Started sensory therapy =)

Kegan had his first session of sensory therapy this morning. He had a really good time and came home exhausted! Anyone who knows Kegan knows he is rarely exhausted...He usually has limitless energy, always on the go. I know people say that about every child, but I kid you not, he rarely stops moving ALL DAY LONG.

He's tired today, though, because of all of the "heavy" work he did in therapy. It's fascinating to me how these activities work to actually change the way his neurological system operates.

Here goes a brief (yet admittedly not fully educated) education on what sensory therapy is and how it will hopefully help Kegan: We all know about our senses of sight, hearing, touch, etc., but there are a couple other senses that send information to the neurological system as well. The vestibular system has to do with the way we sense our head in space, so it has a lot of control over our balance and coordination. Our proprioception system has to do with the way we sense our bodies in space and is guided largely by nerve receptors in the deep muscles. Kegan has dysfunction in both of these systems, but the worst of the two is in the proprioception system. He is very undersensitive to stimuli he receives; therefore, he is always "seeking" pressure on his body in order to regulate his system. This creates behavioral issues in so many ways because he does not understand what a "normal" person feels like, so he is far to rough with people and generally does not handle his body appropriately. What I didn't understand before also is that problems with this system can actually lead to depression and anxiety as well because those same deep pressures, which he is not feeling appropriately and so signals are not being sent to the brain appropriately, also signal the release of serotonin in the brain (one of the hormones that regulates emotions). Anywho, that's what understand of things so far, and I am going to keep this blog mostly for personal journaling of my kids' progress, but also to keep track of what I learn....

Right now, it is 1:24 in the afternoon, and Kegan was so cranky and tired, he is actually taking a nap. It is interesting that he was also complaining a lot in the last couple hours about different aches in his body (namely his ankle and his finger), which he normally never complains about (again due to lack of appropriate "feeling"). I know he hurt his finger yesterday and probably his ankles....so it's interesting that they are hurting him now....