This time of year is a sensory dream for teachers and therapists, but possibly a sensory nightmare for some of our students.
Years ago in a pre-school setting, the teacher, the speech therapist and I (the OT) collaborated weekly on the classroom themes and objectives. Of course, after a trip to the pumpkin patch, pumpkin carving was next on the lesson plans. Once we opened the top, our sensory seekers eagerly dug in to scoop out the pumpkin “guts” while our lone sensory avoider took one look and ran from the table gagging and screaming! Yikes!
It took some rocking in the swing, her weighted vest and some quiet time before she came back to sit at the table. In hindsight, this should have been her pre-group routine to ready her system in hopes of reducing the tactile sensitivity, but all was not lost! I put a tiny sample of the pumpkin center on a napkin in front of her and by the end of the session she was poking at it with her finger. Sometimes just a little success at a time is enough!
Tell us your favorite autumn sensory story in the comments!
