Imagine for a moment that it was difficult for you to sit up. You might be able to manage to sit up part of the time, but it’s a struggle to maintain, and you frequently fall over and have to wrestle yourself back up again. How easy do you think it would be to learn […]
A large percentage of autistic children struggle with sensory processing challenges. Children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) share these challenges as well. It could show up as an aversion to touch or clothing, an unwillingness to eat foods with certain textures, or an inability to cope with noisy environments. These sensory sensitivities can cause a […]
If you’ve watched “The Karate Kid,” you’re familiar with the story: Mr. Miyagi, the wise old Japanese maintenance man, prepares Daniel for a Karate championship in record time. His method? Countless hours of repetitive labor, which secretly mimic karate moves. After many days of mindless “wax on, wax off,” Daniel finds that he’s mastered the basic moves of Karate—all because of those endless hours of repetition. But is mindless repetition really the best way to practice?
Re-establishing Safe Boundaries Through Touch When she was 5 years old, Jamie* had brain surgery to remove a benign tumor the size of a golf ball. Her mother brought her to me when she was 11, to address lingering motor-skill challenges. In the 6 years since her surgery, she’d been in and out of hospitals and doctors’ offices constantly, had over 50 MRIs, and countless hours…
Close your eyes, and wave your hand over your head. No, really. Try it. Even with your eyes closed, you can tell when your hand is over your head, right? You can also tell when you’re moving it forward or backward. This ability is thanks to what is perhaps our most overlooked sense: Proprioception. So what’s Proprioception? It’s …