SPD???

Did you know that 7% of kids world wide have been diagnosed with ADHD and 8% Autism.

If I was asked how many have been diagnosed with SPD I would have thought less then those two, due to the fact when our daughter was diagnosed with SPD I had no idea what it was. For those of you who are aware it is Sensory Processing Disorder. How the brain takes in all the senses and can be overloaded with too much or too little.

Do you know how many?

Have a guess……..

It is 16% that is both Autism and ADHD combined. How many kids have you heard of with it?

So the lights maybe too bright, or the socks too prickly these are the annoying parts of SPD. The overwhelm is the hardest part. The noise of the classroom, or swim lessons. The bright lights in the shopping centre. Most of us can deal with it, and move away from the lights or the noise. Children when they are young learn to adapt quite quickly but sometimes the anxiety starts to play havoc. The brain has a system to protect us. Fight, Flight or Freeze. When upset we can fight with our siblings. Or we can run away from the issue.

When SPD and anxiety mix world war 3 breaks out. So why am I telling you all this. Because we have been there. We have been through the meltdowns, the shutdowns, the I am dumb and we have come out the other side.

How?

Lots of Mindfulness! yes Mindfulness. I know it is the FAB new craze being thrown around. Truly it is what saved our daughter.

Start simply Creative outlet, draw, paint, colour and just sit.

Then when calm start to add some breathing techniques. Why not start with this???? As the old saying goes you can’t teach a drowning child to swim it is the same you can’t help a child understand in the midst of a melt down, all brain function has been shut down ready to Fight, flight or Freeze to save your life.

So when a child is calm start teaching them the techniques to calm then when needed they will then have the tools to help.

Then add extra tools to the toolbox, yoga, meditation, art and any other activity they find calming.

We are about to open our 30 Day Mindfulness Challenge in March contact us to get on the waiting list