Mixed Signals: Understanding and Treating Your Child's Sensory Processing Issues »

For more than 16 years, Mary Lashno has practiced occupational therapy at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, specializing in pediatrics. She is involved in many clinics and treats a variety of populations, including children with sensory integration dysfunction, behavioral issues, physical disabilities, learning disorders, and other special needs. Mary lives in Bel Air, Maryland, with her husband and 3 grown children.

Mary Lashno, an occupational therapist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, shares her extensive experience working with children who don't process sensory information properly. Her new book educates parents about why some children's sensory systems experience are over- or under-stimulated and what can be done to treat the condition so children can learn and be a part of daily activities. MIXED SIGNALS also helps parents recognize when behavior is a characteristic of another condition, such as autism or Down syndrome, and when it's due to poor sensory processing.

With the help of case studies, the author provides many examples of how children with poor sensory processing react differently to sensory input-staring into lights, avoiding face-washing or brushing teeth, seeming overly clumsy-than children with normal sensory systems. Parents learn how to interpret behaviors and detect when a child may be over-stimulated or under-stimulated. A discussion of strategies and interventions explains how therapists and families can work with children to help develop an individualized sensory diet to calm or awaken sensory receptors so kids can function better and begin to tolerate a wider range of sensory information.

Topics covered include:

Terminology of sensory processing
Normal vs. abnormal sensory processing
Evaluating your child's sensory system
Assessment tools
Sensory Integration Therapy--what it is and how it works
Treatment approaches
Establishing and managing your child's sensory diet

This guide is useful to families of children with a variety of diagnoses, deficits, and skills. You'll be better able tounderstand your child's sometimes perplexing behavior as well as be a part of the therapeutic process in conjunction with trained professionals. Buy a copy to share with a teacher, coach, or therapist so everyone can get involved!

Chapter 1 What Is Sensory Processing? 1

Chapter 2 History and Terminology of Sensory Processing 13

Chapter 3 The Sensory Systems: Comparing Normal and Abnormal Processing 27

Chapter 4 Does My Child Have a Sensory Processing Disorder? The Evaluation Process 53

Chapter 5 How Does Sensory Dysfunction Affect My Child? 73

Chapter 6 Is Sensory Integration Therapy Right for My Child? 87

Chapter 7 What Happens During Therapy? 97

Chapter 8 Treatment Approaches 105

Chapter 9 Your Child's Sensory Diet 123

Chapter 10 Sensory Strategies in the School Environment 151

Sensory Assessment Toots 170

Bibliography and Recommended Reading 173

Resources 183

Index 193