Laura Knight, MPT, Advance for Physical Therapists

books:


	• Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues Lindsey Biel, Nancy Peske Penguin (Non-Classics), 2005 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 36 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Good Shower present

The title may be intimidating to some of you. But this book is highly recommended for EVERY parent. Every kid is a little "goofy" at times, sometimes amazingly so. This book explains how and why kids act "goofy".

Laura Knight, MPT, Advance for Physical Therapists

What does sensory integration (SI) dysfunction feel like? Authors Lindsey Biel, MA, OTR/L, and Nancy Peske, parent of a child with SI dysfunction, ask the reader to imagine how an adult with SI dysfunction might feel while preparing a spaghetti dinner in her own kitchen.

"The fluorescent light gives you a headache, and you can't find the tomato sauce in your crowded pantry. The lettuce in your hands feels slimy and repulsive. The smell of garlic makes you queasy. You don't hear the boiling water on the stove, and it bubbles over, flooding your pilot light so the stove won't relight. You bump your head on a cabinet, trip over the cat, and spill the salad. By the time dinner is on the table, you're a nervous wreck and you've yelled at everyone. All you want to do is crawl into bed and sleep. What if you were to experience this disastrous dinner scenario every night, and nobody seemed to understand? After all, everyone else is able to see the can on the shelf and the cat on the floor, so why can't you? Strong smells don't upset them and flickering, harsh lights don't give them headaches." (p.15)

Through vivid illustrations like this, Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues continually reminds readers that children with SI dysfunction do not experience the world as we do. They need their parents' help to learn how to self-regulate, adapt and overcome. The evaluation and treatment of Peske's son, as seen through the eyes of parent and therapist, demonstrate key points and provide continuity throughout the book.

Biel and Peske explain the sophisticated reasoning of occupational therapists - what may look like "play" to a parent is actually a well-planned response to minute-by-minute observations performed by a skilled practitioner.

Sensory Smart's most helpful aspect is teaching parents how to be better observers and analyzers of behavior. The book abounds with checklists-from signs of sensory overload to self-help, cognitive and self-regulation benchmarks.

Chapter seven, "Practical Solutions for Everyday Sensory Problems," offers effective suggestions for problematic activities familiar to pediatric therapists-hair washing, bathing, mealtimes, parties and more. Websites and toll-free numbers are included in the text for immediate use and are repeated in an appendix for handy reference.

After reading this book, parents will be able to take advantage of everyday opportunities to address specific SI challenges. The authors are constantly optimistic and encouraging about potential - the potential of parents and children to develop sensory smarts, and the potential of children to become happy, productive adults. At the same time, Biel and Peske are realistic about human nature. Parents won't be discouraged if they can't provide the optimum environment 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What could the authors have done better? There are few charts, illustrations and photos, making this a very text-heavy read. A greater variety of font sizes and types, and more bullets, charts and photos would break things up visually, especially important for busy parents. I would also recommend repeating all the checklists in a single appendix.

One last point: Biel and Peske offer sound advice for choosing a therapist (p. 104), counsel that serves as a wonderful reminder and pick-me-up to pediatric therapists: "Good technique and good intentions are crucial, but they are inadequate in and of themselves. Find someone who is very skilled and who will also love your child and create a safe, warm environment in which your child can express himself and flourish. Because only a therapist - or any caregiver for that matter - with an open, loving heart and a good eye and ear for spoken and unspoken needs will really be able to help."

Laura Knight is a pediatric physical therapist with Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System in Spartanburg, SC.

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Sensory questions--buy this book!

I just finished reading this book and found it to be wonderful. I have been an occupational therapist for 21 years working with children with these type of issues. I also have a child myself that has sensory defensiveness. I found this book to be a great resource--I would recommend it for therapists and parents!

This book is SOOO helpful!

I'm on my second time through this book. It has a very balanced approach to sensory integration disorder. There are personal stories, clinical (yet easy to understand) explanations, helpful resources and products, activity ideas, and even what to say to "well-meaning" friends, relatives and strangers. I'm getting tremendous insight into our daughters' problems.

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Very, Very Helpful tool for parents

As an OT with a child having sensory integration issues, I though this book was excellent for reading and giving practical solutions. I have started to refer this book to parents instead of the "OUT OF SYNC CHILD" because I found it to be easier to understand, not as technical, and gives very practical solutions for everyday dilemmas. Although I use "The Out of Sync Child" for my own reference, parents give me feedback that it was too scary for them and that all of it did not apply to them. Education is the best way to deal with Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID) and this book helps to educate a parent!

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, page 6, 7, 8

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