Parenting a Sensitive Child...

So here are some things that I am doing for my boy. I love his counselor. His Occupational Therapist is amazing too. Shes given me TONS of ideas to help him. I have done so much research on helping him become less sensitive and let me tell you it is a FULL TIME JOB! On top of all his emotional stuff hes got this other stuff and i feel bad for him but things are getting better. Here are some of the things we are doing now.

The surgical scrub brush is used as a calming technique. He really likes it. He doesnt like to use it in front of people because hes scared they wont understand but hopefully he will get to the point where it doesnt bother him.

The weighted lap mat is also a calming technique and helps with his seeking sensory dysfunction. I have noticed a big change in how often he runs into people for impact now that he has one of these to give him the pressure and weight he needs.

The Rice sensory bin is used as another calming technique and it has cars, marbles, and beads in it. The beads have pipe cleaners he can string them on to help with fine motor skills and every now and then he picks the marbles out with his eyes closed.

The Bean sensory bin has the same purpose as the rice bin but the beans are heavier so he likes to make them rain over his hands for that seeking sensory thing.

Helping mom cook helps desensitize him. It shows him its ok to get messy while cooking. He loves to stir but if he has to touch the butter he freaks.

This is his birds nest. We are relating angry birds to his anger and its really helping. He now tells me when he is feeling angry and that he would like to go sit in his bird nest. He has his rice bags and his bins there as well as the angry bird cool down techniques we practice and a box with books, crayons, paper, and coloring books in it to help him calm down. :)

And lastly we are making a visual schedule since he is always needing extra time to transition. This shows him what to expect for his day. He is so excited to start using it. 

This cookie sheet is our new project from his OT. I am supposed to have him do two activities he doesnt like to do (i.e. clipping nails, practice writing, washing hands, fine motor skills, etc.) for a certain amount of time and then the 3rd thing is something likes to do (i.e. coloring, playing the wii, and other things he loves doing).

All in all things are going well for my little man and we are getting along much better now that we know how to help him. He is really taking everything from counseling and the OT seriously and I couldnt be more proud of him. There are some things going on at dads but those will be dealt with very soon. Love you all! 

What a day!

Today has been amazing. Tristan has been so well behaved and doing so good calming himself down. Im so proud of him. Hes taking what we work on in counseling and really doing well with it. He had his parent teacher conference today and hes improved so much since January! All that hard work we do is really paying off. :) He also woke up dry today! Im so proud of him for that because he usually doesnt care when he wears a pull up. Hes going to get a treat after dinner for all the good things hes done today. :) Hopefully he can keep up the good work. I am finally making progress in counseling and starting next week, we start diving into where all my resentment and anger comes into play...er really where I believe it stems from.

All around we are doing well in this house today. Hope everyone else had a great day! :) <3 you all.