Thursday, November 29, 2012

Taking a Sensational Trip to the Beach

Deanna Macioce, MS, OTR/L
(Originally Published in June 2012)

As we have become adults, many of us sees a trip to the beach as the picture perfect setting for relaxation.  From basking in the sun to listening to the crashing of the waves, or even getting lost in a really good book, the beach is a place for us to escape from our day-to-day life.  For a child, a day at the beach is a day of fun with lots of ways to exert energy, without realizing the wide range of sensory experiences it offers.  For our sensory seekers, this is an ideal place to receive sensory input to all areas, however for children who present with a lot of sensory defensiveness, the beach may be one of the farthest places from fun and relaxing.   So, how will you make the best of your beach experience this summer, or even have the opportunity to make it a tolerable and fun outing for your child with sensory concerns?

The beach is best known for offering a blanket of sand.  Not only can your child have the experience of building his next masterpiece, he can take it to a whole body experience by burying himself from head to toe.  This provides not only a different, but also fun way of giving proprioceptive input. Who needs a weighted blanket when you have sand?  Playing in the sand is also a great way to incorporate fine motor skills with scooping, dumping and building to construct sand structures.

On the flip side, for the tactile defensive child, time in the sand could be nothing more than uncomfortable and annoying.  Do your best to prepare your child in the regular manner that you do for tactile experiences.  Whether it be with the Wilbarger Deep Pressure Proprioceptive Technique (brushing) or even a good massage of sun screen, this should help make the experience less noxious.  In addition, with the option to wear protective sun clothing, this allows a child to be less exposed than in typical swimming suits to the touch and feel of the sand.  These are often found in stores and catalogs offering a wide range of swimming gear, for example One Step Ahead.  These clothes also provide great protection from the sun.  And don't forget about shoes - not only does the sand get extremely hot to walk in on a hot day,  it can also be uncomfortable for your child to simply walk in bare feet.   Allow your child to wear shoes of comfort and full coverage if need be, with water shoes being a good option as the foot is fully covered.  For your defensive child, using a large blanket with allow him or her ample space to sit and move around versus being confined to the space of a beach towel.  In addition, bringing a beach chair may also help do the trick.  The use of a umbrella will not only help with protection from the sun and the heat, it will also help keep the sand cool, making it more ideal to play in.  And just like anything else, giving your child things in small doses may help.  Therefore, provide sand in a plastic container so that he or she can have his or her own space to play and not have to be fully engaged in the sand.

Water is another key component to the beach.  Whether it be a lake or ocean, swimming is a great way to include proprioceptive input into a sensory diet.  In addition, having the input of the waves provides a very different vestibular experience than you can get anywhere else. This makes it fun to use body boards and rafts while in the ocean. And if you are at the ocean, the salt water offers a different oral, visual, and smell input.  To ease the discomfort that salt water may present, provide children with goggles and have gum or other food available to take away the taste after swimming.

Auditory input is available all around you when you are at the beach.  From the seagulls, to the waves, to all the background noises of the fellow beach-goers, this often is relaxing to many, but may be extremely uncomfortable to many of our sensory children. Allowing your child to wear headphones for sound blocking or to listen to music is a great way to allow them some opportunity to relax while at the beach.

Therefore, this summer use the beach as a way for your children to experience natural sensations all around them.  Use a variety of techniques to make it enjoyable for all children, and take some time to relax with a good book.

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