Sensory Seeking Toddler

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Clearly this may be well suited elsewhere as I haven't a diagnosis for my little one, but since my oldest daughter and I both identify with AS it is pretty obvious that our toddler has some similar traits.

That said, she is a lovely, "little professor"-type 22 month old with a massive vocabulary. She is sometimes loud and occasionally agressive with her tone/words. She will "argue" that she is the funnier of the 2 of you or that she is "bored". She follows instruction from her older sister for complete dance routines and loves to match lids to their original owners (bottles).

She is particularly fond of shoes, but hates clothes. She loves to smear her body with food and refuses to sit to eat. She LOVES her sisters weighted lap pad and asks for massage. She is a huge fan of the exercise ball and being "bounced about". She craves deep pressure and at bed time she has a difficult time calming unless "pile driving" whomever takes her to bed. She has recently started biting during times of overstimulation, but we are equally shocked at the behaviour and it upsets her deeply when she realizes someone is hurt. She once had a need to pinch and pick etc at our neck as a calming mechanism when feeling cuddly/sleepy, but it became too unbearable as the time passed and she became stronger and more agressive. My husband trained her to do this in a less sensitive spot and while it was an awesome short term plan...it still sucks! She screams "I want elbow" and refuses any other form of calming. It is painful and a fairly annoying sensation, at best!

I spoke to someone at a "make and take to motivate and regulate" workshop for children on the spectrum and they suggested to try a "water baby". It sounded like an amazing alternative. We ordered one and it is totally the kind of thing we were hoping for, but she isn't interested no matter how much we try. I figured I could sway her into squishing this baby that felt warm, squishy and "real"...but instead we have a heavy new addition to cuddle/sleep time. *sigh*

Aynone else have sensory seeking children? Got any ideas for coping with these sensory needs?

Try a weighted vest for her while she eats, that might help. also have u ever checked into the sensory diet? http://www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com ... tocol.html that might also help? Also check out this site, seems to have a lot of good stuff sensory wise. http://www.adaptivechild.com/index.asp? ... rodID=1160 I'm a huge sensory seeker, big time, severe sensory problems and im in desperate need of trying to find stuff that works hehehe, so i kinda know what ur going through hehe. Hope this helps!

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Being Normal Is Vastly Overrated

My 3.5yo is on a sensory diet put together by her Occupational Therapist and it has made a huge difference. Roughly every 2 hours we do joint compressions, and a variety of different exercises to meet her sensory needs. Biting was an issue until we got her a chewy tube to chew on. We do a lot of oral motor exercises. Use vibrating cushions and toys. Alternate between crunchy and chewy foods at meal times. And our lounge room is now an indoor gym so that our little girl has a safe space to do her thing.

However even with all that sometimes trouble just happens. Heidi's new (as in developed in the last 48 hours) habit of attempting to strangle me whenever she gets upset is bothersome. Not sure if that is her reacting to being in hospital this week or what but I'm attempting to divert the need with a stress ball. I'm sure we've all wanted to strangle our parents at one point or another, I just didn't expect her to start so young

I'd say to get in and see a good Occupational Therapist if you can, it makes the world of difference.

Thank you WPer's! I don't know why, but somehow we always end up so wrapped up in life that we forget that the OT will be our best buddy:)

We had our little one on a list for service and when we moved they told us we were out of the area for service and well, one things led to another (unpacking, traveling, getting married, etc) and here we are again.

Thanks for the advice and tips. Going to make it my new special interest of the week

Appreciate you's!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! So freakin' annoyed! Apparently the new funders for health care reallocated funds and because of the area we live in, coupled with our choice to homeschool, we do not qualify for OT services!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! !

How do these people sleep at night???! !! !

HATE THEM!

We had a ball pit and bounce house set up in our basement when our house was not on the market. It helped my son a lot to have those things.

Other nice OT things:
1. swings
2. slides
3. tub full of rice and beans to stick your hand in
4. a "soft" area filled with pillows
5. dark areas to explore with a flashlight
6. tossing heavy beanbags to one another

Thank you:)

These are all good suggestions and I am going to get on it:)

Amazing how your life takes all these incredible unexpected turns with our unique little souls to care for.

If you'd have asked my husband 5 years ago if he'd imagined himself playing with squishy toys, throwing his kids around on massive exercise balls, lugging a pinchy baby and her weighted lap pad/water-filled dolly to bed, sorting bottle caps with a 22 month old, trying to uncover the kid covered from head to toe in stuffed animals and pillows in bed, switching foods around to keep from major sensory reactions etc. he'd have thought you were nuts.

Now we are the hand flapping, deep pressure/wrapping, pillow fitting, white noise loving family and most things are A-ok

Now if only we could get some services *sigh*