Sensory Processing Disorder Resources
Websites:
STAR Institute
The premier research, treatment, and education center for children and adults with Sensory Processing Disorder. It’s a non-profit foundation whose mission is to improve the quality of life for children, adolescents, and adults with SPD. There is a wealth of information here, including online courses for parents and caregivers who want to better understand SPD.
Understood.org
A clean and well-organized site with helpful articles on topics ranging from how to partner with your child’s school in obtaining services to how to make family dinners successful to tips for creating successful playdates. Articles are well-written and offer practical advice.
Smart Parent Advice
Find helpful articles on all topics pertaining to parenthood. From social-emotional activities for preschoolers to birthday party ideas, this site has you covered.
Your Kids Table
Alisha Grogan is a pediatric occupational therapist and a mom to three "rambunctious" boys. Her specialties are in sensory processing and feeding issues. If you have a child who is a picky eater and/or who struggles with feeding issues as a result of sensory processing challenges, this is a site you'll want to familiarize yourself with. Alisha has written countless articles on everything from how to detect sensory issues in babies to how to get your child to stop throwing food to everything you need to know about food jags. She is an excellent writer and her articles offer tangible tips and advice that will make both your and your child's life easier.
Mindfulness Meditation:
Mindful.org.
Well-designed, easy to navigate, and filled with straightforward information about how to practice mindfulness meditation.
Pocket Mindfulness
A mindfulness blog to help people understand and apply mindfulness in everyday life. Well-written and inspiring posts. Offers a mindfulness app.
Gratitude Twenty-Four-Seven
A site that sends daily emails with short, easy-to-read, inspiring musings on living a mindful life. I get excited to read them each morning! They also have a podcast and offer mindfulness-based courses.
UCLA Health - Free Guided Meditations
A great site for free guided meditations.
Apps:
Headspace
There are dozens of mindfulness apps out there that are wonderful, but this is the one that I have found to be the most useful. It's educational, user-friendly, and I like the narrator's accent!
Pocket Mindfulness
The app that goes with the pocketmindfulness website. Sends daily mindfulness tips.
Podcasts:
In It
If you only listen to one podcast, make it this one! Hosts Amanda Morin and Lexi Walters do an incredible job of tackling difficult topics related to parenting a child with learning disabilities. They combine the lived experiences of parents with the theories and wisdom from leading experts to offer support and practical advice to families who are "in it."
Tilt Parenting
Founder Debbie Reber is an author, speaker, coach and parent to an atypical child. She founded Tilt Parenting to help "parents raising differently-wired kids do so from a place of confidence, connection and joy." The podcast is both inspirational and informative. Her guests include psychologists, nutritionists, parent coaches, authors and fellow parents of atypcial children. A friend introduced me to Debbie's podcast a few months ago and I can't get enough. Her work is helping thousands of families, including mine!
SPD Parent Zone
Two moms with special needs children interview experts and inspiring people to help give you a better understanding of SPD. When my older son was first diagnosed, this podcast was my lifeline. Not only did I learn so much about SPD, but I also gained a sense of comfort in knowing that I wasn't the only mom out there feeling overwhelmed by a SPD diagnosis.
Zen Parenting Radio
A married couple with three daughters invites you to explore parenting through a mindfulness lens. With a focus on self-awareness, compassion, and connection, they offer thought-provoking discourse on a variety of parenting topics. Using humor and witty pop culture references to engage listeners, they do a fabulous job of both educating and entertaining.
Little Sprigs
A Waldorf preschool director interviews experts in early childhood development to offer tools and insights to help you be more intentional in connecting with your children. I love this podcast. The guests are amazing and the host, Christina, is insightful, soothing, and inspiring.
Oprah's SuperSoul Converstations
Who doesn't love Oprah? Ok, even if you don't, you'll love this podcast. With an impressive array of guests, Oprah explores the deeper meaning of life and how to get closer to being the best version of yourself.
Happiness Podcast
Psychologist Robert Puff (his name just sounds happy, doesn't it?) shares what he has learned about happiness from decades of research and clinical experience. Episodes are short, practical, and uplifting.
Books on Sensory Processing Disorder:
The Sensory-Sensitive Child
by Karen A. Smith, Ph.D. & Karen R. Gouze, Ph. D.
The best book I have read on Sensory Processing Disorder and how to navigate the difficult parenting issues that arise when you have a child with SPD. Both authors weave in their personal experiences parenting children with SPD, offering unique insight into managing sensory-related behavioral issues. Well-written, informative, and inspirational.
The Explosive Child
by Dr. Ross Greene
Dr. Greene knows a thing or two about children with "challenging" behaviors. He's a clinical psychologist who has been working with children and families for over thirty years, a New York Times best selling author and the originator of the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions Approach to parenting. In The Explosive Child, he presents a new framework for understanding our child's challenging behaviors and lays out three different approaches for decreasing their frequency and intensity. A must-read for every parent of a child with SPD whose behaviors are wreaking havoc on the family.
Sensational Kids
by Lucy Jane Miller, Ph.D., OTR
Written by one of the pioneers in SPD research and education, Sensational Kids offers a comprehensive look at SPD. A great read for an in-depth look at this complex disorder. I reference this one often.
The Out-of-Sync Child
by Carol Kranowitz & Lucy Jane Miller
The New York Times described this book as the parents' bible to Sensory Processing Disorder. It provides a detailed overview of SPD and is a great counterpart to Sensational Kids.
Raising a Sensory Smart Child
by Lindsey Biel & Nancy Peske
Coauthored by a pediatric occupational therapist and a parent of a child with sensory issues, this book offers a unique perspective on SPD and gives practical, applicable advice on handling the everyday parenting challenges that go hand in hand with having a child with SPD.
Understanding Your Child's Sensory Signals: A Practical Daily Use Handbook for Parents and Teachers
by Angie Voss OTR
I discovered this book through Dayna Abraham's site and could not be more thankful. If you have a child with sensory needs, you need this book! It decodes 210 of the most common sensory signals and cues your child may be giving you. The simple, welll-organized format allows for quick access to useful information for understanding why the heck your child avoids certain textures, overreacts to minor cuts and scrapes or is an angel at school but a hellion at home. Thank you, Angie, for writing this book, it is a godsend.
Recommended Parenting Books:
Parenting from the Inside Out
by Daniel J. Siegel & Mary Hartzell
If I had to recommend only one parenting book, this would be it. It's a must-read for every parent. Let's leave it at that!
The Whole-Brain Child
by Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson
Siegel and Bryson explain the complex neuroscience of brain development and attachment in an easy-to-understand, accessible way. No small feat! They teach twelve key parenting strategies that foster healthy brain development and lead to calmer, happy children. You will walk away from reading this book with a new and improved parenting tool kit.
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk
by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
A ground-breaking and enduring parenting classic that lays out a step-by-step guide on how to effectively communicate with your children so you can build a foundation of trust and respect. Faber and Mazlish share the tools every parent needs to build solid relationships with their children.
Growing from the Roots
by Barbara Olinger
One of my favorite parenting books. Olinger teaches a non-judgmental, emotionally connected parenting style with a focus on how to communicate with your kids in a way that supports their growth into compassionate and confident adults.
Marriage Books:
NonViolent Communication
by Marshall Rosenberg
This book will fundamentally change the way you communicate and will improve your relationships, not just with your partner, but with everyone in your life. You won't just learn how to listen, you'll learn how to really hear what others are saying. And, after all, don't we all just want to be heard?!
Mating in Captivity
by Esther Perel
I love Esther Perel. If you read this book, you'll see what I mean. She is smart, witty, straight-forward, and incredibly knowledgable about what it takes to sustain intimacy and desire in a committed relationship.
How We Love
by Milan & Kay Yerkovich
I've requested that (read: forced) my husband to read several "relationship" books and this was the first one that he couldn't put down. Based on the tenets of attachment theory, Milan and Yerkovich explore how our childhood creates an "intimacy imprint" that affects all of our adult relationships. How We Love helped my husband and me gain valuable insights about our relational dynamic and empowered us to zero in on the patterns that were keeping us stuck and disconnected.
The Five Love Languages
by Gary Chapman
An oldie but a goodie. My husband and I listened to the audio book, one chapter a night for several weeks. It prompted illuminating discussions and discoveries about one another that helped us understand how to meet each other's needs.
Support Groups:
Wherever you are in your journey parenting a child with SPD, know that there are other parents out there experiencing similar challenges, joys, worries, and triumphs. Don’t hesitate to reach out for support and connect with these families. Having support and knowing you are not alone can make all the difference. It definitely has for me.
Understood.org
Understood has created a secure place for families of kids with learning and attention issues to connect with one another as well as with a team of Understood experts.
H.E.L.P.
A wonderful support group in the North San Diego area for parents of kids with learning and attention differences.
