Dinah Leiter President Kid Clan Services Inc

by Dinah Leiter
(Clifton, NJ)

Children with sensory integration challenges often do feel emotions much more intensely than other children. In fact, research shows that the neurological pathways between the parts of the brain that process sensations,cerebellum and midbrain, are far more directly connected to the limbic or emotional center of the brain than is the frontal lobe, or thinking part of the brain. So, telling a child to count to ten, or take a deep breath is most likely far less effective than giving your child a hug or rocking your child when he is upset. Of course, what we would prefer to do is help the child to achieve a state of regulation before he is upset, so that when something upsetting occurs, his body is regulated and comfortable,so that he is able to tap into learned coping strategies. This can be achieved through a combination of sensory and behavioral strategies, with the ultimate goal of our children developing inherent self regulation strategies.