We parents of sensory kiddos make three common mistakes and suddenly find ourselves in the middle of an angry meltdown.
Here they are and how to avoid them.
We talked last week about these sensory kids brains and how they’re stressed because of spinal issues. That means their brain is getting a constant flow of confusing and overwhelming sensory information. As a result, it might not take very much to set them up for an angry meltdown.
Common Mistake 1. Forcing them into a change.
Common stressors for sensory kids are:
- Bathing
- Brushing their teeth
- Getting dressed, and
- Bedtimes
Even the smallest change with any of these activities makes a big disruption to these kiddos because it’s all about their perception of a situation.
Solution: Learn and know your child’s sensory triggers and let them lead into the change your proposing.
Keep in mind it may be two steps forward and one step back. And that’s okay.
Common Mistake 2. Assuming your child is not capable.
It’s so easy to want to do everything for our kids. As parents, our thoughts and intents are…Everything we do is to make our child’s life easier. Which is wonderful.
However, with sensory kids there are things going on in their brain that you need to be aware of. They can’t help their behavior. It’s automatic – just what happens.
Here’s the neurophysiological (brain to body) communication that’s going on…
The brain works – and develops – by using it. For all of us. (That amazing ability ’s called neuroplasticity.)
In other words, the more you use the brain for an activity, or a thought, or anything new, the better the brain makes connections around that new thing you’re using it for.
That being said, your sensory child may have to do something 100 times to ‘get it’, where another child only has to do it 5 times to ‘get it’. (Yep, their brain is so busy with all the sensory info it’s difficult to concentrate thru the noise.)
Solution: Be patient. Be a teacher to them. Be an encourager to them. Help them understand that they are NOT dumb. Or ‘less than’.
At this point, they simply need more repetition and a little more practice in certain things. Especially if the sensory system is off from a spinal issue and we’re working on it.
Be encouraged! Living will become easier as we’re working to clear up the sensory system.
Common Mistake 3. Rewarding and punishing based on uncontrollable behavior.
We might think that they can control themselves but let me lay this out for you.
We can force kids to push thru their sensory struggles and desensitize them to social discomfort. Desensitize them to touch, taste, hearing – really any sensory stuff.
But if their spine isn’t moving well…
If their brain is living in a constant state of survival because 80% of their sensory input is messed up if their spine isn’t working properly, then the desensitizing makes compensations in the sensory system.
These compensations don’t take care of the actual major issue – the root cause of the problem.
Even going to other practitioners: Occupational therapists, Behavior therapists, Other chiropractors, Physical therapists…
If they’re not doing a neurological scan like here at Radiant Life, to check the spine for it’s 80% info ability and see how clear it’s working, then we’re not clearing up the spine.
As a parent, that’s a really big deal because we want to get down to the root cause of the major issues to resolve from there so their living can get a lot easier.
Solution: – give them small wins that lead them to the big wins. Notice and compliment them on the things they do right.
Truthfully, sometimes we have to close our eyes to the things that bug us and keep moving forward even as we’re working toward clearing up their spine.
So in all your helping your child to grow and develop and become – the question becomes:
Am I working on the root cause or just a secondary effect?
And that questions leads to…How long does it take to clear up the spine? The best way to answer that is…it depends.
Keep in mind, whenever you want to change the body it takes time and consistent repetition.
Learning a new skill like guitar. A thinking skill like math. A health habit like building muscle or losing weight, etc. Everything!
How do we learn something new? Hitting the gym or practicing a skill multiple times a week will help you reach your goal as fast as you’re able. The amount of time depends on how unskilled or out of shape you are.
It’s the same with clearing the spine. It’s very customized to each patient. That’s the beauty of our neurological scans and what our scans tell us.
Thinking. Learning. And doing becomes easier and easier as we’re working on the function of the spine and clearing up the sensory system.
Come in today and let’s get started.
