Sensory Savvy

101
Understand Your Child
Understand Sensory Integration
Understand How To Help Your
Child
 What I was told about Jaxson…

• Diagnosis: Autism
• He would never: Talk
• He would never: Look at me
• He would never: Have any friends
• The best I could do:
– Get him to eat with a spoon and fork
– Have him potty-trained by the time he was 8 years
old
– Get him ready for a group home
• “Once a duck, always a duck.”
 What I did…

• I took The Son-Rise Program Start-Up

• Among tools I learned there,

one strategy is crucial for today’s
discussion:

Always try to see things through my son’s

eyes
Trying to connect with
Jaxson in his world
Joining Jaxson in his world
Using Jaxson’s motivation to
promote eye contact
 My Autism Journey: From Novice To
Expert
• Before my son was diagnosed with autism, I knew very little about it.

Where I am today:
– Trained in the Wilbarger Protocol (sensory integration
therapy)
– Trained in the Alert Program (sensory integration therapy)
– Bone Conduction Provider for The Listening Program®
(auditory integration therapy)
– Certified as a Body Ecologist – The Body Ecology Diet
– Knowledgeable and have tried with my son the following
diets: GF/CF, SCD and GAPS
– HANDLE® – Holistic Approach to Neurodevelopment and Learning
Efficiency

– Working closely with my Defeat Autism Now doctor

– Taken all of The Son-Rise Program courses
 Jaxson’s Progress

• I decided to believe in my son

• Now Jaxson:
– Talks in full, clear, 5 to 6-word sentences
– Sings with me
– Laughs and does things to be funny
– Looks at me and make silly faces
– Calls my name and tells me he loves me
Jaxson’s 6th Birthday!!
Jaxson Smiling For The Camera
Jaxson’s Friends
Super Jaxson!
Jaxson and Mommy
S.T.A.R.
Sensory
Tools
And
Resourc
es
S.T.A.R. 1: Look Through Your Child’s
Eyes
• Everything our children do, they do for a reason

• Instead of trying to stop or change it, look for WHY they

might be doing it
• Coping
• Self-regulation

• Our children cannot process the sights, sounds, smells,

and tactile sensations coming at them  leads to “fight
or flight”

• Over-sensitivity vs. under-sensitivity

• Imagine what YOU would do in these situations

• Don’t ask: How can I change my child’s behavior?

• Instead ask: What is my child trying to accomplish
by their behavior, and how can I help them with
 S.T.A.R. 2: The Listening Program®

• Hearing issues vs. auditory processing

issues

• Warm up, work out and cool down phase

ABC Modular design™

• The Listening Program – with Bone

Conduction
 S.T.A.R. 3: The Wilbarger Protocol

• Tactile issues

• The Wilbarger Protocol – Brushing in a

specific manner with joint compression
every 2 hours

• Created by Patricia Wilbarger

• www.avanti-ed.com
 S.T.A.R. 4: the Alert Program®

• Attention issues (helpful for those with ASD and

ADHD)
• Self-regulation
• Sets our kids up for success instead of failure

• The Alert Program – Specific strategies to help our

children self-regulate, especially in school
environments

• How Does your Engine run?®

• www.alertprogram.com
 S.T.A.R. 5: HANDLE®

• Wide range of sensory integration and

sensory processing issues

• HANDLE – Holistic Approach to

Neurodevelopment and Learning
Efficiency
• Exercises and activities to work the right
and left hemispheres of the brain

• Created by Judith Bluestone, author of

The Fabric of Autism

• www.handle.org
 S.T.A.R. 6: The Son-Rise Program®
• Social, relational, interpersonal development

• The Son-Rise Program at the Autism Treatment

Center of America™ – Tools for building
communication, trust, social skills, and a love
of human interaction

• Today’s tools:
• Looking through your child’s eyes (discussed
earlier)
• Creating a distraction-free environment
• Reduce competition/increase human
interaction

• Created by Barry Neil Kaufman (author of Son-

Rise: The Miracle Continues) and Samahria
Lyte Kaufman
S.T.A.R. 7: The 3 S’s: Slow, Silly, Shhhh

• When your child is cranky and seemingly

inconsolable…
• Maybe the sensory overload is YOU

• The 3 S’s: Slow, Silly, Shhhh – Back off, move

slowly, keep you expression silly and animated –
but quiet!

• Created by Me – with lots of help from Jaxson!

• www.hope4jaxson.com
 S.T.A.R. 8: Creating a Sensory Diet

The minute your child wake up, your diet

begins

• Trampoline
• Sensory boxes
• Warm bath
• Aromatherapy
• Dimmers
• Quiet music
• Sensory toys