Understanding Your Child's Sensory Signals by Angie Voss

Title: Understanding Your Child's Sensory Signals: A Practical Daily Use Handbook for Parents and Teachers
Author: Angie Voss, OTR/L
Reviewer: Karen
Genre: Adult Self-Help/Non-Fiction
Rating: FABULOUS
Alerts/Warnings: None
Premise: "A practical, daily application handbook for parents, teachers, and caregivers to help understand sensory signals versus behavior and how you can help! This user friendly "go to" handbook is geared for daily use and as a quick sensory reference guide. Enjoy the simple, organized format to give you the essential and useful information for over 110 sensory signals. The handbook provides simple every day sensory strategies and techniques to help ALL children; including SPD, autism spectrum disorders, ADD/ADHD, APD, and developmental disabilities. This handbook provides guidance and understanding as to why children do what they do in regards to unique sensory processing differences and needs" (GoodReads.com).
Opinions: Okay this book is simply remarkable. Two of my children have recently been diagnosed with developmental delays -- Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism. We have found wonderful programs to help my children build on their strengths and identify tools to help themselves to overcome their delays. However, my biggest struggle has been in regards to my role in their development. When my kids come home from their various appointments and schools I often feel overwhelmed by all the data I was given that explains what my children are experiencing.  Very  little made sense to me, and I wasn't sure how to do practical application as their mother with the information overload I was given. Then one day my daughter's Occupational Therapist showed me this book.  Oh my GOSH!!!! Is it ever fantastic. 

This guide is a hands-on tool for parents and teachers to help them understand what kids are experiencing as they are experiencing them.  This book breaks down by action what your child is doing at that exact moment, why they are doing it, what questions you need to consider, and then tells you what you can do to help your child.  For example, my daughter has difficulty processing all the sensory signals she was seeing and sometimes normal physical movements wouldn't register the same with her as other children. So she would repeatedly run into walls or objects to trigger a physical impact that she could register. Now that I have this book, when my daughter runs into something I look up the sensory signal from the list at the beginning and it leads me to the page that describes why this is occurring and what else I can have my daughter do to safely get the same sensation without damaging herself or my wall. 

This is a practical, handy, easy to understand guide that has changed the way I view my children and has helped me to feel a sense of control knowing that there is something that I can do to help my children.  I highly recommend this book to everyone, not just families with special needs. This book is great for teachers, administrators, parents, church leaders and so much more.  If you work with children and often wonder why they do some of the things they do, then this book will definitely help you.  As for me, I went out and bought my own $10 copy off Amazon to keep on hand. And, whenever I can afford it, I'm going to buy several more copies to hand out to. . . oh just about everyone I know and love.  It's that helpful and great.