What to buy and why…
Sensory tools and support items for all ages
Sensory Weighted Blankets
Therapeutic Uses:
Weighted blankets are used to provide deep pressure to the body which stimulates the nervous system to relax. This can ease overstimulation and anxiety, while restoring a feeling of calm and control.
A child’s weighted blanket should be between 10% and 15% of their body weight, if they are generally healthy with no activity restrictions. consult your OT for specific recommendations
A 3lb weighted blanket is generally recommended for a child who weighs between 20 and 30 lbs
A 5lb weighted blanket is generally recommended for a child who weighs between 31 and 50 lbs.
A 10lb weighted blanket is generally recommended for a child who weighs between 51 and 100 lbs.
During the day, a weighted blanket can be used for 15-30 minutes at a time for regulation. The effectiveness wanes after about 20-25 minutes as our body acclimates to the inputs. It can be effective again after about 20-30 minutes of not using it.
At night, a weighted blanket can be used to help maintain body awareness and a sense of grounding in order to increase deep sleep and help with settling after normal nighttime wakings.
Consult your OT for specific recommendations of how to use these tools at home.
Compression Sheets & Clothing
Therapeutic Uses:
Compression serves a similar purpose to weight; to provide calming deep pressure for nervous system regulation and increased body awareness. One important difference, however, is that compression can be used all day without fading effects. The benefits of wearing compression (or sleeping with it) may not be as immediately evident, but they can be more long lasting.
Compression shirts should fit snuggly but without digging into the skin. Always check for fit when putting compression clothing on by making sure that you can slip 1-2 fingers easily between the cloth and the skin underneath. Compression tank tops and tee shirts can be worn ALL DAY underneath other clothing as to be discrete. There is no need for a wear schedule (you do not need to take it off and put it back on throughout the day).
Compression sheets are a great way to receive the sleep benefits of a weighted blanket, but without the risk of it falling off in the middle of the night. Slip under a compression sheet to feel calming deep pressure all night, which can increase deep sleep and decrease nighttime wakings.
Consult your OT for specific recommendations of how to use these tools at home.
Auditory Relief & Organization
Therapeutic Uses:
Many people with sensory processing differences have difficulty filtering out and/or organizing inputs. This means that the environment can become overstimulating and overwhelming incredibly easily. By limiting the amount of auditory input, it can become much easier to process the other senses. You may see someone covering their ears even if the noise is not particularly loud. Or even closing their eyes in order to listen better. This is a natural way of coping with and organizing sensory information. We can help by providing tools that make cutting down on noise “clutter” easier.
Noise reducing ear muffs are a great tool to have accessible whenever needed. Sometimes they help to block out a very loud or particularly annoying noise. But they can also help to decrease the inputs coming in from one sense to make focusing on the other senses a bit easier. There is an added benefit too. These ear muffs provide a calming deep pressure to the head, which signals the nervous system that it is safe.
Active noise cancelling headphones are a great choice for older kids, teens, and young adults. They can be very pricey. But well worth the investment. Not only is the ability to completely block sounds top quality, but you also have the ability to play music. Frequently, random noises can be overwhelming/overstimulated, but organized sounds like rhythmic music, can be organizing and regulating. If you are fairly confident that you can keep a pair of headphones safe and not immediately lose them, this is a life changer.
A great option for younger kids that want to appear more discrete, are loop ear plugs. They look just like ear buds, come in cute colors, and have accessories such as carry cases, key chains, and straps (to make losing them less likely). These loops filter out SOME frequencies but allow others through. This makes it possible to continue to listen to voices/language (such as a classroom lesson) but without the auditory “clutter” of the HVAC system, cars outside, people chewing, etc.
Consult your OT for specific recommendations of how to use these tools at home.
Vibration Tools for Increasing Sensory Awareness
Therapeutic Uses:
Vibration is a powerful tool to help guide our attention and awareness to our body and our environment. For a very sensitive person, vibration can be way too much input. But for a person with low body awareness, who maybe doesn’t always notice pain or injury, or who tends to actively seek out intense sensory inputs, vibration can be the key.
Sitting on a vibrating seat cushion while at the dinner table or during circle time at school can provide just the right amount of alertness and arousal to help extend the brain’s ability to stay focused and engaged. It can help to delay or allay the need to move, fidget, and get up to seek input.
A handheld vibrating massager is a great tool to be used as needed as a way to bring alertness and awareness to a specific body part in preparation to use that body part more functionally. For example, try the vibration on your hands before a fine-motor activity to see if your coordination improves, or vibration on your face before telling a story to see if your articulation improves.
Using a vibrating toothbrush can help make the a tedious or aversive task of oral hygiene more fun and comfortable. Use this tool to improve oral hygiene and independence with teeth brushing. But also gain the benefits of improved articulation and even feeding skill. When your mouth is more aware, it can be more coordinated.
A vibrating heating pad has many beneficial uses, including increasing awareness of the bladder and stomach while working on toileting and feeding goals.
Consult your OT for specific recommendations of how to use these tools at home.
Sensory Tools To Stimulate the Vagus Nerve (and promote nervous system relaxation)
Therapeutic Uses:
Vibration is a powerful tool to help guide our attention and awareness to our body and our environment. For a very sensitive person, vibration can be way too much input. But for a person with low body awareness, who maybe doesn’t always notice pain or injury, or who tends to actively seek out intense sensory inputs, vibration can be the key.
Sitting on a vibrating seat cushion while at the dinner table or during circle time at school can provide just the right amount of alertness and arousal to help extend the brain’s ability to stay focused and engaged. It can help to delay or allay the need to move, fidget, and get up to seek input.
A handheld vibrating massager is a great tool to be used as needed as a way to bring alertness and awareness to a specific body part in preparation to use that body part more functionally. For example, try the vibration on your hands before a fine-motor activity to see if your coordination improves, or vibration on your face before telling a story to see if your articulation improves.
Using a vibrating toothbrush can help make the a tedious or aversive task of oral hygiene more fun and comfortable. Use this tool to improve oral hygiene and independence with teeth brushing. But also gain the benefits of improved articulation and even feeding skill. When your mouth is more aware, it can be more coordinated.
A vibrating heating pad has many beneficial uses, including increasing awareness of the bladder and stomach while working on toileting and feeding goals.
Consult your OT for specific recommendations of how to use these tools at home.
Discrete Fidget Tools For Attention and Regulation
Therapeutic Uses:
Fidgets can be powerful tools to help alleviate some nervous system overflow that can happen when too much information is coming in. It can also help to provide a just-right amount of input to keep the nervous system alert when there is too little information coming in.
The right fidget should be subtle, so that it is not distracting, and it should be easily accessible, such as on your desk, in your pocket, on your hand, etc.
Consult your OT for specific recommendations of how to use these tools at home.
Oral Motor Stimulation to Support Attention, Regulation, & Awareness
Therapeutic Uses:
Did you know that the mouth has the SECOND most nerve endings of any body part? That makes it a very effective place to receive therapeutic sensory input. Additionally, the masseter (jaw) muscle is one of the strongest in our body. That makes chewing (especially something thick and resistive) an incredibly effective heavy work activity. And sucking is one of the most calming activities for our nervous system. That is a huge bang for your buck.
Using a bite and suck straw, such as a Camelbak straw water bottle, provides the heavy work benefits of biting down and clenching that masseter muscle, while also providing the calming input of the sucking motion. Add ice or lemon to the water for additional sensory benefits.
Using oral motor vibrating tools provides a large amount of input to the face, jaw, and mouth. This can be alerting, but it can also serve to increase awareness of the mouth for improved chewing and articulation.
If your child is often putting things in their mouth, they may be craving either the calming sucking input or the organizing chewing input. Try an oral motor necklace (or bracelet) as an easy to access - hard to lose - oral motor stimulation tool.
Don’t forget about the benefits of chewing gum (not recommended for those under 6 years old), very chewy foods like dried mango, and lollipops.
Consult your OT for specific recommendations of how to use these tools at home.
Safe Ways to Satisfy Your Extreme Sensory Seeker
Therapeutic Uses:
Intensive vestibular inputs can be just what a nervous system needs when it is craving stimulation. Vestibular inputs are those that change our head position and challenge our balance. Activities like jumping, running, spinning, and swinging all provide great vestibular input. Some people require 10, 15, or even more than 20 minutes to reach their sensory threshold (when their nervous system is satisfied that it finally has enough input). But other people can become easily overstimulated by even 1-2 minutes of the “wrong” type of vestibular input. If your child appears more calm, organized, or attentive after engaging in intensive vestibular inputs, this is a great regulation strategy for them. If your child seems to become more disorganized, dysregulated, can’t seem to stop, or has difficulty transitioning to another activity afterwards, this is maybe NOT a great regulation strategy for them.
Consult your OT for specific recommendations of how to use these tools at home.