Temple Talks by Temple Grandin

Author:Temple Grandin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sensory Focus, LLC
Published: 2015-03-10T16:00:00+00:00

I loved mirrors as a kid; I was fascinated by them. We would go to my aunt’s house, and I would run down a long hallway at the end of which was a large mirror, and watch myself get bigger as I approached. Figure 18 shows a child swinging on a swing. The researchers did not use a swing in this particular study because they were trying to keep costs down and limit themselves to things most people have in their homes, but some kids respond really well to slow swinging such as the kind you see here. Some kids also respond well to therapeutic horseback riding because it involves both rhythm and balancing.

The researchers also engaged activities that involved balancing. For a simple balancing activity, you could nail an 8 ft. 2 x 4 board to the floor and have the child walk on it. Figure 19 shows a boy with a weighted vest. To make this work, have the child wear the vest for about 20 minutes and then take it off for a while. The thing to remember about these sensory activities, especially when you are using single things repeatedly, is that they work for some children but not for others. So you have to try different things until you find what works. A key finding in the study was that using stimuli that kept changing was important. A common mistake in many sensory programs is always using the same thing. Try a weighted vest with aromatherapy scents that are constantly changing.

I think it is important to desensitize touch in small children so they will like hugging, or at least tolerate it without distress. This is another thing that was done in the California study. To do this, you could hug the child while he or she is listening to music or doing some other sensory activity. Touching is one of the easiest things you can do to desensitize. Remember: Tickle touches are alarming, and firm pressure is calming.

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