Weigh In.....Sensory Feedback in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

     The classroom has kept me very busy and I have missed posting the last few weeks. Busy is good and exhausting :)
      So two cups of coffee later and I am starting to feel like I am waking up and ready for the day. Bad habit? Maybe. Being a mother of three, working full time, and going to grad school means long days and often long nights. Just being a mom will mean that too! But don't we all have our routines that help us keep our sanity and face the task of daily to do's?  Some of us go to the gym early, or run (I'm not there yet, haha), others of us get up earlier than our children so we can have that hour of peace before the call of "Mom" goes over the house waves (yeah, that's more me). My point is that we all have our routines and we try and squeeze in a piece of the day that is quiet, calming, and we can think.
     Children and adults with autism spectrum disorders are no different, in fact, they struggle constantly to maintain their world of restricted repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. Some would say they are like obsessive compulsive behaviors and in ways, they are. We wake up and take on the world in the above "normal" sense. Many with autism wake up and they are facing things we do not see or struggle with. Our quiet time that some of us need in the morning may be the time that same television show, or that same song has to be on for them. Perhaps it is that same exact breakfast or  that same exact routine, that if interrupted causes a complete "meltdown".  For whatever reason, the restrictive repetitive routines and behaviors keep them in their calm. As parents of any child, it is easy to fall into the routine of what is easy and what works to keep the peace. We all do it. But what we inadvertently do is reinforce the behavior so it continues.
    I've talked before about behaviors. They ALL have a purpose, they ALL mean something. Finding out what that something and purpose are is the first step to helping find the appropriate "treatment" of action that will help that child.  I say "treatments" as there are so many out there, one has to be careful and research what may or may not be helpful, what may or may not be safe.
Always consult your pediatrician and experts in the field when considering options. You can also refer to the National Autism Center and look at the National Standards Report.  The Strength of Evidence Classification System has broken down identified treatments into four categories used to identify how confident they are in the effectiveness of a treatment. The four categories are:  established, emerging, unestablished, and ineffective/harmful.  Again, this is just a reference and not a cure nor am I telling you to follow any of these treatments. You can look at this reference online at http://www.nationalautismcenter.org/pdf/NAC%20Standards%20Report.pdf.
   So I feel like I have gone off on a little tangent, but it is a great resource when considering options and methods of treatments. One of the reasons I decided to write this morning is I have been looking at the established treatment of self-management. How do we help our children and students to self manage behavior? Especially, when the behavior is for the purpose of sensory feedback. We all know what we need to do to get ourselves ready to face a full day, but what about the child who wakes up rocking, spinning, or who cannot seem to stop moving around long enough to eat breakfast. What do you do? What do they do?  What are they trying to get out of the behavior that makes them spin and seem to have the "wiggles" when they are at their desk or breakfast table?  Many kids are trying to get some type of feedback to their nervous system, some may be on "overload".  Teachers often refer to it as the "wiggles".  A lot of kids have the "wiggles" and can never seem sit for extended periods of time or attention seems to fade quickly.  So where do help these kids balance their delicate systems?  When your typically developing child is running around the house and driving you nuts, most can say "Go outside and play and get that energy out." When you have a child with autism, that may not always be a choice. Watching a student with asd this week reminded me of this.   One student in particular has a difficult time staying in his seat or even walking around. He likes to walk around, and around, and around, and stomp his foot, and stomp his foot, and stomp his foot, and cannot seem to sit still.  Then it happened, we were on our weekly shopping trip and I gave him two bags to carry while we waited for the bus to pull up. OMG....he was standing perfectly still, waiting appropriately. The foot was not slamming into the concrete behind him, he was not reaching over and hugging everyone, he wasn't going in circles to "get the energy out." He was calm and watching for the bus! Holy cow!  The sensory input was coming from two shopping bags, or the weight within from bread, a small coke bottle, and chips. One in each hand that was keeping him calm. The next two trips I tried out my theory and his behavior remained calm. It took some repetitive verbal prompts for him to hold the bags but he was reinforced by verbal praise and seeing that he was doing what the other kids were doing. Wow, now to transfer this to the classroom. Hmm.....
   So I have some ideas and I am looking at a weighted lap blanket since weighted materials provide proprioception—deep pressure—which is calming to the nervous system. I am working with the OT and brainstorming as the antecedents show several possible reasons for the behavior. But the grocery store bags reminded me how important sensory feedback is for a lot of these kids.  So, I thought I would throw it out there and would love to hear from parents and teachers on the use of weighted lap blankets. Do they work?  What is your experience?  Does on task behavior improve? Would love to hear from you.
Happy Saturday!!!!! Now where is that third cup of coffee?? :)