"Put that Eraser Down!" and Other Things I Learned Not to Say Recently

By Ishani  Wijeyawardena

I recently attended a course on Sensory Processing Disorder conducted by Monica Ryan from Live and Learn, which I found very interesting and thought provoking too.  I have been working as a Shadow Support Specialist for Live and Learn since August 2011 and with every child has come a new learning curve.  Every time you attend the many courses that are provided for the Shadows at Live and Learn you come out questioning your inner sense and of wanting to see things from the other’s perspective.

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Sensory Processing Disorder, in very simple terms, means (sometimes called "Sensory Integration" or SI) the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motoric and behavioral responses. Whether you are biting into a hamburger, riding a bicycle or reading a book, your successful completion of the activity requires processing sensation or "sensory integration."

SPD is a condition that exists when sensory signals don't get organized into appropriate responses. Pioneering occupational therapist and neuroscientist Jean Ayres, likened SPD to a neurological "traffic jam" that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information needed to interpret sensory information correctly. A person with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses, which creates challenges in performing countless everyday tasks. Motor clumsiness, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, school failure, and other impacts may result if the disorder is not treated effectively.

The author of “The Challenging Child” Stanley Greenspan, has an insightful analogy to help us understand what people experience when a person with SPD can not effectively process, or interpret sensory input. He describes it this way,  

“Imagine driving a car that isn’t working well. When you step on the gas the car sometimes lurches forward and sometimes doesn’t respond. When you blow the horn it sounds blaring. The brakes sometimes slow the car, but not always. The blinkers work occasionally, the steering is erratic, and the speedometer is inaccurate. You are engaged in a constant struggle to keep the car on the road, and it is difficult to concentrate on anything else”

I was working with a child one afternoon just before this training and it was my first time with him. One of the things he kept doing whilst working was fidget with an eraser. My immediate reaction was “you need to put the eraser down and concentrate on your work.”  When he kept going back to the eraser my next action was to remove the eraser from the desk. If I had known what I know now I might have let him toy with the eraser and see if he could still do his work while fiddling. Some children require stimulants to bring them down to their optimal functioning levels which is usually referred to as self-regulation. What harm can it do, if it helps a child to function better?

What did I take from this training and this experience?  Next time I see a child doing something erratic, I will give it some thought before making judgments or quick decisions to stop him. 

Ishani is a Support Specialist for Live and Learn where she supports children with unique learning needs in their mainstream classroom environments.  A mother and wife, she has lived in various countries, giving her a wide variety of personal and professional experiences.  She currently resides in Singapore with her family, where they have lived for the past 7 years. 

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