extreme candyland - a "sensational" way to play the classic board game

so last time i wrote (which seems like eons ago but was really only five days ago) i told you i'd share a super fun, but also therapeutic (if we are using "therapeutic" in the getting-more-sensory-input sense of the term, not in the mama-needs-a-break-from-reality sense of the term) play idea.

the very first time juliana came to play with us she asked harrison what he wanted to do and he suggested candyland. the board game. the let's-all-sit-around-on-the-floor-and-not-move, very sedentary board game. sure, there is some conversation that needs to take place - who gets to go first? what color guy am i again? oh, yes, i'm winning! oh, man, i'm losing! - but, mostly, it's just a draw a card, move your guy, wait your turn kind of game.

well. no longer. because sweet juliana had some tricks up her sleeve and she taught us how to turn boring old candyland into what we like to call extreme candyland! as you can see from harrison's sentences below (for a homework assignment he had this week), it's now his favorite game. or his favrit game. either one.

"candyland is my favorite game. miss juliana made it fun." makes this mama's heart happy.

so how do you play? i'm glad you asked! first, you sort out all the single square cards and set them aside. extreme candyland is played with the double squares and the character cards. it makes the game go faster.

then you make a plan. you decide on an action/activity/interaction/exercise/etc for each color card and write it down. it could be anything from "wiggle your hips" to "do jumping jacks" to "army crawl across the floor" to "walk on tip toes" to "shake your booty" to "spin in circles"...something that you could do ten times or for 10-20 seconds. have fun with it! be silly with it!

here's the plan juliana made the first time we played (we make new plans each time we play just to change things up a bit)...

once you have everything in place you're all set to play! i'll show you some of the fun actions we do...

donkey kicks - they are kind of hard to describe. basically, bend at the waist and put pressure on your hands/arms while kicking your legs and toosh upward and then coming back down to land on your feet.  does that make any sense at all?!

the next two are a variation on the same thing. here's the superman - lie on tummy while lifting legs and chest off the floor. hold for a ten count.

or you could do seal claps - lie on tummy while holding legs and chest off the floor. clap your hands ten times.

make a silly face - here's the progression of how silly faces turn out at our house...

please pardon my son's nakedness. he's a wild one.

wiggle bugs - lie on back. pull knees to chest. pull head off floor. wiggle arms and kick legs for a count of ten.

another one we've added recently is to bounce on a ball ten times...

any type of jumping is usually the favorite movement around here - kickbox jumps, scissor kicks, jumping jacks - and at the end of the game, no matter who wins, we've all had a great time!

and managed to get some sillies out!

and get some sensory input in!

what i've learned from the occupational therapists whom we've been blessed to know (and from the speech therapist who used to come play with harrison so long ago), all it takes to elevate a normal activity is a little bit of imagination. all you have to do is ask, "how can we do this differently? what can we do to make this more active instead of passive?"

the answer is usually simple. it doesn't have to be hard. that's the beauty of it.

so, as i've said before, god bless occupational therapists! and in this case, god bless juliana!

without her, candyland would still be just a sit-on-your-toosh board game.

we are all thrilled she showed us a more "sensational" way to play!

so, what happens next?

after reading my last post regarding our journey with sensory processing disorder you'll know that we've received the results of harrison's evaluation and you'll remember that harrison's sensory system gets dysregulated too easily. remember the graphic i showed you? essentially, he is in fight-or-flight mode quite frequently. too frequently.

sweet boy.

sidenote: i'm sure you can imagine how this fight-or-flight state could easily cause sensory kids to develop anxiety issues. they are always wondering, worrying, about what might set them off next. i can see tidbits of anxiety in harrison, but nothing concerning at this point. our hope is to head that off.

so. all this begs the question, "what are we going to do about it?"

the goal of therapy is to increase the size of harrison's "optimal level of arousal" window (go back and look at the graphic again if you need to) so that he does not become dysregulated as easily or as often. therapy will also teach harrison, and retrain his brain/central nervous system, to regulate himself so he doesn't spend as long up in the "sensory overload" area and can level out more quickly.

another sidenote: did you know that the very first stage of development - the very first thing babies learn how to do - is self-regulation? at first we moms need to help our babies regulate. maybe we swaddle them, or swing them, or rock them, or sing to them. but quickly they learn how to soothe (aka regulate) themselves. it's the foundation of who we are as human beings.

this is a picture rachel ottley drew for us when she was explaining what spd is all about. notice #1 says regulation. it's the very first stage of development. #6 is logical and emotional thinking.

this graph shows the same thing. basically, if there are missing pieces in the foundation, the higher level elements at the top of the pyramid might also be cracked. in harrison's case, the higher level areas he struggles with are social participation, interactions with others, emotional regulation, emotional thinking and communication. the reason he struggles with those things is all because his over-responsive sensory system causes him to get dystregulated.

harrison's foundation is cracked.

therapy will repair those cracks.

how?

the honest is answer is that i have absolutely no idea.  that's why god made occupational therapists. and god bless occupational therapists! man, they are incredible people! what would we have ever done without our precious occupational therapist friend?

what i do know is this: therapy will look like play time. fun, exciting, tons-of-movement activities. STAR's first rule is that harrison has to LOVE it, or they won't do it. they will monopolize on the things harrison enjoys and the things he does well in order to build up the areas in which he struggles.

it's also our understanding that juliana, harrison's OT, acts as a co-regulator. her job is to play with harrison, notice if he is becoming dysregulated, help him regulate, then once he's back to "normal" she will create a problem for him - something that he might struggle with, something that might cause him to dysregulate - and then she'll help him regulate again. it's a cycle.

and all the while harrison will be having fun.

like i said, incredible people, those OTs!

now. i might not be explaining therapy correctly. heck, i might not even be understanding it correctly! all that matters, though, is that juliana understands harrison and she knows how to help him. and she will be teaching jeremy and me how to help him, too.

so, all good things.

next time i'll share one example of how we do "therapy" play sessions at home, which would be fun for any child, not just sensory kids. rachel modeled how to play with harrison in a therapeutic way while she was here back in september. and juliana has given us some ideas too. i'm sure once we begin our actual therapy appointments at STAR we will learn much more.

alright. off to do something productive around the house.

ha! if you believe that i've got you very fooled! :-)



 

what's been up at the white house

uno - i have one addition to yesterday's list of reasons why i just might possibly have a touch of the depression: if your friend's husband happens to see you while you are outside checking the mail and asks how you're doing and you start crying, then, yes, that could be a sign that you are in a not-quite-right emotional state.

not that that's ever happened to me. nope. not me.

and this isn't the current state of my kitchen:

nope. not mine. there's no way i would let a mess like that accumulate. never. 
  
dos - even though it's true that i've been a bit blue/down in the dumps/downcast/gloomy that hasn't stopped us from doing some fun things around here. it might have stopped us from doing the dishes. but dishes smishes, i always say.

tres - we made love bugs, as found in an article in highlights magazine. i cannot find the exact link - sorry! harrison saw the idea and wanted to make them. i happened to have everything on hand so we got out the supplies and put them together last saturday morning. even jeremy got in on the action. they are just a paper heart glued or taped to a tongue depressor.  then draw a face or glue on googly eyes and tape on some kind of antennae. both harrison and graham were able to complete every single part of this project by themselves!

we took turns putting on a puppet show, which entailed turning the couch and the curtains into a stage...

cuatro - we've been doing quite a bit of reading! i have a new obsession...

books by chris van dusen. it all started when i began looking for winter/ski themed books to check out from the library. i stumbled upon learning to ski with mr. mcgee, which is a fantastic book that both boys loved reading again and again. the back cover of that book listed other "mcgee" books that i knew i just had to read as well. and the library also had king hugo, randy riley, and the circus ship. i love them all! the illustrations are beautiful, the stories draw you in, but the best part is the rhyming poetic way the stories are told! HIGHLY recommend these books!

cinco - we've been able to be an encouragement to others... 

"dear chloe, i hope you get better soon."

we put together a get-well present for a friend who was just released from the hospital after a crazy, scary bout of croup/stridor. harrison needed help spelling chloe's name, but he wrote the rest of the card all on his own. i love watching his handwriting and his spelling improve! it's amazing how kids learn this stuff!

we rejoiced with a friend who's husband has been looking for a job! he got one - a better one than he could have imagined - an answer to prayer! and through it all we watched them maintain such faith and have such peace!

we tried to be supportive of friends who are just now beginning the process of evaluation and treatment for their own son's developmental delays; speaking encouraging words - life giving words - and just letting them know we are here to walk beside them through it all. it's not much, but sometimes, it's just enough.

here's what all this teaches me...

even in the midst of sadness, there is joy. even during times of trial, there is peace. even when you don't feel loving, you can still BE loving. even when you are discouraged, there is still the ability to be an encouragement to others.

for these opportunities i am thankful.

because being a blessing to others really ends up being a blessing to ourselves.

and seeking out the fun things, the good things, the silly things, the opposite of the dirty-dishes-still-in-the-sink things is really what makes the days here at the white house a little bit brighter.

16 signs you might have a touch of the depression

1. it's hard to get out of bed in the morning.

2. you stay in your pajamas all day.

3. when you do get out of your pajamas, you put on yoga pants, which is the socially acceptable equivalent to pajama pants.

4. you've worn real clothes and applied make-up only one time in the past three weeks, maybe longer.

5. you have become sedentary.

6. you have eaten an entire bag of bbq potato chips. in less than 24 hours.

7. you have gained weight.

8. you have caught yourself saying "i'm too tired to..." about lots of things.


okay.  so, most of these things can simply be chalked up to motherhood.  how bout these...


9. you have caught yourself saying "i don't have the energy to..." about lots of things, but mostly with regard to any kind of decision-making.  you are d.o.n.e. making decisions.

10. you have turned down invitations, cancelled plans, avoided phone calls.

11. you started paying your children to make your bed instead of doing it yourself.

12. you are being more forgetful than usual.

13. you have realized you are WALKING THROUGH YOUR LIFE IN A DAZE.  for example,

a. you forget your son's backpack (including his snack).

b. you drive around all morning with said backpack in the passenger seat next to you and still didn't realize you forgot to give him his backpack until you pull into the school parking lot to pick him up.

c. you walk in to the school, apologize for forgetting his snack, and the teacher tells you that you actually carried the backpack on your shoulder into the school that morning, and then right back out of the school. you tossed the backpack onto the passenger seat and drove off. you remember none of this.

d. you make your weekly trip to the grocery store, get home, do some chores...whatever...and it's not until you get back in the car 1.5 hours later that you discover you never unloaded the groceries.
 
e. you forget to turn off the burner on the stove.

f. worse, you turn on the wrong burner.

g. you leave the house with the wrong burner on, expecting to come home to warm soup but discover, instead, that you've completely melted a plastic measuring cup.

h. you have to set an alarm in order to remember to pick up your children from school.


and the daily tasks have become so exhausting...


14. you realize your children are looking at you funny so you look in the mirror to discover that your inner hairy iranian has risen to the surface. girlfriend, you need to pluck those eyebrows, wax that lip, and stop frightening the children!

yes, plucking my eyebrows is a daily task.  like i said, hairy iranian. 

15. you serve lunch to your frightened children only to notice you never cleared the previous night's dinner plates, or the breakfast bowls, from the table.

16. your family is using disposable plastic cutlery because you simply cannot.get.off.the.couch.to.do.the.dishes.


so...i think i'm a wee bit depressed. what do they say? acceptance is the first step to recovery? if that's the case then, lord willing, this post will serve as the turning point and things should be improving soon.

one thing i know, this didn't come on overnight. and it won't get better overnight. but it will get better.

until then i'll be the one stuffing herself (and her feelings) with homemade reese's peanut butter cups and wallowing in the ever-growing mountain of laundry.

congratulations to the pigeons

our weekend was uneventful. the boys had planned to go skiing on saturday but then had to cancel their trip because papa needed to take care of his mother, granny white, who was having some health issues. harrison and graham were sad that papa - and, therefore, they - couldn't go skiing but attempted to convince jeremy that they could "ride the chair lift by ourselves and we won't fall off".

jeremy did not want to give his wife any more grey hairs so he informed the boys that there will be no solo chair lift riding for a very, very long time. or until mommy is dead and buried. whichever comes first.

we just hung around the house on saturday. the boys took a trip to the home depot for light bulbs - mostly CFLs, but also some LEDs, which proves my point that you need to be a genius to purchase light bulbs these days. as if trying to demystify the various watts and volts isn't already enough to give me more grey hairs, now i have to determine the actual type of bulb i need. so i leave the bulb hunting to the man who has already lost his hair. at least he doesn't have to worry about it turning grey. and also, unlike his wife, he won't be found in the middle of the home depot pulling his hair out.

over the course of the weekend we turned down a number of invitations to super bowl events. mostly because i came to the realization that i'm depressed. i just don't want to leave the house. or be around people. or do the dishes. or the laundry. but i guess those last two are nothing new. i think jeremy is ready to exchange me for a new model. someone with less grey hair might be nice but i'm sure, at this point, he'd settle for a wife who can actually get out of bed in the morning.

on sunday jeremy took the boys up north to meme and papa's house because papa's brother, uncle ivan, was visiting from chicago. i opted out. and i stayed home, and i stayed in my pajamas, and i stayed on the couch, the entire time they were gone.

and then jeremy came home with symptoms of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, stomach bug that's been making it's way throughout our family. i'll spare you the details. after all, i don't want to give you any grey hairs. needless to say, i got up off the couch and he laid down.

all four of us were in pajamas well before kickoff and we snuggled together to watch the super bowl. harrison was rooting for the 49ers, or "the red guys" as he put it.  graham cheered for the ravens. except he kept calling them "the pigeons". so the red guys and the pigeons battled it out.  when graham woke up this morning i told him he chose the right team - the ravens won the super bowl! he said, "YES!  I LOVE TO WIN!"

i'm sure that's exactly what all the pigeons were saying too.

a real life conversation...

...about a cavewoman.


the scene:  graham and i were lying side by side on the couch, head to toe.  he reached his sweet little hand up my yoga pant leg and said...

graham:  mommy, you need to shave your legs.

me:  i do?  why?

graham:  (while rubbing his hand up and down the front of my leg, from ankle to knee) because they feel fingernail-y... they feel whiskery... (still rubbing and, now, talking to himself) whiskers, whiskers, whiskery...(talking under his breath now) ouch, ouch, ouch.


i have no comment.

i plead the fifth.

i refuse to respond on the grounds that i might incriminate myself.


happy saturday to you! 

the results are in

as i mentioned before, jeremy and i had an appointment at STAR to find out the results of harrison's evaluation.

one thing we were not surprised about:  harrison did very well on the evaluation.  he is a very intelligent little boy.

one interesting fact we learned:  lucy miller, the doctor and occupational therapist who founded STAR and the SPD Foundation, conducted research of typical school age children and found that 5% of them have some type of sensory struggle.  then she did the same research in schools for gifted and talented children and found that 35% of them have sensory issues. 

food for thought.

one thing we were surprised about: harrison scored well - surprisingly well - on the auditory test.  here i thought he was having so much difficulty inferring meanings from the short stories but he actually scored above average in that area!  he scored average, or above average, in every area of the auditory test with exception to one.

the section i described previously when harrison was wearing headphones and two different sentences were spoken (one in each ear) at the exact same time...he completely shut down and did not even try to answer at all.  the speech pathologist honestly believes, though, that harrison was quite capable of repeating those sentences.  but when he missed the first two, the perfectionist in him kicked in...and then he may have gotten a bit dysregulated...and he didn't even try to respond after that.

again, they are going to repeat that portion of the auditory test at some point but therapists felt confident moving ahead without it at this point.

all that to say, our original hypothesis, based on what rachel ottley observed, was that harrison's main struggle is auditory processing.

these scientific guesses are just that - a best guess based on what was observed at the time.  only continued time, and therapy, will reveal whether the hypothesis was correct, or partially correct, or incorrect...and then adaptations can be made.


the new hypothesis is that harrison's main struggle is modulation, specifically sensory over responsivity.  imagine our bodies as cups.  all day, every day, our cups are being filled with sensory input.  typically, our bodies are able to easily process the input.  and we can keep our cups regulated so they maintain a fairly even level of "stuff" at all times.

harrison's cup is very small.

and his body has a hard time processing the input that's being put into the cup.

therefore, his cup is overflowing.

and what happens when you've got a cup that's overflowing?  it creates a great big mess.


here is a fabulous graphic that really helped me understand what harrison is going through:

original image source

in the center of the chart is our optimal level of arousal.  as we go throughout our day we may experience events that spike our arousal levels up into the sensory overload area.  for example, your alarm blares to wake you up in the morning so your arousal level shoots up.  but then you get into the shower, your body regulates, and your arousal level comes back to normal.  then you get to the office and every one is running around because you forgot to do something.  so your arousal level shoots up again.  but then you make a plan, make a couple calls, get the situation under control and you regulate back down to normal fairly easily.  our days are full of this type of arousal activity.  but our bodies are able to, for the most part, maintain pretty middle-of-the-graph levels. 

now.  when harrison's arousal level shoots up (because of loud unexpected noise, because i yelled at him, because daddy tickled him, because he got excited, because he saw something scary on tv, etc) it is MUCH HARDER and takes MUCH LONGER for his body to regulate and for his arousal level to come back down to optimum.   

also, you'll note how the optimal level on the graph above is approximately 1.5 inches tall.  with sensory kids, that window is shorter.  maybe half that size?  which makes it MUCH EASIER for harrison's levels to shoot into sensory overload.

so harrison's days are full of spikes.  his body is not able to maintain a middle-of-the-graph level.  he is up and down, up, up, up, up, still up, and down, and back up, all day long.

it's hard to imagine how that might feel.


**one note.  an important one.  i am not a therapist.  i really have no idea of which i speak (or type).  i'm just doing the best i can to understand all this stuff myself.  but i want to relay what i'm learning so that you can better understand too.  so...please, pretty please, just know that.  and forgive me if i've misinterpreted or misexplained anything in the above paragraphs.  or just anything at all ever.  ok.  thanks!

i need to go pick up the kiddos from school...and i think this is as good a place to stop as any.

catch ya later!