You've likely either said this or heard this from someone you know, "My kid is such a picky eater. He will only eat (insert a simple, childhood favorite food here)." You may have also heard, "And he only wears comfy pants and short sleeve shirts. I have to cut the tags out of everything. I just don't get it. "

If you find yourself using the words, picky, specific, sensitive, on a frequent basis with your child, they may be experiencing issues processing their senses. Sensory processing difficulties are common amongst children struggling with other diagnoses such as ADHD, autism, anxiety, OCD, or developmental delays. These children (or adults) become quickly and easily dysregulated, given that their body continuously receives sensory information from their environment, but their brain struggles to convert these messages into appropriate emotional and behavioral responses.

Imagine sitting in a restaurant and not being able to filter out the unimportant noise and stimuli around you? Instead of focusing on the person across the table, you are focused on your posture, the crying baby in the corner, the smells of other people's food, and the temperature in the room... all at the same time. Sounds pretty uncomfortable. The opposite may also be true, some individuals with sensory issues experience their senses in a dull, muted way, causing them to seek out extra and exaggerated stimulation. These children are often viewed as risk takers, and crave intense activity and movement. Understanding the unique sensory needs of yourself or your child, is the first step towards easing this frustrating (but treatable!) experience.

Click the Link Below for More Info on Sensory Processing from Dr. Pam McCaskill.

Spring can often be seen as a time of re-birth; leaves return to the trees, last year's flowers start to pop up, and we are met with the familiar feeling of warm (ish) sunshine that melts away our seasonal blues and darker days. It is in these moments that I am thankful for the laws of physics, and the reality that time only moves forward and not backward.

So often, we wish that we could reverse time. Whether it be because we desire to re-live cherished moments, do something differently, or change our past, this seems like a luxury that could save us a lot of pain and suffering.

If this was the reality, where would our growth occur? Life would be repetitious, and we would likely stay stuck in the past attempting to alter our present. We would never learn how to handle emotions of guilt or sadness if we could simply go back and prevent them. We would struggle to appreciate a warm spring breeze if we never allowed ourselves to experience another winter. It is only because time moves in continuum that we truly grow.

With that in mind, I encourage you to think about who you have become by surviving this past winter (and maybe even the past two pandemic years). Have you grown in resilience? Compassion? Patience? Motivation? This is the perfect season to take the time to appreciate who you have transformed into, or better yet, set intentions of who you would like to be as the season renews you. It is never too late or too early to celebrate who you have become, or, to make a change. Happy soul searching.

Warmly, -Jaclyn