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Coffee and Chat | Q &A with Chewigem and Sensooli

Join us for coffee and chat this week.

We will be hosting a Q & A session tonight. Come and join us to hear about Sensooli and Chewigem products. We will be joined tonight on the call by Jenny McLaughlan and Loz Young, who will be telling us more about Chewigem and their new initiative Sensooli . They are keen to hear therapist feedback about their products and how this relates to our practice;including what we might like to know more about. For more information please see https://chewigem.com/ and their new space https://sensooli.com/.

Please post any questions before the session to the ASI in Practice Telegram Group or email through to hello@asi-wise.org.

This is an open evening session, so please also do bring any others questions or chat about anything related to ASI.

Book here now: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/asi-wise-coffee-chat-q-a-session-with-sensooli-chewigem-tickets-212407796437

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PANDAS and PANS Sensory Integration and Processing Challenges

a displeased girl screaming in anger

PANDAS and PANS Sensory Integration and Processing Difficulties

Sensory Systems:
Vestibular processing deficits, often low PRN
Poor postural control especially antigravity extension
Can slouch, slump – extension against gravity is tricky and tiring
Likes to move and not stop/fidgeting
Can have low levels of alertness when not moving
Scared of the dark without visual input to support spatial understanding
Altered spatial awareness
Poor grading of force
May appear ‘low toned’ – but normal Beighton Scale
Poor self-awareness – spatial; position in space and body awareness
ARFID and picky eating | often poor tactile registration and poor modulation
Super sensitive to some tastes
Altered temperature perception
Delayed cues re ill, nauseous, hungry, full or needing toilet
Hyper-responsivity to some textures and light touch eg certain fabrics/textures
May dislike light touch; skin, hair, tooth and nail care can be tricky
Dislike being touched or held when not on own terms
Slow or under-responsivity to pain,
Hyper-responsivity in far senses; smell, vision and hearing

The dyspraxic patterns seen can include;
Often bumping into things and people
Difficulty playing with manipulating tools and toys
Difficulty learning new/novel movement/motor skills
Fine motor co-ordination difficulties e.g., handwriting, bilateral co-ordination, poor tool use
Speech praxis difficulties include stutter, slurred words, poor pronunciation and timing
Ideation, planning and execution can all be affected.

Emotion Regulation
Rage
Anger
Irritability
Poor frustration tolerance
Difficulties with co and self-regulation
Poor self-awareness – emotional lability is common
Tearful one moment, raging the next 0-100 in 3 seconds

Executive Function
Poor processing speed
Multi-tasking is hard
Poor timing and sequencing
Poor concentration and focus
Slow to perform tasks
? observed difficulties with language processing
? observed difficulties with more complex and abstract problem solving that is age-appropriate

Fatigues easily and needs lots of reset time
May go ‘off legs’
Looks like have regressed

May need much parental encouragement and support
Lose resilience to trying new things
Low self-esteem

Older children
Self-loathing and disgust at self
Extreme fear and losing control of agency over the world
Awareness of personality change and burden on parents and siblings

[list developed by Kath Smith OT 2014 – 2021]

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Research Update | Social touch deprivation during COVID-19: effects on psychological wellbeing and craving interpersonal touch

“a particularly effective form of communicating (non-verbal) support, which in addition facilitates the formation and maintenance of social bonds, is touch”

von Mohr et al 2021

Read more here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.210287

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Sensory Overload, Poor Habituation and A Brain that is Constantly Surprised

This article by science mag uses the analogy of predictive coding to explore how a mismatch between what the brain predicts might happen with what actually happens can cause the brain to be in a constant state of surprise. It attempts to explain some of the core features of Autism, Sensory Integration differences, poor habituation, focus on detail rather than the big picture and difficulties with social interaction…

“In Ayaya’s telling, her autism involves a host of perceptual disconnects. For example, she feels in exquisite detail all the sensations that typical people readily identify as hunger, but she can’t piece them together. “It’s very hard for me to conclude I’m hungry,” she says. “I feel irritated, or I feel sad, or I feel something [is] wrong. This information is separated, not connected.” It takes her so long to realize she is hungry that she often feels faint and gets something to eat only after someone suggests it to her.”  Read more here…

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ASI and Supporting Parents of Children With Autism: The Role of Occupational Therapy

“…When creating an intervention plan, occupational therapy practitioners evaluate children with autism using observation and parent and teacher reports and also interview parents about their child’s relationships and eating, self-care, and daily living skills…”

Ayres Sensory Integration intervention is one of the most frequently requested and highly utilized interventions in autism. This intervention has specific requirements for therapist qualifications and the process of therapy. This systematic review of studies providing Ayres Sensory Integration therapy to children with autism indicates that it is an evidence‐based practice according to the criteria of the Council for Exceptional Children.” Schoen et al 2018 read more here

National Autistic Society in the UK explains Why is occupational therapy important for autistic children?

Occupational therapy using an Ayres’ Sensory Integrative approach – research supports the use of Ayres’ Sensory Integration, not just for Autism but also for other neurodevelopmental difficulties. See ASI 2020 Vision Goal 1 – Scholarship recent research and FB Group Evidence ASI

You can also read more about The Role of Occupational Therapy in Supporting Parents of Children With Autism on  AOTA’s website