Sensory Enrichment Therapy Now Available at Learn 2 Focus
/I’m excited to announce that I’ve recently received certification for Mendability, a sensory enrichment therapy that I will be offering it to keiki and families here at Learn 2 Focus. A medication-free, evidence-based treatment that’s proven to help children with many developmental delays and disorders, Mendability is a program that stimulates the brain by using a variety of sensory experiences.
According to the Mendability website, here are six things that you should know about sensory enrichment therapy and how it works:
1. The treatment involves sensorimotor exercises that stimulate concurrently two or more senses such as olfactory, tactile, visual, balance, motor systems and more. Many children with autism have challenges with over-stimulation and sensory integration, which is why this program focuses on helping them become more comfortable with their senses.
2. The program is proven by science. A research study took place that followed two groups of autistic boys aged three to 12, where one group participated in sensory enrichment and the other followed behavioral therapy. The therapy continued for six months and 42 percent of the children in the enrichment group improved significantly, better able to relate to people and respond to visual and auditory stimuli. In the behavioral therapy group, only seven percent showed improvement.
3. Sensory enrichment therapy is useful and important because parents can use items that are typically available in the household – without having to pay for special program or medications. It is a low-cost method of healing your child.
4. Sensory enrichment therapy has three innovative features: the stimulus is always changing, two senses are always stimulated at the same time and one of the senses is always either smell or touch. This sensory pairing is key to the therapy’s success.
5. The exercises are set up like games, making them engaging for the child. For 10 minutes a day, you can work together with your child in a way that is always bonding and fun.
6. Some issues that can be overcome include prenatal alcohol, prenatal cocaine and prenatal stress, lead exposure, stroke, seizures, brain lesions, percussive head injury, neural transplants, Parkinson’s disease, cerebellar degeneration and much more.
Please stay tuned - tomorrow, we will be sharing the first of a two part Q and A with Robert Hillyer, an administrative officer from Mendability. You can learn more by visiting www.mendability.com or dropping me a line at susi@learn2focus.com.