Asperger’s Syndrome Sensory Overload

Posted on April 13, 2012 by dena_millet

Thought:

Wherever you choose to go, go there with all your heart.

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Like so many families, ours is touched by Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD, Aspergers Syndrome. My daughter was diagnosed in 2009 and while this was a challenging piece of information to initially digest, it answered so many questions about her general “quirkiness.” So many of the traits she had now made sense and I had a way to categorize and help her. Autism Spectrum Disorder / Asperger’s Syndrome became my new topic of research.

Being on the Autism Spectrum Disorder / Aspergers Syndrome, her life was filled with overwhelming and painful sensory stimuli, and the answers on some of these overstimulating situations were easier than others (sensory integration disorder).

Before her diagnosis, a less than loving family member learned of her terror at any sound that was mechanical in nature – vacuum, blender, hair dryer, etc. caused her to cry. Her advice was to place her into a small room with all of the offending noises, turn the appliances on, leave her alone, and shut the door. The very thought of doing this to a three year old, even without knowing that she was on the Autism Spectrum Disorder or not offended every fiber of my mothering soul. I didn’t do it, but used these appliances sparingly, even to the point of leaving the house with her and taking her to her Grammie so that I could run the vacuum.

I learned that her sensory stimuli, resulting from her sensory integration disorder, was something she was always trying to avoid. Her reaction to her stimulus at home was not her being naughty, but truly caused her pain; Knowing the reason for her pain, associated with her Autism Spectrum Disorder, there are many things we now do to help her. I I keep a set of earplugs in my purse (her school backpack, my church bag, and in the car) for her when the noise around her is overwhelming and making her life challenging. She doesn’t react to light, but a busy mall, Target Store (Target sets her off – too many overhead signs), airport, and other busy public places are very distracting for her. She also has sensory sensitivities to touch as well, associated with her Asperger’s Syndrome . These are manifested in things like; her clothing must be very soft and she doesn’t like to be touched by someone walking up from behind, she has issues in having her hair brushed, and shower water is uncomfortable to her skin.

As a result of her need for super soft clothing, she needed allergy free detergents and fabric softener. I was using several times the recommended amounts and not getting the result that I needed for her to feel good in her clothes. Nothing was working and she would pull at her clothes and had problems focusing. With the help of my mother, we developed our own recipes to use in our laundry room. I found that by removing chemicals contained in the retail laundry products my daughter did much better with her clothing softness issues.

I quickly realized just how much I had been spending to try to resolve her sensory integration disorder challenges and in the process found I also received substantial savings. I don’t know if it will work for you and your famliy, but i I can say that it worked for mine.

Learn how by replacing retail cleaning products you can help bring relief for sensory overload in individuals with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.

Portraits by Picture People for my daughter with Autism

Posted on April 10, 2012 by dena_millet

Child with Asperger's Syndrome portrait from Picture People - captures her passion April is Autism Awareness Month, my daughter’s birthday, and time for portraits again.

I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what it means to have a child on the Autism Spectrum Disorder with Aspergers Syndrome and the day to day challenges that we have. Events which are normally celebrated and pass with little to no recognition, can bring about major turmoil in our home.

I have a wall of portraits in my home, some professionally done, and most done by me. I am not a professional, by any stroke, but I have always marveled at the difference between the portraits taken professionally and mine. (Indeed, she is more comfortable with those when she feels safe and secure. Once when my daughter was just a year old, I picked her up from the table and removed her from the studio because her pictures were turning out horribly and the woman taking the portraits was losing patience with her. If only I would have known she was on the Autism Spectrum Disorder with Aspergers Syndrome!)

Once, when my daughter was older, we were discussing having portraits taken, she expressed to me that the large lights scared her and she had felt that they were going to explode. (That would explain the worried look on her face for several years’ portraits! With her now on the Autism Spectrum Disorder answered many whys for us.)

A few years back, I wanted to do a portrait with my daughters and me to illustrate their individual personalities. I had a coupon for the Picture People studio, and had heard good things about their work. I called the studio and explained what I was looking for in portraits, and that I had a child on the Autism Spectrum Disorder with Aspergers Syndrome and Sensory Integration Disorder. The manager, Patty M., spoke to me, and we made an appointment.

When we arrived at the studio, Patty made my daughters very comfortable and captured each of my daughters’ personalities. I have never felt so pleased with a portrait experience as I did from Picture People and will be back there many times.

I highly recommend talking to and “vetting” anyone taking portraits of your family, especially of a child on the Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Please feel free to post your portraits on our facebook wall.

Eye Contact and Aspergers Syndrome Children

Posted on April 8, 2012 by dena_millet

Eyes of Aspergers Syndrome Parenting or helping children with Aspergers Syndrome can bring its own challenges, and one area that provides many differences between parenting a child with Aspergers Syndrome and the Neurotypical child is eye contact. The neurotypical paradigm on eye contact is that when we listen to someone, in order to show our interest, we use good visual communication. For an individual with Autism or Aspergers Syndrome, direct eye contact is often fleeting and even non-existent. My daughter has recently been able to find a way to describe how she feels about non verbal communication. She stated that she feels afraid, threatened, and intimidated when she holds eye contact with a person.

Certainly, as a parent, these are the last emotions I want to invoke in my child, or anyone, for that matter! I know that when she is not looking at me directly, that she is aware and very often listening to me. (In fact, with her sensory sensitivities, she is hearing EVERYTHING around her, from the buzz of a light, the spinning of a DVD in the player, others breathing, and my voice.) She is taking everything in, nothing is leaving.

So, how to balance the need of neurotypical individuals and “social convention” (using the words of “Dr. Sheldon Cooper,” from the CBS show, “The Big Bang Theory”) of appropriate eye contact with the needs of the person with Aspergers Syndrome to maintain a safe sensory input level and in their world, safety?

According to our society, direct eye contact is required when conversing with someone, or receiving instructions. Hence the much used phrase we as parents always say, “Look at me when I am talking to you.” For children with Asperger’s Syndrome, demanding direct eye contact could bring about the exact opposite result. Your Asperger’s Syndrome child does not need direct visual communication. Their sensory sensitivities seemed to be always fine tuned to all that is around them.

I found the following information written for parents working with non verbal communication and their child with Aspergers Syndrome. This information is written with the parent in mind, but applies to spending time around all persons with Aspergers Syndrome.

Seeking opportunities to make direct eye contact attractive or appealing, such as holding some favored item up near your face, while requesting eye contact.
Accepting your child’s need to make fleeting visual communication, look away, and then look back.
Accepting your child’s “ballpark” approximation of non verbal communication if he stares at your ears, mouth, or some area of your face other than your eyes while you are talking.
Accepting your child’s need to look away from your eyes in order to formulate a thoughtful, articulate response.

It is simple to replace retail cleaning products and it can help bring relief for sensory overload in individuals with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.

Carpets: I Do or I Don’t Shampoo?

Posted on April 4, 2012 by carolyn_wootton

Thought:

”There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.” Unknown

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Do we use the carpet shampooer or don’t we, that was the question a dear friend of ours asked as they helped decorate for Dena’s wedding and reception. While we were working, she asked me to come see the dirty stains on the carpets. She felt it was really noticeable and wondered if I wanted her to go get her high powered spot remover and carpet shampooer. The shampoo would contain harsh chemicals.and I was concerned with those chemicals that would be used in her carpet shampooer. If we used the spot remover on the carpet we could remove the stain using harsh or toxic chemicals that could bring about additional problems.

Our family has health challenges from chemicals in cleaning products, I first thought of the Bride, Groom, Flower Girl and Junior Bridesmaid. Exposure to these harsh and toxic chemicals could bring on migraine headaches, allergic asthma, or sensory overload.

The last thing any of us wanted was to make this stressful event any more so. Our Junior Bridesmaid, Dena’s daughter has Aspergers Syndrome, she is uncomfortable when any attention is placed upon her. Any additional triggers needed to be eliminated. Being sure this could be more than she could handle we needed another solution. White vinegar was a must here to to use as our spot remover.

We didn’t have the time to shampoo and have the entire carpet dry, Thinking quickly, we just dabbed on a little white vinegar into the carpet and just like magic, spot gone, problem solved. We didn’t need to clean the entire room and the spot was gone from the very place they would be standing to exchanging their vows. No need to take the time for the carpet shampooer. A quick inspection of the carpets brought the need for the addition use of our “spot remover.”

Much to the amazement of my friend and her husband, they saw just how quick and easy it was to use white vinegar as a spot remover for the carpet. When I explained that you can just use white vinegar and water in any carpet shampooer, they were astonished that cleaning your carpets could be this easy.

I shared this tip; one of the advantages of using white vinegar over chemicals in carpet shampoos is it will pull out the remaining shampoo residue and clean your carpets at the same time. It might take a few cleanings to remove the residue depending on the amount still left in your carpets. Your carpets will be clean, soft and refreshed. The vinegar smell dissipates as it dries. Also keep in mind that hot water activates soap. Always rinse with cold water and vinegar. You will love your results!

The wedding was a success, no migraines, allergic asthma, or sensory overload and no vinegar smell. Great day!

Recently my friend called to let me know she shampooed her own carpets instead of having them professionally cleaned. She saved over $275.00 by doing it herself and replaced the retail shampoo costing $49.00 by using white vinegar instead of buying the bottled shampoo. Her carpets have never been cleaner she said. She was thrilled! And no vinegar smell!

For more information on homemade cleaners and replacing harsh retail cleaning products, visit Amazon.com to get your copy of Cheaper, Greener, Cleaner: Ceiling to Floor Savings. Paperback or Kindle versions available.

Girl Scouts School Supply Drive

Posted on March 31, 2012 by carolyn_wootton

Thought:

Plant a thought, harvest an act, harvest a habit, harvest a character.

Plant a character, harvest a destiny.

~ Sacagawea

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Our daughter/granddaughter with Asperger’s Syndrome who has a social disability decided the troop needed to do a community service project. She heard the local women’s shelter’s needed school supplies for the children there. She presented to the troop a plan to use the Girl Scouts cookie money to go buy the needed supplies instead of go the cheer-leading clinic they were planning. This idea was voted down. She did not let that bother her. She asked for the money that would be her and her sister’s portion for the cheer-leading clinic be given to them so they could use it to buy school supplies. They would not be going to the cheer-leading clinic with the rest of the Girl Scouts . Instead she was doing this community service project. The money could not been given to her. She again decided it didn’t matter, she would find a way to make this happen.

At church on Sunday, she talked to her Sunday School teacher to ask if the children could bring school supplies to help with the community service project she wanted to do. One thing led to another and this became a very large community service project / Eagle Scout project. A father in the Sunday School heard of the little Girl Scouts community service project and asked if his son could work with her for his Eagle Scout project.

The little Girl Scouts (sisters) went shopping for school supplies. They made flyers with needed items and took these to the houses in their neighborhood. They took their wagon to go back and pick up the supplies.

When the delivery day came, they loaded their mini van with their 50 bags full of supplies to deliver to the drop off. Our Girl Scout with the social disability stepped outside herself to think of others, she climbed up in the truck and loaded the supplies. She worked as hard or harder than the Eagle Scout. This was a GREAT experience for her!

Get information on how removing retail cleaning products from your home can help with Sensory Overload from Autism.

Asperger’s Syndrome Sweet Dreams Spray

Posted on March 25, 2012 by dena_millet

THOUGHT:

A sleepless night is as long as a year. Thank goodness for the lemon and peppermint essential oils.

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My daughter with Asperger’s Syndrome has an entire ritual that must be followed before she goes to bed and can settle down like many children with sensory issues. Once, she was at a sleep-over with her maternal grandparents and the “sleep sack” with all of her ritualistic supplies did not go along. It was a very rocky time to get her to calm down – especially since I was not available to answer the frantic calls from both child and grandmother to meet her sensory needs! I learned quickly that this special sleep sack needed to be taken whenever she sleeps away from home.

When we were getting ready to leave for her first sleep-away at Girl Scout Camp, we made sure that we had her bag for all the little ritualistic items which she requires. One of these was one of her creations – Asperger’s Syndrome “Sweet Dreams Spray” made from essential oils (meaning any scent out of the ordinary) were bothering her, and could trigger a sensory overload.
She would calm down with certain aromas at the end of the day, provided that the scent was not to strong. When using essential oils remember use caution if you are pregnant:

Essential Oils to Avoid During Pregnancy or Plan to Become Pregnant

Anise
Angelica
Basil
Cedarwood (all sorts)
Cinnamon
Clary sage
Clove
Fennel
Hyssop
Juniper
Myrrh
Nutmeg
Ovage
Peppermint
Rosemary
Rose
Thyme (white variety)

Please check with your health care professional before using essential oils if you have any medical concerns.

While essential oils are generally considered safe, some are considered dangerous for pregnant women. To be safe and simple, stick with eucalyptus, lemongrass, and tea tree oils for all recipes if you’re pregnant or are planning to become pregnant.

We make a bottle of her Asperger’s Syndrome ”Sweet Dreams Spray” and before she goes to bed, I squirt a couple of sprays into the room, giving just the right level of scent allowing her to calm down at the end of the day.

Lavender, Rosemary, and Chamomile Essential Oils are often suggested as a having calming qualities, yet for my daughter with her Asperger’s Syndrome each of these gave her a headache and produced the exact opposite reaction for our needs. We use a mixture that we created when the girls had nasty colds.

My daughter’s personal recipe for her Asperger’s Syndrome ”Sweet Dreams Spray” sensory integration issues: a 10oz. spray bottle, fill it with water, add 3-5 drops of each of the following essential oils: lemon, camphor, eucalyptus, wintergreen, and peppermint. (We go light on the camphor and heavier on lemon and peppermint, using 3 drops of camphor and 5 of lemon and peppermint essential oils.)

You can experiment to see what works for you. Best of luck in finding your “Sweet Dreams Spray!”

Replacing retail cleaning products can help bring relief for sensory overload in individuals with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.

Girl Scout Camp Clean-Up

Posted on March 17, 2012 by dena_millet

Each of my elementary school aged girls and I have been a Girl Scout for years. Every beginning elementary school aged Girl Scout learns and pledges to live the Girl Scout Law. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Girl Scout Law, it is as follows (I’ve added the bold typeface, it isn’t a direction to the Girl Scout to yell those areas of the Law when reciting them during the meetings):

I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.

When we went to Girl Scout camp last summer, with 200 other elementary school age girls and their leaders, I knew that we may have some sensory issues as well as some social stresses with my older daughter, who has Asperger’s Syndrome. We contacted the camp and were given a single room in the Lodge to minimize her stresses, but we found that there were some other sensory issues that she experienced as well as the change in routine, environment, etc. than I expected. I brought along a few of our homemade recipes for our room since I knew that before check-out we would be cleaning our room and did not want to expose her to the retail cleaning products that triggered challenges for her.

While we were there, all Girl Scouts were assigned a “Kaper” (chore) of cleaning up after dinner. It is a real treat to see girls in elementary school taking responsibility for cleaning up. My daughters approached the camp director and asked permission to mix up a batch of Simple Sanitizing Spray and began to spritz down the tables after dinner. Several Troop Leaders and Girl Scouts watched with interest as the girls quickly mixed the recipe and got to work on their assigned chore of cleaning up after dinner.

There are so many places that we can make a difference in our worlds, our budgets and our families. Like the Girl Scout Law, we can all use resources wisely and make the world a better place, by replacing one harmful and expensive household cleaner at a time. This can begin as early as elementary school, with the Girl Scouts. It doesn’t hurt that by making our own naturally, we save the additional sensory overload that seems to cause added triggers for my daughter.

DISCLAIMER: Even though these homemade cleaning recipes are so simple and safe to make that children can (and do) easily create them, we cannot promise or guarantee that they will keep things around the house clean. At least you know that the products you use in your home are safe and if your Boy or Girl Scouts get the cleaning bug, they won’t be exposed to anything harmful in the process. (Who knows, maybe if you use some reverse psychology and tell the Girl Scouts that they are not to touch the homemade cleaners, they might just do it in defiance!)

You can use resources wisely and remove retail cleaning chemicals in a breeze, making the world a better place for as little as $3.99.

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Thought:

After hearing a Bible lesson in Sunday school about miracles, a little girl went up to her Sunday school teacher. ”In my house,” said the little girl, “when handwriting appears on the wall it’s not a miracle, it’s the work of my little brother.”

Music and Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum

Posted on March 8, 2012 by carolyn_wootton

Thought:

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. ………. Henry David Thoreau

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Last fall our granddaughters were spending the weekend with us and we needed to get a huge mess of fallen leaves raked up in our backyard before a snowstorm hit. We asked for their help, but our granddaughter with Asperger’s Syndrome had a different idea. No matter what was said, she was not willingly going to be involved, she wanted to play on her computer. Standing in the yard with her rake, she was reluctant to help. Several years earlier there was a similar scenario, where she was affected by a sensory overload triggered by a reaction to her clothing caused by commercial laundry products, not this year, we solved that problem.

Knowing that wasn’t the issue this time, my memories of early motherhood clicked in and I remembered what I did to get my girls, who were occasionally uncooperative, to do their chores or help with family projects. We worked to music. We selected our favorite songs and tried to complete a task before the song was over.

I took our stereo outside and started playing a CD of patriotic music, God Bless the USA, 25 Patriotic Favorites, performed by the official United States Military Bands. Our granddaughter had really enjoyed this music on the 4^th of July. She loves music, this is one of her passions.

She starting laughing and began to rake with such enthusiasm, she had a complete change in attitude, she worked as hard or harder than anyone. As long as the music played she was moving her rake. She chose her favorites and programmed those in with her sister’s favorites and we marched those leaves right into the bags.

This was a great day, we learned that a motivation for her was to include one of her passions along with the request and we received a much better result!

Along with removing external sensory stimuli, replacing retail cleaning products can help bring relief for sensory overload in individuals with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.

Why Did Rocket Fuel = A Perfect Birthday?

Posted on February 22, 2012 by carolyn_wootton

Thought:

Attitude isn’t everything, but it is the main thing that can make a difference in your life.

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What do rocket fuel and a clogged drain have in common? Well believe it or not absolutely everything! Our granddaughter with Asperger’s Sydrome (who’s topic area of passion is space science) requested a rocket and rocket fuel for her 10^th birthday. How many 10 year old girls ask for rocket fuel for their birthday? She asks for so little, we all wanted to get her something she truly wanted, but rocket fuel was really stumping us! We had been agonizing over this for months and never seemed to come up with anything she was able to manage, that was safe, and of course legal!

One Saturday morning, while we were cleaning up the breakfast dishes Randy discovered we had either a slow draining or clogged drain. He plugged one side of the sink and threw in a couple of cups of baking soda and poured vinegar into the other drain. He immediately plugged the drain and held both sides down to force the carbon dioxide (fizz) down the drain to release the clog. When all the fizzing had stopped he ran hot water down the drain. We had a sweet, fresh smelling drain and an unclog the drain.

As we watched the vinegar and baking soda, the inspiration for the rocket fuel gift hit us! Watching the pressure of the carbon dioxide released from the vinegar and baking soda we decided we would get her the rocket fuel, aka vinegar and baking soda.

We were both thinking the along the same line, I thought we could make her a rocket out of a two liter bottle and Randy suggested we buy one instead. Do these even exist? Off to the educational supply store we went.

She received a gallon of vinegar, a twelve pound bag of baking soda and a rocket complete with a launch pad. We made new labels for her rocket fuel. Her birthday was a success; she had so much fun on the launch pad sending her rocket up (way up…) into the sky. She experimented on the ratios of the vinegar and the baking soda to get the most height on her launches. This was a thumbs up birthday for her.!

Now you know why rocket fuel and a clogged drain made the perfect birthday!

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Category Archives: Asperger’s Syndrome

Asperger’s Syndrome Sensory Overload

Portraits by Picture People for my daughter with Autism

Eye Contact and Aspergers Syndrome Children

Carpets: I Do or I Don’t Shampoo?

Asperger’s Syndrome Sweet Dreams Spray

Girl Scout Camp Clean-Up

Music and Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum

Why Did Rocket Fuel = A Perfect Birthday?