The 12 Days of Christmas -- SPD Version

12 Days of Christmas -- SPD Version

On the first day of Christmas,

SPD gave to me

A meltdown Oscar worthy!

On the second day of Christmas,

SPD gave to me

Two heavy blankets,

And a meltdown Oscar worthy!

On the third day of Christmas,

SPD gave to me

Three screaming boys,

Two heavy blankets,

And a meltdown Oscar worthy!

On the fourth day of Christmas,

SPD gave to me

Four spinning Egg Chairs,

Three screaming boys,

Two heavy blankets,

And a meltdown Oscar worthy!

On the fifth day of Christmas,

SPD gave to me

A five hour migraine,

Four spinning Egg Chairs,

Three screaming boys,

Two heavy blankets,

And a meltdown Oscar worthy!

T'was the Night Before an SPD Christmas

T’was the Night Before an SPD Christmas
By Patty, her husband and Hartley


T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The snack packs, arranged on the counter with care,
In hopes, on our journey we’d be well prepared.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of Chex Mix danced in their heads;


Ma in her hoodie, and I in my sweats,
were to put away pillows and therapy nets.
When in the back room there arose such a clatter,
I ran at full sprint to see what was the matter.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a puzzled old man buried up to his ears,
(In scooter boards, swings, and small colored spheres.)
Poor devil had brushed ‘gainst our therapy stash,
When it came down around him it made such a crash!


He recovered with grace, so lively and quick,
That I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
"What is all this stuff that you people collect?
Are you Circus performers?”--the old man interjects—
“I came here with toys, for the boys and your girl
But looking around I think ‘what in the world?’


This room that would normally have children’s stuff
Is packed to the gills with equipment enough
To start your own CIA torturing session!
Tell me I’m wrong and you’re not!” (oh good heavens!)


My wife and I snickered and held out our hands,
And reassured Nick we’d had no evil plans.
“Our kids have a condition; they have a hard time—
They yell when it smells and they climb up the blinds.

Holiday Giveaway from Soft and HLW3B!

The only thing better than FREE is when you get something you absolutely love - that is FREE.

Are you ready for the most amazing, hands-down useful, sensory-friendly, OMG you didn't, Squeeeee, giveaway you have ever seen?  I thought you might be.

Grab a handful of mistletoe because you're gonna want to kiss me for this one!

Soft Clothing and Hartley's Life With 3 Boys bring you our first annual Holiday Giveaway!

2 Grand Prizes will be given (one for boys, one for girls), and will each include the following sensory friendly items, which focus on fine motor development, dramatic play skills, sensory integration, creative expression, auditory exploration, and of course, fun! Whatever holiday or season your family celebrates, there is something in this stocking for someone you love!

Quilted Train Stocking from Pottery Barn Kids (boys prize)

Quilted Angel Stocking from Pottery Barn Kids (girls prize)

This is Gabriel Making Sense of School, by Hartley Steiner (That's me!!)

SPD Awareness Calendar (for sale at http://www.sensoryplanet.com/)

Glitter bouncy ball from Pottery Barn Kids

Alex Finger Crayons

Tangle Textured Jr

AKU Sensory Ring

Melissa and Doug Jumbo Paint Brushes (set of 4)

Melissa and Doug Deluxe Fuzzy Make your Own Monster Puppet

Wonderland Eco Friendly Rainbow Sound Blocks

Mood Therapy Putty

Soft Seamless Sock 2-pack

One complete Soft dressy look for girls OR

One complete Soft dressy look for boys

ENTER HERE!

Sensational Links

Sensational Links for 8/27/10

She Hates What I Do - Thanks Pal by SPD college student Maggie at Runaway Maggie May:  A great post about her friend's comment that perhaps Maggie was using her ADHD as an "excuse" to make school easier for her. 

The Things We Do For Our Kids by SPD mom Michelle at She's Always Write:  The arrival of the first non-family birthday party invitation -- and the party is at Chuck E. Cheese. 

Two Big Boys by SPD mom Kirsten at No We're Not There Yet:  Reaching the milestone of the last child officially potty trained!

Rollercoaster by SPD mom Jaimee at Our Life With SPD:  A recount of her six year old's meltdowns and challenges during the second week back to school.

Back to School Giveaway from Soft Clothing and HLW3B

Back to school is in full force around here -- it isn't hard to miss:  the stores have officially begun to remove the pool toys and BBQ tools and replace them with binders and crayons.  This is the time of year that my boys begin the 6 week long whine for a new back pack -- and pencils, and crayons, and paints, and...you get the idea.

This is also the time of year that I start to cringe with the thought of buying all of their school supplies, new backpacks (because we chew ours up each year, of course) on top of new shoes and new clothes -- who can afford that?  Especially for 3 kids?

Now add to that I have to buy new fidgets and other sensory diet tools for the classroom (yes, I know that the school will supply these, but my kid can't wait that long), and as you might imagine, back to school costs big money at my house.

So, when I heard from Jessica Ralli at Soft Clothing that she wanted to include my book in her Back To School Giveaway, I of course was flattered. But when I saw what she wanted to giveaway, I had to get in on it.

So, with that, I am crazy excited to announce the Back To School Giveaway by Soft Clothing, co-sponsored by none other than Hartley's Life With 3 Boys!  I know, aren't you thrilled?!

"Tell them what they can win, Bob..."

Soft Clothing is giving away ALL of this to one lucky person!  That's right, your child's back to school will be smooth sailing -- and you won't have to break the bank either.

Here it is:

3 pack of Soft Sensory Tees in color/size of your choice
6 pairs of Soft Seamless Socks
"This is Gabriel Making Sense of School" by Hartley Steiner
Lands End Uniform Backpack
Classpack of Crayola Colored Pencils
Tactile Fidget
Desk Buddy Sensory Bar
6-Pack of Mead Spiral Wide Ruled Notebooks
4-BG Flash Drive
12-Pack of Crayola Washable Fine-Tip Markers
Peltor Junior Noise Protector Headphones
Classic Pencil Grip Pencil Sharpener
4-Pack of Sharpie Highlighter Pens
3-Pack of Pink Paper-Mate Rubber Erasers
2 Mead Classic Composition Books
Plastic Hinged School Tool Box
Max's Mud-Natural Sculpting Dough
Pocket Stixx Oral Motor Tubes

Are you excited?  There are six very easy ways to enter -- and you can enter through each method increasing your chances of winning this GREAT giveaway. 

Click here to view the official entry form and get started.

A big thank you to Soft Clothing for their continued dedication to the SPD/ASD community and for continually surprising me with awesome and fun ideas.  You ROCK Soft!

Are you still reading this?  Stop -- and enter NOW.
H

Gabe's New Bud

Gabriel officially has a new friend. Do you see him? He’s the dark haired boy, with the sparkly blue eyes and the kind heart (trust me, it's there) to the left. Yep. His name is Noah.

It is a little ironic that he shares his name with the famous Noah who saved the animals, two by two, during a rain storm, because in many ways, Gabriel has been in a storm this spring – and needed saving, both physically and emotionally.

Now their relationship has had its challenges, but what relationship hasn't?

The two unlikely buds met in class, Noah is 12 and in the 5th grade, and Gabriel is 9 and in second. Noah quickly felt as though it was his duty to protect Gabriel, being that he was the oldest and Gabriel was the youngest, that seemed natural. Noah has Autism, and this contributed to his desire to be Gabe’s guardian. Not a bad deal to have the biggest kid in class (technically there are only five kids..but still) as your best bud.

And you might think that it isn't a good idea for Gabriel to have an 'older' friend, but really, it is the best thing ever.  Gabriel already seems to 'play down' to those around him (given his HFA, he isn't mature, or even developmentally on target socially), and in our neighborhood there are mostly young kids, which doesn't give Gabriel the opportunity to have those kinds of social play skills modeled for him. The opportunity for him to 'look up to' someone is priceless.

Spreading Awareness

Yesterday I had the great fun of being on Seattle's KOMO 4 News promoting my book, and more importantly Sensory Processing Disorder Awareness.  I could do that every day of my life, and never get tired of it.  It inspires and refreshes me (coming only second to speaking at support groups, or doing Q&A with SPD families!).

When I got on set yesterday, the anchor, Mary Nam, said to me, "I'd never heard of this before!"  Not surprising, but we have to change that. 

So, to remind all of us why we do what we do -- why we blog, why we educate, why we share our story, I am posting my take on what being an SPD Advocate is all about -- with a dash of humor. 

We all are SPD Advocates for our children and all kids with SPD. Spread the word.

More Than Just TV

Matthew has been really off lately -- I have some ideas why, but they don't really matter.  What matters most is getting him back in the swing of things (routine!) and keeping him from winding up too far.  One of the ways I am doing this, is remembering to take quiet time. Reading, trains, and TV are all good ways to stop moving and regroup. 

I wrote this last summer, and I have gone back to read it again myself, in order to keep fresh ideas for Matt and I, and to turn our TV watching into something useful for him.  So, I am posting it again today, because it is a good reminder to all of us that our little ones often need as much down time as busy time.  Maybe TV can double as a little light therapy too?! 

Here ya go!  Please feel free to add your fave TV shows (and why) at the bottom of this post.

Assuming you are all not TV Nazis, and have learned the value of some "quiet time" with a heavy blanket (or not) in front of the boobtube for your kiddos, these are some of my favorites. Grab your Tivo remote we are in for a bumpy summer ride and you'll need backup:

Special Agent OSO (Playhouse Disney): I know you are thinking "no way", but hear me out. This relatively new show stars Sean Astin, from the Lord Of The Rings movie series, as a sun bear (I think) with a James Bond flair. He goes around with "special assignments" solving problems for regular kids all around the globe. Why is it on my list? Executive Skills and Motor Planning. Yep, that is the theme of every mission: Find the problem, break it down with steps and accomplish your goal. From cleaning a child's room to making a salad to learning hop scotch this little Double-O-Bear is teaching something much more valuable than the ABCs.

Homemade Sensory Diet for Summer

I love to find new blogs out there that have great new ideas, but what I love even more, is a GOOD idea for Sensory Processing Disorder -- so imagine my thrill when I stumbled upon Training Happy Hearts with an entire post dedicated to Sensory Diet activites that were frugal, homemade, and just plain fun!  It is not an exaggeration to say I was giddy.  I just had to get to know the blog author -- and convince her to share her ideas with my readers.

Lucky for me, she was willing to share her most awesome, reusable, creative, and summer-adventure inspired ideas with us!  Meet Martianne Stranger, full time mom and learner, part time teacher, tutor and blogger at Training Happy Hearts.

This isn't your momma's old Sensory Diet -- this is fresh and new -- and will change your perspective from 'I have to get some Sensory Diet in' to 'What sensory fun can we have today?"

Get ready to hit print on your computer -- and please share it on your Facebook -- these are great ideas.

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Sensory Fun in the Sun (or Shade)

Summer is coming. Time to grab your shades – your SPD lenses that is! And, looking through them, solve this simple equation:

Summer + SPD = ???

Did you say “extra challenges”?

How about “opportunities”?

I say, “Both!” For as any SPD parent or educator understands, the change of seasons can present some extra challenges. Yet, many also recognize it offers chances for Sensory Fun in the Sun! Out on the trails, at the beach or on the playground, with just a few homemade and re-purposed materials –plus looking at life through SPD lenses – summertime can be enjoyed in the sun or made in the shade. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

When Life Gives You Lemons

Make lemonade (or sangria).  Duh!  : ) 

Matthew reminded me of that yesterday.  With that spur-of-the-moment-mess-making-style of his.

I was in the process of getting everything ready to leave for the grocery store (me, Matt, list), I was also trying to sneak in taking the photos off of my camera, and putting them on the photo-server before I left (this sounds simple, but I take way too many photos, so the sorting and organizing part takes more time than I’d like to admit).  Then, during my multi-tasking I heard Matt moving a chair around in the kitchen and the plan changed.

Clicking as fast as I could, I began to mentally go through what was in the sink that had struck his interest so strongly – I had just started the Sangria marinating in the fridge (recipe at the bottom of this post!), so I was fearful that he was after the knife in the sink. That would be unusual for him, but hey, we’re talking about Matt here, so you just never know.

“Matt? What are you doing in there?” I yell from the office, still madly clicking away at my photos.

No answer.

Earth Day Inspired Sensory Diet

The 40th annual Earth Day celebration happens to be on April 22nd, and I say, given that this is Autism Awareness Month, and from what I hear Occupational Therapy Month as well, I thought I would put my own sensory-spin on it.

Namely, how to get sensory input with a little help from Mother Nature in your own backyard. Isn’t great to know there is another ‘mother’ out there helping your little seeker?

Here are some ideas on how you can use this beautiful planet of ours to incorporate more nature in your nurture.

Sun: I think that the sun might be under valued by all of you who see it daily -- like maybe those of you in Arizona or California, but it is longed for by those of us in Seattle!  That dose of natural Vitamin D puts all of us in a better mood. Make sure your kids (and you) get plenty by venturing outside each day –

• Color with sidewalk chalk
• Read on the porch
• Have a picnic
• Set up an 'art studio' outside and let your little ones take inspriation from nature
• Lay in the grass
• Look for 'cloud animals' (or other imaginary shapes)
• Make sun-tea
• Trace your shadow – or just try to catch it
• Look for bugs in the grass

Just Be Mom (Or Dad)

Just because your child is challenging, doesn’t mean that you aren’t still his parent. Spend the weekend with your case-manager, social-worker, education-consultant, medical-scheduler, worry-wart, and future-predictor hats on a shelf, and just be your child’s parent for the day. Reconnecting with the parts of our kids that are the most fun, special, and awe-inspiring often gets left off the never-ending to do list in the hustle of the day to day management of all of their needs – choose this weekend to honor who they really are and let them be kids!

Here are my straightforward and simple parenting reminders – nothing new here folks! – just trying to get you in the right mind set for a weekend spent enjoying your child!

Please add your favorite kid-centric weekend activity in the comments below!

1. Let them eat dessert

2. Play an old fashioned board game

3. Teach them something you loved as a kid

4. Bake cookies

5. Laugh about when they were a baby

6. Make a mud puddle

7. Play the, “Remember when … “ game

8. Recall favorite vacations

9. Just listen

10. Read together

11. Remember to SMILE when your child walks in the room – they need to know you missed them

12. Lead with the positive

13. Go through old photos

14. Be playful – every moment doesn’t have to be a teaching moment

15. Skip rocks – or just throw them in the lake!

16. Allow your child a mental health day; they have as much stress as we do

17. Play dress up – YOU TOO!

18. Compliment them

19. Remind them of their of past successes

20. Watch a movie

21. Go bowling

22. Talk about your hopes for the future

23. Let them pick what to make for dinner

24. Make ice cream sundaes

25. Reward them for just being themselves

Hope you have sun like we do in Seattle!
H

Photo: Nick being silly in Victoria at the totem pole park. He cracks me up!