Author: Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

All the Feels: ASMR

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Remember The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross? Even if you didn’t watch an entire episode, his light brush strokes and calming voice as he talked about “happy accidents” would help many unwind from a busy day. Little did we (or maybe even Bob Ross himself) know that what he was doing would later be known as ASMR.

ASM What Now?

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (aka ASMR) is a physical sensation, characterized by “tingles” starting at the scalp and traveling down the spine, when given soft methodical auditory, visual, or tactile (touch) stimuli. Think of caresses on the cheek, whispering or soft singing, or watching gentle hand motions. The feeling is said to provide a calming effect on an individual, helping to reduce anxiety, boost mood, and ease into sleep. Although this trend is crazy popular with adults via YouTube and relaxation apps, ASMR may be beneficial for kids, too; similar to a sound or white-noise machine.

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The Legit List of Fidgets

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Fidgets are designed to allow us to self-regulate during times of stress or boredom, but no one fidget is created equal. Because our sensory needs are unique to us, what may work for you may not work for a friend, co-worker, or kid. So how do you know what works for your child? Rather than strolling down the toy section or browsing the endless lists of fidgets online, we broke it down to help you and your kiddo find that “just-right” fidget.

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Quit Fidgeting: What’s the Deal with Fidget Toys?

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

What do stress balls, spinners, and Pop-Its have in common? They are fidgets and you can find them anywhere and everywhere.

Fidgets are self-regulation tools designed to help children (and adults) focus and attend to tasks by helping maintain an appropriate arousal level. Their genesis stems from our automatic need to move during times of stress or restlessness, releasing excess energy or soothing our nerves. The idea is to feed our sensory system the movement/touch/deep pressure its seeking when we aren’t able to just get up and move, like when kids are supposed to sit in their seats during class.

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Don’t Hold Your Breath: Deep Breathing to Regulate

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

We know it’s important to breathe. Aside from a beating heart, it lets us know that we’re still alive. But it’s also an indicator of how we are doing internally.

From our last yoga post, breathing serves as a reflection of our emotional state, stress level, and state of mind. In our rhythm and timing post, we talked about how the brain structures that are responsible for timing are also linked to the regulation of our emotions, behavior, and arousal. By controlling our breath, we not only alter our mood, but also our rhythm and timing. But how do we teach our kids how to breathe? Don’t they just do it?

For this post, we’re focusing on breathing techniques to calm kids down in moments of stress or high arousal.

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Perfect Timing: Rhythm, Timing, and the Brain

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Timing is everything. For the most part, that statement is true.

Everything we do requires rhythm and timing. EVERYTHING. Think about it: walking, talking, reading this sentence, etc. It all relies on a pace and a pattern to complete them.

We’ve talked in previous posts about body awareness and how it affects bilateral coordination and motor planning, but rhythm and timing ensures that those movements are fluid when interacting with objects and people around us. Most of the time, you hardly notice it until you have a clumsy moment walking or stuttering over your words when in conversation.

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