Sensory Parenting for Sensory Children
When your child dysregulates, half the battle is managing your own response. In the moment, you’re at the mercy of many competing feelings: embarrassment, fear, panic, exhaustion. Being able to recognise your own triggers and behaviours in order to stay calm and provide the best support to your child, is not a skill that comes easily.
Helping parents and carers to reflect on themselves, think about how they manage sensory meltdowns and give them some simple ideas on how to manage their own emotions in order to help their child, this is a short and simple guide for those that parent or care for a child with sensory needs, or a sensory processing disorder (SPD). Drawing on Porges’ polyvagal theory, and using easy-to-follow animal analogies, this will empower parents to build empathy for their child, and themselves.
It is always great to find a book that is practical, easy to use but still full of compassion and understanding. This book does all that. In our practise we like to share practical ideas with the parents and teachers we support and I will be definitely be recommending this book to others and using some of the ideas to support the children we work with.
This book needed to be written. I have seen families suddenly believe that they can negotiate the day-to-day life of a child with sensory issues, which in turn has become life changing for the whole family. Tanya has made this readable, understandable and accessible. Something that is not easy for such a complex subject. I cannot endorse it highly enough and I encourage you to take the plunge, buy the book and breath a sigh of relief.
In 'Sensory Parenting for Sensory Children', Tanya brings together her expertise as an occupational therapist and her lived experience as a mother of a child with sensory needs. The result is an engaging and compassionate resource that not only gives a parent insight into their kid’s behaviour and struggles, but also strategies to make a real difference. As a parent with sensory kids, this has been life-changing for our whole family and this gem of a book is something I will keep referring back to as our children grow.
Informative, compassionate and full of practical ideas, Parenting a Sensory Child is the missing link in empowering parents to look after themselves. When you are the best version of yourself, your child will be the best version of themself.
Tanya van Dalen is a highly specialised Occupational Therapist with over 25 years’ experience. She is also the parent of a child with sensory needs.
