By Popular request Please share / Develop Occupational Therapy Do I go to the Christmas Pageant? Tips for those of us who find sensory experiences intense… Many people, including children with additional needs, can be overwhelmed with sensory information. Some of this comes from outside of us (touch, smells, sounds, vision, taste) and some involves the response to our own body (movement and sense of position). Our sense of emotions also impact on this - for most of us, excitement and nervousness enhances the feel, and being relaxed means we can cope with more. What do we do when we need to process extra information in an exciting environment (like the Christmas pageant on Saturday)? Alison’s personal survival tips to busy sensory environments: • Stay home, watch it on telly and modulate the TV volume as we go • Take your ipod and head phones and control the sound/visual stimulus coming in • Wear sun glasses to control the intensity of things you see • Wear a hoody, hide inside this cocoon • Take a “pop tent” and sit inside when the experience gets big. You could fill the tent with things that are OK (I like books, colouring in pencils, cushions etc) • Go really early to the start of the pageant in South Terrace – you can walk around, look at everything and be home before the crowds • Watch u-tube of last years pageant relentlessly, to be prepared for the experience (the greater the familiarity, potentially the less anxiety) • Think about locations - sometimes tight street corners have more drums but less band music (harder to play while you are in a marching band if the corner is a tight turn). • Wear the clothes that feel better – lycra-cotton mixed tops, seamless socks, comfortable undies. Every little bit helps. • Suck on a food or chewy toy – this can help a bit to calm • Sit by the front line – less people to look through • Stand at the back – less people who might jolt you • Be early, the stimulus builds more slowly and it is sometimes easier for your system to adapt to it. • Arrive just before it starts, less time to over load • Be prepared to leave if it all gets too much. • Try the local community pageants – less people and noise, and by the time you have been to 3 or 4 of them, less expectation/anxiety too Does anyone have any other strategies? Big day when you are little (or big) with lots of demands on our sensory systems Alison Copley Develop Occupational Therapy developot.au
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 07:07:00 +0000
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