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Sexuality through the Senses: 15 Ways Disordered Sensory Processing Affects Intimacy

Cwalker — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 23:46:57 +0000

Sexuality through the Senses: 15 Ways Disordered Sensory Processing Affects Intimacy Cwalker Mon, 12/21/2020 - 23:46

Disordered sensory processing can affect individuals with all types of neurodivergence, including those with SPD, ADHD, bipolar disorder, anxiety, as well as people on the spectrum. While disordered sensory processing impacts many aspects of life, there is one dynamic part that is not often discussed: Intimacy!

Intimacy with a partner engages multiple and conflicting sensory systems, such as tactile (touch), vision (sight), auditory (hearing), gustatory (taste), olfactory (smell), vestibular (head position in space), proprioception (body awareness), and interoception (awareness of internal body sensations). Sensory experiences evoked during intimacy can be unpredictable and varied; people may seek out certain sensations and struggle to make sense of others. It is common for an individual to be over-responsive in one system, and under-responsive in another. Individuals with disordered sensory processing may also experience deficits in praxis and postural control – this can affect their comfortability during intimacy and ability to execute certain positions. For example, praxis involves the planning and sequencing of actions that enable individuals to maneuver their body to perform appropriately timed and controlled movement. In turn, postural control can affect someone’s ability to maintain an upright seated position, as well as support their arm and leg movement. Sexual activity involves a series of movements and motions; therefore, it’s important to understand the role of sensory-motor demands.

This article will provide a foundation for understanding the relationship between sexuality and disordered sensory processing, namely sensory-over and under-responsivity. Along with tips, tricks, and coping mechanisms, you’ll learn what to keep in mind when becoming intimate with a partner who experiences disordered sensory processing.

Tactile: How can Touch affect Sexuality?

Perhaps the most obvious way that disordered sensory processing can affect sexuality is through physical touch. Some individuals may dislike hugs and embraces. Others may seek out a lot of touch or intense touch experiences. Before engaging in intimacy, ask your partner about their desired touch (or lack thereof!). It’s also important to discover what kinds of touch your partner enjoys most – is a light, hard, or kneading touch preferable? A gentle massage using your partner’s touch of choice may help them ease into intimacy. Finally, try to touch your partner within their visual field. This will allow them to feel safe and understand what is occurring around them.
Some individuals with disordered sensory processing may experience sensitivity to cold or warmth. This can impact the way that someone reacts to the temperature in a room or the temperature of someone’s body parts. Communicate with your partner about what temperature they are most comfortable with! Use fans, heaters, or blankets to adjust accordingly.
Certain clothing, bedding, fabrics, and textures may cause your partner irritation. Experiment with outerwear, undergarments, and bedding to find what works best for you and your partner.

Wetness or stickiness can feel intolerable to some individuals. During intimacy, this tactile element can come from lipstick, lip-gloss, or lubricated condoms. Luckily, this is an easy fix! Avoid wearing lip products when kissing and use non-lubricated condoms during intimacy. Alternatively, you can choose to use lubrication on the outside of the condom only!

Vision: How can Sight affect Sexuality?

Bright lights may agitate individuals with disordered sensory processing during intimacy. Play around to find the best lighting for you and your partner. Try using candles, soft bedside lighting, or turn off the lights completely! Avoid engaging in intimacy directly in front of a window or another uncontrollable light source.

An environment with a surplus of visual stimulation can be overwhelming and distracting. A cluttered environment can limit your partner’s ability to engage in intimacy because they are using energy to process visual inputs. For this reason, seek out clean, neutral, and minimalist spaces! In turn, assure your partner that it is okay to close their eyes during intimacy. This can help to calm their senses and allow them to focus on you, rather than the environment.

Individuals with disordered sensory processing may have difficulty giving or maintaining eye contact during intimate moments. Visual input can be too much to handle! Remind your partner that this is A-okay.

Auditory: How can Hearing affect Sexuality?

Background noises such as music, television, or roommates speaking next door may be distracting to individuals with disordered sensory processing. Find a quiet, private place to engage in intimacy. Avoid integrating music into the environment unless your partner suggests it!

Loud noises from a partner (even noises of pleasure!) can startle someone with disordered sensory processing or distract them from motor planning. Ensure that your partner is comfortable with vocal engagement during intimacy. Decide which noises they like, and which ones are overwhelming or distracting!

Gustatory: How does Taste affect Sexuality?

Certain flavours and tastes can be difficult to process. Flavour can come from lipstick, lip-gloss, breath mints, gum, or toothpaste. Choose flavours that your partner enjoys or avoid flavourful mouth products altogether.

The thought of sharing saliva can be equally daunting for those with disordered sensory processing. If this is the case, you can consciously adjust your activity (such as kissing) to be dry and saliva-free.

Olfactory: How does Smell affect Sexuality?

Similar to taste, strong smells can negatively affect individuals with disordered sensory processing. During intimate moments, scents of perfume, cologne, laundry detergent, or natural body odour are present. If your partner is averse to this, here are several simple solutions! Avoid strong-smelling lotions, body sprays, hair gels, deodorants and perfumes when becoming intimate with your partner. Likewise, switch to a no-scent laundry detergent. Finally, encourage the use of no-scent baby wipes or fabric cloths to clean your bodies before, during, and after intimacy.

Vestibular: How does Head Position in Space affect Sexuality?

Some individuals with disordered sensory processing have difficulty understanding where their head is in space; they may become disoriented or sensitive to different head positions. On the other hand, they may seek out intense vestibular sensations by engaging in extreme movements and positions. While some individuals may feel more comfortable being stable and stationary, others crave motion. These factors can affect comfortability in intimate positions– communicate with your partner to discuss which positions and movements work best! Always ensure that your partner is in a stable and secure position. Remind and encourage your partner to take frequent breaks during intimacy to rebalance and re-align their body.

Proprioception: How does Awareness of Internal Body Sensations Affect Sexuality?

Individuals with disordered sensory processing may exhibit uncoordinated movements, or struggle to comprehend how much force they are exerting with their muscles. They may also have difficulty understanding where their arms and legs are in relation to the rest of their body, or other’s bodies. This may make motor planning difficult. Before engaging in intimacy, clear the environment of anything that could be stumbled over. Move slowly and cautiously when being intimate. Give your partner the chance to establish their sense of body awareness!

Interoception: How does Awareness of Sensation Affect Sexuality?

Individuals who struggle with interoception might have difficulty knowing when they feel hurt, tired, cold, warm, hungry, thirsty, or sexually aroused. For this reason, regular check-ins are important. Ask questions like, “are you comfortable?” and “do you want to adjust anything?”. Interoceptive awareness also impacts our ability to understand emotional regulation within ourselves and others. As individuals with disordered interoception have a hard time understanding their own body and emotional cues, they may also have difficulty reading non-verbal cues from their partners. As a partner, it is vital that you use clear and effective communication to share what is working, and what is not. If your partner is unable to verbally express their sensations, use visual cues to figure out whether your partner is hot (sweating) or cold (shivering, choosing to go under blankets).

Navigating intimacy is difficult in general – but individuals with disordered sensory processing may require extra support. A great tip is to discuss the activity before engaging in it – tell your partner what to expect! Prepare them for the sensations and motor actions that they will experience. Routine and predictability can help your partner feel comfortable. Throughout the process, give your partner space to regulate themselves and their bodies. Understanding your partner’s sensory threshold is also important for successful intimacy. A shared understanding of boundaries, likenesses, and differences will contribute to a safe and enriching intimate experience.

Katja Kathol, M.Ed Candidate and Sexual Health Consultant

As an advocate for diversity and inclusion, Katja is dedicated to enriching sexual health for equity-seeking populations through digital publishing and e-Learning. Katja works to critically examine barriers to sexual education and lead strategies that support healthy relationships and body image. To better inform her writing and practice, Katja is currently pursuing a Master of Educational Psychology at McGill University. To contact her, email katjakathol@gmail.com.

Katja Kathol, Sexual Health Consultant

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Adults and SPD

Sensory Processing Disorder

Separating Families Impacts Our Future – The Empirical Evidence

STAR Admin — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 00:07:29 +0000

Separating Families Impacts Our Future – The Empirical Evidence STAR Admin Fri, 06/22/2018 - 00:07

The field of Infant Mental Health is not new; it has been gathering significant momentum and credibility since the 1950s. Many of the core assumptions of infant mental health align with the field of attachment theory: children are born socially competent, with an innate tendency to develop (Brazelton, 1973; Winnicott, 2006) and an essential drive to relate and connect (Cohn & Tronick, 1987; Robertson, 1962; Shapiro, 2009).

In 1947 Dr. Rene Spitz made a film called ‘Grief: A Peril in Infancy’. A large part of the work of Spitz focused on the impact of separation from caregivers and a depraved environment on the mental health of a young child. He investigated maternal deprivation in depth and examined it’s connection to failure-to-thrive syndrome (Palombo et al., 2009). The great attachment theorist John Bowlby attributes some of the inspiration for his work to watching this film (Bowlby, 1982).

In 1958 Harry Harlow published the well-known study of macaque monkeys separated from their mothers and placed with artificial surrogate mothers - both sets of monkeys suffered but those with soft cloth mothers did better than their counterparts, who were placed with wire surrogates. The group placed with the wire 'mothers' exhibited dysregulated, aggressive and volatile behaviors, demonstrating not only the importance of proximity and availability of consistent caregiving but also the crucial sensory component of physical comfort.

Through the mid 1950s - 1990s Bowlby and Ainsworth revolutionized the understanding of infant needs, behavior and the importance of relationship with the articulation of Attachment Theory. This theory described an inborn drive for proximity to a caregiver particularly when tired, scared or unwell (Young, 2011; Zeanah, Berlin, & Boris, 2011). Bowlby called this the “child’s tie to the mother” and described attachment behavior as any behavior that creates or maintains proximity to the one who has been identified as a caregiver (Bowlby, 1982). The Bowlby-Ainsworth Attachment Model (Waters & Deane, 1985) proposed that the stability and security of the attachment relationship an infant or young child has with its mother has significant implications for intimate relationships later in life and development of sense of self. Without a secure attachment relationship the child is at risk of poor mental health (Thompson, 2008).

In 1975 Selma Fraiberg introduced the concept of Ghosts in the Nursery and highlighted how difficulties and instability, within mother-infant relations and connectedness, can be transmitted from generation to generation (Fraiberg, Adelson, & Shapiro, 1975). These ‘ghosts’ might be in the form of unresolved loss or past trauma from a parents own parenting experiences (Fraiberg et al., 1975; Weatherston, 2000).

Using videotaped interactions, Ed Tronicks’ famous face-to-face-still-face experiment made a strong argument for the mutually dependent nature of infant development (Provenzi, Olson, Montirosso, & Tronick, 2015; Tronick, 2003). The face-to-face-still-face paradigm shows us that trusting relationships are central to a child’s ability to be regulated and engage with the world. Tronick and his team spell out very clearly that consistently disrupted relational experiences create maladaptive meaning-making which in turn heightens vulnerability for later mental health challenges (Tronick & Beeghly, 2011).

Safe, secure and consistent emotional connections are critical to healthy human development and success in adult life. In 2018 we know that early, repeated and/or significant, interactions become encoded memories (Siegel, 1999) and create an ‘internal working model’ that underlies long term strengths or risk (Bettman & Friedman, 2013). We are confident that empirical evidence supports the following postulates:

An infant or young child that is well-bonded to dependable caregivers has much higher chances of survival and experiencing comfort as needs are met (Bowlby, 1958)
Consistent closeness to caregivers establishes connection and relationship (Fonagy, Lorenzini, Campbell, & Luyten, 2014)
Connection with caregivers helps the immature brain access input that regulates the infant, there is actually a brain to brain connection (Siegel, 1999)
Relationship goes both ways and as the infant and caregiver connect there are millions of emotional transactions that occur each day. Soothing, safe and attuned transactions build regulatory capacity in the child (and parent) (Fonagy, 2015; Gergely & Watson, 1996; Tronick & Beeghly, 2011).
These transactions are stored deep in the brains filing system, in an area called the Limbic Brain. This data becomes a database, or an internal working model, that informs behavior in years to come. This database of encoded memories will contribute to the young child’s sense of self, determining the nature of relationships, reciprocity and attunement to others through the lifespan (Greenspan, 2008; D. J. Siegel, 1999).

When we talk about the mental health of infants and children we are really talking about the caregiver infant relationship.

“The future of the human species hinges on our ability to maintain connections between parents and their children.”
- Roianne Ahn PhD Psychologist

The health and well-being of future generations is built upon safe, secure and consistent caregiving of infants and children. It is our cultural and moral imperative to build and maintain the family as the foundation for healthy child development, never to fracture it.

If you were touched by this article please share it to help educate others.

STAR Institute for SPD

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Top Ten Myths of Mealtime in America

STAR Admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 17:22:09 +0000

Top Ten Myths of Mealtime in America STAR Admin Thu, 12/15/2016 - 17:22

There are many misconceptions about mealtime. For families who have trouble during mealtime. Clarifying these misconceptions can be very helpful to ease feeding difficulties at during meals.

MYTH #1 = Eating is the Body’s number 1 priority.

Why it is false...

Actually, BREATHING is the Body’s number 1 priority. Without good oxygenation, eating difficult because we shut off our airway briefly with every swallow and our oxygen level decreases slightly (or we have to significantly increase our respiratory rate to maintain oxygen such that we are burning off any calories we take in). POSTURAL STABIITY (“not falling on your head”) is actually Body priority number 2. Eating is only Body priority number 3. If either breathing or postural stability are compromised, eating may be resisted.

MYTH #2 = Eating is instinctive.

Why it is false...

Eating is only an instinctive drive for the first month of life. From birth to 3-4 months of age, we have a set of primitive motor reflexes (e.g. rooting, sucking, swallowing) which help us eat while we lay down pathways in the brain for voluntary motor control over eating. Between the end of the 5th or 6th months of life, these primitive motor reflexes “drop out” and eating is essentially a learned motor behavior after 6 months of age.

MYTH #3 = Eating is easy.

Why it is false...

Eating is the MOST complex physical task that human beings engage in. It is the ONLY human task which requires every one of your organ systems, and requires that all of those systems work correctly. In addition, EVERY muscle in the body is involved (one swallow for example, takes 26 muscles and 6 cranial nerves to coordinate). Plus, eating is the ONLY task children do which requires simultaneous coordination of all 8 of our sensory systems. Learning, Development, Nutrition and the Environment also have to be integrated in to make sure a child eats correctly.

MYTH #4 = Eating is a two step process; 1 = you sit down, 2 = you eat.

Why it is false...

There are actually about 25 steps for typically developing children and 32 steps or more for children with feeding problems, in the process of learning to eat (see the Steps To Eating handout).

MYTH #5 = It is not appropriate to touch or paly with your food.

Why it is false...

Wearing your food is part of the normal developmental process of learning to eat it. You can learn a great deal about the foods, BEFORE they ever get into your mouth, by touching them and playing with them first. It is “play with a purpose” that teaches a child the “physics of the foods” before the foods ever get into their mouth. Being messy is an important part of learning to eat.

MYTH #6 = If a child is hungry enough, he/she will eat. They will not starve themselves.

Why it is false...

This is true for about 94-96% of the pediatric population. For the other 4-6% of the pediatric population who have feeding problems, they will “starve” themselves (usually inadvertently however). For the majority of children with feeding difficulties, eating doesn’t work and/or it hurts, and NO amount of hunger is going to overcome that fact. Children are organized simply; if it hurts, don’t do it. If it doesn’t work; cry and/or run away. Also, for children who have skill or medical problems with eating, their appetite often becomes suppressed over time, such that they no longer respond correctly to appetite as a cue to eat a sufficient number of calories.

MYTH #7 = Children only need to eat 3 times a day.

Why it is false...

In order to meet their daily calorie requirements, children would have to eat adult sized meals if they only eat 3 times a day. Given their small stomachs and attention spans, it takes most children 5-6 meals a day to get in enough calories for proper growth and development.

MYTH #8 = IF a child won’t eat, they EITHER have a behavioral OR an organic problem.

Why it is false...

Various research studies, and the data from our Center, indicates that between 65-95% of all children with feeding problems have a COMBINATION of behavioral AND organic problems. If you start with a physical problem with eating, you are going to quickly learn that eating doesn’t work/hurts and a set of behaviors to avoid the task will become set into place. If you start with a purely behavioral/environmental reason for not eating, your compromised nutritional status or lack of experience will quickly begin to cause organic problems. As such, it is not useful to create a dichotomy in diagnosing or treating feeding problems.

MYTH #9 = Certain foods are only to be eaten at certain times of the day (ie. Breakfast foods only for breakfast, lunch foods only at lunch, snack foods only at snacks, dinner foods only for dinner), and only certain foods are “good for you”.

Why it is false...

Food is just food. It is not breakfast food, or lunch food, or dinner food, or snack food, or junk food. Food is either a protein, a carbohydrate or a fruit/vegetable. While some foods do have more nutritional value than others, labeling foods as “good” or “bad” or “only to be eaten at X meal”, is not helpful in teaching children to eat or to have a healthy relationship with food. If a child eats chicken and peas best at breakfast, that is okay. In addition, the so called “junk” foods actually play a huge role as stepping stones in teaching children with feeding difficulties to learn to eat a wide variety of other foods because these “junk” foods are typically easy to manage from an oral-motor standpoint, and/or they have a large sensory appeal.

MYTH #10 = Mealtimes are a proper social occasion. Children are to “mind their manners” at all meals.

Why it is false...

Actually, eating comes first. Manners come second. The skills for eating need to be learned first, before children can have good manners. Think about the 6-9 month old infant just learning to eat and how messy they get. Especially for children who have not learned to eat well, mealtimes are a Teaching Opportunity and we parents are the Teachers. Children eat so much better when their food is engaging, interesting and attractive. They also eat better when mealtime conversations are focused on talking about the food, and when adults are modeling how to eat and teaching the “physics” of food. So go ahead, enjoy your food and the feeding experience with your child! Be noisy, be messy and play with your food!!

Learn How to Know if Your Child Has a Feeding Problem

Dr. Kay Toomey is a pediatric psychologist who has worked for nearly 30 years, with children who don’t eat. She is the developer of the highly effective, family-centered SOS Approach to Feeding in successful use worldwide to assess and treat children with feeding problems. In addition to directing SOS Feeding Solutions at STAR Institute, Dr. Toomey speaks nationally and internationally about her approach. She also acts as a consultant to Gerber Products. Dr. Toomey helped establish The Children’s Hospital Pediatric Oral Feeding Clinic in Denver and Rose Medical Center’s Pediatric Feeding Center, also in Denver. Dr. Toomey co-chaired the Pediatric Therapy Services Department at Rose Medical Center prior to entering private practice. She is currently the president of Toomey & Associates, Inc., which provides her speaking services.

Dr. Kay Toomey

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Baseball Legend Raises Awareness for Sensory Processing Disorder

STAR Admin — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 14:43:24 +0000

Baseball Legend Raises Awareness for Sensory Processing Disorder STAR Admin Thu, 07/14/2016 - 14:43

Former Chicago White Sox baseball player, Paul Konerko, has designed a limited edition t-shirt that will help raise awareness of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) with proceeds going to STAR Institute for SPD (formerly know as SPD Foundation). Paul and wife Jennifer have experienced the affects of Sensory Processing Disorder through their son Nicolas who was diagnosed with SPD when he was 3 years old.

"As he was getting older he was definitely falling way back and I was noticing things with him where he would have these fierce breakdowns where I couldn't get him under control and he couldn't really communicate to me what he needed. He still did parallel play around other children when he should have been interacting with them," explains Jennifer Konerko. SPD is a neurological disorder that is estimated to affect 1 in 20 children who. For those with Sensory Processing Disorder, sensory information goes into the brain but does not get organized into appropriate responses. Those with SPD perceive and/or respond to sensory information differently than most other people. Unlike people who have impaired sight or hearing, those with Sensory Processing Disorder do detect the sensory information; however, the sensory information gets “mixed up” in their brain and therefore the responses are inappropriate in the context in which they find themselves.

The Konerkos were inspired to raise awareness for SPD by designing this elite t-shirt that is available for a limited time from July 18, 2016 through August 1, 2016.

ORDER NOW

When Paul was designing this shirt, he wanted it to do three things.

Bring awareness to SPD
Honor Chicago
Be unique, creative, and have a story to tell for everyone

YouTube

https://youtu.be/gV-okzuA83U

The abstract t-shirt design titled "Chicago on My Mind" includes brain waves, representing SPD in the shape of the Chicago skyline reflecting off of the water as a tribute to a city that he loves so much. It’s printed in the 1983 White Sox colors, but also American flag colors since it's bring released in the month of our Independence Day.

The design also embodies meaning for each athlete. It takes heart (red) to disrupt the game and make noise (navy) on the field. Meaning that you have to play with passion to stand out and be great, which is an empowering way that SPD individuals and families learn to embrace life.

Proceeds from the t-shirts will go to STAR Institute for SPD's scholarship program to help families pay for treatment costs.

PAUL KONERKO

Paul is a former professional baseball player who played most of his career with the Chicago White Sox. Konerko helped the White Sox win the 2005 World Series, the franchise’s first since 1917. From 2006 to 2014 he served as the White Sox team captain.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/nuwYjjqNEnw

Sensory Processing Disorder

Parent experience

Coping

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How to Create a Successful Morning Routine for Your Child with ADHD

STAR Admin — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 17:02:34 +0000

How to Create a Successful Morning Routine for Your Child with ADHD STAR Admin Fri, 06/24/2016 - 17:02

Having a morning routine is something adults have long embraced, with early rituals even inspiring a website, MyMorningRoutine.com. It presents a different routine every day to help motivate people to be more productive the rest of their days. Morning routines are embraced by everyone from bestselling authors and CEOs, to professional athletes and teachers. They help people become more efficient by getting important tasks out of the way, while creating a peaceful state of mind that serves as preparation for what lies ahead. Just like adults thrive with effective morning routines, they're important for children, too, especially those who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Having a consistent morning routine helps children learn structure and stay focused on learning throughout the day. It also helps parents create an optimal schedule that maximizes their child's academic potential. Here's what to keep in mind when constructing a morning routine for your child with ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorder or really any developmental or behavioral disorder.

Fuel Their Day

The Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture recommends children eat breakfast because the meal boosts academic performance and improves behavior. Breakfast also helps with tasks requiring attention, problem-solving and memory — just about anything related to the school day. It’s important for parents to eat meals with their children for many reasons.

First, it serves as an example that you're invested in a good start to the day, too. Make breakfasts nutritionally valuable by crafting meals rich in vitamins and balanced with healthy proteins, fruits and vegetables. Pair them with a glass of water to get kids hydrated and to work toward meeting their daily requirement.

Second, and most important is that it gives kids a great start to their day to have some quality time with their parents before school.

Third, you can take advantage of the time to get their minds primed for the day, too, either by doing some fun activities or by being extra supportive of how great a kid they are (support self-esteem) that gets them mentally prepared for school. Customizable word search puzzles and age-appropriate educational games like memory cards help get minds thinking without diving into tests or multiplication tables. If your child also struggles with a sensory processing disorder, getting some hard work / exercise in the morning is a good idea, too. It can help burn off some of the extra energy if they are a sensory craver or have ADHD that can cause problems in school for kids. Plus it’s an excellent mood-booster.

Visualize Success

A board that includes a child's checklist of tasks or visual schedule to accomplish in the morning helps visual learners understand what needs to be completed and helps establish consistency each morning. Use stickers or a wipe off marker to mark off duties that have been finished, and include periodic meaningful rewards for sticking to a schedule. Always keep in mind that the most meaningful rewards are those that involve YOU, the parent. Getting an ice cream together on Saturday or other parent-child activities that include having “alone time” with one parent make the best rewards.

Include items related to hygiene (brushing teeth, getting dressed), chores (cleaning up a room) and responsibilities (feeding a pet). Children will know what's expected of them so they'll be able to get things done and clearly focus on schoolwork.

Collaborate with Your Kids

When creating a morning routine, it's essential to involve your children in the process of creating expectations to persuade them to stay on track. In his book "The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness," author and business guru Stephen Covey tells the story of a family who had immense trouble in getting their kids to finish morning tasks without significant prodding. When their parents had a discussion about what needed to be accomplished every morning and asked their kids if they felt capable of completing the tasks on their own, they all agreed. Family productivity skyrocketed because the kids felt empowered to take care of themselves. This can be especially beneficial in kids with ADHD because it gives them a sense of personal responsibility and power. By showing your children you trust them to handle their routine on their own, they’ll start their day on a positive, confident note that will likely carry on into the school day.

Make your physical morning schedule that you hang up together with your kids. Check in with them often to ask how they feel about their routine, what help they need, and how it could be improved. Continue to evolve your morning routine so it's a balanced one that sets both you as a parent and your child as a student up for success.

Get more Home Activity ideas now!

Learn more about Sensory Processing Disorder & ADHD.

Joyce Wilson is a retired teacher with decades of experience. Today, she is a proud grandmom and mentor to teachers in her local public school system. She and a fellow retired teacher created TeacherSpark.org to share creative ideas and practical resources for the classroom.

by Joyce Wilson

ADHD

Sensory Processing Disorder

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Featured

Sexuality through the Senses: 15 Ways Disordered Sensory Processing Affects Intimacy

Separating Families Impacts Our Future – The Empirical Evidence

Top Ten Myths of Mealtime in America

MYTH #1 = Eating is the Body’s number 1 priority.

MYTH #2 = Eating is instinctive.

MYTH #3 = Eating is easy.

MYTH #4 = Eating is a two step process; 1 = you sit down, 2 = you eat.

MYTH #5 = It is not appropriate to touch or paly with your food.

MYTH #6 = If a child is hungry enough, he/she will eat. They will not starve themselves.

MYTH #7 = Children only need to eat 3 times a day.

MYTH #8 = IF a child won’t eat, they EITHER have a behavioral OR an organic problem.

MYTH #9 = Certain foods are only to be eaten at certain times of the day (ie. Breakfast foods only for breakfast, lunch foods only at lunch, snack foods only at snacks, dinner foods only for dinner), and only certain foods are “good for you”.

MYTH #10 = Mealtimes are a proper social occasion. Children are to “mind their manners” at all meals.

Learn How to Know if Your Child Has a Feeding Problem

Baseball Legend Raises Awareness for Sensory Processing Disorder

ORDER NOW

When Paul was designing this shirt, he wanted it to do three things.

Bring awareness to SPD

Honor Chicago

Be unique, creative, and have a story to tell for everyone

PAUL KONERKO

How to Create a Successful Morning Routine for Your Child with ADHD

Fuel Their Day

Visualize Success

Collaborate with Your Kids

Get more Home Activity ideas now!