Yoga balls. The most versatile inflatable you’ll ever buy. They’re a fitness tool, balance improver, comfortable seat during childbirth, footstool, and surprisingly, a miracle when it comes to sensory therapy!
In November 2020, we were invited to our first face to face appointment since we started asking for help. The Early Years SEND team sat down with us in a nice big open meeting room, with a handful of interactive toys (I’m sure you’ve all met the posting pig by now) for a nice big chat about my concerns with Noah. The possibility that he could be Autistic came up, but back then he was still only 2, so no one would assess him for it.
Naturally, whilst mummy was bearing her deepest worries and concerns to complete strangers, Noah was climbing the toy table, kicking them all onto the floor and spreading out on his belly ignoring the two lovely ladies completely, much like he's currently doing to my coffee table as I type this. After half an hour, they agreed that Noah needed to be reviewed by the SEND surgery and assessed at preschool. Success! They also suggested we see the Sensory team, as Noah was obsessive with mouthing one of the balls from the toys.
A month later we were sitting in a room full of sensory toys with two more ladies from the early years Sensory team who couldn't have been lovelier. I remember sitting in the car after the appointment and breaking down in happy tears because I had watched them unlock a part of Noah I hadn’t seen for about a year. They were incredible.
We walked in and Noah ran for a trampette they had, and began to jump on it. He’d never done that, he always wanted someone else to bounce him, yet here he was, full of confidence, making choices. Straight away I was happily caught off guard. As the session went on, Noah laid on the trampette, licked it, wandered around the room, watched as one of the ladies completed a shape sorter, and discovered the sensation of vibration for the first time through a little button toy. I can still see the surprise smile on his face when it buzzed under his hand.
He was resistant with eye contact at first, and couldn't stop moving or hopping like a kangaroo.
After a little while, they decided to apply some sensory integration, and got out a yoga ball. They laid him tummy down over the ball and rolled him forwards and backwards. My 1000mph child suddenly went calm, and limp. He completely relaxed, stopped babbling and just enjoyed the movement. When they stopped the ball, he immediately gestured for more. He had never done that before. I sat with my mouth gaped open in shock. For the rest of that session, his eye contact lasted longer, and his stimming calmed massively. This was huge!
They explained that Noah is a sensory seeker, so he is under-sensitive to certain stimuli. This means that when he jumps or flaps or squeals, it’s because he is trying to find that sensation. Imagine everyone has a cup, if you don't have any sensory issues, then your cup stays 2/3rds full all the time. Sometimes you might have a full cup, but it’s never empty. Noah’s cup is empty with a hole in the bottom, and it needs to be 2/3rds for him to feel comfortable and relaxed, so he constantly has to find ways to keep adding liquid. When the cup is full, Noah can concentrate on other things like speech, or toys.
We left that appointment with a yoga ball on order, and a visual guide to joint compressions, and that Christmas we saw huge leaps in Noah's concentration and engagement at home. His eye contact began to increase, and we had a better understanding of how to connect with him. We used that yoga ball every single day in lots of different ways, and Noah’s stimming reduced from constant movement, to only when he had big emotions (usually always over excitement!). It was the first time we’d seen progress in a really long time and it felt incredible.
From here, I did a lot of my own research into sensory therapies (Thanks again lockdown #3). There are so many ideas out there that are worth a go. I’ve learned that anything is worth a go at least twice, because what didn't work 6 months ago, sometimes works this time around, and vice versa. (Prime example, Noah used to love joint compressions, but now he won’t let me do them!).
I'll do a whole post soon on some of the things I’ve tried and products I’ve bought at the end of this one. Sensory processing can present differently for everyone, some kids are under stimulated like Noah, and others can be over sensitive, making every day life really challenging. Remember... Are they fed? Are they happy? Did you tell them you loved them today? Good, then you did your best.
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