Skip to main content

Book Review: "Sensory Parenting: From Newborns to Toddlers" by Britt Collins and Jackie Linder Olson

Sensory Parenting: From Newborns to Toddlers
Parenting is easier when your child's senses are happy!
by Britt Collins, MS, OTR/L and Jackie Linder Olson
ISBN: 978-193556722-6
Published by Future Horizons

You could be forgiven for thinking that this was just another ordinary baby book. Indeed it's not until about the third chapter that the differences really begin to hit you. Of course, those differences have been there all along, just more subtly in those early chapters.

Sensory parenting has been written by the Parent-Paediatric Team of Jackie Linder Olsen and Britt Collins and they're the ideal team for a baby book. Jackie provides a wealth of special needs parenting experience while Britt's experience comes across in the amazing array of therapies.

Normally such tag-team books can leave you a little disorientated but they've gone to great lengths to speak in "one-voice" throughout and aside from a few obvious chapters, and some scattered comments, it's not particularly obvious who is "speaking" at any one time.

Even better, when outside opinion is solicited, it's first-hand. The book contains short interviews with several practitioners, therapists and parents, all with their own particular strengths and points of view. In the appendices it includes feedback from interview questions with a panel of mothers and links to a variety of informative web sites.

At 300 pages and with very few illustrations, this is one densely packed volume.


Preparation and Newborns
My first reaction when I discovered where this book starts was sadness. Those critical early chapters are mostly going to miss their main audience. After all, they start before the baby is born and cover important topics like building a sensory-friendly nursery and making your house as sensory friendly as possible.

The problem is; who buys "baby-with-sensory-issues" books for a baby still in the womb?.

This is where genetics comes into play. If you already have one sensory child, there's good odds that there could be another. If you've got a pregnant friend with sensory issues, genetics may again be a factor - be a great friend and get her this book.

If the baby turns out to not have sensory issues, this is still a great baby book packed with good and practical advice.


Toddlerdom
This is where the book really comes into its own. The book covers the five senses, plus a couple more. It doesn't just explain their sensitivities from a baby/toddlers point of view, it covers a variety of things you can do to reduce their impact. Most importantly though, it covers natural therapies you can use to actually decrease the severity of those sensory issues.

It's all natural therapy, from light therapy for the eyes, aromatherapy for the nose, music therapy for the ears, baby massage and acupressure for the skin and several others.


More than just a baby book
At first glance, this seems to be a normal baby book. It's got lists of the major developmental milestones and it has information on potty training and tantrum handling. On sensory issues however, the book steps well outside the realm of normal parenting books.

It covers less common topics such as pets, choosing a nanny and interacting with siblings but it does so in a specific sensory manner. The nanny sections talk about the importance of a handover period and why it matters more to a sensory child. It gives tips on how to find the best person for the job and what qualities to look out for.

The pet sections talk about the sensory differences between dogs and cats, which is unusual in itself in a baby book - but then it goes on to cover ferrets, fish, rabbits, reptiles and even rats. Yes... it's that comprehensive.

The book is also fairly non-judgemental. It doesn't agonise over the benefits of breast versus bottle but gets right into the sensory issues associated with each - and how to reduce them. I did detect an overly "natural" push to it and in some places it seems to go overboard in detoxification but these are sensory issues and they are very relevant to the material.

There are also some amazing stories from mothers who have helped their babies through some very difficult sensory issues. I was particularly moved by the story of Zaky's "hands".


All in all, this is one of the most informative parenting books I've read. It's very factual and it doesn't even attempt humour but sticks solidly to the topic. If you have a sensory baby or toddler, you need this book and if you don't, it's still one of the better baby books.

Sensory Parenting: From Newborns to Toddlers is available from Future Horizons and Amazon.

Honesty Clause: I was sent a copy of this book to review at no charge
Labels:

Comments

Mama Maxwell said…
As an Autie expecting my very first child, I certainly will be getting this book for advice on how to set up our nursery! :) we've long expected that our baby will probably have Autism too so we've been preparing for it as well as my starting Occupational Therapy to make headway on my coping skills before baby comes! :)
October 27, 2015 at 2:55 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why do Aspies Suddenly Back Off in Relationships (Part 2)

In part one, we looked at the role that Change Resistance plays in causing aspies to suddenly go "cold" in otherwise good relationships. This time, I want to look at self esteem and depression; Self Esteem The aspie relationship with themselves is tedious at best. People with Asperger's commonly suffer from low self esteem. As discussed in earlier posts, this low self esteem often results from years of emotional turmoil resulting from their poor social skills. Aspies are often their own worst enemy. They can over analyze situations and responses in an effort to capture lost nonverbal communication. This often causes them to invent problems and to imagine replies. Everything made up by aspies will tend to be tainted with their own self image. This is one of reasons that people with Asperger's will sometimes decide that they are not good enough for their partner and that they must let them go. Sometimes, the aspie will develop a notion of chivalry or self-sacrific
134 comments
Read more

Aspie Myths - "He Won't Miss Me"

I apologise for the excessive "male-orientated" viewpoint in this post. I tried to keep it neutral but somehow, it just works better when explained from a male viewpoint. Here's a phrase that I've seen repeated throughout the comments on this blog on several occasions; "I know that he won't miss me when I'm gone because he's aspie" Today, we're going to (try to) bust that myth; Individuals I'll start off with a reminder that everyone is an individual. If all aspies were completely alike and predictible, they'd be a stereotype but they're not. Each is shaped by their background, their upbringing, their beliefs and their local customs. An aspie who grew up with loud abusive parents has a reasonable chance of becoming loud and abusive themselves because in some cases, that's all they know. That's how they think adults are supposed to behave. In other cases, aspies who grew up in those circumstances do a complete about-fa
150 comments
Read more

Why Do Aspies Suddenly Back-Off in Relationships? (Part 1)

One of the most frequent questions I'm asked is why an aspie (or suspected aspie) suddenly goes "cold" and backs off on an otherwise good relationship. It's a difficult question and the answers would vary considerably from one person to another and would depend greatly on the circumstances. Nevertheless, I'll try to point out some possibilities. Negative Reasons I generally like to stay positive on this blog and assume that people are not necessarily "evil" but simply misguided. Unfortunately, I do have to acknowledge that there are some people out there who take advantage of others. I read a book a few years ago on "sociopaths in the workplace" and I was stunned by the figures. They suggested that sociopaths were so common that most workplaces (small business) had at least one or two. The fact is that there are lots of people out there who really feel very little for others and who are very manipulative. I'd like to say that aspies aren
64 comments
Read more