Tools for Regulation: What should be included as strategies for your child?

Tools for regulation.

​There is NOT one simple answer to help a person (adult or child) with regulation. 

A combination of sensory supports, breathing techniques, thinking strategies, mindfulness and interoception will enable your child to have a "toolbox" of different ways to calm down, manage problems and navigate anxieties. 

It is essential that any "tools" are NOT "thrown" at a child, NOT produced as a list to "fix" them or NOT used to help us as parents/caregivers to stop a meltdown. 

Over the years, occupational therapists have been known for using sensory supports to help with regulation.  Sensory integration (SI) is the process by which people register, modulate, and discriminate sensations received through the sensory systems to produce purposeful, adaptive behaviors in response to the environment (Ayres, 1976/2005).  Refer HERE to more information from the American OT association bout sensory integration. There has been some controversy about SI as there is not a lot of scientific evidence to back up strategies taught and used.  However, there have been some recent studies and this is growing - refer HERE for an overview and HERE for more.

Sensory "diets" are a program of activities that can be incorporated throughout a child's day to provide a "sensory lifestyle".  Some activities that are sensory based may assist with regulation by providing the body with a calming affect or helping to decrease arousal.  Some activities may be alerting and increase arousal.  Some activities may assist children to discriminate sensory information. 

Working out what works for your child can be helpful with an occupational therapist.  Here are some resources that may also guide your journey:
* Sensory Diet Activity Guidebook
* Sensory activities for me: Sensory Activity Checklist

Breathing is an important regulation tool. It is well documented that breathing helps the brain to calm down and relax.  The brain can then signal the rest of the body to respond with a lower heart rate, less stress and reducing muscle tension. 

Conscious breathing, linking the brain with deep breaths can help children to be mindful and deliberate with their breathing.  You can try infinity breathing (see image above) where a child traces out an infinity image taking deep breaths in and out until they feel calm. 

Some children will like drawing a rainbow whilst working on breathing (see video below) or find this on Instagram HERE. 

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A post shared by Cindy @ Your Kids OT ✏️□□□□ (@yourkidsot)

Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you're sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress. Read more HERE.

Here are some helpful mindfulness you-tube videos that you can work through with your children.

• Rainbow Relaxation 
• Bubble Bounce

Sometimes mindfulness activities are linked to interoception, connecting the mind to the body.  This helps children to be more aware of their body's signals so that they can be linked with emotions and in turn can lead to action.

Here are some helpful body scan mindfulness you-tube videos that you can work through with your children.

• 3 minute Body Scan
• The Body Scan Meditation: Cosmic Yoga

For some children, "thinking strategies" can help them with regulation.  There are many programs which used a cognitive based approach to regulation.  I have discussed this in a recent article "What is Self-Regulation? Regulation resources and programs" HERE.

Theory of Mind is described in psychology as the capacity that someone has to understand other people (their beliefs, desires, intentions, emotions) and that they may be different from their own.  Many of the children we see for occupational therapy have difficulty with this and some will benefit from a cognitive approach to social thinking. 

Regulation and self-regulation is complex!   As I add to the information on this area on this website, refer back to these previous articles for more information, tools and insights:

• Stay grounded with your senses
• Regulation tools: a book, a website, and a craft 
• Jumpin Jellybeans (Music as a regulator) - you can now access this CD on SPOTIFY
• Make your own oral motor toy

What have you included in your child's regulation tools? Have you got a combination of sensory supports, breathing techniques, mindfulness, interoception and thinking strategies? 

Cindy is a registered occupational therapist practising in Sydney, Australia.  She has two growing children who are a constant source of inspiration and learning.  Cindy loves working creatively to help children to reach their potential, finding opportunities in everyday living and making learning fun. She is also addicted to making printables (even when they take a long time to complete).  Cindy is the author of the Occupational Therapy blog Your Kids OT.  Read more articles from Your Kids OT at https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog

Cindy is a member of the Functional Skills for Kids Therapy Team.  They have together published THE HANDWRITING BOOK, THE SCISSORS SKILLS BOOK and THE TOILETING BOOK.

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