sensory Grounding

'Tis the season for sensory overload. There are so many recommendations for sensory grounding, and one size does not fit all. However, we've also noticed that one method does not fit every situation.

Our kiddo has never embraced deep breaths - and in fact, when he is in the throes of overload, there is no way to convince him to try. Additionally, physical sensory tools - pieces of material, fidget spinners, oral stims - can maintain his cool, but don't prevent a meltdown in the event that circumstances change. Worry stones and using essential oils are also good for sensory grounding - but haven't been consistently successful for us.

At home, "taking a lap" (or two), around the pool can really help ground our son when he starts to spiral. That physical connection with his mind and his body has an incredible calming effect - even if he is yelling about it the whole time. (To be honest, he's usually yelling about me and my parenting methods . . . I'd hate to know what the neighbors think!)

Obviously, running laps isn't possible all the time. To this end, I recently saw a piece on the news about calming anxiety and panic attacks with sour candy and it appears to have some credible supportive backing. According to Toya Roberson-Moore, MD, associate medical director and psychiatrist at Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center, “Panic ensues when our amygdala triggers the flight or fight response. One way to dampen our amygdala’s response and mitigate panic is by turning our attention to the present moment through our senses: taste, smell, touch, sight, and hearing.” She continued, “Sour candy shifts our attention quickly to the sense of taste, intensely, which in turn dampens our amygdala (the feeling part of the brain) and gives us better access to our frontal cerebral cortex (the thinking part of our brain).”

According to mental health counselor John Delony, PhD., sucking on a sour candy can bring us back into the here and now and pull people back from "their catastrophic, spiraling thoughts." (Know anyone like that?)

As a mom of a neurodivergent kid who spirals like a boss, this was something worth giving a try, so I trotted myself off to the dollar store to pick up a box of Lemon Heads, and low and behold, we have a success! No, I'm not giving him handfuls of candy (he isn't a real fan of sour candy, anyway), but if I see the signs of him going down a path that I don't think he can readily pull himself from, I slip him one. For us, it has worked, and to give our son the credit that is due, he knows what it is intended for and he sucks on it and works to calm himself at the same time. The other great thing about this method is that it is easily portable; nothing travels quite as easily as a few Lemon Heads!

I'd recommend giving it a try as a companion piece to your other methods, and for the full article on Health.com, follow this link: Does Sour Candy Help With Anxiety? (health.com).

Happy Holidays from our family to yours! We hope your season is full of small miracles and a lot of love.