This month we're focusing on mental health and sensory needs.
Everyday activities can often be challenging and/or unpleasant for individuals with sensory processing differences and this can impact their mental health. Many studies show clear links between mental health and sensory processing sensitivity.
So if you’re looking for SI Resources to help with supporting your clients’ mental health and sensory needs, we’ve curated a number of guides, articles, books and products including:
Manage clashing sensory needs - this insightful article from Psychology Today looks at the challenges of managing diverse sensory needs in neurodivergent families and offers a 4-step guide on how to navigate these sensory needs in order to build sensory harmony and a more inclusive family dynamic.
Dyspraxia affects children’s well-being – here’s how parents and caregivers can help – it’s likely at least one child in every classroom has movement difficulties in the form of developmental coordination disorder (DCD), also known as developmental dyspraxia. This article from The Conversation is an informative read on how dyspraxia can impact children's well-being and participation in daily life and what parents can do to help.
Why is occupational therapy important for autistic children? – in this article, Corinna Laurie, Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist at National Autistic Society and Director of Evolve Children's Therapy Services Ltd, explains how occupational therapy can help autistic children as well as providing examples of therapeutic interventions to target sensory processing differences.
Meeting the needs of autistic adults in mental health services – this advisory guidance from NHS England is to help drive a collective effort to bring about improvements in the provision of mental health care for autistic adults in all mental health services. It will support staff working in mental health to better understand and feel confident about meeting the needs of autistic people who access their services.
New algorithm disentangles intrinsic brain patterns from sensory inputs – this is an interesting read from the University of Southern California on how scientists are using machine learning to learn more about sensory processing
‘When I got diagnosed, I was happy that I finally had a reason why I had been struggling’ – in this insightful article, teen author and student, Elsie Starr, explains why getting a dyspraxia diagnosis was helpful for her in order to help her understand her difficulties, how it affects her constantly and the subjects she struggles with at school as a result.
5 classroom activities for nonverbal autistic children - nonverbal autism is a form of autism where the individual has limited or no verbal communication. This article from Autism Parenting Magazine looks at how teachers can introduce various classroom activities for nonverbal autistic children and how these activities can go a long way to making classrooms more inclusive and help improve the educational experience for many nonverbal autistic children.
Books and Product Ideas
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Mental Health Workbook for Kids: Activities to Help Young Ones Work Through Everyday Situations
Written by Avianca Norwood, this book* is a great interactive mental health workbook to help educate children on how to manage their emotions with activities that help them work through their emotions.
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Happy Confident Me Daily Journal
Developed by Psychotherapist Annabel Rosenhead and Parenting Expert and Author Nadim Saad, this beautifully illustrated journal* offers children different inspiring quotes and questions every day. It opens up 6 to 10-year-olds' abilities to better understand themselves, reflect on the positives each day and find it easier to discuss their feelings and identify their emotions.
Packed with daily quotes to inspire, there are four questions children can complete each day about their day as well as fun weekly activities to learn key character-building skills.
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The Autistic Experience: Silenced Voices Finally Heard
Curated by psychologist and psychotherapist Marie-Laure Del Vecchio and the Autistic Photographer, Joe James, this book* is a brave, eye-opening and ultimately optimistic collection of stories about life in the lens of autism.
From school days to office life, from teenagers to those in their seventies, across all genders, the stories are from people across the globe and explore all aspects of autistic life - from the earliest childhood memories to the challenges facing the autistic parent or grandparent.
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Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You
When it comes to women, sensory processing differences are often overlooked, masked or mistaken for something else entirely. As a result, women often don’t learn about their neurological differences until they are adults, if at all. This book* by Jerena Nerenberg shares real stories from women with high sensitivity, ADHD, autism, misophonia, dyslexia, SPD and more and explores how these brain variances present differently in women, dispelling widely-held misconceptions (for example, it’s not that autistic people lack sensitivity and empathy, they have an overwhelming excess of it).
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Express Your Feelings Sensory Bottles
These innovative child-safe sensory bottles help children with understanding emotions, offering them a quiet, self-directed, tangible way to identify how they are feeling and how to express their emotions.
Each of the 4 bottles features a unique emotion, with an interactive element that stands for these emotions. Happy is yellow, sad is blue, scared is green, and angry is red. The set comes with an activity guide which is designed to encourage discussion and conversation about responding to emotions in positive, proactive ways.
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EDX Education Whizzy Dizzy
The EDX Education Whizzy Dizzy is a great toy for children who love to move. With a sturdy plastic base that houses a swivelling sitting platform that rotates as children pull on the circular central wheel, it helps develop bilateral coordination and motor planning as well as providing vestibular sensory input.
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Furry Planet Worry Yummy
Available from Sensory Smart, an SIE preferred supplier, this Furry Planet Worry Yummy is recommended by Child Psychologists to help children ease their worries. All they have to do is write down a worry or fear and feed it to the monster using their zipper mouths who will eat up all their worries and fears! An added bonus is that parents can subtly get an insight into what is on their child's mind.
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Learning Resources Mindful Maze Garden Pack
These mindful maze boards* are a great screen-free way to teach children how to soothe themselves by providing cues and physical objects to guide them through breathing exercises. Each of the mindful maze boards offers a unique experience because each child needs different breathing activities for different situations and the breathing tracks are large enough to fit pom-poms, rice, beans, etc., to add a multisensory element to exploring mindfulness.
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*Affiliate link: SIE may earn a commission (at zero cost to you) when you purchase by clicking on an affiliate link.
NB: Sensory Integration Education is not responsible for the content on external websites. Sharing a resource does not imply endorsement by Sensory Integration Education.
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