Little Alex comes into your therapy space like a Tasmanian Devil!

He hasn’t stopped moving since he stepped foot in the door and he’s touched everything in reach.

In fact, half of your stuff is already on the floor.

What’s a therapist to do?

Never fear, my friends! I’m speech-language pathologist Carrie Clark and in this episode of The Speech and Language Kids Podcast, I’m going to show you how to use incorporate sensory and movement into your speech/language therapy sessions for better participation and behavior.

You can listen to the full podcast episode below:

So many of our clients just seem…off.

Dysregulated.

And often that’s because their little bodies are just not getting the input that they need.

When we see children doing things with their bodies that are outside the “expected” behaviors, we have found our first cue that they need something different.

And if we observe and pay attention to their bodies, we can usually tell what it is.

Just as our students are sometime seeking sensory input….

….they may also be trying to avoid a sensory input.

Maybe they cover their ears or eyes.

Maybe they spit out a certain food or refuse to try it.

Maybe they pull away from our touch or have trouble wearing certain types of clothing.

When trying to identify what sensory input a child is craving, we can consider these different sensory systems:

If we can tell what type of input a child needs, we can provide that at the beginning of our session or during our sessions to help them stay engaged with our learning.

But even if we’re not sure what type they need, we can still try different activities to see which ones help!

Some children will become overstimulated by an activity.

Others will calm down by it.

Trial and error is key here!

Any activity that requires the child to use their muscles can be effective at helping them focus!

Consider jobs that require strength, such as carrying, pushing, stacking, lifting, etc.

If they feel like they are helping, they are more likely to do it than if they feel like it’s a meaningless task.

Ideas:

Therapy on the playground or gym is my favorite!

Allow the students to free play as long as they agree to work with you while they do it!

Follow them around and find ways to work their speech into the play.

Or have them freeze and do a certain number of reps to unfreeze.

Draw things in sidewalk chalk to help them practice their skill.

Slime.

Putty.

Playdough.

A bin full of dried rice and beans.

There are so many things that kids can stick their hands into that will light up a totally different part of their brains!

Find different ways for kids to sit (or stand) to make drill and practice more appealing:

If you can figure out what type of input a child needs, you can find ways to give them even more of that input in a way that they would need your help for.

If they like swinging, push them on the swing to go higher!

If they like bouncing, sit on an exercise ball with them on your lap and bounce HIGH!

If they like spinning, spin them in an office chair.

Once they know you can get them what they need, they’ll be more willing to communicate with you to get it or work to get more.

We have free sensory resources inside The Hub!

Here are a few of our favorites for sensory-seekers or avoiders:

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