Summary: Carol Stock Kranowitz, author of the Out-of-Sync Child series discusses how some children are “out-of-sync,” withdrawing from physical contact, refusing to participate in everyday activities, or responding in unusual ways to sensations of touch, movement, sight and sound. These children don't behave as we expect -- not because they WON'T, but because they CAN'T. The underlying reason is Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), a neurological problem causing inefficient processing of sensory messages coming from one's body and environment. Parents and teachers can greatly help these children by recognizing the underlying sensory needs, providing appropriate treatment, and offering fun and functional sensory-motor experiences.
Level: Foundational
Intended Audience: Parents, caregivers, clinicians, teachers, mental health and medical professionals
Prerequisite: None
Presenter: Carol Stock Kranowitz observed many children with SPD and mild autism during her 25-year career as a music and movement teacher at St. Columba’s Nursery School in Washington, DC. Today, she speaks internationally to parents, educators, and professionals, describing how SPD plays out and suggesting “In-Sync” activities to address children’s sensory issues at home and school. Her publications include The Out-of-Sync Child; The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun; a children’s book, The Goodenoughs Get in Sync; and, with Joye Newman, Growing an In-Sync Child and In-Sync Activity Cards. The book about teenagers and young adults, The Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up, is in progress. Carol graduated from Barnard College and earned her M.A. in Education and Human Development from George Washington University. She lives in Bethesda, plays the cello, and has five grandchildren.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe how SPD interferes with a child's ability to function in typical childhood occupations of learning, socializing, communicating, self-regulating, working, and playing
- Observe children’s self-therapy and how to redirect it, if necessary – “Behavior means something!”
- Identify several "In Sync" activities for home and school to improve learning and regulate behavior. “Movement is learning!”