Articles

(2016) ‘Out-of-Sync’ Kids May Have Sensory Processing Disorder — by Chelsea Keenan

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Published March 31 in The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

During Carol Kranowitz’s 25 years as a preschool teacher, she realized there were certain children in her classes that seemed “out-of-sync.”

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(2016) How Sensory Processing Disorder Looks a Lot Like ADHD

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A slideshow, published June 7 on ADDitudemag.com

Sensory Processing Disorder is not just about itchy tags. It is a complex and multi-faceted condition that is often mistaken for ADHD, anxiety, and other conditions.

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(2016) What Happens When Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder Grow Up? — by Jamie Pacton

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Published June 8 on Parents.com

Kids who are “out-of-sync” with the world due to Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) struggle with a variety of sensory and motor challenges, but we can help them through simple routines and consistent activities.

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(2016) The Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up

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Published June 5, on Pittsburgh Parent

Erik, a loose-and-floppy 14-year-old, is not a self-starter, a joiner, a player, or a conversationalist. He’s smart but doesn’t seem tuned in to other people or his surroundings. He seems interested only in his cell phone. His parents are concerned about Erik’s “can’t-do spirit.”

Marlene, 19, is a brilliant, very thin college student, perpetually hunched over, gripping her elbows, and frequently tripping on air. Family, friends, and faculty consider her shy, nervous, awkward, and quirky.

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(2014) Focus on Survival Skills: When the Lights Go Out

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Published in Sensory Focus, Summer issue

An advertisement from an electric power company dropped through my mail slot today, shouting, BLACKOUT: Could It Happen Again? It got me thinking about survival skills. When an outage occurs and we can’t switch on the electric power, we must switch to our own power to get from place to place, prepare meals, communicate with others, and entertain ourselves.

Will we be prepared? Especially those among us with SPD and other physical challenges?

Alas, so much is done for us these days that we all are becoming “do-ees” instead of “do-ers.” Learned helplessness is everybody’s problem.

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(2013) New AAP Statement Calls Recess ‘Crucial’ to Child’s Development, by Mari-Jane Williams

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Published January 7 in The Washington Post.

Children have long regarded recess as a highlight of the school day. Last week, unstructured play breaks got an endorsement from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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(2013) The Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up

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Published in Sensory Focus magazine, Winter issue

If you are seeking information about SPD’s effect on children, you are in luck. An abundance of books is available to help parents, teachers, and other non-OTs learn to recognize SPD characteristics and support “out-of-sync” kids at home and school.

Alas, should you seek information about SPD’s effect as children mature, you will find fewer choices. Reader-friendly resources that describe “what happens next” are hard to write and hard to find.

Worrying and wondering, parents and teachers have many questions about their kids’ future.

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(2012) A Sens-ational Summer — Here We Come!, by Jane Samuel

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Published June 2 on MotheringintheMiddle.com, the blog for new midlife mothers and fathers

The arrival of summer and the unleashing of cooped-up young bodies always bring me back to my child-rearing-roots. Only a few days have passed since the carpool line, the packing of lunches, and the buzzing of early alarm clocks stopped and I am already thinking, “How can I keep them away from the TV and feed their bodies and minds?” With sensory smart activities of course! Read more

(2012) The Sensory Gym, by Jenny Rough

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Published in the January/February issue of Bethesda Magazine

Today, Carol travels around the country speaking about SPD. Back home, she spends time with her five grandchildren and four step-grandchildren, all of whom range in age from 3 to 11. None has SPD, but she has brought elements of her classroom into her basement via a sensory gym.

She made a crash pad by stuffing a duvet cover with pillows and got scraps from local upholsterers to fill a dress-up trunk with velvet and yards of beautiful Chinese silk. She has a therapy ball, marbles, a net swing, a platform swing and a collection of rhythm band instruments made from twigs, nuts, shells and gourds.

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(2012) Certain Senses Can Hit a Nerve, by Sheila Wayman

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Published April 24, in The Irish Times Health plus

When Carol Stock Kranowitz was a teacher of music and movement at a nursery school in Washington DC, she used to be puzzled by the occasional child who would not take part in the fun activities all the other young children enjoyed.

There was the boy who turned away, covering his ears with his hands, when music was played; the girl who lay on the floor “too tired” even to strike two rhythm sticks together; the boy who buzzed around the room while all the other pre-schoolers sat down singing songs. Their behaviour disrupted the fun for others.

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(2012) Working Out of the House — by Jenny Rough

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Published in Bethesda Magazine, January-February

At some point during her 25 years of teaching music at St. Columba’s Nursery School in Northwest Washington, D.C., Carol Kranowitznoticed something odd: A number of the kids avoided the sandbox, finger paints and shaving cream activities. These were the same kids who didn’t respond to the piano.

When an occupational therapist came to the school, Kranowitz learned that these children had sensory processing disorder (SPD), a condition that makes it difficult to process information received through the five senses, plus movement/balance and body position.

“It explained the behavior of a lot of these kids—they were out of sync,” the Bethesda resident says.

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