SPD Support Forum

She is 5 and she tends to gravitate towards TV and video games when she either can't get the intense interaction she wants from other people or she is exhausted (and she is exhausted a lot). I'm doing pretty good with finding her other intense play activities but I'm a bit at a loss of what else to have her do when she's exhausted. I know TV is creating a bad cycle because she sleeps restlessly and is more exhausted after watching too much tv. Books on tape have not gone over well, her auditory processing is not up to them. She colors a lot but some times she's too worn out for even that because of the core strength it requires.

I would like to tell you I could give you some great tips... but, even at my age, when my days are tough I gravitate to television or video games. Especially the mundane games like Chuzzle and I don't have to think to play. It just seems to do that bit of magic I need when there is no energy left for anything else.

As a child I loved clay as an activity, because even if I couldn't create something - the feel of it (it isn't messy on the hands) and the repetitive motion it can involve - I found it soothing. A lot of the time I just made a huge gem shape. Other times I would create little people. I think if you were to get it soft and warm for her, she may like it. Or maybe not, as we all tend to have our own special things to make us feel better.

However that said... I still play with clay, but it actually turns into something when finished and I bake it (oven bake clay now). There are days I tend not able to create something still, but it is very helpful.

I hope you get some good answers for your daughter. I am sorry I am not more helpful.

I loved clay! And Lincoln logs and tinker toys and (yes, I admit it) Barbies. They were actresses on the stage of my imagination. Often they were small people in a big world, little friends I carried around with me. I loved to draw and color. When I learned to read, I couldn't get enough. I read everything, still do.

I can hardly watch TV. TV and commercial radio drive me nuts. I have to force myself to stay in the room when a TV is on. I have no ability to filter it out. It just screams at me while everything else receeds into the background. I can't sit in a resteraunt or waiting room with a TV or commercial radio (it's the commercials, they are designed to get your attention and it literally feels like they are screaming at me, audibly and emotionally).

I don't have cable. My TV is obsolete and can't pick up digital channels. I watch a movie or a series from NEtflicks every now and then. But the tension inherit in movies and shows causes my muscles to tense and sometimes gives me a headache. I prefer documentaries - way less stressful.

I was lucky the family I grew up in did not have a TV on all the time. Although, as a kid, I loved Saturday morning cartoons and the kids shows that came on occassionally (remember, we are talking about the sixties). And The Wonderful World of Disney! But the older I got the less I enjoyed TV. It is difficult for me to sit very long in one place. I am very particular. The show/movie has to be very high quality and not offensive to my senses, (physically or emotionally).

When my sons were growing up I limited TV and video games. One hour on school days. Two or three hours on weekends and holidays. They hated my TV rules. But they complied and always found something else to do.

What to do instead? Rock in the rocking chair and listen to music. It's especially great to pet a very soft stuffed animal while you do it. Or look at a book with beautiful or interesting pictures. I like to stare out the back door at my garden while I rock in my chair.

Playing in the bathtub was always a great time for my sons. I let them have any nonbreakable kitchen utensil they wanted and toy stores have great bath toys.

Also colored gravel in a big box (like a miniature sand box) can be a lot of fun with kitchen utensils for pouring and measuring and piling up into mountains that you drive your little cars and trucks on. Add some little plastic farm animals and you have a real party!

I must admit to listening to hours of public radio every day. And, obviously, I spend a lot of time on the computer.

Good luck!