Message from the Editor


Welcome to SensorySpot.com!

Craig Gibson, EditorSister site of the internationally acclaimed AutismSpot.com, SensorySpot.com is a free resource for parents, professionals and those living with sensory processing disorder on all things related to sensory processing and sensory processing disorder.  Whether you are reading a news piece, viewing one of our many insightful videos or reading one of our informative blog posts, SensorySpot.com is dedicated to providing you with fresh, relevant, unique, high quality content.

Thank you for visiting SensorySpot.com.  We very much welcome feedback from our visitors, so if you would like to leave us a question or comment, please feel to contact me directly at craig.gibson6@verizon.net.

Kindest Regards,
Craig Gibson
Editor, SensorySpot.com

P.S.  Please look for SensorySpot.com (and AutismSpot.com) on Facebook and Twitter!

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Gel Spiral Pad – A Product Review

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Product Name:   Gel Spiral Pad

Price:  $34.95

Company Name:  Achievement Products

Company Website:  www.achievement-products.com

Company Phone Number: 1-800-373-4699

Product Description: Clear pad illuminates beautifully on a light box to encourage visual tracking as a child pushes the embedded plastic pieces through the gel filled spiral mazes.

•Offers a unique tactile experience and enhances finger strength and dexterity

•Provides cushioning when used directly on a tabletop

•Easy to wipe clean

•Heat sealed, anti-bacterial, phthalate-free vinyl

•Pre-filled, non-toxic gel

•Light box sold separately

•Measures 15″Sq.

•Ages 3 years and up

Product Review:  One of 200 new products sold by Achievement Products, the Gel Spiral Pad is truly a unique product that can be enjoyed by children of all ages!  In all the years I have reviewed sensory products, this one, in particular, is truly different than all the rest – and it’s one that I highly recommend to parents, teachers, or therapists who have, or work with, children of all abilities.  Extremely durable and long-lasting, the Gel Spiral Pad not only offers a cool tactile experience (for those with and without sensory differences), but is also great for enhancing visual tracking skills (as noted in the product description).

Simply push the embedded plastic pieces through the gel filled spiral mazes.  To further enhance the experience, place the Gel Spiral Pad on a light box (sold separately), which illuminates the gel and multicolored stars, giving the user a visual experience they won’t soon forget!  What I also love about this product is that it is made of durable phthalate-free vinyl, making it very easy to wipe off and clean.  Therefore, you can keep the Gel Spiral Pad clean and germ-free for many to use, each and every day!

Clearly, this is a great new product for many to enjoy – so get yours today!  And trust me, you adults will love it, too!

Craig Gibson is the Editor-In-Charge of AutismSpot and SensorySpot, and a writer for ImagineVLE. Craig has also published on the local and national levels, with autism and learning disabilities being his primary focus. In addition, Craig is the Lower School Student Support Specialist for the Renaissance Academy Charter School in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

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Achievement Weighted Pressure Vest – A Product Review

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Product Name:   Achievement Weighted Pressure Vest

Price:  Achievement Weighted Pressure Vest – Small – $80.95

Price:  Achievement Weighted Pressure Vest – Medium – $86.95

Price:  Achievement Weighted Pressure Vest – Large – $90.95

Company Name:  Achievement Products

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15 Things Your Doctor Doesn’t Know About Your Child, by Dr. Amber Brooks – A Book Review, by Wendy Park, M.Ed.

I asked to write this book review. That is a big deal.

You see, I’ve been around the world of SPD literature for a while now. Just long enough to get a touch cynical. The majority of SPD literature deals with the number one intervention, occupational therapy. OT is great. But for many of us we find it is not enough. We need to dig deeper into the root causes of our children’s dysfunction. We need to, as my friend Christine aptly puts it, peel the onion. We pursue other therapies and look for literature that can tie it altogether. We are looking for the biological and medical reasons that interfere with our children’s ability to process sensory information correctly.

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Hospitality and Special Diets – By Wendy Park, M.Ed.

Does the idea of special diets intimidate you? Gluten free, dairy free, egg free, peanut free, etc. etc.? I will freely confess that in the old days the idea used to freak me out. Whenever I had friends who had a special occasion in their life the required the bringing of a meal…a birth, an illness, a death, just a get-together… I would bow out. Somehow I figured I had enough challenges in my life without trying to figure out food. Let someone else who is better in the kitchen help them.

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Keeping Our Kids Safe and Medication Free

It always startles me to see children being overly prescribed antibiotics this time of year. When you have a child with autism or some other special need sometimes it is hard to tell if they even have an infection because they do not tell you or cannot tell you. Their doctors choose to give a medication “just in case there is an infection” but nobody stops to think what this is doing to their body long-term. Many children, whether diagnosed on the spectrum or not have horrible immune systems.

The long-term affects of antibiotics are a decreased immune system, 70% of the immune system is in the gut and when you wipe out all the “good bacteria” you leave it empty and pathogenic bacteria and yeast make a home. Can yogurt alone rebuild beneficial gut bacteria? Nope, this has become commercialized as the end all to healthy gut flora. What you need to do is get a pharmaceutical grade refrigerated probiotic for your child. You will want to select the one with the most variety of cultures and one that has the most cultures per cap. I like to coach parents to switch up their probiotic every 4 months or so to make sure the cultures are getting populated best.

As always keep a low sugar (not sugar-free) diet, keep taking your daily supplements and when they get sick consider seeing your chiropractor for an adjustment. This can help in many cases such as fever, congestion, runny nose, cough, sinus infection, etc. The adjustment allows proper lymphatic flow (drainage) and allows all the bad stuff to drain out of the body and heal much faster.

You can read more on natural remedies and gut connection in my book listed below. Have a healthy December!

All the best,
Dr. Brooks

Dr. Amber Brooks, CACCP is a Board Certified Pediatric Chiropractor, Craniosacral Therapist, Biomedical doctor and author of “15 Things Your Doctor Doesn’t Know About Your Child: Questions Answered About Developmental Delays.” She founded Whole Child Wellness to bridge alternative and traditional medicine by providing individualized and comprehensive approaches to pediatric wellness. Outside her private practice she offers physician consulting, mentoring and is also available for speaking engagements. Visit her at www.mychildwellness.com or www.dramberbrooks.com and follow her on Facebook at “whole child wellness”.

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Blow Frog: A Product Review

Blow Frog

Product Name:  Blow Frog

Price: $4.95

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Let Him Eat Cake! – By Wendy Park, M.Ed.

Today is my son’s eleventh birthday and I am baking him a cake, a cake he will be eating.

While this is a normal activity for the rest of the world, this is a significant achievement in our lives. Each year’s birthday has been a reflection of how far we still had to go on our journey with SPD.

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Hairy Tangle: A Product Review

Tangle - HairyTangle - Hairy

Product Name:  Hairy Tangle

Price: $7.95

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Immune Disorders and Autism: Is this a root cause?

Most families have done enough research or attended enough conferences to realize that autism is not a shear genetic issue, although the Wall Street Journal recently did a story about the genetic link. The NY Times did a story about immune disorders and their link to autism in August 2012. A larger number of children are found to have inflammatory issues beginning in infancy and continuing on throughout development yielding the results of a diagnosis later. This immune problem is often referred to as “immune dysregulation” and can begin very young, this inflammation infiltrates the digestive system making its way to the brain over time and showing us a problem for example, speech delay. Many families seek biomedical care out for their child because this focuses on healing from the inside out and ridding the body of the inflammation.

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Senso-Dot Ball – 7″: A Product Review

Product Name: Senso-Dot Ball – 7″
Price: $14.95
Recommended Age: 6 and up
Company Name: Achievement ProductsCompany
Website: www.achievement-products.comCompany Phone Number: 1-800-373-4699

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