Summary of "Prikkelverwerking deel 1"

Summary of Key Wellness Strategies, Self-Care Techniques, and Productivity Tips from Prikkelverwerking deel 1

This e-learning course focuses on understanding and supporting stimulus-sensitive children, particularly those with autism, ADHD, or other sensory processing differences. It explains how children can be either overstimulated or understimulated by sensory input and offers practical strategies to help manage these responses.

Key Concepts and Strategies

Understanding Stimulus Processing

All senses transmit stimuli to the brain, which must be processed.
Children with autism or ADHD often have different sensory filters, leading to stronger or weaker responses to stimuli.
Overstimulation leads to withdrawal or avoidance behaviors.
Understimulation causes children to seek additional stimuli.
A child can be overstimulated in one sense and understimulated in another simultaneously.

Sensory Modalities and Support Strategies

Visual Stimuli

Overstimulated children:
- See too many details, get distracted by small things.
- May close off visually by looking down or covering eyes.
- Prefer dimmer or softer lighting.
Understimulated children:
- Attracted to bright colors, reflections, shadows, and light.
Support:
- Create calm, less visually busy environments for overstimulated children.
- Provide stimulating light sources or reflective objects for understimulated children.

Auditory Stimuli

Overstimulated children:
- Disturbed by loud or unexpected noises (alarms, doors slamming).
- May cover ears or avoid noisy environments.
Understimulated children:
- Seek out sounds, turn up volume, or have difficulty noticing when called.
Support:
- Use noise-cancelling headphones or quiet music to reduce auditory overload.
- Provide stimulating sounds or echo environments for understimulated children.
- Announce sounds or noises in advance to reduce surprise.

Tactile Stimuli

Overstimulated children:
- Sensitive to touch, textures, clothing labels.
- May avoid physical contact or certain clothing.
Understimulated children:
- Seek strong tactile input (rubbing, touching, fidgeting).
Support:
- Use deep pressure techniques (firm hugs, weighted blankets, massage).
- Announce touch before it happens to prepare the child.
- Provide tactile play that is calming or stimulating as needed.

Smell Stimuli

Overstimulated children:
- Avoid strong or certain smells.
- May dislike places like toilets due to odor.
Understimulated children:
- Attracted to strong or unusual smells.
- May sniff objects or people frequently.
Support:
- Avoid strong odors in environments for sensitive children.
- Allow children to explore smells safely if understimulated.

Taste Stimuli

Overstimulated children:
- Strong food preferences, avoid new or strong tastes.
- May be nauseous from certain foods.
Understimulated children:
- Seek varied tastes, may put non-food items in their mouth.
Support:
- Respect food preferences and avoid overwhelming tastes.
- Monitor and guide safe exploration of tastes.

Managing Overstimulation and Emotional Release

Children need opportunities to discharge accumulated stimuli and emotions to regain balance. Techniques include:

Creating a quiet, low-stimulus retreat space.
Allowing physical movement: jumping, stomping, dancing.
Using stress-relief objects: punching bags, pillows for hitting or kicking.
Encouraging expressive outlets: screaming in a safe space, writing down feelings and tearing up the paper.
Scratching or doodling on paper to release tension.
Taking calming showers or baths.

Making a personalized list of calming/releasing activities helps children remember and choose strategies when overstimulated.

Additional Tips

Announce sensory stimuli or physical touch beforehand to reduce shock and help children prepare.
Observe individual differences carefully; sensory responses vary widely among children.
Use worksheets to track and understand each child’s sensory processing patterns.
Use practical tools like headphones, soft lighting, weighted blankets, and calming music tailored to the child’s needs.

Presenters / Sources

The course is presented by Arie (name mentioned as the guide).
References include:
- Bianca Toeps, author and autism advocate.
- Suzanne Snipper Bergen, author on stimulus processing exercises.
Practical examples and insights are shared from personal and professional experiences.

This summary encapsulates the main wellness and self-care strategies for supporting stimulus-sensitive children by managing sensory overstimulation and understimulation across multiple senses.