Regulation, Sensory Challenges and School Readiness Concerns?
Often parents bring us their preschool children because of sensory sensitivity concerns, which are wearing a family thin. Classroom focus and behavior issues are also common, as is poor fine motor control.
Your child’s clothing and food sensitivities can make daily living such a challenge! We often find the sensory issues are masking more fundamental stress between the body and head, originating from birth or the early infancy/toddler years.
While less stressful for the family, classroom focus and fine motor control issues can also be worrisome because you want your child to thrive, not struggle, with these tasks.
Take a breath because these things can change and we can help.
How We Help
We look at life’s experiences and how growth may have impacted the self-regulation between your child’s movement and sensory systems. Kid’s bodies, which worked well at age two, have had to evolve a few times as they grew. Often there is an injury or sickness which played havoc with self-regulation or sensory system function.
The expectations for a pre-school student’s skills are evolving also. Hand function used for building and careting can have a hard time transitioning to the grasp used with a pencil or crayon.
Some of the common events we find impacting a child’s development are:
- Common birth stress listed here
- Respiratory or GI viral events
- Falls, bike spills, or auto accidents
Next Steps
We help with self-regulation and linking together all the growing parts of your child’s body so they coordinate with balance and vision.
If all of this resonates with you, here are the next steps:
- Everyone on the team works with children so schedule your first appointment at a time that fits your life.
- Read about what to expect in the first visit.
- Complete the intake information.
- Relax.
Your follow up schedule will usually be 2-3 more times, spaced 4-6 weeks apart. These are 55-minute appointments. After this, if more follow-ups are needed, they will likely be 3-6 months between visits. It doesn’t take a lot of time for you and our child to see changes!
Client Stories
Family 1:
A four-year-old came to meet us. She only would wear two pairs of her pants, no socks. School focus was a challenge and she had no interest in drawing or building. We found she had had a severe respiratory infection as a baby. The stress to her breathing and calming systems was at the root of all the refusals and melt-downs. After a few sessions she was open to more clothing choices and drawing age appropriate masterpieces. We now see her seasonally as she grows for any new issues that may crop up.
Family 2:
One pre-school guy was having a hard time playing appropriately, so it was hard for Mom to set up play dates. We found that events around his birth (overdue, long labor, C-section) resulted in his upper body being compressed. The more functional skill that was expected of his hands and arms, the more he rebelled. After just one session he became calmer. We are continue to work on increasingly complex hand-eye coordination details. He visits about every 2-3 months to continue staying on track developmentally, while keeping him calm. He has several good friends now.
Family 3:
A pre-school girl came to visit because she never has much energy and has always been on the small side. With all-day Kindergarten looming, her parents were worried. We found she was born three months early and spent several weeks in the NICU. There was never a chance for her late prenatal movements to develop, nor the important ones in early infancy. We have helped her body with core control to support deeper breathing which allows for growth and improved energy. As she grows, we see her periodically to make sure she is still on track developmentally. She is playing so much more and beginning to wear out her parents!