Mothers play an essential role in a child’s upbringing. But what may be less understood is how the mother-child relationship forms the basis for a child’s sensory development, learning, emotional regulation and ability to understand what is safe in the world. A newborn infant...
Children with sensory sensitivities have added challenges in basic tasks most people do without thinking. Their body doesn’t interpret sensations, such as touch in a typical way. For example, a scratchy tag might be perceived as painful for them, they might not react to crashing into a wall, but...
Everyone is so busy in today’s society. If your child has problems planning, has anxiety, or difficulty processing information this "never-ending rush" can be really impacting on how smooth your day runs. Have you ever sat down and broken down all the tasks that need to be done to get...
As a young child, some parents may have been given time-outs and got spanked for talking back to their parents, fighting over a toy with a sibling or jumping off a couch and accidentally knocking over and breaking a glass. In many cultures and societies, it was and is the "norm" to make sure...
Children who are neurodiverse are often reliant on a caregiver to show them how to do things. These could be simple autonomous tasks like using a spoon to self-feed, as well as more complex skills involving more than one person, such as: using a seesaw. Reciprocity in social relationships happens...
The auditory system is our sense of sound. But it’s more than just hearing noise. It also allows us to understand where those sounds are coming from, what they mean, understand speech patterns, and attach meaning to words. Our ears also help us filter out irrelevant information. For example,...
I know, it is hard to imagine that louder meltdowns or higher levels of sensory seeking are part of the journey towards connectedness. While this is not always the case, this could be true for you or your child. Through the lens of the Polyvagal Theory, we can come to learn that the nervous...
All behaviour is a form of communication. Behaviour is something we can observe and label. Behaviours of concern are like “leaks in a pipe”, if we just repair the leaks, we are not actually addressing why the leaks keep happening and therefore as we repair one, another is likely to form. So...
Adult caregivers such as parents, teachers, coaches, and other mentors play an essential role in shaping and supporting self-regulation development from birth to young adulthood. This process is called co-regulation. Human nervous systems need to connect to other nervous systems to experience...
I had a parent talk to me about how they are frequently told it is important for children to swing, slide and spin around, but have not been told why this was important. Children learn and develop through engaging their senses in novel and interesting ways. They have an innate drive to seek...
One of the most common challenges we see when working with kids, is difficulty with losing. Many rounds of Pop Up Pirate have ended in tears and scattered game pieces. For children, losing can feel very unexpected and extremely frustrating. Learning how to win respectfully and lose gracefully is...
Sensory modulation is the body and brain’s filtering system. Sensation is funneled to the brain for processing. This “funneling” is not always effective whereby there is too much, or too little sensation allowed in. Effective sensory modulation is a pre-requisite for the maintenance of a...
Cause and effect play often happens spontaneously when a child realises that some action they initiated has a certain effect, often unexpected or novel. Every time the child drops the fork on the floor and mum picks it up, every time they jump into a puddle and mud splashes everywhere, every time...
It is important to keep your baby’s head straight in midline as much as possible however, this does not mean your baby should always be laying flat on their back. Babies who are not given the opportunity to be nursed, carried and positioned in a variety of ways are at risk of developing flat spots...
Play is universally agreed to be an essential part of development. Through play children explore and learn about the world and how it works. Play has been found to support development of skills in emotional regulation, problem solving, planning and sequencing, object use, communication, and sets...
Family Connections Sydney is a multi-disciplinary group of professionals dedicated to providing high quality services to children and their families.
