ARK's Blog

Have you ever craved crunchy foods?  Or chewed gum?  Ever chewed on your pen caps while concentrating or bit your fingernails when nervous?  We all have oral sensory habits to some extent. For children with sensory needs and/or Autism, however, oral sensory input can play a particularly important role.  Chewing throughout the day (especially during times …

Heavy work activities are any type of action that pushes or pulls against the body.  This could be tension created by something pushing/pulling against your body (like swimming where the water pushes against the body) or tension that the body itself creates (like monkey bars where the body’s own weight creates the resistance). . . Who can benefit from heavy work activi …

Question:  My 9 year old chews on everything... erasers, foam rubber, shirt collars.    He has always had an oral fixation since he was a toddler, putting toys in his mouth and chewing on everything in sight.  Is this something more than typical childhood behavior?  I've read on some discussion boards that your "Grabbers" are often used by other kids with the same …

Back to school can be a very stressful time for any child as they adapt to new surroundings, new friends, new teachers, new classes, etc.  You may see their sensory needs increase during this time.  For instance, the child may be very fidgety in class, may act out more, may start chewing on things or their chewing may increase, etc.  Luckily, though, giving children the appropr …