Can You Relate?
If you clicked on this link then I know you will relate to meltdowns, avoiding situations and clothes, and not knowing the best way to help your child. Working in the sensory world we see struggles with the way clothes feel on kids all the time. What’s normal? What should I be worried about? Will they grow out of it? These are the common questions we hear from concerned parents. Listen to this common case study we literally just had a week ago!
CASE STUDY: 5/24/2017 3.5 year old girl
“When our daughter started crying and melting down every time we put her in the car seat we initially thought she was just overreacting. She would complain about how her underwear felt and this would go on sometimes to the point that we would have to get out of the car and cancel our trip. We first tried to push through it because we figured she was just being a stubborn little girl. Quickly realizing that she was in horrible discomfort we began sympathizing with her and comforting her the best we were able. Nothing helped. It got so bad that our daughter did not wear underwear for about 6 months over the course of the winter.
We were at a loss but we remembered working with Dr Andy at Radiant Life in the past and he always talked about amazing experiences with sensory problems in kids. He sat down with me and talked about everything we’ve been through until it all started making sense. We needed to address her sensory system head on. A local pediatric therapy center already had us scheduled for an evaluation so he urged us to go ahead and do that evaluation. After the appointment at the therapy center we walked away with them telling us there was slight tactile hypersensitivity (as a mom I couldn’t believe they weren’t seeing what I saw every day!). They gave a brushing technique and said she would grow out of it. Since I had already talked to Dr Andy I knew there was more we could do.”
I Knew There Was Something Wrong
Thankfully this little girl’s mom came back to the office and we game planned more. Mom knew her brain was overstimulated so it was a matter of understanding how a child’s brain gets input. We performed a neurological scan assessing over 80% of the input that stimulates the brain which comes from movement of the spine. When this 80% is disrupted we almost always see sensory overstimulation in other areas because the brain cannot function efficiently and has to make up function by changing the other 20% of senses (the common 5 senses we know).
Long story short, in this case after 3 adjustments her little girl was putting underwear on again and rarely even mentioning it feeling funny. Next time she came into the office mom asked her to tell me what she was able to do now and she pulled her underwear up and said, “Look! I’m wearing Ariel!” If you personally are working with a child who has sensory struggles please understand that there is a ton you can do and it rarely takes years to improve their quality of life if we take this on with priority. There is an efficient way to change sensory input and a money/time wasting approach to helping kids so be confident and know that we are here to help! Contact us as soon as possible to learn more.
Don’t hesitate to contact us anytime! At Radiant Life we are accessible on our website, FB, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter.
