Sensory Play & Relief

I have been learning So much about the sensory side of things.  Like, I know that when My son is spinning and flapping its because a need in his sensory system is not being "fed".  When he is angry or screaming its the same thing, he need input/output.  So here's a dandy little list of what we now do to help relieve some of that need:

   Bean Bag therapy:  We have a simple medium sized bean bag.  We toss it across the room and jojo runs and "crashes" into it.  we do this about 6 times and its just enough for him to get out that need for input.  Sometimes he will initiate this himself.

Joint decompression:  Hard to put into words but here it goes, I start at his wrist and wrap both hands around it and gently do a pull or tug to release tension at the joints.  I do the wrist, elbow and shoulder.  then the ankle and knee.  He LOVES this, it feels good and relaxes him.

Blanket drag:   Place a blanket on the floor, put my kiddo in the middle and simply drag him around.  We do this for about 15 min or as long as he will allow it.  we have wood floors so this is pretty fun and easy on my back!

Burrito Roll Up:  Roll him up in a blanket, pretty tight BUT DO NOT COVER HIS FACE, and then unroll.  He gets a kick out of this one for sure.

Pushing Heavy Objects:  This one he was already doing and I was stopping him, but its actually a good thing.  So we have an ottoman that is pretty heavy and I flip it upside down and he pushes it back n forth.  This tires him out and stop his need for running obsessively back n forth down the hall. 

Trampoline  This one is outside and its been pretty hot here in AZ. so we haven't given this a whirl yet.  but with the way he bounces around on his tip toes i think he will love it.

Brushing:  I am excited to learn this one this Friday!  Jojo responds so well to firm pressure massage and the joint movement that I think brushing will be awesome too!  Its basically a natural bristled brush, soft one of course and you brush the child's skin.  I think this would really help with the "not wanting to be touched"  showing him that touch is OK.

Just a quick update:  Yesterday during speech we downloaded some pretty cool apps on the IPAD for jojo to work with.  I am amazed at the technology and how he can pick up how to use them.  even though he can not yet, use his pointer finger he has managed to use his knuckles to manipulate the ipad, cool!  here are the apps:

INJINI Lite (full version is 29.99..yikes) great for attention keeping, and color recognition
BABYEGGS Lite  great for animal sounds, colors, counting and basic letter sounds