thinking about children I have worked with on tolerating wearing various items of school uniform using ASI (which is obviously child-led, fun and collaborative in its’ essence!). I justified this by thinking that I would never ask for a child to purely tolerate wearing something for X number of minutes whilst the child’s nervous system was in distress. But is it okay to use ASI to desensitise tactile over responsiveness with regards school uniform? Should we instead be looking to facilitate more inclusive sensory environments – such as focusing more on working with schools to create inclusive uniform policies? Or perhaps a mix of both?
Have a read of my blog post for SIE if you haven’t already – it’s an exciting time for SI therapists and we’ve a real role to play in shifting the narrative when working with autistic children and adults.
I’ve just finished the Autism in Schools project I was commissioned to complete this term (and waiting to hear whether they may extend it). I wrote in June that I was about to set up a Movement Space. I decided to use this term, rather than ‘sensory room’, so that there was a clear focus on active, rather than passive, sensory experiences.
In May half-term, our SENCO and pastoral worker and I traipsed into school, dragging with us expertly manually handling equipment: some loaned from me and some borrowed from the PE cupboard. This included: an itinerant swing frame, a complete with platform swing, aerial silks, a rope ladder, a button swing and cocoon swing; a foam crash pad; a bouncy barrel; crash mats; a spinning top; a weighted blanket; stepping stones; a balance board and a whole load of other small sensory bits.
I deliberated about the safety of lending equipment that is generally used under my watchful gaze, but as children can go to a park and get similar experiences without any need for a therapist, I reassured myself it was a measured risk and I made a safety video for staff to watch before using the room (covering things like signs of over-arousal of the vestibular system, keeping children safe with mats and beanbags etc).
The movement space was a success! The school has now ordered the same equipment to continue providing movement spaces in both the infant and junior schools. The pastoral worker was absolutely key to the success of the project: her enthusiasm and knowledge of sensory needs was already excellent – and her approach gave more hesitant staff the confidence to try things out. A calmer summer term was the result, with lovely examples such as a boy just totally relaxing onto the foam crash pad after being quite upset, saying “Its just like a cloud!” and being able to go back into class successfully.
I think there’s a lot of scope for including movement rooms in mainstream schools, and the staff in charge on site are crucial to the success. Definitely something I’ll be taking forwards with me! You can see photos of the movement space here.
This soft, lumpy crash pad is an absolute hero of rough and tumble play. Got a little one who likes to leap off high places? The crash pad is here to help. It helps challenge balance, it’s an interesting tactile experience and it provides a rustle-free crash landing (unlike beanbags that tend to make quite a noise! As well as not being that soft to land on when the fabric is at it’s maximum stretch).
Crash pad made with a single duvetMe- crashed out on a large crash padUsing the crash pad as a swing stabiliser
So… To make the crash pad you will need:
Zippable allergy duvet protector (single duvet is fine but double if you want to go giant!) (Link as an example) Zipped is key! Don’t get one with buttons or poppers – you need the zip to hold all the foam in.
Duvet cover (in whatever colours and patterns you/ your little person likes) – in whatever size your duvet protector is.
Lots of foam offcuts (I sourced some for free from a local Upholstery business – they often have offcuts they would like to go to use)
Bread knife
Scissors
Instructions
I lay out all the foam pieces to check for any pins. I also used a fabric cleaning spray to make sure all the pieces were clean.
Cleaning spray
2. Open your duvet protector and hang it somewhere so it’s open – this makes it easier to throw all the foam pieces in as you cut them.
3. I cut the foam outside – it creates lots of mess so it was easier to sweep up this way. I used a combination of tearing some pieces with my hands, using a bread knife, and scissors for thinner pieces. In terms of size, I cut them up to about the same size pieces as the length of my scissors. You can cut them smaller or larger depending on whether you want it more or less lumpy! The smaller you cut, the more foam you’ll need.
Bread knife and scissors – cut the foam upThe size of foam blocks I cutCut up the foam
4. As I cut, I threw all the foam pieces into the zippable duvet protector. Once all the pieces are in there, zip it up!
Foam pieces in the duvet protector
5. Now wrestle your giant crash pad into the outer duvet case – put the zipped end in first so it’s not at the end with the duvet opening (this is to prevent curious fingers unzipping the inner protector and foam going everywhere!) Ta da! You did it!
Hiding in the barrelIt goes a bit wonky sometimes!Putting cushions inside
This came about when I was trying to create a Movement Space/ Sensory Gym in a Junior school. I really wanted a soft play barrel to add to the space, but these were around £500 each which was out of the budget.
So – this easy, no sew bouncy barrel does the job brilliantly!
Barrels are great therapeutic tools. They give lots of proprioceptive, tactile and vestibular input. They challenge motor planning and bilateral integration and provide great escape spaces with a blanket over the top.
Bear in mind the method below means you CANNOT access the valves easily, so don’t make this if you want to inflate and deflate your tyre barrel regularly. Unless you’re OK with the valves sticking out, but it makes them a bit unsafe for vigorous play as there’s hard pokey bits in the area you’ll be rolling around in.
Inner tubes are also just great play objects without being made into a barrel too – they can be bounced on, into, through, stacked and used for all sorts of fun, so they can be repuprposed if needed also.
ALLERGIES: Also, please be aware that I believe inner tubes often contain latex, so these won’t be suitable for people with latex allergies.
Ingredients for 1 Bouncy Barrel:
3x 20” inner tubes (or around 20”) (You could also use 4 or 5 tyres to make an even bigger barrel!)
2m Lycra
Thick foam (I used soft foam and firm foam for extra security.)
Gaffa tape
Scissors
Glue gun (optional, only if using 2 types of foam)
Instructions
Inflate your tyres – you’ll probably need to take them to a garage tyre pump unless you happen to have a special pump at home. Bear in mind these tyres are BIG! So only inflate all of them if you have enough room in your car.
2. Securely Gaffa tape the valves down sideways.
Taping the valve down
3. Cut out a small square of soft foam, just bigger than the valves. Cut a larger square out of the soft foam and glue gun these together. (Or you can just use one layer of firm foam – I used two for extra safety!)
Two layers of foam
4. Gaffa tape the foam over the top of the valves securely. You’ll want to use lots – I completely covered the foam so it didn’t look like a tempting thing to try and access!
More Gaffa taping! Covering the foam completely.
5. When you’ve got all the valves securely covered, stack them on top of each other. Get your Lycra and wrap it round the tyres. Tie two sides of the fabric together at the top and the bottom, leaving some spare fabric before the corners. As you tie the knots, pull the fabric taut around the tyres so it holds them together. Tie the fabric together in the middle where there will now be a gap also. You can now put the corners through the centre of the tyres and tie the top to the bottom so there’s some lycra covering the inside also. This is just a guide to how I knotted it – but anything that holds the tyres together is fine!
Now we’re past Halloween and Fireworks night, the constant Christmas shopping emails are well underway. To help out, we’ve put together some ideas for presents to help create a sensational stash of presents for children with a range of needs, interests and developmental ages.
As therapists we often hear that finding Christmas presents can be a hard task, particularly adding in to the mix well meaning relatives and friends wanting to buy gifts too. So we’ve compiled our favourite toys and gifts below for a range of budgets and needs – AND we’ve made a Pinterest board with all the links to the toys we suggest.
Happy Senso foam. (£8 each from Southpaw). If you haven’t played with this – you should! A fun explosion of crackly foam that feels like popping candy. Loved by little and big people alike.
Bubbles. (Blizzard Bubbles from B&M £1.79, 3 years +). Always a winner. Great for little people to watch and work on hand eye coordination. Great for children at primary and secondary level to work on calming using breathing strategies and mindfulness.
Weighted lap pad (£43 from Sensory Direct) or weighted blanket (~£150 from Sensory Direct). Follow guidelines around safe use and weight recommendations (eg https://www.sensorydirect.com/media/wysiwyg/Blanketguidelines2017Capture.JPG). Or make your own / find a willing relative with a sewing machine and some festive goodwill!
Body sock. (£40 from Sensory Direct) you can buy these or again, these can be made! We have a tutorial on how to do this here.
Lycra tunnel (£50 from Amazon). These are probably the easiest items to make. Just buy a few meters of Lycra and sew up the long edge (check the diameter before you sew so that it will fit a small person through it!)
Peanut ball or gym ball. Peanut balls are great for children who need to move but may find a gym ball too challenging. Helps give vestibular and proprioceptive input, as well as deep pressure if used for rolling over hands and legs (with care!)
Vibrating cushion. Gives intense tactile input. This one has an on/ off button which means you don’t have to rely on children having enough strength to squeeze the cushion (as with other designs).
Chews. From vibrating Z vibes to ARC P’s, to cooler chewy toggles and pencil toppers, there’s a chew for everyone. A useful organising and calming strategy as chewing gives lots of proprioceptive (heavy muscle work) input into the jaw.
Bilibo – A great addition for any sensory kid who loves to spin! This simple toy encourages creative and sensory motor play. Most often used to sit in and spin, but can also be used to balance on, used as a bucket or pull along toy, a turtle shell, a helmet…
Bead curtain – One of the most overpriced pieces of sensory equipment, but so magical. It seems to be mesmerising for so many children at an early stage of development. The beads provide tactile, auditory and visual input that can be very calming. Nice to develop awareness of another as you can sit the other side and play too
Ikea egg chair – Long time favourite of the sensory child! It spins, has a cover to hide under and provides a great little escape place.
Ball run These can be another expensive investment in the grand scheme of toys. Cheaper versions can be found (or even made by some handy people!) Encourages hand eye coordination, visual tracking and turn taking.
Aqua Magic/ Water doodle mats – Great no-mess option to practice mark making. It just uses water and colour magically appears. Can be done lying on tummies for extra therapy points!
IKEA Egg chair (for smaller primary children) Long time favourite of the sensory child! It spins, has a cover to hide under and provides a great little escape place.
Find It Games – These are tubes filled with tiny plastic beads and objects to find. Great for occupying time when sat waiting or travelling – and a nice alternative to screen time.
Dark Den – or pop up tents. Creating a calm space for children to hang out in or calm down in is so helpful. The pop up dark den from Sensory Direct is one of our favourites as it collapses to a small size, but provides a good sized retreat that can be used with light up toys.
Light up toys These go really well with the dark den and provide visual input. Some children find this calming – don’t put all the lights on all at once unless you’re trying to alert someone!
Relax Kids This company have a great range of fun CDs and books with meditations designed for children. Fab to promote calm and relaxation.
Did you buy any of these? Already have them? Used it as inspiration? Let us know!
Come join us for our opening party! Full details here: Opening party
Everyone welcome – come join us for a nose at our fun new therapy space in Basepoint Business Centre, Aviation Park (next to Bournemouth Airport). There’ll be drinks, nibbles and a chance to meet other families and professionals.
A few weeks ago, I bought some red lycra. In the world of sensory equipment – lycra is my friend! It stretches, it’s silky soft, it comes in lots of colours and it’s easy to get hold of and, best of all, it’s cheap. I bought 1 meter of this lycra from Fabricland.
The body sock is a great sensory tool – it provides a space to stretch against resistance (proprioception), a snug place to hide to minimise visual input and a great motor planning activity to get into and see how you can move your body. For children who struggle to have good body awareness, it can help them know where their body ends, and proprioceptive input such as this is often calming for those with and without sensory integration difficulties.
The body sock I made is adult sized as we want some equipment for parents to try out. You can make this smaller to your child’s height. This body sock can fit me (4’10″…arguably child sized according to multiple clothes shops!) and my other half (6’2″) due to the wonderful stretchy properties of the lycra!
I didn’t cut the lycra at all, and went with how it was cut to a meter in the shop.
So – to turn this rectangle into a body sock requires some fiddling around but if I can manage it, that means any level of basic sewing will get you by! Don’t aim for it to be perfect, it just needs to be securely sewn and roughly in a rectangle shape. I just used standard thread but it may be worth getting some more heavy duty thread for children who really like to push and stretch.
Decide which is the outside of your fabric. I’m sure there’s some rule for this, but I just looked at both sides and decided which size I liked better – this side is your ‘right side’.
Fold your fabric rectangle in half length ways, right sides together.
To make a neat edge for your opening where you will climb into the body sock from, about a quarter of the way down, pin a neat hem – I pinned for about 50 cm but this is for a 10year old – adult sized one. I would imagine 30cm would be fine for a 5 year old. (This was fiddly as the lycra rolled itself in on itself).
Sew down the pinned section, making sure to double stitch the ends as this will get a lot of stretching! Repeat on the other side of the fabric so there is a mirror image hem that side too.
With your fabric right sides folded together still, pin either side of the opening then pin both sides of the fabric together, leaving the neatly hemmed opening unpinned. Sew up these seams either side.
Now you should have a long tube (with a neatly hemmed opening!) Lay the fabric flat on a surface and get the sewn seam in the middle – as per this photo:
Sew up top and bottom seams (you can pin first if you want but I just attacked this with my sewing machine – its not an exact art and doesn’t need to be perfect – just a sack to stretch around in!) Again, I double stitched over all of these to make sure it could take some stretching.
Ta da! Your body sock is ready! You can add velcro up the hemmed edges if you want, but I’ve left mine open as the velcro can sometimes add in an irritating tactile and noise element. Some children prefer velcro-ing themselves in though – its all a matter of personal body sock preference!
Here’s a photo of the finished product – one with me in and one with other half modelling – the scary face on the t-shirt adds to the overall effect I think!
