Sniffing

[Guest guest]

>

> My 6.5 yo ASD son is sniffing his hands. Constantly. ANything he

> touches, he then sniffs his hands. The chiropractor remarked that it

> seemed like a " tic-like " behavior. For some reason I'm thinking I read

> before that there was a supplement that helped some children with

> tics. Any ideas/help?

My #1 will get certain tics when he has yeast, altho smelling his

hands is not one of them.

My #3 would smell EVERYTHING, basically until the end of biomedical.

So I really don't know why he did it, except that every time I found

something he needed, the smelling would reduce. So consider

food/supplement intolerances, yeast, virus issues, nutritional

deficiencies, etc.

Dana

[Guest guest]

I observed Thomoas doing something unusual that I can't stop thinking about

yesterday, and was hoping someone who has witnessed something similar could

offer some feedback (hopefully reassuring). was with two other little

boys, and their teacher was telling them something that made me think, and

also made think, that they were going to be blowing bubbles. Instead,

she had a kind of hand soap in a container that she wanted them to put on their

hands, rub together, and smell. The other two boys smelled it, no big deal,

but did this weird thing where he was actually trying to blow on his

hand, instead of sniffing his hands to experience the smell. It became very

obvious that he wasn't sure how to " sniff. " This has come up in a kind of

similar way before with nose blowing, but he seems to finally have the knack of

that - at least he can grab a tissue and attend to himself with no help needed

from me. But I had no idea that he lacked the ability to " sniff " - it was

disturbing to watch. Does this fall within the realm of " motor planning " and has

anyone else out there with a dyspraxic child seen it before? I think his

teacher was really surprised and concerned by it - she kept telling him to

smell

it, don't blow on it - and, as much as he was trying to please, he just

couldn't get it. Obviously something new we have to start working on - going to

go

cut some roses from the rose bush this morning. It's the implications of it

that I'm worried about.

Many thanks,

[Guest guest]

Hi -

Josh is almost 8 and he's just learning how to sniff now. I think it is a

motor planning issue along with muscles - I would imagine it takes more muscles

to sniff in than it does to blow out but that is just a guess - take a moment to

take a big breath in and pay attention to what parts of your body are needed -

the sniff requires an intake of breath but there usually needs to be a

preliminary exhalation as well as an exhalation afterward - plus, if your kid is

a mouth breather, he now has to get the messages to the nose as to what to do.

And, all our kids are constantly being told/reminded/taught about using their

mouths in different ways, now here's someone telling him to not use his mouth

but his nose. That's tough! Having apraxic or dyspraxic kids, you start to

think of these things that other people just take for granted - it's a lot of

stuff going on in those little heads that we just don't stop to think about for

ourselves!

Sherry

bellaboo625@... wrote:

I observed Thomoas doing something unusual that I can't stop thinking about

yesterday, and was hoping someone who has witnessed something similar could

offer some feedback (hopefully reassuring). was with two other little

boys, and their teacher was telling them something that made me think, and

also made think, that they were going to be blowing bubbles. Instead,

she had a kind of hand soap in a container that she wanted them to put on their

hands, rub together, and smell. The other two boys smelled it, no big deal,

but did this weird thing where he was actually trying to blow on his

hand, instead of sniffing his hands to experience the smell. It became very

obvious that he wasn't sure how to " sniff. " This has come up in a kind of

similar way before with nose blowing, but he seems to finally have the knack of

that - at least he can grab a tissue and attend to himself with no help needed

from me. But I had no idea that he lacked the ability to " sniff " - it was

disturbing to watch. Does this fall within the realm of " motor planning " and has

anyone else out there with a dyspraxic child seen it before? I think his

teacher was really surprised and concerned by it - she kept telling him to

smell

it, don't blow on it - and, as much as he was trying to please, he just

couldn't get it. Obviously something new we have to start working on - going to

go

cut some roses from the rose bush this morning. It's the implications of it

that I'm worried about.

Many thanks,

[Guest guest]

Yes - totally a motor planning problem. But once he's got it he's got it. He

probably has problems blowing his nose?

My son does know how to sniff - but he can't blow it out - a pain during

cold and flu season! -C

[ ] Sniffing

I observed Thomoas doing something unusual that I can't stop thinking about

yesterday, and was hoping someone who has witnessed something similar could

offer some feedback (hopefully reassuring). was with two other

little

boys, and their teacher was telling them something that made me think, and

also made think, that they were going to be blowing bubbles. Instead,

she had a kind of hand soap in a container that she wanted them to put on

their

hands, rub together, and smell. The other two boys smelled it, no big deal,

but did this weird thing where he was actually trying to blow on his

hand, instead of sniffing his hands to experience the smell. It became

very

obvious that he wasn't sure how to " sniff. " This has come up in a kind of

similar way before with nose blowing, but he seems to finally have the knack

of

that - at least he can grab a tissue and attend to himself with no help

needed

from me. But I had no idea that he lacked the ability to " sniff " - it was

disturbing to watch. Does this fall within the realm of " motor planning " and

has

anyone else out there with a dyspraxic child seen it before? I think his

teacher was really surprised and concerned by it - she kept telling him to

smell

it, don't blow on it - and, as much as he was trying to please, he just

couldn't get it. Obviously something new we have to start working on -

going to go

cut some roses from the rose bush this morning. It's the implications of it

that I'm worried about.

Many thanks,

[Guest guest]

Yep - totally motor planning. As would be not making the right

mouth when brushing teeth or at the doc (say AHHH), not remembering

how to hold a pencil, not remembering year to year how to pedal,

etc.. It can be disturbing when it comes so easily to us...

M

>

> I observed Thomoas doing something unusual that I can't stop

thinking about

> yesterday, and was hoping someone who has witnessed something

similar could

> offer some feedback (hopefully reassuring). was with two

other little

> boys, and their teacher was telling them something that made me

think, and

> also made think, that they were going to be blowing

bubbles. Instead,

> she had a kind of hand soap in a container that she wanted them to

put on their

> hands, rub together, and smell. The other two boys smelled it, no

big deal,

> but did this weird thing where he was actually trying to

blow on his

> hand, instead of sniffing his hands to experience the smell. It

became very

> obvious that he wasn't sure how to " sniff. " This has come up in a

kind of

> similar way before with nose blowing, but he seems to finally have

the knack of

> that - at least he can grab a tissue and attend to himself with no

help needed

> from me. But I had no idea that he lacked the ability to " sniff " -

it was

> disturbing to watch. Does this fall within the realm of " motor

planning " and has

> anyone else out there with a dyspraxic child seen it before? I

think his

> teacher was really surprised and concerned by it - she kept

telling him to smell

> it, don't blow on it - and, as much as he was trying to please,

he just

> couldn't get it. Obviously something new we have to start working

on - going to go

> cut some roses from the rose bush this morning. It's the

implications of it

> that I'm worried about.

>

> Many thanks,

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your input!

In a message dated 1/26/2006 9:17:20 AM Pacific Standard Time,

philipmary@... writes:

Yep - totally motor planning. As would be not making the right

mouth when brushing teeth or at the doc (say AHHH), not remembering

how to hold a pencil, not remembering year to year how to pedal,

etc.. It can be disturbing when it comes so easily to us...

M

[Guest guest]

Hi Sherry,

Great to hear from you, as always. I managed to get to blow out today

on command, so that was something. Glad to hear that Josh is learning how to

sniff -that's encouraging, and great to hear. Yes, T is a mouth breather -

even at night, from what I can tell. Thanks again for your input!

In a message dated 1/26/2006 9:19:00 AM Pacific Standard Time,

srsilvern@... writes:

Hi -

Josh is almost 8 and he's just learning how to sniff now. I think it is a

motor planning issue along with muscles - I would imagine it takes more

muscles to sniff in than it does to blow out but that is just a guess - take a

moment to take a big breath in and pay attention to what parts of your body are

needed - the sniff requires an intake of breath but there usually needs to be

a preliminary exhalation as well as an exhalation afterward - plus, if your

kid is a mouth breather, he now has to get the messages to the nose as to what

to do. And, all our kids are constantly being told/reminded/taught about

using their mouths in different ways, now here's someone telling him to not use

his mouth but his nose. That's tough! Having apraxic or dyspraxic kids,

you start to think of these things that other people just take for granted -

it's a lot of stuff going on in those little heads that we just don't stop to

think about for ourselves!

Sherry

bellaboo625@... wrote:

I observed Thomoas doing something unusual that I can't stop thinking about

yesterday, and was hoping someone who has witnessed something similar could

offer some feedback (hopefully reassuring). was with two other

little

boys, and their teacher was telling them something that made me think, and

also made think, that they were going to be blowing bubbles. Instead,

she had a kind of hand soap in a container that she wanted them to put on

their

hands, rub together, and smell. The other two boys smelled it, no big deal,

but did this weird thing where he was actually trying to blow on his

hand, instead of sniffing his hands to experience the smell. It became

very

obvious that he wasn't sure how to " sniff. " This has come up in a kind of

similar way before with nose blowing, but he seems to finally have the knack

of

that - at least he can grab a tissue and attend to himself with no help

needed

from me. But I had no idea that he lacked the ability to " sniff " - it was

disturbing to watch. Does this fall within the realm of " motor planning " and

has

anyone else out there with a dyspraxic child seen it before? I think his

teacher was really surprised and concerned by it - she kept telling him to

smell

it, don't blow on it - and, as much as he was trying to please, he just

couldn't get it. Obviously something new we have to start working on -

going to go

cut some roses from the rose bush this morning. It's the implications of it

that I'm worried about.

Many thanks,

[Guest guest]

Thanks, . T does have the nose blowing aspect of things down - as in,

when he needs to and is uncomfortable with the feeling - he'll do it without

really thinking about it. Today I got him to blow his nose out on command

(which is harder than blowing on his own initiative when self-motivated) but I

know the sniffing aspect will be a lot harder to help him with. What threw me,

as happens occasionally, is that I was completely unaware that he was

incapable of doing this and, let's face it, it's semi-significant and yet again

another indicator that there are obvious motor planning issues. Discovering

these deficits is always unsettling. But then it's time to get into attack mode

and deal with it. Anyway, thank you very much for the feedback and congrats on

your little guy knowing how to sniff.

In a message dated 1/26/2006 9:52:12 AM Pacific Standard Time,

claudiamorris@... writes:

Yes - totally a motor planning problem. But once he's got it he's got it. He

probably has problems blowing his nose?

My son does know how to sniff - but he can't blow it out - a pain during

cold and flu season! -C

[ ] Sniffing

I observed Thomoas doing something unusual that I can't stop thinking about

yesterday, and was hoping someone who has witnessed something similar could

offer some feedback (hopefully reassuring). was with two other

little

boys, and their teacher was telling them something that made me think, and

also made think, that they were going to be blowing bubbles. Instead,

she had a kind of hand soap in a container that she wanted them to put on

their

hands, rub together, and smell. The other two boys smelled it, no big deal,

but did this weird thing where he was actually trying to blow on his

hand, instead of sniffing his hands to experience the smell. It became

very

obvious that he wasn't sure how to " sniff. " This has come up in a kind of

similar way before with nose blowing, but he seems to finally have the knack

of

that - at least he can grab a tissue and attend to himself with no help

needed

from me. But I had no idea that he lacked the ability to " sniff " - it was

disturbing to watch. Does this fall within the realm of " motor planning " and

has

anyone else out there with a dyspraxic child seen it before? I think his

teacher was really surprised and concerned by it - she kept telling him to

smell

it, don't blow on it - and, as much as he was trying to please, he just

couldn't get it. Obviously something new we have to start working on -

going to go

cut some roses from the rose bush this morning. It's the implications of it

that I'm worried about.

Many thanks,

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Guest guest]

Archive on this:

From: " kiddietalk " <kiddietalk@...>

Date: Tue Feb 10, 2004 6:05 pm

Subject: Re: Inability to Blow and Imitate / from Sara CCC

SLP

, The reason for the confusion as to who is best suited to work

on these oral-motor activities (i.e., " lick lips, stick his tongue

out, blow, suck through a straw, etc. " ) is really based on the fact

that both professions are interested in developing these skills.

The skills of blowing and sucking impact on feeding and speech

development. The same muscles that are used in feeding are used in

speech. Both professions therefore feel it is in their job

description to work on the activities. Both are right. In our

clinics we share the goals but use different techniques. The O.T.'s

are generally interested in gaining function for independence while

we SLP's want not only function we want normal movement. Speech is

superimposed on normal movement so when we talk about straw drinking

we talk about it in a hierarchy of muscle development as in the

TalkTools Straw Hierarchy. When we talk about blowing we create our

programs to develop adequate airflow for extended speech

statements. You need more air for a 5 word phrase than you do for a

2 word utterance. Therefore, instead of just picking up any horn or

blowing cotton balls we again work in a hierarchy of abdominal

grading activities (Horn Blowing Hierarchy or Bubble Blowing

Hierarchy.) I am just thrilled that both professions are claiming

the goals as their own. It was not so long ago that SLP's did not

see the benefit of working on non-speech movements for the

development of speech clarity. Sara Rosenfeld-

http://www.oromotorsp.com

http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/advisoryjohnson.html

> Hi and all,

>

> Wow this is a popular topic today -and one that was almost never

> talked about when my son Tanner was diagnosed just 4 years ago!

But

> I do see there is still much confusion about oral motor disorders.

>

> I sent an email to another advisor of CHERAB and Speechville about

> this, Sara Rosenthal CCC SLP

>

http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/advisoryjohnson.html

> Sara is the creator of Talk Tools, which you recommended, among

> many other techniques to help our kids.

>

> , even though in a few cases this would be possible, I

> wouldn't assume that a child that doesn't blow bubbles or imitate

> doesn't " get it " . There could be numerous reasons for this. In

> your child's case for example it sounds like there may be motor

> planning issues of the body. At 5 your son may have more in his

motor memory

> now and thus is able to do more. Or perhaps he didn't understand

prior -I

> wouldn't know. Most kids with appropriate therapy don't take this

long.

>

> But back to the not being able to imitate funny faces or blow

> bubbles or lick food off their lips...on command (key word) -

those

> are all signs of oral apraxia, but they could be from a weakness

> problem too or instead. My parent friendly rule of thumb is if

you

> see a child do it when not thinking about it, it's probably

> apraxia. If you never see your child do it ever -it's probably

> weakness. And again -it can be a combination of the two. It's

not

> that confusing when you have a few years to study it up close and

> work through it with therapy (not as a therapist -as a mom!)

>

> On top of motor planning and weakness issues (and receptive

ability

> in those cases) you can also throw eating and feeding as well as

> sensory problems into the mix too. And yes a child can have one

> aspect and no other -but typically or almost always as far as

anyone

> knows -a child that has oral apraxia will have verbal apraxia -but

> an adult who acquires oral apraxia can have that without verbal

> apraxia.

>

> Most late talkers (again) have average to above average ability,

> it's just that we don't understand them -and that's the only way

for

> them to express their ability to understand sometimes -us. They

> need us more than the professionals who today can still be

ignorant,

> to try to find ways to help them make themselves understood. A

way

> to communicate.

>

> Just like anything -children with impairments of communication do

> not just outgrow these issues on their own, they need appropriate

> interventions. is a perfect example of a child that grew up

> and now can talk and write...but a child who obviously was

deprived

> of what was appropriate therapy for him. I'm sure from speaking

to

> that everyone believed they did " all they could " to help him

> back then. You only know what you know. Thank goodness he's

getting the help he needs today.

> http://www.cherab.org/news/.html

>

> I'll post Sara's response as soon as she sends it, but in the

> meantime -speaking of only knowing what you know, again -this

topic

> if fully talked about from a professional and parent point of view

> in The Late Talker. (libraries/bookstores carry it -or you can

ask for them to

> order it for you) http://www.speech-express.com/late.talker.html

>

> There is a page on oral motor issues here which Sara helped to

write

> which have warning clues of various oral motor disorders.

> " Oral Apraxia is a disorder where the child, who typically is

> a " late talker " is unable to coordinate and/or initiate movement

of

> their jaw, lips and tongue (articulators) on command.

> An Oral Motor Disorder, which could be a different oral motor

> problem than apraxia (could be from weakness/dysarthria for

example)

> is the second type, in which the child is unable to coordinate

> and/or initiate movement of normal eating movements (vegetative

> activities.) "

> http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/oralapraxia.html

>

>

> This is Sara's homepage

> http://www.oromotorsp.com

>

> =====

>