On Our Bookshelf: Making Sense of Your Senses

On Our Bookshelf: Making Sense of Your Senses: A Workbook for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder, by Christopher Auer, MA and Michelle Auer, MS, OTR/L

Audience: Children with sensory processing disorder and their parents

While there are many books on the market for parents to better understand sensory processing disorder (SPD), there are few books designed to help children understand SPD. Although children’s fiction books are an excellent way to help a child see that there are other children who also experience SPD, Making Sense of Your Senses takes this a step further. This workbook includes 40 different activities for children and their parents to explore what types of sensory input are difficult to tolerate, what types of input are beneficial and what can be done to help them participate in every day activities. Each activity begins with a short vignette about a child who faces this difficulty. The activities are short and provide the child opportunity to identify the different sensory systems and how they impact daily life at school and home. While the workbook is primarily text-based, there are hands-on activity suggestions and areas for the child to use drawings to describe their sensory experiences. This book is best suited for ages 5 and up, with the guidance of a parent or caregiver.

Available from major booksellers.

On Our Bookshelf: Raising a Sensory Smart Child

On Our Bookshelf: Raising a Sensory Smart Child, by Lindsey Biel, MA, OTR/L and Nancy Peske

Audience: Parents and caregivers of children with sensory processing disorder

Raising a Sensory Smart Child is written by a pair with strong ties to children with sensory processing disorder (SPD): a pediatric occupational therapist and a parent of a child with SPD. While the book does dive into some of the neurological processes behind sensory processing, the main focus is to provide practical guidance for parents, caregivers and service providers of children with SPD and related difficulties. Everyday sensory solutions are presented in quick, easy to read lists, with topics such as trimming nails, expanding food preferences and how to navigate dentist appointments. The book also includes chapters highlighting developmental milestones, nutrition, sleep and stress, and advocating for your child at school. Perhaps the best part about Raising a Sensory Smart Child is that it is not a book which must be read cover to cover, but it can act like a playbook to provide guidance for the area of difficulty your family is currently facing.

Available from major booksellers.

On Our Bookshelf: Top 10 Tips

On Our Bookshelf: Top Ten Tips: A Survival Guild for Families with Children on the Autism Spectrum, by Teresa Cardon, MA, CCC-SLP

Audience: Parents and caregivers of children with sensory processing disorder or autism

Top Ten Tips: A Survival Guild for Families with Children on the Autism Spectrum is just that: a set of over 50 “Top Ten” lists relating to a wide range of practical, everyday topics. Although the title focuses on children with an ASD, much of the information presented in this book could also be appropriate for a child with sensory processing disorder or other related difficulties. The lists were compiled by Teresa Cardon, MA, CCC-SLP, with contributors including parents and siblings of individuals on the autism spectrum, occupational therapists, special education teachers, speech therapists, social workers and others who interact with individuals with autism. Top Ten Tips is a perfect book for the busy family who does not have the time to sit down and read a long narrative, but is looking for useful ways to manage daily events. The book consists entirely of easy to read lists with tried and true ideas to handle the difficulties that can arise around potty training, winning and losing games, homework, grocery shopping, birthday parties and more.

Available from major booksellers and the Autism Asperger Publishing Company.