What is Tourette syndrome? If your child has Tourette syndrome you will probably be asked that question many times or, without being asked, you will need to explain about Tourette to justify your child’s behavior if vocal and/or motor tics bring unwanted attention to your child. Today’s post has tips how to explain Tourette syndrome to your child’s classmates and the importance of being proactive in telling all staff members at your child’s school.
Continue Reading...Holidays Ring “Hollow” For Some Children with Special Needs
Holidays and celebrations, like Easter, Thanksgiving, and birthdays, should be a happy time in families. When I think back to those days of celebration, when our children were growing up, the memories I have are not at all happy ones. Unfortunately holidays are often very stressful for many families of children with special needs like autism, Asperger’s syndrome, Tourette syndrome, ADHD, sensory processing disorder, etc. Why do these kids with challenging needs hate almost everything about family gatherings associated with celebrating holidays and birthdays?
Continue Reading...Meet Dr. Duncan McKinlay, the Psychologist with Tourette Syndrome
I must introduce you to a remarkable person who can be the answer to your prayers if you know, love or work with a person who has Tourette syndrome. For our Author Interview Series, I was honored to interview a renowned fellow Canadian, Dr. Duncan McKinlay. He is the author of Nix Your Tics! Eliminate Unwanted Tic Symptoms A How-To Guide for Young People. Duncan McKinlay is the psychologist with Tourette syndrome himself who has become the perfect mentor for all families coping with Tourette.
Continue Reading...Who Can Benefit from Using Chew Necklaces and Chewy Hand Fidgets?
Most people cannot start to imagine what parents of children with special needs go through. Most have a hard time to understand that SentioLife Solutions, the Canadian company that designed and assembles chew necklaces made in Canada, receives orders everyday of the year for their mouth and hand chewable fidgets. These chew necklaces bring comfort not only to kids, tweens and teens but more and more adults are relying on them to satisfy their overwhelming urge to chew, bite, and/or fidget.
Continue Reading...Sensory Tools Help a Child to Survive Sensory Overload, Calm and Focus
Who likes to drive during rush hour? No one! What is life like for a person with sensory processing disorder (SPD)? An overwhelmed individual with SPD likened his life as having a “traffic jam” in his brain. If your child has sensory issues that often come hand-in-hand with autism, Asperger’s syndrome, ADD/ADHD, Tourette syndrome, etc. have your child evaluated by a professional. Often the child will be referred to an occupational therapist (OT) who will be able to help your child. What will an OT suggest to parents to help their child with sensory integration issues? Also what exactly is sensory processing disorder?
Continue Reading...What Is a Sensory Diet?
If your child is diagnosed with sensory processing disorder (SPD) often his occupational therapist will plan a Sensory Diet to help him. What is SPD? Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) or, as if was called before Sensory Integration Disorder, is a complex disorder of the brain that affects one in twenty people. Sensory processing disorder is a neurological disorder causing difficulties with taking in, processing, and responding to sensory information about the environment and from within one’s own body. Individuals can be hypersensitive or hyposensitive to varying degrees and may have trouble with one of the senses, a few, or all of them.
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