#self-regulation
There’s a hilarious and informative thread going around, probably best known as the “YEET THE CHILD FOR THEIR HEALTH” post.*
While it’s worth a read by its own right, we’d like to bring you one particularly spoonie-oriented reply from Paediatric Occupational Therapist Zoe Gianduzzo:
As adults, does your body ever feel jittering/jiggly/wiggly/like it needs to move or calm down but you just can’t figure out why? That’s your sensory system saying Hey! I need to feel differently in order to function better!
Here’s what you can do:
- Jump up and down (vestibular and proprioception)
- Give yourself big squeezes (proprioception)
- Place your hands on a wall and do push ups (proprioception)
- Do cartwheels (vestibular and proprioception)
- Get someone to give you the biggest bear hug for at least 10 seconds (proprioception and social connection, also proven to help regulate your sensory system into just right zone!)
- Get a drink of water and drink it through a straw OR blow bubbles into the water (way more fun!) (oral motor input and respiration)
- Have a shower or a bath (tactile)
- Stretch and do exercise (vestibular and proprioception)
- Eat something crunchy or chewy (like chips or gum) (oral motor input)
- Listen to some music that suits your mood (auditory)
- etc etc etc! I’m sure you already have a strategy that your body has figured out works for you. I personally like to chew gum when I feel like i need to eat something but I’m not actually hungry and just need that chewing sensation in my jaw.
Long story short, everyone has a sensory system and we all use regulation strategies like the ones listed above to help make our body feel better. So if you ever see someone (especially kids!) fidgeting and having a hard time focusing, maybe suggest something from the list above!
If you’re a leg bouncer, you’ve already found one solution—but now you know why you do it, and some other things that may help.
Big thanks for Zoe for her permission to repost this content! Zoe is on Tumblr as @hjartaohamast-svohljott, and her business is on Facebook as AerialTherapeuticsandInstagram as AerialTherapeutics!
*If you missed the whole “yeet” thing: it’s a new slang term that means to throw or fling something. You can also yell it as you throw something or as a victory cry, but you might get some funny looks if you’re not a Gen Z-er.
We on this blog, of course, encourage you to use it to mortify your children and grandchildren
If I had to choose only one point to focus on for the entire month of April - or for the rest of my days drawing SPECTRUM cartoons - it would be this.
*
Concepts of “support” or “treatment” or “therapy” should ALWAYS be centered around the internal regulation and well-being of a person. The goal should always be helping someone feel more centered and stabilized *at their core*. We all deserve a steady base, from which to learn and grow.
*
(And NOT on reduction of undesired behaviors, or increase of desired behaviors. Behavior-based intervention is *not* a person-centered support or therapy. Rather, it is a mechanism for maintaining something about *the environment* - which is not the same thing.)
