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Home : 2001 : November : 30

SID
By chris

I also am a new teacher & I, too, have an SID child and have never heard of it before. You don't mention what grade you have, but I assume your kids are older than my Early Childhood group of 3 to 5 year olds. My understanding
is that these children need, crave sensory input, and cannot/do not process this input properly. The object is to give them what they need, so that their bodies can adjust their "internal wiring" to sensory input. We work on providing input for his vestibular (inner ear) and proprioceptive (muscle)sensory systems.
Try this web site along with the previous suggestions: www.sensory
My

4 year old SID student wears a weighted vest at 20 minute intervals. He is also "brushed" with a surgical type of scrub brush, using heavy pressure, then pressure is applied to his joints (pressing against his palm towards his elbow, then his elbow towards his shoulder, then pressing shoulders together, then pressing down on his shoulders.) We also press down on his head & shoulders when we're standing around waiting in lines, etc. He also does "heavy work", pushing a child's shopping cart which is weighted down w/a 16# bowling ball, a gallon of water & some additional weights. (This may sound heavy, but he whizzes down the hall with this as if it were empty!) It was also suggested that he could move heavy cartons/cans across the room everyday as part of his "daily job", but I haven't set that up. Another suggestion is to have him "push out the walls" when the room seems to "get to small" (aka pushups against the wall). I also hold his hands as we stand toe to toe and allow him to fall back & then pull himself back up as I simply stand still. We do this as we're standing in line waiting, talking, etc. This "falling back" and the swinging and spinning that the OT does with him is for the vestibular system. The "heavy work" is for the proprioceptive system. [I've learned a lot!]
He is a very impulsive, sometimes aggressive child. My boss gave me a booklet entitled "Questions Teachers Ask About Sensory Integration Disorder", but it's at school so I do not know author, etc. Try this web site along with the previous suggestions: www.sensoryint.com
It's from Sensory Integration International.