from Caroline Pringle, Families and Professionals Advisor for child enquiries
Welcome to the final week (week 5) where I will bring it all together and mention a few other sensory factors.
Remember, certain reactions/experiences can be seen as hypo - low sensitivity or hyper - high sensitivity, for some children these can overlap as is shown in the information below and can also change over time.
Interoception (our internal processing skills)
Difficulties
Knowing when we need to go to the toilet
Feeling thirsty and recognising when you need a drink
Feeling hungry or full up, recognising when to eat or to stop eating
Ability to process an itch, a temperature, pain.
Solutions
There is limited knowledge on the best techniques, but mindfulness activities and meditation have been found to help in making children more aware of the sensations in their bodies. Also heavy work/big movements such as wall push ups, pushing and pulling, sweeping, digging, and squeezing through a play tunnel padded with cushions along with a sensory diet may be helpful.
Prosopagnosia (face blindness)
Difficulties
Have trouble recognising people’s faces
Also, can have problems recognising facial expressions and therefore difficult to understand emotions
Solutions
Give a person time to recognise you by your voice/way you walk/clothing and hairstyle
Synaesthesia - (this is very rare)
Difficulties
Sensory channels are confused
Hear a sound, see a colour etc.
Solutions
Vibration Therapy
Music Therapy
Just remember if a child with Fragile X displays inappropriate behaviour or reactions it could be through stress in dealing with a sensory process.
Ensure Activities are:
• Safe
• Appropriate
• Fun
• Easy
Sensory rooms can be very beneficial; some local schools and children centres /family hubs have these facilities.
Remember not to overwhelm a person in a sensory room – one activity/experience at a time.
Consider front loading with a sensory activity, our blog will explain this in more detail Post | fragilex
Rather than just using a sensory item also consider what every day sensory feedback we can get from the environment around us e.g. kicking the leaves on walk to park, tapping along the fence to school. I know from a family that it has helped their child to follow the line along the wall or following the line of the radiator before going into the classroom, this gives them sufficient sensory feedback to be able to go to their seat. Also consider if it is best for them to go into the classroom first before the others to get seated or after everyone goes in to avoid a sensory overload.
Do get in touch for further support regarding sensory issues, the following two papers might also be helpful.
Click below for links to two further resources: