Tag Archives: autism

Everyday Sensory Solutions

September 12, 2023Occupational Therapy, Sensorimotor, Sensoryautism, Occupational Therapy, OT, sensory, sensory corner, sensory environment, sensory spaceGuest Blogger

Sensory-Friendly Environments

When creating sensory-friendly environments, the emphasis is on minimizing overwhelming stimuli and providing sensory solutions that promote regulated and organized responses to sensation. The goal is to create an environment that benefits individuals with sensory differences. Here are a few examples of how to reduce irritating auditory, visual, or tactile stimulation and ways to offer calming deep touch, movement, auditory, visual, and muscle work options to create your own sensory-friendly environment.

Auditory Stimulation:

everyday sensory solutions HUSH BUDDY EARMUFFS

Provide noise-canceling headphones or earbuds to reduce or eliminate loud or overwhelming sounds.
Offer a quiet area or soundproofing measures to create a space with reduced auditory stimulation.
Use white noise machines or calming music to create a soothing auditory environment.

Visual Stimulation:

Use soft, neutral colors on walls and furnishings to create a calming visual atmosphere.
Provide adjustable lighting options, such as dimmers or natural light.
Use curtains, blinds, or fluorescent light covers to regulate incoming light and reduce glare.
Create visual points of interest, such as calm and nature-themed artwork.
Avoid overcrowding walls with visuals.
Leave some walls blank or with very minimal visual input.

Tactile Stimulation:

Offer sensory-friendly materials, such as soft fabrics, textured surfaces, or materials that can be held or manipulated and aren’t scratchy and irritating.
Create sensory bins or tactile centers with various materials like pinto beans, rice, or soothing textured objects for tactile exploration.

Calming Deep Touch and Movement:

Give options for deep pressure touch, such as weighted shoulder wraps, laps pads, weighted blankets or compression tubes.
Provide spaces for movement, such as sensory swings, rocking chairs, Bin Chairs, or ball chairs.
Movement in straight lines; forward/backward, up/down or side to side is generally more regulating than rotary or irregular movement.

Muscle Work:

Provide visual options for ways to use muscles; wall push-ups, chair push-ups, squeeze balls, resistance bands, resistive compression tubes, bear walking or crab walking.
Provide other visuals options for ways to move that require muscle work such as kids yoga cards.

Remember that each individual may have unique sensory preferences, so it’s important to offer a variety of options and allow for personalization. By considering these strategies and tools, you can create a sensory-friendly environment that caters to the sensory preferences of individuals, promotes regulation, and enhances their overall well-being.

weighted Puppy Shoulder Wrap — Sommerfly Snuggle Bin Collection

It is important to note that all occupational therapists are trained in sensory processing and many have extensive experience and deep understanding in this area. Whenever possible, seek guidance from an occupational therapist for individualized sensory recommendations.

Stay tuned for our next installment of Everyday Sensory Solutions by Sommerfly.
For more information about Sommerfly Products visit Therapro.com.

Guest Blogger: Kristi Langslet, OTR/L

Kristi Langslet, OTR/L is the proud owner of Sommerfly, a company dedicated to providing individuals of all ages with sensory needs unique product designs that are meticulously crafted in the USA for optimal quality and construction. Most importantly, Sommerfly’s passion is to serve those who use our products.

Flexible Seating Spotlight: AlertSeats

July 18, 2023Sensory, Uncategorizedalternative seating, autism, classroom sensory tools, flexible seating, Occupational Therapy, OT, sensoryGuest Blogger

Could your class or sensory room benefit from a versatile seat that will absorb user energy, enhance posture, encourage time on task, moderate repetitive motion, all with a positive sensory input?

If you’ve just answered ”Yes” then the AlertSeats® are right for you.

Therapro has them. Available is five sizes, AlertSeats® will fit every one of your students. Choose from 5 stock sizes to provide comfortable active movement seating for pre-K students to the tallest teens or adults.

AlertSeats® have seated thousands of active learners in hundreds of schools and therapy settings throughout the US and Canada since 2009. Made in the US, they offer guaranteed durability, versatility and comfort in a proven design.

Just three sturdy components make up the AlertSeat — Base, Ball and Cover. They ship compactly and assembly easily with adjustable firmness.

5 Sizes of AlertSeats® shown with royal blue covers – Small, Small/Medium, Medium, Large, and XL.

Here’s what teachers and therapists using AlertSeat are saying:

“I absolutely love your (AlertSeat) ball chairs, and have been using them in my classroom for over 6 years.”
Jessica- New Hampshire elementary school.

“Students seem to flourish with the use of the (Alert)seats, as they are better able to focus on the work at hand.”
Indiana Life Skills teacher, students ages 7 to 12

“We’re all about data. We’ve seen results with AlertSeats in students with a range of disabilities”
Kate, a Pennsylvania large district school-based OT

AlertSeats® steel bases feature six or eight legs and rubber feet. They’re warranted for 10 years. Every assembled AlertSeats® will support up to 300 lbs. Bases nest for efficient shipping and storage, and are color matched by size. Color coded interior balls are correctly positioned inside their cover before shipment, with a manual pump included and full instructions.

AlertSeat® covers, with double zipper pulls, go on and off easily, and include strong Velcro attaching straps and a handle for a totally secure and stable but readily removable attachment to their base. Covers are sewn from an abrasion resistant laminated woven nylon fabric that is cold water washable and stain resistant.

Interior balls are heavy duty ABS molded to fit correctly and adjustable to provide the level of seating comfort that best suits each student. Ball covers and balls are warranted for 2 years in classroom service.

Optional removable mobility dollies with lockable swivel casters can be added to any AlertSeat® in all sizes except the smallest.

AlertSeats® in use will never roll around the room or create a hazard. They can easily be placed on top of the desk to facilitate after school cleaning. Other great features of AlertSeats® include:

No flimsy plastic parts or bolted connections to crack or fail in service.
Safety and total stability combined with stimulating, energy absorbing motion define AlertSeats® wherever they are in use.

Put a correctly sized AlertSeat® into your classroom, therapy or sensory room soon.

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Guest Author: Howard Newman. Howard Newman of Newman Adaptive, introduced his unique concept of fitness and nutrition in the work place in 1991. Howard is the engineer of AlertSeat and AlertDesk.

Promoting Independence In Teens With Diverse Learning Profiles

March 8, 2023Accessibility, Assistive Technology, Autism, Daily Living, Executive Functioning, Occupational Therapyactivities of daily living, assistive technology, autism, executive functioning, independence, Occupational Therapy, OTAllyson Locke, M.S., OTR/L

The ability to independently complete essential daily living tasks becomes increasingly more important as individuals near the pre-teen and teen years. For teens with diverse learning profiles the ability to master these critical skills can be challenging. However, there are readily available tools that can help promote independence! In this post we are covering a few low to mid tech solutions that can be a game changer for teens struggling with the ability to independently complete critical self care tasks.

Elastic Shoe Laces. There is nothing more frustrating than a loose shoe or tripping over untied laces but asking for help can be even harder. The good news is there is a simple solution, elastic shoe laces! Simply replace standard shoe laces with elastic shoe laces. Once in place, secure with a double knot and standard bow. The elastic shoe laces provide enough stretch to simply slip on and slip out of shoes, eliminating the need for tying.
Schedules & Time Cues. Remembering when to do something or remembering the correct sequence of a task can be difficult for teens who struggling with executive function deficits. These teens often rely on a support person to provide prompts for task initiation and sequencing which decreases their overall independence. The good news is there is a variety of readily available assistive technology tools that can support a teen’s ability to manage time with greater independence. Check out our previous post, Assistive Technology for Time Management, for ideas!
Picture Adapted Cookbooks: Preparing a simple meal or snack is one of the greatest acts of independence for pre teens and teens. This simple right of passage can be missed for teens who struggle with reading or have difficulty with multi step tasks. Picture supported cookbooks can help users with limited reading abilities prepare simple meals and snacks. The Stepwise Cookbook series takes this concept a step further and truly simplifies the process. Each cookbook has a set of picture supported recipes that are presented in a simplified, easy to follow format.

Schkidules visual schedule display — SchKIDules

White shoe with white elastic shoelace a low tech solution for independence with self care — SchKIDules

Small modifications and the use of mid to low tech assistive technology can be a powerful tool for independence. Be sure to visit to assistive technology section of Therapro’s website to see all of the available tools!