The smell of new markers, the feel of new back-to-school clothes, the sight of new kids and adults bustling about in the school building—all are a part of the back-to-school experience. For a student with sensory issues, everyday sensations such as these can register in the brain much more intensely than they do for other kids, and it can be anxiety-provoking to sort out all the sensory input. It's common for kids with sensory issues to really struggle with self-regulation at

Are you off to the beach with your child who has sensory issues? My coauthor, Lindsey Biel, pointed out in a recent article on baby development and beach time that beaches offer a lot of sensory input. Some children will be calm by sounds at the beach and will enjoy sensory seeking in the water and sand. Others will find the sounds distressing and be distressed by the bright sun and scratchy sand. In our award-winning book Raising a Sensory Smart Child, Lindsey and I explaine

"What did you eat for lunch?" "Green pepper slices." "And—?" "Milk." No, my son wasn't on a restrictive diet. He is a selective eater who would rather go hungry than eat something with a "disgusting" texture. If the only acceptable food in the school cafeteria was green pepper slices from the salad bar, that was lunch. Welcome to sensory smart parenting. Sensory smart parenting means recognizing that your child has sensory issues. It means understanding that they need help ma

Working Moms magazine published my coauthor Lindsey Biel's piece on 5 Simple Ways to Make Life Easier for Your Sensitive Kids. I hope you'll check out her marvelous article, which includes a tip for journaling to develop your sensory smarts as a parent—and like, share, and comment on the article. In Raising a Sensory Smart Child, Lindsey and I offered several ideas for journaling: what to notice and record and how to analyze your child's behaviors and patterns. I did not keep