Falling Apart at the Seams

A few weeks ago, I met an 8-year-old called Samantha who absolutely could not sit still unless it was in front of the computer and she was playing her chosen games. When she came to the Occupational Therapy Evaluation, she refused to do most tasks on the standardized testing, and could not sit for more than a minute before she was up and running around the room. Even with parental guidance, she continued to refuse to participate and was just falling apart at the seams. Her mother reported that this was what a typical school day was like for this child.

A few years ago, she had received a diagnosis of a Sensory Integration disorder, and had attended therapy. Then, when she started school, she was discharged with a good sensory diet, but family let it go by the wayside over time. As symptoms began to emerge again over time, they didn’t think about restarting sensory diet activities, and behavior got out of control in all of her environments. Because the family wanted to try to keep her calm, she got anything she asked for, was able to decide her own bed time, what she ate at every meal and what she got to do during her playtime – which was almost always sitting in front of the computer. Her...

Holiday season, fun and games for some and overstimulation for others…

The holiday season is here and is packed with a frenzy of a million things to do like: gift-wrappings, relatives coming to town, meal preparations, and chaotic shopping. If you feel overwhelmed from this then imagine the potential effects on your child. Many parents of children with ADHD or Autism may be somewhat used to dealing with the effects of overstimulation. Under the right circumstances any child can be over stimulated.  Here at Interactive Metronome^® we want to wish you the best holiday season ever, and in order to facilitate that we have gathered some tips that could help you deal with overstimulation.

Lily had many difficulties ranging from attention problems to sensitivity to certain clothing fabrics. After receiving traditional OT sessions, Lily started doing IM therapy; it was there where improvements started to appear. Because of Lily's sensitivity to headphones, and an issue with sweaty palm, her training was difficult but after minor adaptations, she got to enjoy certain exercises. She completed 17 sessions and not only her family, but her teachers and friends noticed the change. At school, she was attending better during classroom activities and completing her work on time. At girl scouts she was now earning badges which required memorization and direction following. Her mother noted that at a party she was able to participate in the party games, and even won a game! All of these things added up to a much more self confident little girl. Lily began asking to have friends over more often, and struggled less to complete homework every night.