Mondays with SPD: Are you joking?

I stared at the OT waiting for her to start laughing and say, "I'm just kidding."  But she didn't.  It took me several seconds to absorb what she just said.

OT: "If you want to see any real progress, you will have to do the deep pressure brushing and joint compressions every two hours for as long as it takes to see a change in their behaviour."

When I had recovered from her pronouncement, I asked.  "How long does it usually take to see a change in their behaviour?"

The OT shrugged, "It was several months before my daughter's behaviour changed."

I quickly did the calculations (because I like to crunch numbers for fun) and realized that I would be spending a total of an hour everyday brushing and doing joint compressions for my two SPD children.  That is, every two hours, 5 minutes per kid for several months.  Well, I consoled myself, it's really just an hour a day. I think I can manage.

Then my OT pointed out that my boys had low muscle tone (meaning, my children "have to worker harder against gravity then the rest of us"), as evidenced by their baby cheeks and winged shoulder blades (the muscles beneath the shoulder blades are weak and don't pull the blades inward against the ribs).  But she assured me that she had exercises that would strengthen the muscles. 

On inspiration, I asked her if she had anything for bed-wetting problems, and she said, "Get a trampoline.  For kids with low muscle tone, it's not uncommon to have weak pelvic floor muscles and jumping on trampolines will strengthen those muscles."

I purchased a mini-trampoline the very next day.  I noticed that my sensory seeking (SS) child couldn't get enough of it.  He bounced on that thing for a solid 10 minutes before I had to pull him off to give his brother, the sensory avoidance (SA) child, a turn.  The SA child lasted about a minute before he claimed he had had enough and he was tired.

So, today begins a regiment of exercises to increase muscle tone and stimulate the senses so that my boys will be calmer, happier, more enjoyable little people. 

I've also scheduled a visit to the massage therapist for myself at the end of the week.