A Sensory Emotional Lens

36. "Being Mean" Through a Sensory Emotional Lens Nov 18, 2024

We know that the way we take in sensation impacts how we feel and, in turn, how we act and interact. We've discussed the global emotional expressions of body-based experiences - emotions like anxiety, embarrassment, surprise, confusion, needy, etc. Today, we are going to dive into social situations and a topic that's been coming up lately - kids saying things to others that are unkind or saying seemingly purposefully hurtful or mean things to others.

Well, at least, the things being said were interpreted as purposefully mean or hurtful. It turns out the child who said what they said was NOT trying to be mean at all. They did not set out to intentionally hurt the other person with their words, and we know there are many sensory-motor reasons for that. So today, we're using a Sensory Emotional Lens, particularly through the lens of being Unaware yet Deep Thinking, to examine meanness.

In this episode, you'll discover:

That what you expect is correct - your child is NOT actually trying to be mean and that they actually do care about what they are saying
Why your child says mean things
Why reminding them with statements like “We are not mean to our friends” and “Being mean is not kind” is not working
Ways to understand and explain why this is happening, based on the way they are processing sensation
Ways to help your child in times when they find themselves ‘being mean’

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

35. Potty Training Through a Sensory Emotional Lens Oct 23, 2024

Potty training can be a rollercoaster of emotions for both caregivers and kids. The pressure and stress surrounding this milestone can feel overwhelming at times. Whether it's the comments from other caregivers or grandparents about it being "time" or the need to meet deadlines for preschool transitions, the pressure to help our kids achieve this goal can be intense.

As we chatted about in a recent episode, our stress levels can affect our kids, and stress can make it really hard for them to go to the bathroom. We also know that there are many sensory motor reasons that can make potty training tough and stressful for our kids. So today, we're taking a Sensory Emotional Lens on potty training in hopes of making this journey a little less stressful for everyone!

In this episode, you'll discover:

The underlying sensory processing and motor capacities needed for successful potty training
Common emotional experiences during potty training
How to invite positive emotional experiences during potty training
Ways to act and interact with your child, based on their Sensory Emotional Personalities, to support emotion regulation and sensory motor capacities while potty training
Ways to use play, including exploration, power roles, and helper roles, to bring success in potty training

For more strategies for potty training and other daily living skills, please visit our learning portal in the upcoming weeks: https://sensoryemotionalcenteroflearning.teachable.com

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

34. Halloween Through a Sensory Emotional Lens Oct 14, 2024

Believe it or not, Halloween can sometimes seem more of a trick than a treat for our sensory emotional kids. On the surface we can see or sense the different sensory experiences that Halloween brings - lights and sounds of decorations, smells of candy and even decorations sometimes, and costumes of unfamiliar fabrics and textures.

When we consider movement experiences, we can anticipate navigation through crowds and navigating places in the dark with lots of people and lots of different uneven surfaces, not to mention needing to navigate around and over decorations.

Halloween – and particularly the culminating event of trick or treating – challenges every single sensory system to process novel experiences and, therefore, can bring every single emotional experience - and today, we’re going to talk about it.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Ways to anticipate and understand the emotional and social experiences your child may have on Halloween
Halloween costume choices that will support emotion regulation during Halloween
Ways to act and interact with your child, based on their Sensory Emotion Personalities during novel situations, to support emotion regulation and sensory-motor capacities during Halloween.

For more information on Halloween, please check out our Halloween blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/preparing-our-sensory-kids-for-halloween/

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

33. Parent & Caregiver Stress Through a Sensory Emotional Lens Oct 02, 2024

During any big transition or change in routine for our children, we spend a lot of time talking about how to support our kids, and we, as parents and caregivers, put all our effort into this. We focus on understanding the tricky behaviors of our children and preventing and responding to them. What we don't spend time on is what supports us as caregivers during busy, tricky, crazy seasons in life. In fact, we often completely put our needs aside at times like these. Then what happens? You guessed it - WE are the ones with the tricky behaviors!

In this episode, we examine parent and caregiver stress through a sensory-emotional lens and discuss ways to infuse emotionally informed sensory-motor experiences into our lives to support ourselves in tough moments.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Your own tricky behaviors as a stress response in yourself
Ways to embrace your tricky behaviors in a way that allows you to make changes to them, versus just moving through them as something to be expected or “it’s just what I do”
Sensory emotional strategies to address overwhelm, exhaustion, stress, and disorganization in yourself
Quick and easy ways to move your body in your day that will promote feelings of strength, resilience, control, connection, and organization in your life

For more information on Great Kids at Heart, our adult programs at Great Kids Place, please visit: https://greatkidsplace.com/great-kids-at-heart/

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

32. Sensory Diets through A Sensory Emotional Lens Sep 10, 2024

In this episode, we're looking at sensory diets and sensory breaks through a sensory emotional lens. Sensory diets provide opportunities throughout the day for a child to engage in sensory input to support regulation. In the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model, we know that the way we move our bodies and take in sensation impacts the way that we feel. We also know that children with sensory processing differences tend to experience specific emotional expressions - specific ways of feeling. When using a sensory diet, we must consider these emotional experiences alongside the body-based sensory-motor experiences in order to fully support regulation and engagement. This episode discusses ways to infuse emotionally informed sensory-motor experiences into sensory diets through Sensory Emotional roles.

In this episode, you'll discover:

The purpose of a sensory diet
Pitfalls to avoid when using or creating a sensory diet
Tips to make sensory diets the most effective
Sensory motor activities that help children to feel a certain way in both their body and their emotions
Sensory diet strategies to address anxiety, inattention, confusion and embarrassment, neediness, and scattered frustration
Ways to create Sensory Emotional Roles as a component of a sensory diet (better known here as a sensory lifestyle) based on a child's Sensory Emotional Personality

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

31. Back-to-School through A Sensory Emotional Lens (Part 2) Aug 27, 2024

Michele and Amanda are back to continue their conversation about supporting our sensory emotional kids in the classroom as we head back to school this year. Getting to know a new school, a new teacher, new routines, and expectations that are different from last year can be really overwhelming. We recognize that we all process sensory information differently and choose different ways of being according to our capacities to process information from the world and our bodies. In school, these ways of being can significantly impact performance and participation in school-based activities.

Michele and Amanda share valuable insights and strategies to help ease these transitions. In this episode, they dive deeper to discuss how to support children who present as confused, embarrassed, full of wonder, needy, compassionate, scattered and disorganized, intentional, and passionate (sometimes disguised as bossy). Strategies are presented to support sensory discrimination, motor planning, and posture.

In this episode you’ll discover:

How to know if the way a child is acting and interacting in the classroom is related to sensory motor differences
Common challenges in the classroom for children who are confused, embarrassed, or full of wonder and constantly experimenting with sensation or/and have difficulty discriminating/perceiving and integrating sensory input
Common challenges in the classroom for children who are needy or/and have weakness in strength and endurance
Common challenges in the classroom for children who are scattered, disorganized, intentional about how they will do things or what they will do or bossy or/and have difficulty with motor planning and coordination
Ways to set your child up for success by communicating to our child’s teacher using the language and idea that “My child is successful when…”
Sensory emotional strategies for the classroom for children who are confused, embarrassed, full of wonder, needy, scattered, disorganized, intentional or bossy

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Amanda Newchok, MS, OTR/L

Occupational Therapist, Great Kids Place

Amanda is a passionate occupational therapist with about twenty years of experience working with the pediatric population. She is a specialist in Sensory Processing and Integration Disorder, certified in the evaluation and treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder by the Sensory Therapies and Research Institute. Amanda also serves as faculty for the Sensory Therapies and Research Institute, where she educates therapists from around the country on the relationship between regulation, relationship, and sensation in the treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder, particularly in the school setting.

30. Back-to-School through A Sensory Emotional Lens (Part 1) Aug 14, 2024

Getting to know a new school, a new teacher, new routines, and expectations that are different from last year can be really overwhelming for some. We recognize that we all process sensory information differently and choose different ways of being according to our capacities to process information from the world and our bodies. In school, these ways of being can significantly impact performance and participation in school-based activities.

Join Michele and special guest Amanda Newchok for this special episode of A Sensory Emotional Lens where they share valuable insights and strategies to help ease these transitions. In this episode, Michele and Amanda discuss how to support children who present as anxious, deeply feeling, unaware, inattentive, and deep thinking. Strategies are presented to support sensory over-responsivity (hypersensitivity) and sensory under-responsivity (hyposensitivity).

In this episode you’ll discover:

How to know if the way a child is acting and interacting in the classroom is related to sensory motor differences
Common challenges in the classroom for children who are anxious, deeply feeling or/and hypersensitive or over responsive to sensations
Common challenges in the classroom for children who are unaware, inattentive or/and hyposensitive or under responsive to sensations
Ways to set your child up for success by communicating to our child’s teacher using the language and idea that “My child is successful when…”
Sensory emotional strategies for the classroom for children who are anxious, deeply feeling, unaware, inattentive and deep thinking presenting in their own world.

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

Amanda Newchok, MS, OTR/L

Occupational Therapist, Great Kids Place

Amanda is a passionate occupational therapist with about twenty years of experience working with the pediatric population. She is a specialist in Sensory Processing and Integration Disorder, certified in the evaluation and treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder by the Sensory Therapies and Research Institute. Amanda also serves as faculty for the Sensory Therapies and Research Institute, where she educates therapists from around the country on the relationship between regulation, relationship, and sensation in the treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder, particularly in the school setting.

29. Rewards through A Sensory Emotional Lens Jul 30, 2024

Like many common “go to” strategies, tangible rewards do not always work for all kids - particularly for individuals who process sensation differently than yourself and others. In fact, an offering of a reward for an expected behavior often has the opposite effect for some kids – again, particularly our sensory kids – and results in further dysregulation and lack of participation. In this episode, we’ll take a sensory emotional lens on reward, focusing on the feeling of reward and the sense of reward, to provide new strategies for using rewards for expected behaviors.

In this episode you’ll discover:

Why rewards don’t always work
What is needed to help your child feel a sense of reward in order to perform expected behaviors and tasks
How to shift your focus and provide rewards in a way that will bring success for you and your child
Strategies to set up the provision of rewards from a sensory emotional lens

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

28. Sibling & Peer Play Interactions through A Sensory Emotional Lens Jul 24, 2024

Social interactions with peers and/or siblings is a common area of challenge for children (and all individuals) with sensory emotional differences. There is often a mismatch in how we think the social experience will go and how it actually goes. This mismatch leads to decreased success in social interactions and accompanying tricky behaviors when our kids are in social scenarios. This mismatch is caused by underlying sensory motor differences and the emotional expression of them.

To better understand this, we’re using a Sensory Emotional Lens to dig deeper into peer and sibling social interactions.

In this episode you’ll discover:

The underlying sensory processing and motor capacities of social interactions. What is needed for success in social interactions from a sensory emotional lens?
The observable behaviors that indicate there may be a sensory motor difference leading to challenges in social interactions.
What we can do to help our sensory emotional kids find success with peers and siblings

How to interpret the situation from THEIR sensory emotional experiences
How to reduce felt stress of the situation
How to read their emotional expression and join them there!
How to set up specific roles for our kids in social situations to facilitate success

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

27. The Benefits of Taking Risks through A Sensory Emotional Lens Jul 01, 2024

This week’s episode of a Sensory Emotional Lens builds off of last week’s show on the explorations of new experiences, but this time, we’re putting an emphasis on the benefits of taking risks. Taking risks when done in play is a rich sensory-emotional opportunity and brings several benefits. In addition to sensory-emotional exploration, taking risks brings novelty, ignites problem-solving abilities, builds regulation strategies, tests and learns boundaries, and allows the reformation of a sense of self.

In this episode you’ll discover:

The body-based and emotion-based experiences in taking risks
The ways in which risk taking behavior facilitates brain development
How taking risks develops regulation capacities
Why taking risks helps children learn and understand boundaries
The roles you can play and strategies you can use in daily life to support children to take risks in confident, healthy, and safe ways to enhance self-esteem

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

26. Changes in Routine through A Sensory Emotional Lens Jun 12, 2024

While most of us thrive on and enjoy routines, individuals with sensory processing and sensory-motor difficulties tend to rely on them more so than most of us. Learn why routines are beneficial and why changes in routines can lead to significant challenges in emotion regulation and social participation. When we understand the body-based differences that occur as routines change, we can better understand the social-emotional reactions that are popping up and what to do about them through a sensory-emotional lens.

Don’t worry—we’ll also provide you with ways to make routine changes easier and more enjoyable for everyone!

In this episode you’ll discover:

Why our sensory kids thrive in routine
The body-based experiences of changes in routine
Social-emotional behaviors that we can expect with a change in routine
The roles you can play and strategies you can use in daily life to make changes in routine easier and more enjoyable

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

25. The Function-Dysfunction Continuum of Sensory Motor Capacities through the Lifespan through A Sensory Emotional Lens Jun 04, 2024

We all process sensory information and move our bodies differently. Sometimes, this happens in functional ways. Sometimes, this happens in dysfunctional ways. How we process sensation and move our bodies can lead to weaknesses AND strengths. These continuums of function to dysfunction and strengths to weaknesses fluctuate throughout development and the lifespan based on our relationships, environments, habits, and routines. Learn how this continuum applies to you and your family.

In this episode you’ll discover:

How to determine if sensory processing in your child and in you is functional or dysfunctional
The impact of expectations on the continuum of sensory-motor function or dysfunction
The strengths that can be found in individuals among sensory processing differences
What to expect in sensory-motor capacities along development and the lifespan
What treatment looks like at different ages within the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

24. Amelia's Journey - Behind the Scenes through A Sensory Emotional Lens May 20, 2024

In the last episode, we met Amelia and heard about her perspective on her sensory-emotional journey and lifestyle. As she spoke, I found myself reflecting on her journey through the therapist’s lens—thinking through the clinical reasoning that we used as therapists to support each piece of her sensory-emotional personalities through her early childhood and now pre-teen experiences. Welcome to Behind the Scenes of Amelia’s Journey!

In this episode you’ll discover:

The whole body experiences that caused anxiety for Amelia
The need for clinical reasoning for intervention to go well beyond sensory sensitivity strategies to address presenting challenges with clothes, sounds, and separation anxiety
How increasing body awareness, spatial awareness, and strength (all through sensory-rich play!) deceased Amelia’s separation anxiety
The progression of treatment beyond initial strategies as new anxieties surfaced
Ways in which the new anxieties correlated with the progression of sensory-motor development
Supporting overall sensory-motor and social-emotional development from early childhood through teenage years with the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

23. My Sensory Emotional & Anxiety Experience - Amelia's Journey May 01, 2024

On today’s very special episode of a Sensory Emotional Lens, we are joined by two of our therapists, AnnMarie and Laura, and one of our great kids and her mom. Hear first-hand from Amelia and her mom, Rachel, as they share a bit about their sensory-emotional journey and anxiety.

In this episode you’ll discover:

The body-based experiences that cause anxiety for Amelia now, how to recognize them, and what strategies help her in the moment
The thought-based experiences that cause anxiety for Amelia now and how to recognize them
How body-based and thought-based anxiety show up differently and how to identify
How strategies used when she was younger to help her tolerate uncomfortable sensations and build strength in her body are still used today in different forms
How working with Amelia on body-based and thought-based anxiety helped Mom learn about her own Sensory Emotional Personality and how that helped Amelia (and Mom!)

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

AnnMarie Murphy, OTD, OT/L, CIMI-2

Occupational Therapist, Great Kids Place

AnnMarie Murphy is an Occupational Therapist with advanced training and certification from the STAR Institute, specializing in the evaluation and treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder. AnnMarie holds a MS and Post-Professional Doctorate in Occupational Therapy. She is also a Certified Infant Massage Instructor through the World Institute for Nurturing Communications where she is trained in the Triad Family Model.

With a BA in Psychology and extensive mental health work in her Master's program, AnnMarie loves integrating mental health into her practice. She enjoys working with children and their families to understand their lived experiences by examining how they integrate and process sensory information.

Laura Baldwin, MA, LPC, NCC, ADHD-CCSP

Licensed Professional Counselor, Social-Emotional Development Coach, Great Kids Place

Laura is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Social-Emotional Development Coach at Great Kids Place. She is a steadfast advocate for developmentally appropriate interventions that improve the physical, psychological, social, and emotional well-being of another person.

Laura holds a master’s degree in Clinical and School Counseling and demonstrates advanced knowledge in pediatric mental health, child development, sensory processing differences, parent coaching, family support, attachment theories, developmental and behavioral assessments, social skills, DIR® Floortime™, and Crisis Prevention and Safety Care Interventions.

22. Body-Based Intervention for Anxiety through A Sensory Emotional Lens Apr 23, 2024

Anxiety is commonly treated with cognitive-based intervention. What if we told you that body-based intervention - in particular sensory Occupational Therapy - can treat anxiety, too?

Listen in to hear how sensory-motor play can help with your child’s anxiety.

In this episode you’ll discover:

How we can use movement and sensation experiences to impact change on emotions and how our kids feel
How can we help decrease anxiety through body-based, sensory motor intervention
How to reframe or change the feeling behind the thought to change the action/behavior resulting from it

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

Laura Baldwin, MA, LPC, NCC, ADHD-CCSP

Licensed Professional Counselor, Social-Emotional Development Coach, Great Kids Place

Laura is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Social-Emotional Development Coach at Great Kids Place. She is a steadfast advocate for developmentally appropriate interventions that improve the physical, psychological, social, and emotional well-being of another person.

Laura holds a master’s degree in Clinical and School Counseling, and for over 20 years, she has provided support and services to individuals with social-emotional and developmental needs in school and private settings. With Great Kids Place’s Sensory-Emotional Engagement Model™ as her foundation, she demonstrates advanced knowledge in the areas of pediatric mental health, child development, neurodivergent populations (ADHD, Autism, gifted, highly sensitive, etc.), sensory processing differences, visual-spatial capacities, parent coaching, family support, attachment theories, developmental and behavioral assessments, social skills, DIR® Floortime™, and Crisis Prevention and Safety Care Interventions.

In addition, she is a Reflective Supervision and Consultation Provider certified through the NJ Infant Mental Health Association, with a goal to support other professionals in their relationship-based work with children and families.

21. Body-Based Anxiety vs. Thought-Based Anxiety (Part 1) through A Sensory Emotional Lens Apr 17, 2024

Historically, the mind and body have been thought of as two different things that are not connected. In the recent decade, this has been challenged, and more and more professionals are recognizing that there is a clear connection between the two. Michele and Laura are ready to explore this idea further in the realm of anxiety assessment and treatment using a sensory emotional lens.

In this episode you’ll discover:

What is body-based anxiety? What is thought-based anxiety, and how to recognize both in your children
How body based and thought based anxiety overlap and lead to one another
The interconnection of sensation, thoughts, feelings, actions
Why we can use movement and sensation experiences to help with anxiety

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

Laura Baldwin, MA, LPC, NCC, ADHD-CCSP

Licensed Professional Counselor, Social-Emotional Development Coach, Great Kids Place

Laura is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Social-Emotional Development Coach at Great Kids Place. She is a steadfast advocate for developmentally appropriate interventions that improve the physical, psychological, social, and emotional well-being of another person.

Laura holds a master’s degree in Clinical and School Counseling, and for over 20 years, she has provided support and services to individuals with social-emotional and developmental needs in school and private settings. With Great Kids Place’s Sensory-Emotional Engagement Model™ as her foundation, she demonstrates advanced knowledge in the areas of pediatric mental health, child development, neurodivergent populations (ADHD, Autism, gifted, highly sensitive, etc.), sensory processing differences, visual-spatial capacities, parent coaching, family support, attachment theories, developmental and behavioral assessments, social skills, DIR® Floortime™, and Crisis Prevention and Safety Care Interventions.

In addition, she is a Reflective Supervision and Consultation Provider certified through the NJ Infant Mental Health Association, with a goal to support other professionals in their relationship-based work with children and families.

20. Anxiety (Part 2) through A Sensory Emotional Lens Apr 09, 2024

In our practice, it is very common to see anxiety as a presenting experience for children with sensory processing differences or sensory processing disorders.

In the first episode, we explored how the first stage of sensory processing – sensory registration and modulation can lead to anxiety – feeling sensations too much or for too long OR not registering or noticing or registering sensations less than expected or needed.

We are back to talk more and discuss how challenges in sensory discrimination, postural instability, and motor planning difficulties can lead to anxiety.

In this episode you’ll discover:

How to recognize anxiety in your children
Why difficulty interpreting/perceiving details of sensation causes anxiety
Why weakness in muscle strength and/or postural stability causes anxiety
Why difficulty developing plans of action, executing or coordinating actions or adapting plans of action causes anxiety
How to investigate the body based happenings for your child
Ways to understand and address anxiety through a Sensory Emotional Lens

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

19. Anxiety (Part 1) through A Sensory Emotional Lens Apr 01, 2024

In our practice, it is very common to see anxiety as a presenting experience for children with sensory processing differences or sensory processing disorders.

When we say anxiety, what are we referring to? How does it show up?

Anxiety can present itself as an “official diagnosis,” such as Generalized Anxiety, Social Anxiety, or Separation Anxiety. Anxiety can also present as a response to certain situations – an anxious response associated with a sensation or motor experience.

Because of this high incidence of anxiety “showing up” in sensory integration practice, we are going to dive into why this occurs and how we can understand anxiety through a sensory emotional lens.

In this episode you’ll discover:

How to recognize anxiety in your children
Why sensory over-responsivity or hypersensitivity causes anxiety
Why sensory under-responsivity or hyposensitivity causes anxiety
Ways to understand and address anxiety through a Sensory Emotional Lens

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

18. Living with ADHD and SPD through A Sensory Emotional Lens Mar 26, 2024

In today’s episode, I’m shifting to my parent lens! In addition to being an Occupational Therapist working with children and families with sensory processing differences and social emotional differences, I am also a mom to two kids with both sensory processing differences and ADHD.

If the last few episodes helped you identify that there are sensory motor capacities impacting your child’s attention, activity level, hyperactivity, and tendency toward impulsivity - you are likely wondering, what do I do now? From a parent's perspective, I’ll share insights and my journey with my children.

In this episode you’ll discover:

First-hand examples of ways to parent sensory processing differences and ADHD simultaneously with a sensory emotional lifestyle
Ways to implement sensory motor strategies to support your child’s attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity
Examples for parenting with a sensory emotional lens for a child with ADHD-hyperactive type
Examples for parenting with a sensory emotional lens for a child with ADHD-inattentive type

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

17. Help Attention and ADHD using A Sensory Emotional Lens Mar 22, 2024

ADHD, Sensory, Both?

If the last few episodes helped you identify that there are sensory motor capacities impacting your child’s attention, activity level, hyperactivity, and tendency toward impulsivity - you are likely wondering, what do I do now? Viewing these differences through a Sensory Emotional Lens can help!

In this episode you’ll discover:

How to shift to a sensory emotional lens to understanding your child’s inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity
How to make adjustments to how you respond and support your child through a sensory emotional understanding
How Occupational Therapy with a sensory trained therapist can help address inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity
How our bodies lay down pathways for behavior patterns and why that’s important
The importance of a multidisciplinary evaluation and intervention ideas

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

16: Hyperactivity, Impulsivity and ADHD (Part 2) through A Sensory Emotional Lens Mar 15, 2024

We’re continuing our mini-series on diagnoses and ADHD. In this episode, we focus specifically on the contribution of sensory discrimination capacities or sensory perception, postural instability or core weakness, and motor planning and coordination difficulties to hyperactivity, impulsivity, and ADHD.

By exploring how sensory processing contributes to hyperactivity and impulsivity, we can understand the causes of these behavior patterns more comprehensively and, therefore, better help individuals with these challenges. We can also differentiate if we are looking for a sensory processing difference or ADHD, again allowing us to better help individuals with these experiences.

You’ll discover:

How the behavioral patterns or symptoms of differences in sensory discrimination, postural instability/core weakness, and motor planning & coordination challenges can overlap with observable behavior patterns or symptoms of ADHD
The many underlying sensory motor contributions to attention that are often not talked about when considering hyperactivity or impulsivity and ADHD - in this episode specifically, we focus on the contribution of sensory discrimination capacities or sensory perception, postural instability or weakness, or motor planning and coordination difficulties
How hyperactivity or impulsivity & ADHD overlap with our Sensory Emotional Personality styles (SEPs), particular to this episode, the SEPs of Confused yet Full of Wonder, Needy yet Compassionate, and Scattered yet Intentional and Passionate.

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

@thesensoryemotional_OT

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

15: Hyperactivity, Impulsivity and ADHD (Part 1) through A Sensory Emotional Lens Mar 04, 2024

We’re continuing our mini-series on diagnoses and ADHD. In this episode, we focus specifically on the contribution of sensory over-responsivity/hyper-sensitivity and sensory under-responsivity/hypo-sensitivity on hyperactivity, impulsivity, and ADHD.

According to the CDC, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or “ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood.” Yet, underlying sensory processing differences as a potential cause or contribution are often overlooked. By exploring how sensory processing contributes to hyperactivity and impulsivity, we can understand the causes of these behavior patterns more comprehensively and, therefore, better help individuals with these challenges. We can also differentiate if we are looking for a sensory processing difference or ADHD, again allowing us to help individuals with these experiences better.

You’ll discover:

The criteria that result in a diagnosis of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - hyperactivity and impulsivity type - behaviors that are “flagged” as ADHD when professionals are assessing for this diagnosis
How the behavioral patterns or symptoms of differences in sensory registration and modulation can overlap with observable behavior patterns or symptoms of ADHD hyperactive type.
The many underlying sensory motor contributions to attention that are often not talked about when considering hyperactivity or impulsivity and ADHD - in this episode specifically, we focus on the contribution of sensory over responsivity/hyper-sensitivity and sensory under responsivity/hypo-sensitivity
How hyperactivity or impulsivity & ADHD overlap with our Sensory Emotional Personality styles (SEPs), particular to this episode, the SEPs of - Anxious yet Deeply Feeling and Unaware Yet Deep Thinker

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

@thesensoryemotional_OT

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

14: Attention and ADHD (Part 2) through A Sensory Emotional Lens Feb 26, 2024

We’re back to continue our conversation on ADHD. In this episode we focus specifically on the contribution of sensory discrimination capacities or sensory perception, postural instability or core weakness, and motor planning and coordination difficulties on attention and ADHD.

According to the CDC, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or “ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood.”

Yet, underlying sensory processing differences as a potential cause or contribution are often overlooked. Sensory processing and social-emotional differences show up in many different ways and lead to many different ways of being - or behaviors - including inattention.

Sensory processing differences overlap with many diagnoses - including, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Some studies suggest ADHD and SPD diagnoses overlap by up to 40% (conservatively), although with our clinical experience we believe this rate to be much higher.

Over the next few episodes, Michele, along with special guests, will examine different diagnoses, like ADHD, OCD, PDD, ASD, ODD, PDA, Anxiety, and more, through a sensory emotional lens.

You’ll discover:

How we know when someone is paying attention or not paying attention - the observable behaviors that we are looking for
The criteria that results in a diagnosis of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - Inattentive type - behaviors that are “flagged” as ADHD when professionals are assessing for this diagnosis
The many underlying sensory motor contributions to attention that are often not talked about when considering inattention and ADHD - in this episode specifically we focus on the contribution of sensory discrimination capacities or sensory perception, postural instability or weakness, or motor planning and coordination difficulties
How inattention & ADHD overlap with our Sensory Emotional Personality styles (SEPs), particular to this episode the SEPs of - Confused yet Full of Wonder, Needy yet Compassionate and Scattered yet Intentional and Passionate.

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

@thesensoryemotional_OT

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

13: Attention and ADHD (Part 1) through A Sensory Emotional Lens Feb 22, 2024

According to the CDC, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or “ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood.”

Yet, underlying sensory processing differences as a potential cause or contribution are often overlooked. Sensory processing and social-emotional differences show up in many different ways and lead to many different ways of being - or behaviors - including inattention.

Sensory processing differences overlap with many diagnoses - including, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Some studies suggest ADHD and SPD diagnoses overlap by up to 40% (conservatively), although with our clinical experience we believe this rate to be much higher.

Over the next few episodes, Michele, along with special guests, will examine different diagnoses, like ADHD, OCD, PDD, ASD, ODD, PDA, Anxiety, and more, through a sensory emotional lens.

You’ll discover:

How we know when someone is paying attention or not paying attention - the observable behaviors that we are looking for
The criteria that results in a diagnosis of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - Inattentive type - behaviors that are “flagged” as ADHD when professionals are assessing for this diagnosis
The many underlying sensory-motor contributions to attention that are often not talked about when considering inattention and ADHD - in this episode specifically, we focus on the contribution of sensory over-responsivity/hyper-sensitivity and sensory under responsivity/hypo-sensitivity
What that inattention and ADHD overlap with our Sensory Emotional Personality styles

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesensoryemotional_ot/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social-emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

12. Avoidance and Pathological Demand Avoidance through A Sensory Emotional Lens Feb 12, 2024

Pathological Demand Avoidance, a diagnosis commonly known as PDA, is on the rise for children in our area. Yet, underlying sensory processing differences as a potential cause are often overlooked. Sensory processing and social-emotional differences show up in many different ways and lead to many different ways of being - or behaviors.

Sensory processing differences overlap with many diagnoses - ADHD, OCD, PDD, ASD, ODD, PDA, Anxiety, and more. Sometimes, these diagnoses are simultaneously presented. Yet, many times, sensory processing differences are misdiagnosed as another diagnosis.

Over the next few episodes, Michele, along with special guests, will examine different diagnoses through a sensory emotional lens.

You’ll discover:

How sensory motor and social-emotional differences show up in many different ways and lead to many different ways of being - or behaviors.
What is Pathological Demand Avoidance or PDA, and how does it show up in children
The many underlying sensory motor contributions to avoidance that are often not talked about when considering avoidance patterns
Ways to use sensory motor strategies to decrease avoidance behaviors from your child

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

11. What’s Happening in PLAY (Part 2) through A Sensory Emotional Lens Feb 05, 2024

We’re back to continue our conversation on what’s happening in play… hint - we’re not just playing in therapy sessions and in the play that we recommend at home. Michele and Laura continue sharing specific play scenarios and describe in detail what is happening within each sensory motor system and how social emotional development is supported as we play each play theme and play scenario within the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model.

You’ll discover:

The therapeutic benefits of play styles within the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model
The detailed ways the sensory systems are being enhanced through specific sensory motor play scenarios
How emotion regulation is developed in specific sensory motor play scenarios
How and what social capacities are being practiced and developed in specific sensory motor play scenarios
How caregivers and therapists can tap into play moments by inviting specific sensory motor and emotional experiences

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

Laura Baldwin, MA, LAC, ADHD-CCSP

Licensed Associate Counselor, Social-Emotional Development Coach, Great Kids Place

Laura is a Licensed Associate Counselor and a Social-Emotional Development Coach at Great Kids Place. She is a steadfast advocate for developmentally appropriate interventions that improve the physical, psychological, social, and emotional well-being of another person.

Laura holds a master’s degree in Clinical and School Counseling, and for over 20 years, she has provided support and services to individuals with social-emotional and developmental needs in school and private settings. With Great Kids Place’s Sensory-Emotional Engagement Model™ as her foundation, she demonstrates advanced knowledge in the areas of pediatric mental health, child development, neurodivergent populations (ADHD, Autism, gifted, highly sensitive, etc.), sensory processing differences, visual-spatial capacities, parent coaching, family support, attachment theories, developmental and behavioral assessments, social skills, DIR® Floortime™, and Crisis Prevention and Safety Care Interventions.

In addition, she is a Reflective Supervision and Consultation Provider certified through the NJ Infant Mental Health Association, with a goal to support other professionals in their relationship-based work with children and families.

10. What’s Happening in PLAY through A Sensory Emotional Lens Jan 29, 2024

We always say that we are not “just playing” in therapy sessions and in the play that we are recommending at home. In this episode, we tell you exactly what it is that we are doing!

We walk you through specific play scenarios and describe in detail what is happening within each sensory motor system and how social emotional development is supported as we play each play theme and play scenario within the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model.

You’ll discover:

The therapeutic benefits of play styles within the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model
The detailed ways the sensory systems are being enhanced through specific sensory motor play scenarios
How emotion regulation is developed in specific sensory motor play scenarios
How and what social capacities are being practiced and developed in specific sensory motor play scenarios
How caregivers and therapists can tap into play moments by inviting specific sensory motor and emotional experiences

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

Laura Baldwin, MA, LAC, ADHD-CCSP

Licensed Associate Counselor, Social-Emotional Development Coach, Great Kids Place

Laura is a Licensed Associate Counselor and a Social-Emotional Development Coach at Great Kids Place. She is a steadfast advocate for developmentally appropriate interventions that improve the physical, psychological, social, and emotional well-being of another person.

Laura holds a master’s degree in Clinical and School Counseling, and for over 20 years, she has provided support and services to individuals with social-emotional and developmental needs in school and private settings. With Great Kids Place’s Sensory-Emotional Engagement Model™ as her foundation, she demonstrates advanced knowledge in the areas of pediatric mental health, child development, neurodivergent populations (ADHD, Autism, gifted, highly sensitive, etc.), sensory processing differences, visual-spatial capacities, parent coaching, family support, attachment theories, developmental and behavioral assessments, social skills, DIR® Floortime™, and Crisis Prevention and Safety Care Interventions.

In addition, she is a Reflective Supervision and Consultation Provider certified through the NJ Infant Mental Health Association, with a goal to support other professionals in their relationship-based work with children and families.

09. Sensory Motor Systems and Personalities through A Sensory Emotional Lens Jan 22, 2024

If you’ve been following along in this mini-series, you’ve listened to why we play, and how we play. Today, we discuss who we play for - diving into understanding the Sensory Motor Systems and Sensory Emotional Personality™ styles of those with whom we play and interact.

In this episode of A Sensory Emotional Lens, you’ll discover:

An understanding of personality/temperament as a response to sensory motor experiences
An overview of the sensory motor process by which we understand and interact with others and tasks
What Sensory Emotional Personalities™ are and how they were discovered
An in-depth understanding of each of the 5 Sensory Emotional Personalities™

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog:⁠ https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/⁠

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality™ style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

08. Sensory Emotional PLAY through A Sensory Emotional Lens Jan 15, 2024

Let’s play! The Sensory Emotional Engagement Model uses play to address sensory motor and social emotional development simultaneously. On this episode of A Sensory Emotional Lens on Sensory Emotional Play, Michele outlines the specific use of play themes within this model.

In this episode you’ll discover:

The bidirectional relationship between sensation and emotion
How the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model taps into these connections through play
How to facilitate exploration and discovery of different ways to act and feel to enhance emotion and body/behavior regulation states
Play theme ideas that ignite specific emotional experiences and invite specific sensory motor experiences
That we are doing so much more than “just playing” when we engage in play with our children

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

07. A Sensory Emotional Lens on Play Jan 07, 2024

Now that the holidays are over, what will we do with all these new toys, activities, and games?!

We PLAY, of course! But there is a much deeper meaning to play.

On today’s episode of A Sensory Emotional Lens on Play, Michele and special guest Laura Baldwin begin to unpack theories, research, science, and what’s really happening when we play with our kids and why we as adults should play more.

In this episode you’ll discover:

Why we play
What play brings to us and our kids
The neurobiological impact of play
How children communicate and process their experiences through play
How play helps manage tricky behaviors

Learn more about play in Theresa Kestly’s book, The Interpersonal Neurobiology of Play: Brain-Building Interventions for Emotional Well-Being, here. You can also read Gil Foley’s article, Play as Regulation: Promoting Self-Regulation Through Play, here.

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality style and ways to find strength and joy within them.

Laura Baldwin, MA, LAC, ADHD-CCSP

Licensed Associate Counselor, Social-Emotional Development Coach, Great Kids Place

Laura is a Licensed Associate Counselor and a Social-Emotional Development Coach at Great Kids Place. She is a steadfast advocate for developmentally appropriate interventions that improve the physical, psychological, social, and emotional well-being of another person.

Laura holds a master’s degree in Clinical and School Counseling, and for over 20 years, she has provided support and services to individuals with social-emotional and developmental needs in school and private settings. With Great Kids Place’s Sensory-Emotional Engagement Model ™ as her foundation, she demonstrates advanced knowledge in the areas of pediatric mental health, child development, neurodivergent populations (ADHD, Autism, gifted, highly sensitive, etc.), sensory processing differences, visual-spatial capacities, parent coaching, family support, attachment theories, developmental and behavioral assessments, social skills, DIR® Floortime™, and Crisis Prevention and Safety Care Interventions.

In addition, she is a Reflective Supervision and Consultation Provider certified through the NJ Infant Mental Health Association, with a goal to support other professionals in their relationship-based work with children and families.

06. YOU and Finding Joy During the Holidays through A Sensory Emotional Lens Dec 20, 2023

The hustle and bustle is always the theme of the season for us as parents, caregivers, and professionals – I’m sure you can relate… we have to finish this, we have to plan that, we have to order this, we have to prepare that, we have to coordinate this for school, and this for grandmas, and our kids need…

We often get caught up in the go, go, go, trying to make everything perfect. Still, we need to remember that WE have our own sensory emotional experiences and reactions to them. When we understand our own sensory emotional personality styles, we can find regulation and joy for ourselves and help our family find their regulation and joy too!

But how?

In this episode you’ll discover:

How understanding YOUR own sensory emotional personality can help you find regulation and joy in the holiday season (and beyond!)
Help with interpreting your own experiences of dysregulation and regulation using a sensory emotional lens
How to monitor your experiences, emotions, and responses to holiday events and expectations
Overall tips on how to navigate this holiday season (and always) with your own regulation state in mind

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist specializing in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a book to help support parents and families to understand better the impact of SPD on family dynamics and relationships and the day to day demands of life with sensory processing differences.

AnnMarie Murphy, OTD, OT/L, CIMI-2

Occupational Therapist, Great Kids Place

AnnMarie Murphy is an Occupational Therapist with advanced training and certification from the Sensory Treatment and Research (STAR) Institute, specializing in the evaluation and treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder. AnnMarie holds a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from American International College as well as a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Temple University.

AnnMarie also holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, supporting her interest in understanding the neurobiology of sensory processing, and the impacts SPD can have on engagement in occupations, social emotional development, parent stress, and family dynamics.

05. Resurfacing Behaviors around the Holidays (Part 2) through A Sensory Emotional Lens Dec 19, 2023

We’re back with part two of A Sensory Emotional Lens on Resurfacing Behaviors around the Holidays. The weeks leading up to the holidays and big events can be a tricky time for our sensory emotional kids and their families. Michele, and special guest Kristin Ray dive deeper to discuss the behaviors of avoidance and explosive emotions - increased meltdowns, yelling, hitting.

In this episode you’ll discover:

Why these behaviors are resurfacing (hint: it’s not regression)
Different reactions that you can expect using a sensory emotional lens
How to monitor your expectations, emotions, and responses to the situation
Overall tips on how to handle these tricky moments

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist specializing in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a book to help support parents and families to understand better the impact of SPD on family dynamics and relationships and the day to day demands of life with sensory processing differences.

Kristin Ray, MOT, OTR

Occupational Therapist, Great Kids Place

Kristin is a specialist in Sensory Processing and Integration Disorder with advanced training from the Sensory Therapies and Research Institute on the evaluation and treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder. Kristin has also completed the infant toddler pyramid model training, which focuses on evidence-based practices for promoting social and emotional development. Along with this specialized training, Kristin is a mom of 2 young children, one of whom has sensory processing differences, and draws on her personal experience to inform her practice. She is particularly passionate about the impact of SPD on family relationships, daily routines, and social-emotional engagement.

04. Resurfacing Behaviors around the Holidays (Part 1) through A Sensory Emotional Lens Dec 15, 2023

Maybe you’ve noticed some behaviors resurfacing these past few weeks? The weeks leading up to the holidays and big events can be a tricky time for our sensory emotional kids and their families. Here at Great Kids, some of our families are mentioning that their kids are experiencing increased neediness and asking for help with things they were previously doing themselves. They are having more explosive emotions - increased meltdowns, yelling, hitting, and avoidance.

This is expected - and Michele and special guest Kristin Ray unpack all of this on today's episode of A Sensory Emotional Lens on Resurfacing Behaviors around the Holidays (Part 1).

In this episode you’ll discover:

Why these behaviors are resurfacing (hint: it’s not regression)
Different reactions that you can expect using a sensory emotional lens
How to monitor your expectations, emotions, and responses to the situation
Overall tips on how to handle these tricky moments

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist specializing in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. She works and lives sensational kids! Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR, and Sensory Treatment and Research Institute faculty.

Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a book to help support parents and families to understand better the impact of SPD on family dynamics and relationships and the day to day demands of life with sensory processing differences.

Kristin Ray, MOT, OTR

Occupational Therapist, Great Kids Place

Kristin is a specialist in Sensory Processing and Integration Disorder with advanced training from the Sensory Therapies and Research Institute on the evaluation and treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder. Kristin has also completed the infant toddler pyramid model training, which focuses on evidence-based practices for promoting social and emotional development. Along with this specialized training, Kristin is a mom of 2 young children, one of whom has sensory processing differences, and draws on her personal experience to inform her practice. She is particularly passionate about the impact of SPD on family relationships, daily routines, and social-emotional engagement.

03. Tricky Reactions to Receiving Gifts through A Sensory Emotional Lens Dec 06, 2023

We all love giving and receiving gifts - but what happens when a child’s reaction isn’t quite what you expected when they receive a gift? Sometimes, our great kids can appear “ungrateful” for their gift - but that usually isn’t the case, and there’s a reason they are feeling this way.

Welcome to A Sensory Emotional Lens on tricky reactions to receiving gifts!

In this episode you’ll discover:

How to interpret those tricky responses to receiving and opening gifts
Different reactions that you can expect using a sensory emotional lens
How to explain unexpected reactions
Ways to pre-plan and include our children in ways of gift receiving that bring about a successful and meaningful response
How to monitor your emotions and responses to the situation
Overall - Tips on how to handle these tricky moments

Still not sure which gifts to buy?

Using a sensory emotional lens, we've compiled a list of toys that bring about both sensory exploration and emotional expression to support both sensory motor and social emotional development. Visit our blog for some meaningful ideas that could match well with your Great Kid.

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

01. A Sensory Emotional Lens on Holiday Gifts Ideas Nov 29, 2023

Everyone’s asking - what’s on your kids’ wish list for the holidays? Not sure how to answer?

You’re not alone!

Within the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model, we identify different personality styles based on the way our kids process sensations and move their body and the emotional expression of that processing. By understanding your child’s personality style, you’ll better understand the ways they act and interact and how to play with them based on this.

Using a sensory emotional lens, we’ll talk about the five different Sensory Emotional Personality styles of children and different toys and ideas that will work for each of them.

In this episode you’ll discover:

How to select gifts that are meaningful for your kids and their development
Objects and toys that bring about both sensory motor and social emotional exploration and development
The sensory motor experience you want to ignite and the emotional experience that you want to encourage with the toys that you give

Please visit our blog for more gift ideas - coming soon!

Click here to learn more about the Sensory Emotional Engagement model and discover your child’s sensory emotional personality style.

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

02. A Sensory Emotional Lens on the Holidays Nov 29, 2023

The holidays are upon us, and as parents of children with differences in sensory motor processing, gathering with family and friends for seasonal festivities can be stressful. We often deal with “the looks” from others about our child’s “behavior,” and we are left to explain the reason why our child is hiding behind us in social situations, does not respond to social greetings, or needs more support than the other kids when playing with others. We are often pulled between what we want to do for ourselves and our family and what our children need from us at that moment.

We’ve been there - many of us are parents of sensational kids. Let’s talk about it! As parents and professionals, we’ll provide tips to help you navigate these tricky situations and share expert insights, heartwarming stories, and tips to support your family’s holiday journeys.

In this episode you’ll discover:

What is sensory emotional processing?
Ways to pre-plan for the holidays and visiting family
How to change the narrative about sensory processing differences and the emotional outcomes of them
How to reframe ‘behaviors’ as strengths found in our children - it’s what our kids CAN do in that moment to help themselves feel safe, comfortable, and successful, and how we can find ways to celebrate it
Tips on how to handle high energy, anxiety, big emotions, and much-needed breaks for our children during the holiday visits
How to respond when our kids become easily fatigued and lack the endurance needed to sustain the long, busy day
Ways to include our children in this preparation for holiday visits

Free Download: My Child has SPD cards

Download the sheet, print, cut these cards apart, and hand them out as needed. They will become a new way for you to respond when you feel stuck about the best way to respond to others. They are a great way to prepare family before you see them if you have not seen them in a while or to communicate with fellow parents on the playground when you feel something needs to be said, but you are not sure what.

Join our community!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatkidsplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatKidsPlace/

Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

Welcome to A Sensory Emotional Lens! Nov 28, 2023

Join Occupational Therapist and mom of two Michele Parkins on a journey into the world of sensory emotional processing on her weekly podcast, A Sensory Emotional Lens.

In short episodes, you'll discover the emotional expression of sensory and movement experiences and how this causes children to act and interact. You'll also explore the connection between sensory, movement, and emotion and the importance of play throughout the day with these connections in mind.

Through an understanding of Sensory Emotional Personality styles, you'll better understand your child's strengths and weaknesses in sensory motor and social emotional development and, most importantly, ways to interact with them in both tricky and great times. You'll learn how to meet your child in the sensory and emotional state they are in and playfully interact with them to enhance emotion regulation, participation in day-to-day activities and events, and, ultimately, joy in your relationship.

In this show, you'll hear insights from professionals and listen to heartwarming stories from families using the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model.

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