The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, Revised Edition: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder (The Out-of-Sync Child Series) Paperback – August 1, 2006

I purchased this book when our oldest was first diagnosed with having some sensory processing difficulties. The book contains a wealth of ideas for sensory challenged children and each of the activities is sectioned within a chapter pertaining to a particular sense, like vestibular activities, tactile activites, auditory, etc., so that you can customize your play regime specifically to the needs of your child (or just try a little of them all, they are great fun!) This book outways any fancy toy or jungle gym by far. The games are easy and inexpensive to play, most using items you probably already have around the house and many contain variations to spice up your routine. Some you may recognize as things you did yourself as a child and you may find it fascinating to read how these particular activities helps our sensory growth. These activities are great fun for unchallenged children as well (our younger child had a blast doing them with our older one), making great boredom busters for rainy days or out of school summers. The age range is listed with each activity, most of them around 3-teen, making it easy for parents to pick and choose as well as quick summaries on what skills the activity builds. For parents of children with and without SPD, this is a great resource book for play activities that invite creativity, learning, and fun to your home. I would highly recommend this book to any parent of small children.

This book is amazing and one I'll definitely be recommending to others. Yes, some of the activities are for younger children, but many are for older children and teens. My son is 8, but because of his neurodifferences, many of the "little kids" activities are just right or still fun and applicable for him. In the back, there are resources broken down by the activity and a chart that tells you which sensory needs and age group each activity is geared toward. I highly suggest adding this book to your personal library!

I haven't had a chance to read the whole book yet because I just received it yesterday, but I took the time to go through the entire book looking at the different ativities. I am very impressed. With a child who is 2 1/2 who has a sensory disorder this is just what I needed. He is in Therapy, but Therapy doesn't stop when they leave or the days he is not in therapy. I needed activities that I could do with him that would keep his therapy going and this book is load with ideas that I can use to stimulate his brain. Well worth the money.

This is Ms. Kranowitz's sequel to her book “The Out-of-Sync Child,” and I purchased it shortly after my son was diagnosed with Sensory Modulation Disorder, rated severe back in 2013. This book has a shorter overview of Sensory Processing Disorder related symptoms and concerns, gives some instructional guidance for working these activities effectively, and then goes on to give some ideas for activities to encourage sensory integration in a child with Sensory Processing issues.My most honest opinion is that this is a great resource with a few important caveats that are best illustrated by some of the issues we faced as a family. My son, his sensory issues exploded around 13 months when he became too heavy to continue using the snugly chest sling we carried him in as a baby when out sometimes, and were trying to encourage him to do more walking on his own (while he showed some signs of tactile defensiveness, before then, we think the snugly was keeping him calmer and more regulated, so it wasn't until that disappeared that the true scope of his problems became apparent). Often he went into intense fight or flight mode accompanied by hysterics and meltdowns when faced with any tactile issue.We could never have sat him down at that time to do any of the suggestions in this book and had it be effective in the beginning. Shaving cream, for example, caused him to puke and vomit from both the tactile sense and the smell. So we had to go through a period of trying to desensitize him to it before we could even work him up to trying to paint with it. That looked like two things, one of which was recommended by a developmental specialist at the second clinic he started attending when he was still receiving in home therapy services from them. That was to put it in a bag. Well, he still struggled with that, because of the smell so it didn't go well at first. So I had to find some cool whip and then fruit smelling child bath foam soap that the smell didn't cause puking from and we used that. Then you move up to poking holes in the bag with a toothpick so that a little bit gets on them as they squeeze in the bag.The second phase was an idea of mine that I was only able to do after I got him willing to tolerate a bath. The bath part was important in case we accidentally went too far and proceeded to vomiting, because at that time, the smell of puke upset him also, and he would continue to vomit until he could no longer smell it. So I had to get super fast at cleaning and containment. Water touching his skin made him freak out, and he would fight and try to get out of the tub. But I noticed he was distracted and visually drawn to bright colors, so I got color tablets to put in the bath, and he became so absorbed in those, I was gradually able to get him used to being in the water, which I initially only put a few inches in the tub until he could tolerate more. Then, I would take the foam soap, but some on him, and wipe it off instantly, before he had time to gag. Once he was tolerating that calmly, I slowly moved him up to longer periods of time. This took months. And then, we were able to proceed to that glorious day where we could actually get him to play in this foam on the table. But still not traditional shaving cream at first because of the smell so far as I remember.So, if you have a child with extreme reactions and aversions, the items in this book may not be accessible to you right away, and there isn't really guidance for working through those issues so much, which is where a developmental specialist or an occupational therapist with experience in sensory issues can be a great asset. We also did a great deal of research on-line. Ok, I did, my husband was in grad school and this was pretty much all me and I told him what he needed to know most when it was his watch. Also, if you have a child with serious motor planning issues (again, us) and extreme reactions to motion related activities, many of these activities will also be things you will have to work up to. We are just now being able to work in some of these things. She lists the developmental age for each activity, and I think that's important to pay attention to, because that can certainly be different from actual age, and it matters to have activities that are developmentally appropriate.And knowing where your child is developmentally in specific areas as opposed to the overall average is important. In our house, some of the blowing cotton ball activities, etc. are more difficult, because it requires symbolic play that he doesn't have, no matter what kind of motor skills he's got, so he'd rather just try and eat them.Bearing those things in mind, I think this can still be a great resource, and as we continue our slow march of the developmental ladder, I am thankful to have this to flip through and target new things to try so that we can continue on our journey towards onward and upward with our little man.Edit: This is part of a picture, with my little man's face removed, from the day a couple of years ago when I finally knew we had beaten the foam texture. Right after I took this, he climbed up on the table and rolled in it. And because he couldn't get his shirts off at that time, I made sure he was in shirts with fabrics that didn't distress him, he did best with the under armour shirts because they were smoother at that time.

Very helpful

This book thoroughly explains sensory processing difficulties and how to address each system using creative and fun ideas!

Whether you are just learning about Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) or you've been living with it for awhile, this book is full of great descriptions to help understand types of SPD. After the description of each type, there is a long list of activities. The best part: a play-by-play chart for the roles you and your child can play when participating in an activity!

this has been a great resource as our 3.5 year old recently was diagnosed with sensory seeking traits. some of the activities are a great fit and others do not apply, but overall after a month adding some of these items to his routine has been a tremendous help. The questionnaires built-in to the chapters really help to find those items that are a good match for what he is seeking. his teachers at daycare also bought the book and have added some of these items as well. The key is not letting perfection get in the way of progress. We are very grateful this was recommended at such an early age.