Tell me if this sounds familiar? You’re out in public, say at a grocery store or restaurant, and you suddenly feel the hairs on the back of your arm start to stand up because your beloved child is quickly escalating from frustrated, to seriously upset. Your sixth sense knows your kiddo is heading towards a complete and total meltdown. What are you going to do?
This can be particularly challenging if your child has a sensory processing disorder (SPD). Children with an SPD have difficulty integrating information from their senses, which can lead to overwhelm quickly. The resulting tantrums can be intense.
There’s a common misconception that there’s some kind of magic word or phrase parents can use to ‘just control their children’ in these situations, but we know better. Sometimes when your kids are overstimulated, tired, or angry…there isn’t anything you can say that will prevent a screaming fit from happening.
Words don’t always work. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do. You have more tools in your arsenal than you might think.
Mom blogger Danya, at Lemon Lime Adventures, has a lot of experience with this. Danya knows how it feels when nothing you say will calm down your child because “for my special needs preschooler, this is a daily and sometimes hourly occurrence”.
She has come up with 15 Ways to Calm an Anxious Child When Words Don’t Work to help other parents dealing with similar situations. Check out her blog post for some great ideas you can use the next time your little one needs some extra help to soothe themselves.
