Welcome back to Frances's story. If you're just joining us, head back to [Part 1] to for a summary.
Today we're talking about the part of Frances' profile that her mom, Melissa, described like this:
"She seems to seek out input as her 'release' when she's stressed by one of her sensory triggers. We might see her jumping around, running back and forth, or climbing. Most concerning is that she recently started roughhousing with her baby brother. One time, she was playing with her animal figures in the living room, and one of the animals she was lining up tipped over just on its own. She got so upset she just reached over to her brother (who had nothing to do with the animals) and pulled his hair."
It’s almost as if she just decided to go after him for no reason.
But let’s take a closer look, using a sensory lens.
What's actually happening
Frances's nervous system was already working hard to manage whatever she was feeling. The animals falling over disrupted the visual and physical order that Frances' nervous system was using to stay regulated. She frequently lined up and stacked toys as her regulation strategies. (More on her rigidity and routines in Part 3, next week)
When that regulation gets disrupted, her body searches immediately for something to restore it.
A 4-year-old nervous system in a stress response will do whatever it takes to regain a sense of control and safety (usually through fight/flight or freeze). Her brain sensed danger (uncomfortable sensations from frustration and anger that her animals fell), and it went straight into fight mode. Unfortunately, her body executed before her brain could control those impulses. That's the full sequence, even if it happens in under three seconds.
I do want to make it clear that the behavior (hurting her brother) still needs to be addressed. Her brother's safety matters, and he should not keep ending up on the receiving end of her dysregulation, which is a conversation I told Melissa to have at another time. But consequences and conversations alone won't change what's driving it. Frances needed a little more regulation hand-holding in environments where this kind of behavior was most likely to happen. And since we know she’s a fiend for proprioception (heavy work), that gives us a good place to start.
What is proprioception, exactly?
For my newbies, proprioception is your body's sense of where it is in space. The receptors are in your muscles, joints, and tendons, and gets activated by pushing, pulling, carrying, jumping, climbing, and anything that creates resistance or deep pressure. Unlike the other 7 senses, it is unlikely to find a child that is sensitive to proprioceptive input. This means that it’s a pretty safe bet to start with these activities when looking for regulation options.
Frances's body LOVED proprioceptive input (sometimes we call this heavy work, by the way). That's why she climbed things she shouldn't, jumped up and down in line, and wrestled with her brother. Her nervous system was sending her body cues to keep seeking out more of this input so it could be regulated.
Creating a sensory plan that fits for the environment
Before I jumped into recommendations, I wanted to know how Melissa was currently handling Frances's movement needs in the apartment. As an OT, I am pretty good at being resourceful with equipment and space, but I always like to know what parents are working with.
Frances was getting a lot of input at school and on the playground, but with her high threshold, it wasn’t enough to regulate her all day. Once she was at home, Melissa said she’s basically climbing the walls. Melissa shared,
