Quick Practical Tips for Kids and Teens

 

Kids with sensory processing disorder need help at home, at school, on the playground and at the park—in fact, just about anywhere they go, they will need strategies for coping and a sensory diet throughout the day.

 

Here are some quick tips for addressing some common problems kids and teens with sensory processing issues face:

 

Clothing

 

• If your child needs super soft clothing, try extra soft cotton clothes from Hanna Andersson® or Land’s End®. Launder clothes many times to soften them but beware of smelly laundry softening liquid and sheets, because kids with sensitive noses may find the smells disturbing.

• Go for extra tight or extra loose clothing depending on your child’s sensory needs. Teenage girls may better tolerate all-cotton bras with soft cotton bands.

• Buy seamless socks from www.sensorycraver.com, or www.smartknitkids.com

 

Noise sensitivity

 

• Use an aquarium, fan, white noise machine, or radio set to static to block unpleasant sounds.

• Offer the child earplugs to use at the most distressing times such as during large gatherings (children should not wear earplugs all the time). You can buy them at drugstores or at www.earplugstore.com.

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Bathing and showering

 

• The sound of the water filling the tub may be distressing to the child, so try filling the tub with the door closed and opening it to let him in once it has been filled.

• Have your child take a bath or shower after others do so that the room is already warm; sometimes, the transition from warm and dressed to cold and undressed is difficult for sensory kids.

• Try massaging his or her head before a shower or bath to help desensitize him to the sensation of water on the scalp and the feeling of shampoo being rubbed into his hair.

• Allow kids with sensory issues to chose which soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, and deodorants they will use. They can have very sensitive noses.

 

You can find many more practical tips in the Sensory Smart News, a newsletter that will send the Sensory Smart Parent blog pieces to you as soon as they are available. Sign up here!

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BUY Raising a Sensory Smart Child and learn more about helping your child who has sensory processing issues.