The Sensory Team Handbook

Retail price: $19.95 US Pages: 180
Size: 5.5” x 8.5” flat binding
ISBN: 978-0-9811439-2-7
Reading level: Grade 5

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REVIEWS

“Refreshing…the only book of its kind…a wonderful tool for a therapist to work through each chapter with the child or for the parent and child to work on together.” Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, Director of the SPD Foundation, and author of Sensational Kids

“An invaluable resource for pre-teens. In easy-to-follow language with lots of fun graphics kids can relate to, this book explains sensory processing problems and helps to empower young adults to take a key role in managing their daily life experiences.” Lindsey Biel, OTR/L, Raising a Sensory Smart Child

“My own teenage son commented on how accurate the sensory-seeking checklist described him, and specifically how much he enjoyed the cartoon that read “Why don’t they put rides in English classrooms?” Jenny Brack, OTR, Learn to Move, Moving Up!

“A fun and useful resource, one to share with your child of any age.” Terri Mauro, About.com Guide to Parenting Special Needs and author of The Everything Parent's Guide To Sensory Integration Disorder

Tourette's Syndrome in Middle School

The good news is that some (but not all) kids with Tourette’s find that their tics and blurting start to fade in late adolescence.

But the teen years are often a period of growing obsessions and anxiety. Emotional self-control - especially anger management - become big issues.

Treatment Options

During the teen years, young people develop the ability to apply behavior strategies to their own behavior. This creates options for a variety of self-directed therapies.

One option is cognitive behavioral therapy. A psychologist helps the teen identify behaviors that need work and devices mental strategies for preventing and controlling those behaviors. The teen then practices until he or she has adequate control.

Another option is habit reversal therapy (HRT). This technique is useful for helping to gain control over any residual tics or involuntary habits.

One promising treatment option is EEG neurofeedback therapy. Neurofeedback trains the brain to produce higher sensorimotor rhythms, the brainwave frequency associated with tics, anxiety, and sensory issues.

The Teen Years and Tourette's

1. Make sure the high school teachers know your kid has Tourette's. It’s torturous for a kid to have to pretend to be normal. Suppressing tics is almost impossible and often just makes things worse.

Note that there are fewer resources about Tourette's than there are about ADHD or Asperger's Syndrome. This makes the role of the parent even more important.

2. Make sure the teachers understand sensory processing disorder. Sensory issues create agitation and anxiety that is hard for teachers to understand unless you explain it to them.

3. Make sure your kid understands Tourette's and all its related issues. Frame it positively. There are many different kinds of brains out there - it's a neuro-diverse world. Help your kid identify which issues he/she wants to resolve and which ones are fine with him/her. 

4. Every Tourette's kid is different. You may find that this school Q&A about Tourette's Syndrome contains answers to your questions.