In Which We Brush Connor

We have a new routine to add to our at-home therapy now.

We are brushing our son.

Sounds weird, doesn't it? I'm not referring to the kid's hair. Brushing is this technique advocated by many occupational therapists to decrease sensory integration issues. The technical name for the method is the Wilbarger Deep Pressure and Proprioceptive Technique, but everyone just calls it brushing for obvious reasons. Who want to say that mouthful every time they mention it? Basically one takes a special kind of brush with soft bristles and then runs it slowly over the back, arms, legs, hands, and feet of the child using firm pressure. Then joint compressions are administered to the fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, ankles, knees, hips, head, and sternum. We're to do this every two hours while Connor is awake. It's supposed to help with his extreme tactile sensitivity, hopefully allowing him to tolerate more stimulation. If you'd like to see someone using this technique, here's a video.

So we started on our brushing regime this afternoon. They've been doing it at school for a while so Connor was pretty comfortable with it. The cats, however, didn't care for it. Cricket seemed to be of the opinion that I shouldn't be brushing Connor; I should be brushing her. She kept coming over and flopping down on my feet to make sure that I didn't leave her out or anything. Connor thought this was hilarious. I ended up taking turns with them: I'd brush Connor's right leg, then brush Cricket for a second. Left leg, Cricket. No doubt Cricket needed some sensory work done too.

Crazy cat.

At any rate, we'll see if this helps Connor become less defensive about his hands and feet. Hopefully he'll be able to tolerate more textures as time goes by. While there aren't a whole lot of studies out there about the effectiveness of brushing, many parents and therapists swear by it. It's certainly not going to hurt anything, so we'll give it a try and see whether or not he gets something out of it! Anybody else tried this with their kids?

Still. Brushing my son. Weird.

~Jess